My detailing is no different from 30 years ago - am I foolishly behind the times?

[Alex225]

Detailing?...... Id never even heard that term for "cleaning the car" until relatively recently.....more nonsense adopted from the US of A!! The words don't even make a lot of sense when it comes to car cleaning either when you think about it ....detailing to me sounds like doing all the final little bits (like using an artists brush in the air vents etc) AFTER you have cleaned the car, as in the final details.....but now seem to mean the whole job of valeting the car.......I must be getting old!!!

......anyway I'm off to get the hoover out and "detail" my house!!!!

It's term that's been used in the UK for probably the last 15+ years. Difference is in the US they just use it to refer to cleaning or valeting a car, standard stuff you see in Tesco car park.

Detailing to a professional or even hobbyist is just what the term says, it's more detailed cleaning. I take a fairly basic approach to detailing as I do it all myself outdoors, I don't have time, inclination or skillset to apply coatings etc. But with a handful of good products you can genuinely make a car look a step up from average. Then the budget and time is the limit as to how far you want to go!

 

[Teego]

Or the Eastern European guys who share an old vest for washing & equally old chamois for drying Believe they were taught the fine art of adding swirls & scratches by the main dealer valet crew

I've always found the Eastern guys to be great and skilfull as long as they have a good boss who wants repeat business. Things are changing now we are outside the EU and they can earn a decent living back home.
Anyway, I've stopped using any car wash. Mainly because they use weapons grade pressure washers which strips the lacquer faster than an Okinawa flamethrower. Happy to spend a couple of hours doing it myself.

 

[RogerSausage]

I'm literally the only person on my street (and probably development!) who washes my own car. I always have done too, with every car I own, and I actually consider it to be quite therapeutic.

I'm no master detailer, just a hobbyist, but I know my way around a DA polisher etc, and enjoy things like getting the wheels off and cleaning the arches or pulling the sill covers off and cleaning all the crap out! There's something very rewarding about standing back and admiring your own handwork...usually for it to then rain

Product-wise there's loads of snake oil and buzzwords out there (like the slightest drop of si02 content being branded  ceramic in giant letters), and I've probably tried most of them. I always tend to go back to old faithfuls though; Bilt Hamber snow foam and wheel cleaner, Auto Finesse citrus APC, FinishKare 1000P wax and Sonax BSD etc. I don't think there's any right or wrong product or process though as long as you're personally happy with the result.

 

[BigJase88]

I just went old skool on the missus mini cooper with Collinite 476S wax. Haven't found a better one yet

 

[SpikyMikey]

You're not a complete heathen then hahaha

I don't buy expensive drying towels, usually in packs of three where I can. They're very good and just chuck them in the washing machine. Usually last me quite a while.

A decent wax or sealant makes the car easier to dry too. A spray on product like Meguiars Hybrid Ceramic is super easy but the beading means the water is easier to dry off the car. Helps repel dirty too. Worth looking at to improve ease of washing if nothing else.

Bilt Hamber Double Speed wax occassionally when I can be @rsed, otherwise Snoax BSD are my go to shiny products. Especially love the Sonax. So easy for a lazy g1t like me.

 

[RogerSausage]

View attachment 128327



I just went old skool on the missus mini cooper with Collinite 476S wax. Haven't found a better one yet

That's how I feel about FK1000P too. Silver is notoriously difficult to achieve a "glossy" finish, but this stuff is brilliant. I must've been using it for at least 15 years now on various different cars...

 

[Alex225]

Bilt Hamber Double Speed wax occassionally when I can be @rsed, otherwise Snoax BSD are my go to shiny products. Especially love the Sonax. So easy for a lazy g1t like me.

Products have moved on so much in the last 5-6 years. When I was first getting into it in around 2007 it was just claying, machine or hand polishing, glazes at a push and hand waxes. There were sealants too but it was mostly about the carnauba waxes. Stuff you had to apply by hand which to be honest even today is rather satisfying.

That said, there are spray on sealants that last as well as the toughest waxes back then. The spray on wet products are amazing for what they are too. Gyeon Wetcoat is hugely impressive. You get beading from these products like you've just applied a fresh layer of wax.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Products have moved on so much in the last 5-6 years. When I was first getting into it in around 2007 it was just claying, machine or hand polishing, glazes at a push and hand waxes. There were sealants too but it was mostly about the carnauba waxes. Stuff you had to apply by hand which to be honest even today is rather satisfying.

