Waxing your car

EssexExile

I just let the chaps who speak in strange tongues wash it when it gets really dirty.

BOWFER

If the car is new I wouldn't bother with a polish, I'd go straight to wax.
This is assuming it's not covered in tar spots.
Seriously, car paint care is a rabbit hole you DON'T want to go down....keep it a minimum....
Good quality wax every now and then, on top of the one before, and enjoy.

neilmcl

Arsenal2019 said:

neilmcl said:

Arsenal2019 said:

Ant555 said:

If you have decent paintwork to start with then you have pretty much nailed the waxing bit - I try not to leave the wax on for too long and never apply it in direct sunlight.  Have a few micro fibre cloths to hand.  You might be surprised how little wax you need for a car panel.  However the results can be absolutely brilliant - I tend to wax once in spring, probably again in July and then at the end of the 'season' on a decent dry weekend on my MX5 (which has crap paintwork so needs a lot of attention) - my newer car, I will proper wax it once per year.

If your paintwork is iffy then set aside a decent chunk of time for all the prep as that is the important bit - I recently discovered 'clay bars' and although brilliant, you have easily lost a whole day once you head down that route!

At the moment, I am using this wax product
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00078XL2O
 - although I have a tub in the shed full of preparation cleaner and polish products!

Thank you. Yeah my bodywork is in good condition as the car is still relatively new . So when I come to re-waxing the car? How do I remove the old wax? Does simply washing the car remove the wax?

If you want to do it properly then you need to do what's known as a full decontamination. You'd wash, de-tar, de-iron, clay, then polish before applying the new coat of wax. You only need to do this twice a year though and simply top up the wax in between.

Okay: so From what I’ve read about polishing, apply polish to a cloth and rub it in. Leave for a while and then buff off with a new microfibre cloth? Then repeat that process but with wax right after? 

Can you recommend a polish? A cheap-ish one??

Couple of polishes for beginners I'd recommend are, the old favourite, Autoglym SRP, or my personal go to, Bilt Hamber Cleanser Polish. You will need to get a good collection of microfibre cloths and applicators, a couple of very good sites I'd recommend:

https://www.in2detailing.co.uk
https://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk/

For a really good cloth for buffing and removing polish and waxes get some of these: https://www.in2detailing.co.uk/products/16-x-16-super-plush-470gsm-orange-microfibre-edgeless-korean-car-detailing-cloth

Finally a good product to use if you don't want to go the whole hog with waxing or you simply want to top up your protection after normal car washes is Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer (BSD). Look out for discount codes at Eurocarparts to get it fairly cheaply https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/sonax-xtreme-brilliant-shine-detailer-750ml-549992160. You can apply it after a wash and will leave a very good seal to the paint surface.

JustAnotherSaver

But does he want to go that far?

The fact he says a cheapish one makes me think he just wants his paintwork to look a bit fresh and maybe have a bit of water beading but doesn't want to spend too much time or money on it all so the basic of basic approaches will do.
And that's basic to your average guy, not basic to someone interested in detailing.

I could be wrong. Probably am. Who knows. 

BOWFER

Watch this thread deteriorate into a detailing frenzy.
Then the poor OP will become as obsessed as that guy with the Vauxhall Astra that has become infamous in detailing world, taking close up pictures of minute imperfections on his mass produced car......

Arsenal2019

Hahahahah! I just want it to look fresh and to have the water beading . It’s a 69 plate car, so would I have to go all out at the minute-? The paintwork is still good condition 

Ant555

Arsenal2019 said:

Hahahahah! I just want it to look fresh and to have the water beading . It’s a 69 plate car, so would I have to go all out at the minute-? The paintwork is still good condition 

Wash it well, stick some wax on, buff it up and it will most likely look absolutely brilliant.   Then, take a look at it when the warmer weekends are upon us and see if it still looks gleaming.

As already suggested, washing your car can take up most of your weekend (and spare cash) if you want it to   

BOWFER

Get the tar spots off, slap some wax on.
For tar spot removal, I use stuff called TARDIS and it's amazing.
But if you don't want to buy a specific product, WD40 on a rag works well too

Biggus_Dickus

BOWFER said:

Get the tar spots off, slap some wax on.
For tar spot removal, I use stuff called TARDIS and it's amazing.
But if you don't want to buy a specific product, WD40 on a rag works well too

OMG!...the ‘haters’ will be along shortly! 

BOWFER

Biggus_Dickus said:

BOWFER said:

Get the tar spots off, slap some wax on.
For tar spot removal, I use stuff called TARDIS and it's amazing.
But if you don't want to buy a specific product, WD40 on a rag works well too

OMG!...the ‘haters’ will be along shortly! 

Bring em'on I say