Washing and detailing

[DaveMack]

Thanks, Dan. I will speak to him ... obviously we need clearer lines of communication as to who has spoken to admin and who has not.

Dave

[mr_walker]

that being said, the high pressure self serve wash places are one of the worst things you can do to your paintwork, so they arent much better...

Excuse my ignorance, but what's wrong with the self serve car washes? I'm not allowed to wash my car at home because of water restrictions, and I want to steer clear of the automatic washes. I've been to the Vikings car wash at Erindale a couple of times (for you Canberra ppl) and it seems OK so far... am I going to get a nasty surprise sometime soon?

[HOLEIN1]

Be careful not to generalise but, not all of us are toold concerned with just getting paid

didint mean to generalise, thats why i said 'with my experience'

yes there are some good detailers out there, but people really need to be careful

have a look on the finalinspection and detailparadise forums - theres loads of DIY info on there and contacts to pros in your particular state

[HOLEIN1]

Excuse my ignorance, but what's wrong with the self serve car washes? I'm not allowed to wash my car at home because of water restrictions, and I want to steer clear of the automatic washes. I've been to the Vikings car wash at Erindale a couple of times (for you Canberra ppl) and it seems OK so far... am I going to get a nasty surprise sometime soon?

i wouldnt stress too much, depends on how fussy you are

main downers to them is that idiots use the brushes to clean their 4x4's, brake dust encrusted wheels and other rather dirty places

this basically means that the brush is FULL of micro swirl (aka 'swirl mark') causing dirt particles and will cause your paint work to look rather dull, especially darker colours. you will also find that some of those types of places also dont filter their water properly, and can cause water etchings due to all the road grime etc in the water

to avoid the scratches, use the high pressure gun to rinse it out for 30 secs or so to get most of it out...

with my old car (before the golf) i had a full paint correction done, and couldnt bear to scratch it up again. so instead of using the brush, i would go late at night with my usual bucket, car wash and microfibre mit and wash it there in the bay, kept both myself and the SA water restrictions happy

not saying that everyone has to go to these lengths, nor am i saying that swirl marks make your car look crap (after all they are impossible to eliminate 100%), just saying that a well maintained/polished car looks brilliant, no matter what it is...

[karldtz]

If you do have the time to clean the car 2 magic things you need.
1. the Magic Clay bar - basicially erases anything stuck to the paint (get the blue one - looks like a block of BluTac
2. P21S Carnuba Wax Paste - this stuff is absolutely brilliant - bought a shine up on my 10 yo car like it was brand new

[DMS_Dan]

Both are awesome products but for even better results try using the P21S paint cleansing lotion before the wax. Will give much more slickness and remove some swirling minor oxidations etc