# Anything missing?



## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

I plan to ease myself into the world of detailing after notcing how hard it is to keep my black car clean and how many tiny scratches there are down the passenger side (hedges etc) Am i missing anything vital from the list of stuff i plan to buy below?

Meguiars Lambs Wool Wash Mitt,
Meguiars Bucket & Grit Guard Combination,
Meguiar's Quik Clay Detailing System,
Meguiar's Gold Class Clear Coat Liquid Wax Inc FREE Applicator Pad,
Professional Microfibre Car Cleaning Cloth X 2 (to apply polish on and rub off?)

All these can be birthday present as i have one coming up! I already have a leather shammy and some oldish Autoglym Super resin polish.

Any thoughts or anything obviously missing or wrong?


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## XTR (Mar 2, 2006)

Bin the leather shammy!  and get a plush microfibre towel.

www.cleanyourcar.co.uk


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## CamV6 (Oct 26, 2003)

Two things,

1. If you ate gonna bother with a grit guard then consider a 2nd bucket and do the "2 bucket method"

2. Ditch that particular liquid wax. The finish is good but the longevity is poor. If you want to stick with Mega products, go for Megs #16 paste wax.

Personally I'd use the SRP and then add and a sealant stage (Mega 20 or 21) before or instead of any wax


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## Jac-in-a-Box (Nov 9, 2002)

I'd forget the Lambs wool mitt too....despite assertions to the contrary, they can and do hold grit. Buy the Megs Microfibre wash mitt; just so safe, longer lasting and holds plenty of water as well.

There was a post on "retailingworld" afew years ago where a pro-detailer went through a lambs wool wash mitt that had been used a few times and then washed. He gave it a bit of grooming with a fine toothed dog comb - the amount of grit that was raked out was quite amazing.

Curly bunches of wool - think about it, they're prone to trapping grit. Microfibre mitt - nice straight and not overly long fibres, the grit won't sit in it :wink:

Grit guards? Another useless piece of frippery!

Dave


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## SVStu (Dec 11, 2006)

What is all this grit guard talk now, when I was a lad if you didn't let the sponge (I was young so please forgive me, I now have a mit) sit in the bottom of the bucket it didnt pick up the grit in the bottom. The trick was not to let it sink but keep hold of it :roll:


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## tt9060 (Mar 10, 2004)

SVStu said:


> What is all this grit guard talk now, when I was a lad if you didn't let the sponge (I was young so please forgive me, I now have a mit) sit in the bottom of the bucket it didnt pick up the grit in the bottom. The trick was not to let it sink but keep hold of it :roll:


 you may have single handedly caused the collapse of the grit guard bucket industry, hope you pleased with your self !


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## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

Cheers guys i will follow your suggestions and buy the Megs Microfibre wash mitt and just use two buckets.

Cam V6 do you mean this stuff for the wax Meguiars NXT Tech Wax Paste 2.0? And you've lost me completely with 'Personally I'd use the SRP and then add and a sealant stage (Mega 20 or 21) before or instead of any wax ' :?:


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## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

Ah now im with you - the polish then the sealant! What do you put it on with? Would wax still be required after??


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## Jac-in-a-Box (Nov 9, 2002)

If all these cleaning goodies are gifts (given by yourself to yourself, or otherwise!) did a little deeper and don't bother messing around mixing and matching products from different sources - it makes life difficult for you, you won't achieve the best finish and it'll leave you wishing you'd listened to good advice which I'm about to give :wink:

First of all the Megs clay is not as good as you can get for cash. Go to www.motorgeek.co.uk and buy some DP detailing clay, it comes with free detailing fluid too. Masses more than the Megs stuff and it can be used with soapy water as a lub.

Now comes the hard part, polishing. You can do it the easy way or the hard way. 
The easiest without any doubt is to use some Cleaner Fluid from Swissvax. An absolute doddle and joy to use in comparison to any other off-the-shelf products. It's a superb paint cleaner, polish and primer for a decent wax...it'll leave your paint with a fabulous high gloss finish without too much effort - certainly less effort than anything else out there.
A small bottle will cost you £20.00 and a large bottle will cost you around £35.00.

Finish with one of their waxes, either Saphir at £68.00 or Best of Show at £120.00...sharp intake of breath at the cost?! :wink: 
Well do a little maths...one tub will give around 30-35 applications on a TT size car. One application will last around 3 months. Pretty economical really?

Again the wax is pretty much a wipe on, wipe off and stand back and admire product as you're ever likely to see. Wax on - wax off a TT in 40 mins without breaking a sweat.

Plenty on here are using it - some are still on the same tub of wax they bought 4 years ago.

Anyway, don't take my word for it - ask others or dig around this part of the forum, plenty of pictures posted by those who're chuffed with the results 

And no, I have no vested interest in getting you to buy or use the stuff...I broke my association with SV last year. I still use it professionally and believe me, if I thought there was anything out there that could match the results at a cheaper price I'd be using it!

Dave


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## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

Thanks for the advice Dave - i dont doubt that you know your stuff but i just want to ease myself gradually into the whole world of intense car cleaning! If claying only needs to be done twice a year as ive read then i will try the cheaper Mags option first and although i will try the swiss vax cleaner i really cant justify (at this time anyway) that much for wax! Will a wax of some sort be essential afterwards or can i get away with a sealant as suggested by CamV6?


