# First time (proper) cleaning - questions and tips



## j_ono (Jun 4, 2012)

Hey

Over the weekend i have been purchasing a list of cleaning equipment for my mk2 Phantom Black TT. I'm a complete novice when it comes to cleaning cars properly, with my last car only ever getting a shampoo wash with a wash mit and drying towel.

With the help of the show and shine section and search, so far my cleaning equipment consists of the following at a cost of around £200 

*Exterior:*
- Meguiars Grit Guard Buckets x2
- Dodo Juice Basic of Bling Wash Pad
- Dodo Juice Born to be Mild Shampoo
- Dodo Juice Basic of Bling Drying Towel

- Dodo Juice Purple Haze Wax
- Foam Finger Wax Applicator
- Dodo Juice Red Tropical Mist Detailer Spray

- Dodo Juice Clearly Menthol Glass Cleaner
- Dodo Juice Basic of Bling Glass Cloth
- 4x microfibre cloths

*Wheels:*
- Virosol
- Autoglym Alloy Wheel Seal
- Zaino Z16 Perfect Tyre Gloss
- EZ Detail Mini Brush

*Seats & Interior:*
- Gliptone Liquid Leather Cleaner
- Gliptone Liquid Leather Conditioner
- Microfibre Cloth
- Soft Bristled Leather Cleaning & Nail Brush
- Baby Wipes (for dashboard)

*Now a couple of questions:*

I know the list could go on and on but for a starting point is that everything covered? 
I'm missing the clay bar for now as i'm slightly nervous with the thought of using that on the paintwork as a newbie. The other main product i think i may be missing is polish - but am i right in thinking that it's only really needed if you are claying and that wash and wax should be a good start? Or if polish is recommended what one would be best for phantom black??

Also this is probably a very silly question but having never used a lot of the products before like wax - can damage be done to the paintwork by waxing/buffing etc at all??

Many thanks


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## Ikon66 (Sep 12, 2003)

Autoglym SRP is a good polish with fillers for first timer


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## ScoobyTT (Aug 24, 2009)

Don't bother with clay, it is totally unnecessary.

You'll find a variety of general info here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=274113


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## Gizmo68 (Feb 26, 2012)

You really are going to need to polish the car IMO, especially with it being black otherwise you are not going to get it looking it's best as there are bound to be swirl marks that would benefit with a machine polish.

But before you do that you NEED to remove any fallout that is on the car, when the car is washed it should feel silky smooth - any roughness needs to be tackled before you apply any wax.
There are a number of ways of doing this, Scooby has his way, but another is certainly by claying the car, I am no expert on this but having both watched my (brand new) car being clayed and subsequently doing it myself 18 months later) it certainly removed all of the fallout left in the paint and without marring the paintwork, the trick is lots of lubricant.

Once clayed (or done Scooby's way) any swirl marks or scuffs will need polishing out, ideally by DA / rotary polisher for best results, you can certainly polish by hand but the finish will not be as good as a machine polish.
Wash the car again to remove any polish dust and then wax the car.

This is pretty much the basics but for a more in depth idea take a read of the 'sticky' posts on Detailing World:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=17


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## MarcF-TT (Jun 14, 2011)

Looks like a good list - I'd hate to think I've spent anywhere near that on cleaning products but that's the beauty of buying as you go along!

If you have silver/chrome exhausts, you'll probably want a tube of Autosol.

I actually think a clay bar is really worth it. It makes taking tar off really easy (unless you get something like Autosmart Tardis which I've heard good things about). Get "auto clay" - the only lubricant it needs is water so it's really easy after washing the car.


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## j_ono (Jun 4, 2012)

Thanks for the tips guys. It's quite scary spending that much money all in one go just for cleaning products but i'm hoping it's all worth it and i guess the majority of products only ever need to be bought once and re-used or sparingly so future shopping lists should be way cheaper.

So if i was to add a bottle of Autoglym Resin Polish - do i also need to get the Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection? From reading online it seems like the 2 go hand in hand but is there a need for it when i have the purple haze wax?

I'm still debating the claying - having just got the car i'm having horror stories of ruining the paintwork by doing it! I did look at the Meguairs clay detailing kit if i was to do it - is this a decent kit? And just to clarify once again - as long as i use LOTS of lubricant then in theory no damage to the paintwork will be made at all?


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## MarcF-TT (Jun 14, 2011)

Autoglym EGP is a sealant. As far as I know, choose a sealant or a wax - anyone else know any more about this?

First time I clayed the car I had the same thoughts but it was all fine, it just removes everything thats on the car. I'd be more worried about rubbing polish or wax onto the car without claying it, hence scraping around all the dirt that's still on the car!

Here's how mine looked after my first time using a clay bar: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=267451


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## j_ono (Jun 4, 2012)

Marc your car looks stunning in those pics!! Very impressed and really makes me want to get the clay bar on mine! What clay bar/kit did you use? Good point too about using wax on top of a dirty car - think you may have convinced me!! 

Regarding the sealant and/or wax - from reading up on this forum and detailing world I thought that was best practice although I'll happily just have wax, saves me a little bit of money having to buy EGP  but yeah any thoughts this...


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## reeso (Oct 24, 2011)

Dodo juice purple haze was a very good buy, lasts for ages and very easy to use, I clayed mine about a month ago and noticed a big difference.


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