Bring me up to date please

[PrivateHireGuy]

Hi all,

It‘s been a looooong time since I detailed my car.

However, I‘m picking up my W213 from the dealer next Saturday and would like to get myself ready for some regular cleaning and could do with some advice/suggestions of some products to buy.

I used to really enjoy washing and clay-ing my old CLK cab, so what do you suggest to get that really nice, beads of water running off look?

Cheers.

 

[merc estate]

What colour is it?

 

[PrivateHireGuy]

What colour is it?

Black.

 

[AMGeed]

If you have a warm garage you could give the car the full treatment

Snow foam, rinse, two bucket wash with shampoo of your choice. Then rinse again.
Clay bar (or Meguiars Clay mitt from Halfords) the whole car using a good detailing spray or shampoo for lubrication.
Wash again with shampoo and rinse and dry.

Poorboys black hole glaze followed by Bilt Hamber Double Speed wax and a final spray with Sonax BSD should keep the car protected until spring and any paint correction and ceramic coating could be applied.

The Poorboys and Bilt Hamber work well on my black e class.

 

[merc estate]

Turtle wax ceramic black wax and spray polish give you a great shine as well

 

[PrivateHireGuy]

If you have a warm garage you could give the car the full treatment

Snow foam, rinse, two bucket wash with shampoo of your choice. Then rinse again.
Clay bar (or Meguiars Clay mitt from Halfords) the whole car using a good detailing spray or shampoo for lubrication.
Wash again with shampoo and rinse and dry.

Poorboys black hole glaze followed by Bilt Hamber Double Speed wax and a final spray with Sonax BSD should keep the car protected until spring and any paint correction and ceramic coating could be applied.

The Poorboys and Bilt Hamber work well on my black e class.
View attachment 121621

There’s a lot of stuff in there, that makes no sense to me.

Could you break it down a bit please?

 

[Reflection]

There are many levels of detailing to learn, from beginner washing and waxing, to the full obsessive pro approach, firstly budget will dictate where we start and secondly it depends on what level of paint finish you fancy? At this point i say each to their own, but its a slippery slope once you start looking for GLOSS!!

For me it started years ago washing and waxing every sunday, but i continued to learn more over the years all the way to a career change in to pro paint correction.

so.......keeping it very basic for you,

Stay out of strong direct sunlight (All products are easier to use out of the sun, particularly in summer)
Use a wash mitt not a sponge
Pressure wash pre-rinse ( remove all larger gritty/sandy particles before touching )
Large 10ltr Buckets ( search up two bucket method )
Hand wash using a strip wash (don't use a PH neutral shampoo at this stage as it has low degreasing qualities)
Dry with a Micro-fibre drying towel (no shammy)
Apply chosen wax/sealant ( use micro-fibre cloths to remove product)
To maintain the wax use a PH Neutral Shampoo until your ready to start again with a strip/decon wash and new coat of wax.

This is a very basic approach, but enough for many people, my Corsa Sri looked awesome for years on that approach, then came the dreaded hand polishing and then Machine polishing etc etc etc unfortunately as your OCD and detailing knowledge increases........SO DOES THE BUDGET!!

 

[LeeJV]

Have to agree with @Reflection on this, detailing has many levels depending on what you want, but is also a just as dangerous when using products in the wrong way that can cause more damage to paint and trims.

Just start with the basics as listed above.

My only preference over the above would be the multi mitt method approach rather than the 2 bucket method. It's personal preference in the same way detailing products are, finding products that work for you as there's no such thing as "the Best".

There's plenty of information about detailing methods in here, with products, techniques etc.
If unsure... just ask

 

[PrivateHireGuy]

Turtle wax ceramic black wax and spray polish give you a great shine as well

This one?

 

[PrivateHireGuy]

I appear to have £169 of Meguiar‘s product in my basket at Halfords.

 

[merc estate]

This one?

Yes i bought the polish and wax in that range, and was very happy with the results, i must admit i have only used that wax, you must keep it out of the rain for 24 hours and then it pops, i also use williams waterless wash and wax (wait) only as a carnauba wax for the quick and easy polish after. Detailing is a fun thing and ocd thing, i love doing what i can and have a garage full of waxes and polishes, thats the easy way out, but as you can see Leejv he is another level and it shows Wow what a job and car, but it all depends on how far you want to go. I was recommend the Turtle ceramic wax by a couple on here and was very happy with it. Good luck, don't forget buckets polishing pads cloths drying towel mitts etc etc. bye bye money.
You can look on youtube at all the recommendations of suff people have said and how to use them.
P.S. i also have the Poorboys black hole and megs top wax but have not tried them yet, but more on the shelf. If halfords runs out i'm sue you could go to a few of our garages for a look around the ****nal off stuff.