That said, there are spray on sealants that last as well as the toughest waxes back then. The spray on wet products are amazing for what they are too. Gyeon Wetcoat is hugely impressive. You get beading from these products like you've just applied a fresh layer of wax.

Gyeon Wetcoat is incredible stuff

 

[MEMERC7]

In the end a car is a car, merely an appliance to get you from A to B. Fewer people that you imagine are impressed with its cleanliness, how much it might cost or what badges it has. Nice to have standards of course but hey it's 2022 & I'm beginning to realise there has to be more to life.

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Turtle Wax Ceramic Hybrid.

 

[OldskoolRS]

In the end a car is a car, merely an appliance to get you from A to B. Fewer people that you imagine are impressed with its cleanliness, how much it might cost or what badges it has. Nice to have standards of course but hey it's 2022 & I'm beginning to realise there has to be more to life.

My neighbours just about sneer at me for washing my car, let alone giving it a polish, wax, etc. However I find it therapeutic and enjoy the end result. I always go a bit mad on any car that is new to me (except when I had company cars), then just keep on top of it after that.

I thought I'd give it a rest yesterday and not disturb them with my DA polisher (their garden is near to our shared drive), then they had some kind of family BBQ and I spent the afternoon listening to shrieking and older kids shouting...

Years ago I'd use P1200 grade wet and dry with soapy water to wet sand, then T-cut by hand to polish back to a shine. I got better at spraying cars and bought a rotary polisher, but I guess the old Farecla G3/G10 stuff I used back then would be laughed at these days. To be fair the modern stuff is less messy as it doesn't need water spraying on it and therefore spattering the whole car with the stuff if I didn't cover it/mask it up. I read a book about 25 years ago that was about 'Detailing' though needless to say it was American, but I suppose it's become a ubiquitous term over here now too.

I've been digging out all my old stuff lately though; Autoglym Extra gloss protection that was half empty and I'd forgotten how easy it was to apply (until I get round to trying some ceramic stuff). I've also got a tin of 476S somewhere that I ought to try again as it seemed to last a lot longer than some BH stuff I tried using more recently.

 

[Alex225]

I'm literally the only person on my street (and probably development!) who washes my own car. I always have done too, with every car I own, and I actually consider it to be quite therapeutic.

I'm no master detailer, just a hobbyist, but I know my way around a DA polisher etc, and enjoy things like getting the wheels off and cleaning the arches or pulling the sill covers off and cleaning all the crap out! There's something very rewarding about standing back and admiring your own handwork...usually for it to then rain

Product-wise there's loads of snake oil and buzzwords out there (like the slightest drop of si02 content being branded  ceramic in giant letters), and I've probably tried most of them. I always tend to go back to old faithfuls though; Bilt Hamber snow foam and wheel cleaner, Auto Finesse citrus APC, FinishKare 1000P wax and Sonax BSD etc. I don't think there's any right or wrong product or process though as long as you're personally happy with the result.

I'm exactly the same, I find it enjoyable and therapeutic to get outside and give the car a clean. Funnily I have a neighbour who insists on cleaning his own car as, 'car washes will scratch it'. Otherwise it's just me and him washing our own cars on the road.

I'm with you on the whole product thing. There's always a buzz word or term with products. It was all about percentage of carnauba wax, ceramic was the next big thing and now it's graphene. I'm certainly appreciating some of these spray on products, certainly to top up protection but like you I always turn back to my old school products. Give me a bit of Collinite or Dodo Juice wax any day! haha

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

In the end a car is a car, merely an appliance to get you from A to B. Fewer people that you imagine are impressed with its cleanliness, how much it might cost or what badges it has. Nice to have standards of course but hey it's 2022 & I'm beginning to realise there has to be more to life.

I doubt many people who are buoy cleaning their car to very high standard to it to impress others.

 

[RogerSausage]

I doubt many people who are buoy cleaning their car to very high standard to it to impress others.

I agree, I've never once cleaned a car to invoke a reaction from someone else!

 

[BigJase88]

My neighbours just about sneer at me for washing my car, let alone giving it a polish, wax, etc. However I find it therapeutic and enjoy the end result. I always go a bit mad on any car that is new to me (except when I had company cars), then just keep on top of it after that.

