New to making cars shine

[sparks]

My normal clean would be a drive through soak n scratch or a cheap as chips bunch of people who swarm over the car like ants, but I thought I'd like to see what my Siggy looks like, really clean n tidy...

So, without asking for advice ( well, as in I watched YouTube ), I've bought some Maguires M105 and some Turtle Wax 53341 Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Polish & Wax, a mate has an orbital polisher..

Now, are there any words of wisdom that you can share to get me started in the right direction, is there a good place to start the job, any gotchas I need to be aware of ..

Will do some before and after photo's, see if anyone can spot the difference ..

[Lizard]

Join detailingworld.com bud. You'll learn everything you want to know or watch Ammo NYC on YouTube...

[RBH]

My normal clean would be a drive through soak n scratch or a cheap as chips bunch of people who swarm over the car like ants

Same as myself.....then I discovered the wonderful world of Aldi.

[HenrikErlandsson]

My normal clean would be a drive through soak n scratch or a cheap as chips bunch of people who swarm over the car like ants, but I thought I'd like to see what my Siggy looks like, really clean n tidy...

So, without asking for advice ( well, as in I watched YouTube ), I've bought some Maguires M105 and some Turtle Wax 53341 Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Polish & Wax, a mate has an orbital polisher..

Now, are there any words of wisdom that you can share to get me started in the right direction, is there a good place to start the job, any gotchas I need to be aware of ..

Will do some before and after photo's, see if anyone can spot the difference ..

I don't have a ton of experience so I talked to some guys charging a lot per hour to do a first assessment of the body.

Interior: The route I went I reconded the interior myself (vinyl only, used masking tape for plastics) using 2 Turtle Wax vinyl shine sponges+microfiber splashed with only water after to remove unevenness - should have use 2 for front+2 for back (I have Saloon). After my first experience I should have used vinyl shine spray-on-microfiber and the same method, cos I had to cut off corners off the sponges to get at some - corners.

Also do not use vinyl shine for rubber (mats). Gets too slick. I put them in my bath tub and scrubbed them and put tyre shine while wet, and wiped them. Like new and not slippery as !@#$%%^&.

Exterior: You don't want to pull out minor dents cos they have to drill holes in the inside plate to get to them and do that. I decided to keep minor dents & ordered a correct coating ("color code") pen from my brand shop for the scratches & dots. This pen I will hand to pros who hand wash, polish twice, wax, and put coating protection on. I let them have a look at the body with a strong lamp, you can do nothing without excellent lighting, I had to do my interior recond in the daytime to have any chance, I don't have a shop with fluorescents.

Now this special treatment is just as a good start to the car I just bought, after that I can do it myself!

So from my old car whose body was kept mint for 19 years and I still regret selling (2003 Corolla T-Sport) <3 I just machine washed once a year and hand washed as needed. I didn't put any wax or coating protection but I did keep up the headlights with buffers+hand drill+disc twice a year cos they were the kind of plastic that fogs quickly. It's kind of a brand/model lottery with those still, and my Toyota was getting on and you can't just buy new plastic, it's not a separate part.

I realize my reply is kind of anecdotal... so I welcome any and all tips for my Insignia as well.

[Lizard]

Dents, yes they do come out if you get the right people to do it, had mine done today and they make it look easy. He had so many bendy shaped and bent metal tools it was unreal, kind of resembled what I can only image to be lizzard-t bottom fetish drawer...

[MattG]

Preparation, hard work, and experiment.
The Turtle Wax Acrilic polish and wax does a great job by hand and machine polisher.
Accept minor imperfections, otherwise you will be chasing your tail for weeks, then if you get what you want it will be gone within a week. A bad wash, roadworks, shop carpark etc etc.
I'm using the Turtle Wax Graphene products, work really well and with less effort that others.


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