A good question

[clk320x]

After speaking to a mate, who has his car washed in the local £5 place, he told me. What’s the point of paying £25 for a valeter to come round etc, this way I can wash it much more often, and Have it machine polished every once in a while (1 time a year perhaps) for £80 and get rid of all the swirls...

To this I had no answer... he won’t do it himself

What do you think?
Abs

 

[KillerHERTZ]

To remove the swirls, your cutting the rest of the lacquer down to that level, you cant do it forever as the lacquer is only so thick. the more you use the local £5 place, the more damage they will do.

 

[chrisk2010]

I caved two weeks ago and took it to the £5 place at the end of road for an in & out (£15) while i nipped to the post office and they done a Sh*t job. Even though i gave them two new sponges from the boot and was the first in as they were filling with fresh water.... In case your wondering i did it myself the next day with a good washer polish, glaze and wax as they undid all my hard work with traffic film remover.

I think of them like Mc Donalds you get it because it's quick and easy but always leaves you disapointed with yourself that you didn't just wait a longer and cook a nice lasagne.

Have it machine polished every once in a while (1 time a year perhaps)

At least it'll look good once a year

 

[ph47mf]

because a £5 car wash never cleans properly. i do go there sometime for a quick clean before i go somewhere important for example and i haven't got time to do it myself but everytime i get out the car to inspect the job there's something they haven't touched on. they are always quick but that's a bad thing doing this.

 

[daveenty]

As KH states above really. To polish a scratch out you have to remove material from around the scratch to take it to the lowest level. This applies to anything; wood, metal, paint or, in this case, lacquer.

Think of this as your scratch: -v- where the V is the scratch and the lines are the top surface. The surface has to be abraded down to the lowest level, which is the bottom of the V in this case.

This cannot be done too many times before you're through the clear coat and into the paint itself, necessitating a minimum repair of new clear coat. Not a cost effective method really...

Even though i gave them two new sponges from the boot

Quick tip: NEVER use a sponge on car paint if you want it to last. They WILL scratch it.

Lambswool mitts are good, microfibre mitts are OK, microfibre cloths are passable in a temporary situation.

Sorry, possibly pedantic but I'm like that with my cars.

 

[chrisk2010]

lol i know but i had two new in the packet in my boot as we order hundreds at work and prefered to give them those than the mits they had which looked like they would have sanded the paint off.

No need to appoligise for being pedantic if i had the mits from home that i machine wash, dry and seal in a zip lock after each use i would have asked them to use those.

 

[Toobad]

TBH Abs, you are perplexed by his thinking because the condition of his paintwork is more important to you than it is to him. Detailing is just like any other hobby so not everybody "gets" it. I couldn't sit all day dangling a hook in the water or watch 22 men kick a ball around for 90 minutes. He obviously prefers to drive a clean car but whether it is covered in a myriad of scratches is of little concern to him so he has chosen the line of least resistance which allows him time to do other things of more interest.

I, on the other hand, enjoy cleaning to the molecular level. I have to choose my spot in a car park by evaluating the age, condition and location of every other car lest Red Ken catches something or is placed in mortal danger. I will avoid that immaculate 15-year old Honda Jazz as much as that grime-encrusted Vauxhall Corsa sporting a 3" diameter exhaust pipe. I detailed my neighbour's Kia Sportard and it impressed him immensely yet 6 months later when it got its next clean, I watched him wash the car with Fairy Liquid using a single bucket and starting with the wheels first! There will always be people whose idea of a valet is to give the wheels a wipedown with the moss gathered from the window seals. And I will continue to sit in judgement of them

 

[Alex225]

To remove the swirls, your cutting the rest of the lacquer down to that level, you cant do it forever as the lacquer is only so thick. the more you use the local £5 place, the more damage they will do.

Exactly this. There's only so many times you can correct lacquer before you basically don't have any more to cut back. Admittedly if done properly you could probably do it a fair few times but not a full correction regularly. Also, how good is a correction going to be for £80!! That's where my skepticism would lie.

Also, swirl marks are inevitable. No matter how carefully you wash the car, how many products you use and how meticulously you pre-wash the vehicle they will appear. Apart from the swirls there's a number of things that local hand car washes do that I'd want to avoid for my cars. Firstly they use pressure washers very close to your car, not ideal if you have any chips in the paint for example. Secondly they use harsh traffic film removers and acids on wheels. Thirdly you have no idea how overused the mitts/cloths are they clean you car with. They'll drop them and pick them up and carry on. Yes, they wash the car from the top down then pick up the mitt and wash the next car with it.

To be fair if someone is adamant their local hand car wash is great, then so be it. If they're happy and all that. I'd rather wash my car once a month by hand, myself than use a hand car wash every week.

 

[Scott_F]

I caved two weeks ago and took it to the £5 place at the end of road for an in & out (£15).....

I think you may possibly have been overcharged.

 

[T5R+]

Your mate's logic is "bang on".

Ultimately depends on - if you can walk past your car and not notice the "damage" inflicted by these places.

Personally, I would rather drive a filthy car than allow the "£5 valeters" at any of my cars. In fact have not been able to wash my commuter car for the last 2 weeks and each Monday morning have been "ripped" by colleagues at work, as the car is generally peachy after the weekend but currently full of road grime. £5 wash at the local "scratch and grind" is tempting but just know that I would be disappointed.

 

[Scott_F]

I caved two weeks ago and took it to the £5 place at the end of road for an in & out (£15) while i nipped to the post office and they done a Sh*t job.

I've no idea why but that has made me laugh more than anything else for at least a week.

 

[Larkone]

I've no idea why but that has made me laugh more than anything else for at least a week.

sames as 4hr Dry Cleaners - 'yes that will be two days sir', 'but you are called 4hr Dry Cleaners', 'yes that just the name of the shop, it will be two days'

 

[chrisk2010]

I think you may possibly have been overcharged.

What doesn't over charge ? It just depends whats local and what everyone else charges.

 

[markwibbs]

£80 for a machine polish is the sort that leaves holograms all over your bodywork, an optional extra no known manufacturer offers at the initial point of sale, but which seems quite popular.

Like T5R+ above, I'd rather leave my car dirty than have my time and cash investment ruined on ANY of my cars for the sake of it looking temporarily 'clean' but regretting the decision for months afterwards.

But I do understand that not every car is owned, people care less about leased/company cars and often cars in general. Sadly I find car washing rather therapeutic, having felt contented on Saturday after doing 3 of ours.