 

[LeeJV]

One more thing to add buddy.

Halford are OK, but there's plenty of choice when it come to suppliers of detailing products, in most cases you'll find they are cheaper, wider range of detailing products and better quality towels and so on.

Slims Detailing
Clean your ride
Clean your car
IN2 DETAILING
county detailing suppliers
This list is endless.

 

[PrivateHireGuy]

I appear to have £169 of Meguiar‘s product in my basket at Halfords.

A quick sense check if you wouldn’t mind folks.

This is what I currently have in my basket on Amazon…

• Meguiar's G190526EU Hybrid Ceramic Spray Wax 768ml Advanced SiO2.
• Meguiar's G17748EU Ultimate Car Wash & Wax 1.4L, Hydrophobic Polymer.
• Meguiar's G194000EU Ultimate Car Snow Foam Cannon Lance Kit.
• Meguiar's G180124EU Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner Iron Remover 709ml.
• Meguiar's G180224EU Heavy Duty Multi-Purpose Cleaner 709ml.
• Meguiar's A7301 Luxurious Lambs Wool Car Wash Mitt.
• Meguiar’s X1906EU Supreme Microfibre Car Cleaning Finishing Towel XL.
• Meguiar's X3003 Professional Car Wash Grit Guard.

I found an old £5 voucher from Halfords, so I used that to bag a couple of free 5 litre buckets.

 

[LeeJV]

A quick sense check if you wouldn’t mind folks.

This is what I currently have in my basket on Amazon…

• Meguiar's G190526EU Hybrid Ceramic Spray Wax 768ml Advanced SiO2.
• Meguiar's G17748EU Ultimate Car Wash & Wax 1.4L, Hydrophobic Polymer.
• Meguiar's G194000EU Ultimate Car Snow Foam Cannon Lance Kit.
• Meguiar's G180124EU Ultimate All Wheel Cleaner Iron Remover 709ml.
• Meguiar's G180224EU Heavy Duty Multi-Purpose Cleaner 709ml.
• Meguiar's A7301 Luxurious Lambs Wool Car Wash Mitt.
• Meguiar’s X1906EU Supreme Microfibre Car Cleaning Finishing Towel XL.
• Meguiar's X3003 Professional Car Wash Grit Guard.

I found an old £5 voucher from Halfords, so I used that to bag a couple of free 5 litre buckets.

To be brutally honest buddy, the only product that half decent is the Hybrid Ceramic wax.

The rest of those products aren't really that good and somewhat overpriced

If your using Ceramic wax then you wouldn't want to use the shampoo as it will mask the protective property's and the wax itself won't actually bond to the paint due to the shampoo hqvingbits own protection.

The from is way overpriced and doesn't perform any where near as good as others.

The wool wash mitt is too heavy and aggressive on paint and doesn't release dirt that well and can't be machine washed after use.

I've tested so many products over the years and always end up coming back to my personal favourite brands.

Don't have much time this morning but I'll do you a list of decent products and manufacturers.

In the meantime look at
BILT HAMBER Autofoam
Bilt hamber auto wheel
Bilt hamber auto Wash.

Carpro
Hydro 2 lite seat sealant
Carpro Elixir
Carpro reset shampoo
Carpro clarify glass Cleaner

Koch Chemie Greenstar APC

Chemical guys noodle mits or ragmaster.

all of these products are available at slimsdetailing as well as Meguiar's products too if you want to stick to that brand

Carpro drying towels

 

[rayaans]

Might be a little too late but DetailedOnline have some fantastic cost effective products. I came across them about a year or two ago and found most of my products are being replaced by DO ones.

My experience with Meguiars ceramic spray is so so - I dont find it much more durable than Sonax BSD which is almost half the price. Instead Id recommend something like Gyeon cancoat - cheap and actually lasts >6 months providing you do prep the car beforehand. Just bear in mind its an actual ceramic coating so does need polishing off if you get it wrong. Having said that, its so easy to apply. I did the C-class in less than 20 mins with it.

and when I say prep - I mean decontaminate with fallout remover, tar remover and wipedown.

You shouldnt really be claying the car unless you plan to polish it afterwards. As for snow foams - personally I plan to go without. Its probably one of the most overhyped type of products on the market and there's absolutely no evidence out there that it actually reduces swirl marks and scratches compared to simply pressure washing dirt off.