Car Cleaning/Care on a budget

sevlow

I intend having a real go at cleaning the families cars in the next few weeks. I have purchased a jet washer and today I checked ot some of the products on sale to keep on top of the cars paintwork and interior. Here goes with the list of things I may need - so can you offere alternatives, home made/cheaper
variations, cheaper places to buy or tips on how to save time & energy.

Real chamois leather £10 -15 - Do I really need, maybe an old flannel? or drive round a bit to dry it off.

Car shampoo with & without Wax - One or both or what about a bit of fairy?

Car Wax and Polish - What a lot to choose. Should I wax, polish or both and how often.

Tar remover - Well I can see the need but some of the polishes say they will remove tar. Anyway what about a bit of naiul varnish remover or white spirit.

Alloy wheel cleaner - Marketing gimmick?

Tyre Restorer - Supposed to make them look lovely and new. Shoe polish any good.

Interior shampoo - says it will clean fabric, and plastics. Mr sheen any good?

Car deoderiser - could do with this. Previous owner of one of my cars used to smoke so any tips on how to get rid of araoma appreciated.

Window wash - whts best and am i paying for more water than cleanerm, would a concentrate be better.

So there we have it. You canh haggle like mad for a hundred quid of a used car and then spend the same on cleaning products. I am sure we must have some experts and moneysavers with some valuable tips and alternatives.

Quincy_3

Sorry not a Budget im afraid.

I used to get all my stuff (ex valeter) from http://www.trafalgar.cc/

I would buy

Car Polish (wax), Fabric Cleaner, Alloy Cleaner, Rubberiser, Glass Cleaner, Screenwash, Rags, Chamois, Hydro Flex Blade, and all other manner of things they did only supply in 5ltrs at a time but the stuff is the dogs doo daas and it really does work out cheaper in the long run.


And for fags get and odour fogger http://www.bartonchemicals.co.uk/shop/view_product.php?product=IN195

tomstickland

I recommend:
-decent car wash (Halfrauds had a 3 for price of 2 offer a few weeks back)
-sponge
-Autglym polish
-Polish applicator
-Roll of polishing cloth from motor accessory shop or car body paint supply shop

Decent car wash will make most cars shine anyway, but nothing beats a polishing.

alloy wheel cleaner does work, but so does car wash and a sponge
tyre treatment really is not necessary

On the inside, carpet cleaner works well on carpets! Flash dash etc also works well.

scheming_gypsy

waste of time with the tyre stuff. It works a treat if you're just going to leave the car parked on the drive but as soon as you drive through a puddle etc they're no different than when you started.

rrockettman

Never never never use washing up liquid anywhere near your car!
It contains loads of salt to, amongst other things, thicken it and kill germs.
It will only rust your paintwork.
A real chamois will stop spotting when drying the car, but if you are going to use a wax for wet paintwork you won't need it.
For the interior, I don't like polishes that shine so just dust with one of those tail shaped static brush thingys.
Alloy wheels and tyres, I use the diluted car wash in a spray bottle and a washing up brush.
To deodorise, try febreeze or something similar.
Glass, I do use household window cleaner and newspaper to give a good finish. Use it after a wash wax to get the wax off the windscreen.
On the other hand, only drive around in the rain, most days this week. Your car will always looks as good as a clean one and save you time and money!!

vansboy

If you check out https://www.meguiars.co.uk you'll find some excellent advice on detailing & valeting your cars.

I'm a convert to their products now especially the waxes & wash stuff - expensive but they work VERRRY well.

If you want a lower priced product for the paintwork, assuming it's not a NEW car Mer is excellent choice. It is a polish, rather than wax, so will work alittle more harder than just waxing the car.

VB

Throbbe

I'm another obsessive car detailer. Without going too OTT:

Washmitt - sponges tend to trap dirt and grit and scratch your paint. A woolen mitt draws the dirt particles into the fibre.

Cheapest car shampoo you can find - they're all fairly similar

I'd also dry with a microfibre cloth rather than a shammy as they last longer, but you do need to get a good drying towel. https://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk sell a good Waffle Weave one. That said, you wont go far wrong with a leather.

Polishes are abrasive, waxes are not, but the two words are used fairly interchangeably. I'm not a fan of MER. It gives good results, but is harder to use than comparable products. I'd suggest Autoglym Super Resin Polish, or Meguiars NXT Tech Wax, both should be available in Halfords or similar.