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## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

paceyjg said:


> Thanks for the advice Dave - i dont doubt that you know your stuff but i just want to ease myself gradually into the whole world of intense car cleaning! If claying only needs to be done twice a year as ive read then i will try the cheaper Mags option first and although i will try the swiss vax cleaner i really cant justify (at this time anyway) that much for wax! Will a wax of some sort be essential afterwards or can i get away with a sealant as suggested by CamV6?


One further thought Dave - there are a lot of faint scratches down the passenger side (obviously from bushes etc) and some much more pronouced ones just below the drivers door so would the cleaner you recommended be suitable for this? Sorry for all the questions :?


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## Jac-in-a-Box (Nov 9, 2002)

No need to apologise...ask away. I offer the advice freely (as do others) It's for you to sift through the answers and make a judgement according to your needs and budget 

Lets look at a few of the points you've raised...

Yes, that much for wax! You very much get you pay for in terms of car care products - I've found that over the years. The SV is costly but the results, ease of se and more importantly ease of maintenance once done really justifies the high initial outlay. When looked at in terms of cost per application something like Saphir stacks up very favourably against some of the products you've considered.
If you think the prices I've mentioned are costly some cost up to £8k - yes, eight grand! However, I've seen the results of some of these uber costly waxes and once you get past £120.00 the law of diminishing returns starts to bite hard...very hard.

None-the-less, if those I've highlighted as being a good choice don't sit comfortably with you - fair enough. One day perhaps!

So, you've got a blackcar...I'll tell you now that a sealant on it's own will give the paint a very clinical and cold look that lacks any depth (on a lighter colour, Silver etc, the results are somewhat different) Subjective terms I know, but if you saw a car finished with a sealant compared to one finished with wax you'd see what I'm describing. Some folk like that and that's fair enough.
My big problem with sealants is that I think they're very susceptable to environmental conditions and with the cold damp weather they will not cure properly unless they're sheltered and subject to some some warmth and completely kept away from any damp.
Now I know some will cry foul and say that's absolute bollo*ks...they'll ring the makers and tell you they've said it's completely untrue - well, they would, wouldn't they?!

If you want to use a relatively inexpensive sealant (it's an acylic based semi-sealant come chemical non-aggresive paint cleaner) "Klasse-All-In-One" could be a good bet for you it's part of a package known as the "Klasse Twins" After using the Klasse AIO it can be topped off with multiple coats of Klasse SG which is a pure sealant...I don't recommend you buy or use the SG - it won't cure in this weather!
However, the Klasse-all-in-one could well work for you IF you put a couple of coats of wax on top - if you want a cheap and cheerful wax for this, try Collinite or something from the DoDo juice range - google will be your friend here.

Scratches - if you can feel them with a finger nail, you'll not get rid of them. You will be able to minimise their visual effects with ScratchX from Meguiars. It's a slow working product that takes patience and perserverance to get the best from. Just as importantly, it's very safe. Plenty has been written on here about how to get the best from it!

Klasse products from www.motorgeek.co.uk.

So, your cleaning regime will be:
Rinse car to get rid of loose dirt and grit with a jet wash or hose.
Wash car with mitt.
Rinse and dry if your using the Megs clay
Clay
Wash, rinse and dry.
Apply Klasse AIO with a damp cloth in straight lines only - round and round will give you swirls!
Buff Klasse off, leave for a few hours and apply a couple of coats of your chosen wax.

You'll get reasonable results without draining your wallet too much...better, much better results than the products on your original shopping list would :wink:

Dave


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## J55TTC (Apr 25, 2005)

Fantastic advice as always Dave


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## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

An even better idea is to save all the hassle and let somone else do all the work for you :wink:


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## XTR (Mar 2, 2006)

wallsendmag said:


> An even better idea is to save all the hassle and let somone else do all the work for you :wink:


Wheres the fun in that?!!!


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## Wallsendmag (Feb 12, 2004)

XTR said:


> wallsendmag said:
> 
> 
> > An even better idea is to save all the hassle and let somone else do all the work for you :wink:
> ...


When you go and have a look at the car when its finished and you can still feel your hands and stand upright. :lol:


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## XTR (Mar 2, 2006)

wallsendmag said:


> XTR said:
> 
> 
> > wallsendmag said:
> ...


Yeh but this way, you get the same effects as a Saturday night at the Big Market but still have cash in your wallet.


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## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

wallsendmag said:


> An even better idea is to save all the hassle and let somone else do all the work for you :wink:


O want to clean it myself . . i love my car i do


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## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

Thanks for the advice Dave


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## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

Got my new list - again let me know thoughts (have turtle wash and wax)

WAX £21.99
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/collinite ... b46b9db8a9
PADS £1.99
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/terry-app ... n-pack.php
SEALANT £18.99
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/klasse-al ... p?cPath=66
MIT £9.99
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/meguiars- ... h-mitt.php
CLAY SET £11.49
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/meguiars- ... system.php
DRYING TOWEL £12.95
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/chemical- ... h=21_60_62
POLISHING CLOTHES
http://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/microfibre-cloths.php


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## Jac-in-a-Box (Nov 9, 2002)

You're on the right track, the only item that gives rise to a slight cringe is the shampoo - "wash and wax" not good! Shampoo's with added "wax" really won't add anything except a smeary finish. Best use a straight shampoo.

The Halfords Advanced stuff works pretty well - 5ltrs will cost around £10/11.00

Look forward to seeing end results!

Dave


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## paceyjg (Aug 19, 2008)

Once again many thanks


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