Best wax / polish for cars ?

Ebe_Scrooge

So, we've just bought a new car ( well, used, but new to us ). It's in good condition, and I'd like to keep it that way ! Now, the old car always seemed to end up with finger prints on the paintwork - not just dirt, they actually seemed to be "embedded" in, if you get what I mean. They wouldn't wash off, I ended up having to T-cut them out. So, 2 questions :


1. What do you think caused this ? I've heard people say that suncream can be the culprit, but this seemed to happen at any time of year. I'm guessing maybe the paint had got soft over the years, lost its protective coating, and it was sweat that was causing it ? Don't know, I'm just guessing.

2. I want to prevent this happening on the new car. I'm assuming that a decent layer of wax or polish would be a good idea ? ( Actually, can anyone explain in layman's terms what the difference between wax and polish is ? ) Anyhow, suggestions please for the best product to give long-lasting protection ? I realise that everyone will have a different idea of what's "best", but I'm open to suggestions. I don't mind paying out for some decent stuff if it's going to work.


Many thanks in advance.

tykesi

Polish is used to prepare the paint before applying the wax. Polishes will take a minute layer of paint off and a lot of them have fillers in to get rid of swirl marks or extremely fine scratches.

Once the paintwork has been polished (by hand is possible but much better results from machine polishing) it is ready for the wax. The wax is the protective layer, once applied it will cause water to bead off and make future washes much easier. I usually give a good polish and wax every six months.

AutoGlym Super Resin Polish (SRP) is very highly regarded and dead easy to use. I've just bought a new 750ml bottle and done two cars (Civic and Z4) and still have over three quarters of the bottle left. SRP will give great results for an amateur looking to get a decent finish on their paint.

There's a huge range of waxes but no need to spend fortunes to get a decent finish. AutoGlym again, Meguiars gets good reviews and Farecla's G3 range seems to be more and more popular and can be picked up in Halfords (although cheaper elsewhere online).

It is worth doing I'd say. There's so much money you could spend on detailing but for someone just wanting a good shine and protected paintwork it is possible to get good results for not a lot of money.

For reference my recent basic detail on the cars was:

-Wash car with body detox shampoo (removes old wax & polish but no real need to use this, any shampoo will do)
- Use clay mitt to remove tar spots and ingrained dirt from the paint (again not really required but gives a good starting point for the polish)
- Wash again
- Dry
- Scratch remover paste on larger/deeper scratches
- Polish with SRP one panel at a time, working harder on the worst swirl marks and buffing off after five minutes
- Wax applied and buffed off after five minutes

All in all this took me three hours for the Civic and two and a half for the Z4 but I won't need to do either again for at least six months. Some people like having it done a lot more often but I'm not so an@l, I'd rather drive my cars than spend most of my time cleaning them. Just need to do the wheels and interior on both now - joy!

khcomp

Good recommendation from tykesi, I could do with him popping round to mine for a couple of days with his chammy! I struggle to find the time to do it myself, and there's a great little local valet company that will do the full works, inside & out, wheels & tyres for £20 - £30 (for a VERY dirty large hatchback I use for work). For a car that's clean in the first place, they have only charged me £8 in the past for inside & out, and the car looks like new.
In response to the original post, I had a Vauxhall a couple of years ago & found the paint INCREDIBLY thin and soft & prone to marking very easily. Wax or resin top coats should afford some sort of protection.

Ebe_Scrooge

Thanks for the advice - and particularly to Tykesi for the very detailed and helpful advice. As you alluded to, I'm not one of these folk that are obsessive about detailing, I just want it to look reasonable and, more importantly, to protect it - I've spend a lot of my hard-earned cash on it ! :beer:

tykesi

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

Thanks for the advice - and particularly to Tykesi for the very detailed and helpful advice. As you alluded to, I'm not one of these folk that are obsessive about detailing, I just want it to look reasonable and, more importantly, to protect it - I've spend a lot of my hard-earned cash on it ! :beer:

Exactly. I must say this year I've got quite into reading about the different types of detailing and different products which can be used. I've pretty much left it at reading about it though because if I did everything I want to do to get the cars looking how I want them I'd spend all weekend every weekend doing that and none of it driving the things.

I reckon I've spent just short of £100 on kit and products so far this year but all of those will last me three years at the very least so in the grand scheme of things not bad really.

One thing I forgot to say, once you've done it never EVER use an automated car wash or your local friendly hand car wash, these will take you right back to square one with their industrial chemicals and filthy cloths/sponges/chamois. A quick hand wash every couple of weeks being careful not to get any grit in your cloths etc (two bucket method is best for this) will keep it looking tip top.

mchale

Bilt hamber products always get good reviews.

photome

Look at poorboys products, they are easier to use than most, can be used in sun and give a great result for a relatively low outlay.

Have a read of any of the detailing forums for further info/ recommendations

I'm use the poorboys black hole and the wax, they smell great too

Mobeer

I tend to follow a patter like:
- wash every 2 weeks (bucket of shampoo, bucket of water)
- wax every 2 months
- polish every 4 months (by hand, machines need too much skill)
- clay once a year

If you have embedded dirt then a clay could help. I like Bilt Hamber Auto Clay, in part because its cheap when you take into account that it can be used with just water as a lubricant. [Never use a dry clay bar!]

For a brand new car I would treat myself to a protection detailing (but not from the dealership, from a specialist).

force_ten

what colour is your car as it makes a difference how you treat it/protect it?

from what you said about you want it to look good and not take a lot of effort to keep it like that then the autoglym super resin polish followed by extra gloss protection may be a good way to go and then

wash with autoglym shampoo or a PH neutral car shampoo that will not be to harsh on your paintwork, dry the car and give it a spritz over with a quick detailer

the wheels are the one area that many neglect and they can really let your car down if the wheels are really clean now i would get a couple of coats of wax or sealant on them now and that will make them easier to clean when it is time to wash the car

Ebe_Scrooge

force_ten wrote: »

what colour is your car as it makes a difference how you treat it/protect it? Silver - as are, it seems, the majority of cars these days !

from what you said about you want it to look good and not take a lot of effort to keep it like that then the autoglym super resin polish followed by extra gloss protection may be a good way to go and then - Yep, like I say, I'm not anal about it, but don't mind a bit of hard work every so often to protect my investment.

wash with autoglym shampoo or a PH neutral car shampoo that will not be to harsh on your paintwork, dry the car and give it a spritz over with a quick detailer

the wheels are the one area that many neglect and they can really let your car down if the wheels are really clean now i would get a couple of coats of wax or sealant on them now and that will make them easier to clean when it is time to wash the car - For sure, wheels are the one area that always suffer - and in hindsight, I wish I'd taken more care over the wheels on my old car. Like I say, I'm not a perfectionist, but they certainly do make a whole heap of difference to the overall appearance

Thanks for your advice - the car is coming from a dealer, so is pretty much up to scratch, and will be valeted and serviced etc. I guess where I'm coming from - I've learnt from my mistakes in the past, and this car has got to last us a good ten years or so, so I want to look after it. Mechanically, no issues, I'm happy tackling most jobs myself, and have a diamond mechanic who looks after me for stuff I can't deal with. But I just don't want it to suffer with the inevitable bodywork damage that comes with 3 kids and a dog, if I can avoid it !

EssexExile

I wash my car every spring, whether it needs it or not. That is all.