Tyre dressing is a bit obsessive (yes, I do it ). For windows I'd use a household cleaner (or water and white vinegar). I'd say household cleaners will be fine for the interior. If you have small children, babywipes are good for cleaning interior plastic (I use the unperfumed ones!).

Cleaning alloys is a pain as brake dust is a pig to remove. If you do it regularly it's OK (polishing them makes it easier in future too), but if you can't be bothered to clean them religiously, I would go for a stronger alloy cleaner. Can't recommend a brand, but as Vansboy says, you can't go far wrong with Meguiars products.

vansboy

Cheapest car shampoo you can find - they're all fairly similar..... Throbbe, that's what you MIGHT think, till you try Meguiars stuf - expensive, but you use less & it's TOTALLY different to others you'll use!!

VB

Throbbe

vansboy wrote:

Cheapest car shampoo you can find - they're all fairly similar..... Throbbe, that's what you MIGHT think, till you try Meguiars stuf - expensive, but you use less & it's TOTALLY different to others you'll use!!

VB

Honestly chap, i know my Megs stuff. I currently use #38, #83, #80 and #21 on my show car and daily driver as well as their washmitt, brushes and claybars. I just didn't want to get too detailed on a post asking for some fairly basic advice.

Megs Gold Class Wash is very good and is certainly better than Tesco's own brand, but is it two or three times as good as the cost would imply? To you and I, yes, but to most people, I'd say no.

[detailing anorak]PM me your address and I'll send you a sample of Swissol Car Bath. Less sudsy then the Megs, but excelent lubrication and smells lovely! Unfortunately it makes the Meguiars stuff look like very good value.:eek: [/detailing anorak]

like-saving-money

im am a professional valeter and some of the comments on here had me in bits :rotfl: "Cheapest car shampoo you can find - they're all fairly similar..... :eek:" OK


You cannot clean a car on a budget if you want a good finish, as for meguires very expensive for quality of product you are buying, i use professional car cleaning chemicals and i have just started to sell the retail products (have a look http://www.stevescleenz.co.uk/online_shop.htm ) and this is what 90% of valeters will use across the world


right then here are the answers to your questions

Real chamois leather £10 -15 - Do I really need, maybe an old flannel? or drive round a bit to dry it off.

"dont bother buy yourself a microfibre towel these are available from £2 "

Car shampoo with & without Wax - One or both or what about a bit of fairy?

dont use washing up liquid as this is a degreaseer and will take all the polish and wax off your car damaging your cars paint work, i sell some good stuff and this has a high wax in it so when it comes to rinsing your car the water will bead off

Car Wax and Polish - What a lot to choose. Should I wax, polish or both and how often.
either polish is for when the paintwork looks dull and this will bring the shine back as wax if use when the paint is in good condition but again there are lots to choose from in the shops and dont just think the more expensive it is the better as this is not the case


Tar remover - Well I can see the need but some of the polishes say they will remove tar. Anyway what about a bit of naiul varnish remover or white spirit.

again dont use nail varnish remover or white spirit as this will damage you paint but even with a tar remover you still have to polish your paintwork again


Alloy wheel cleaner - Marketing gimmick?

no its not, as you do need certain chemicals to clean alloys as the brake dust that comes off you brakes is hot and burns into the clear coat on the wheels

Tyre Restorer - Supposed to make them look lovely and new. Shoe polish any good.

little tip for you here, for bumpers and tyres if you want them to shine buy some baby oil and apply using a sponge ( no i dont use this for my work i use a proper rubber dressing which lasts much longer and doesn't come off when going through puddles)


Interior shampoo - says it will clean fabric, and plastics. Mr sheen any good?

the only way you will clean car interior is to have it valeted as i use a special fabric cleaner which has colour enhancers in it, if you want to clean plastics just use a damp cloth or some soapy water


Car deoderiser - could do with this. Previous owner of one of my cars used to smoke so any tips on how to get rid of aroma appreciated.

this will have to be done buy a valeter as when a person smokes in the car the smoke soaks into the roof linings, seats , carpets and in the sound deadening behind the dashboard i use a machine called a thermal fogger and this fills the car with a deoderising smoke which gets everywhere and this neutralises the odour in the car

Window wash - whts best and am i paying for more water than cleanerm, would a concentrate be better.

you can just use normal window cleaner or just plain water spray on and wipe off with a microfibre
[/QUOTE]

hope that this has helped you

Jays

Sorry like-saving-money

I can't really tell which are your answers, can you highlight or change the colour on your answers so we can see them?

Jays