I thought I'd give it a rest yesterday and not disturb them with my DA polisher (their garden is near to our shared drive), then they had some kind of family BBQ and I spent the afternoon listening to shrieking and older kids shouting...

Years ago I'd use P1200 grade wet and dry with soapy water to wet sand, then T-cut by hand to polish back to a shine. I got better at spraying cars and bought a rotary polisher, but I guess the old Farecla G3/G10 stuff I used back then would be laughed at these days. To be fair the modern stuff is less messy as it doesn't need water spraying on it and therefore spattering the whole car with the stuff if I didn't cover it/mask it up. I read a book about 25 years ago that was about 'Detailing' though needless to say it was American, but I suppose it's become a ubiquitous term over here now too.

I've been digging out all my old stuff lately though; Autoglym Extra gloss protection that was half empty and I'd forgotten how easy it was to apply (until I get round to trying some ceramic stuff). I've also got a tin of 476S somewhere that I ought to try again as it seemed to last a lot longer than some BH stuff I tried using more recently.

I still have a rotary and farecla in the shed.

Also just put Collinite 476S on the Merc today

 

[Rashman]

That's how I feel about FK1000P too. Silver is notoriously difficult to achieve a "glossy" finish, but this stuff is brilliant. I must've been using it for at least 15 years now on various different cars...
View attachment 128328

It’s a good wax. Very durable.
I use FK1000P & FK2685

I alternate between the two.

 

[RogerSausage]

It’s a good wax. Very durable.
I use FK1000P & FK2685

I alternate between the two.

I've never used the FK2685, do you find there's much difference?

 

[Rashman]

I've never used the FK2685, do you find there's much difference?

The 2685 is a softer paste wax, so easier to apply and buff off.
The 1000P feels stodgier to apply and, once dry, also feels harder to buff off.

I can’t say I notice a difference in finish - mostly because I wax the car more often than most and alternate between the two waxes. But if I remember correctly, the finish/ shine is supposed to be superior with the 2685. But I guess it’s down to the eye of the beholder.

Lost count how many times I’ve waxed the car.

I originally started using the 2685 and was pleased with the results, so I stuck with it.

I then started using the 1000P too, because of its claimed greater durability over the 2685 and resistence to higher temperatures (summer heat & UV).

That’s when I started alternating between the two. No particular reason really. Just decided to carry on with both of them, layering one after the other.

 

[RogerSausage]

The 2685 is a softer paste wax, so easier to apply and buff off.
The 1000P feels stodgier to apply and, once dry, also feels harder to buff off.

I can’t say I notice a difference in finish - mostly because I wax the car more often than most and alternate between the two waxes. But if I remember correctly, the finish/ shine is supposed to be superior with the 2685. But I guess it’s down to the eye of the beholder.

Lost count how many times I’ve waxed the car.

I originally started using the 2685 and was pleased with the results, so I stuck with it.

I then started using the 1000P too, because of its claimed greater durability over the 2685 and resistence to higher temperatures (summer heat & UV).

That’s when I started alternating between the two. No particular reason really. Just decided to carry on with both of them, layering one after the other.

Thanks for the info

Yeah as I understand it the pink wax leaves a slightly softer and less "clinical" finish than the 1000P. I might give some 2685 a whirl and layer it over the 1000P and see what it's like.

 

[Rashman]

I've never used the FK2685, do you find there's much difference?

One other thing probably worth mentioning:

After I wax the car, I let it fully cure over night. I’ll also go over the car with a micro fibre and brush to get any wax residue that I may have missed when buffing the wax off.

Then, I wipe the car down with FK #425 (their detailing spray).

I’ve used a few detailing sprays and I can say that in my opinion, the 425 is hands down the best.
Unrivalled shine and slippery feel.

So, I wax the car, then wipe it down with 425.
And no, I’m not worried about the 425 removing the wax.
The 425 is not a cleaning product.
The 425 leaves the car feeling more slippery than any wax I’ve used, including the 2685 & 1000p.

Have you tried the 425?
If not, get some. Even a sample bottle.
Thank me later.

Incidentally, 425 is what I use to clean the car too, after driving it. Body, wheels and windows.
I don’t use water/ cleaners.