The first clean...

My wife bought this fancy glass cleaning cloth a year or so ago.
Some sort of microfibre thing.
She uses it for windows,mirrors,TV screens etc.etc.

Just make it damp and off you go (the cloth,not the wife...)

Totally smear free,so I thought 'sod it' and gave it a go on my car windows.
It's bleedin brilliant outside and in.

I wish I could remember what it's called...
 
Bowfer - if you (or your wife) do remember, let us know.
 
yup, i agree. Got a bottle with my AutoGlym briefcase from the dealer, very good stuff.

lifeshine_kit.jpg
 
Autoglym is like what McDonalds is to an expensive restaurant...

Cures your hunger problem, but not for long and it's cheap.
 
I must admit I've got some of the Autoglym windows polish - works for a while but not long in my experience.
 
[ QUOTE ]
My wife bought this fancy glass cleaning cloth a year or so ago.
Some sort of microfibre thing.
She uses it for windows,mirrors,TV screens etc.etc.

Just make it damp and off you go (the cloth,not the wife...)

Totally smear free,so I thought 'sod it' and gave it a go on my car windows.
It's bleedin brilliant outside and in.

I wish I could remember what it's called...

[/ QUOTE ]


Meguiar's makes such a microfibre towel, with (get this) triangular section fibres /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif!!

It's called the "miracle" something or other, looks like a little towel, and as was said, works superbly well for windows and interior.
 
The cloth my wife bought was called an 'E-cloth' and she got it from John Lewis.
She seems to think it was around £13.00.
The cloth itself is blue and comes in a clear plastic box.
Amazing on anything glass-related.
 
I use Meguiar's NXT wash solution and microfibre glove for washing, and their Gold Class wax for shine and protection.

I've never cared for a car like this before, and the result, especially on Ebony black paint, is stunning. It gots its second coat of wax last night and it looks sooooo good!

I'll have to try that Zymol when I run out of gold Class.

Cheers!
 
So what? Autoglym pay Merc and Austin Martin to endorse their product and that means it's the best in the world?

It's rubbish, simple as.

You can buy it in any "Max Power" car store.

I only use Swissol waxes on my car, it cost a lot but lasts a long time as the tub is fairly deep and the water beads off your car like the day you waxed it 8+ months down the line. Autoglym won't get you a deep gloss wet finish and it won't stay on the car anywhere near as long.

Why pay so much for a car and care for it with cheap products?
 
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I dont know why people use a polish on a new car. But its a personal choice and the glazes do depend on an amount of work up front.
But I think perhaps its that many are not aware of the difference between a polish and a glaze.


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sorry, but i'm new to this car cleaning thing (didn't know it was this serious). what's the difference?
 
Ginner I use Swissol Shield which is one of the best ones for black.

8 months is just a figure I have because I left a gap of not waxing it (shame on me!) for 8 months and the water still beaded when it rained and when I washed it like it had just been waxed.

You just have to try it to believe it but I would have no problem spending it all again on Swissol or Zymol.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
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I dont know why people use a polish on a new car. But its a personal choice and the glazes do depend on an amount of work up front.
But I think perhaps its that many are not aware of the difference between a polish and a glaze.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




sorry, but i'm new to this car cleaning thing (didn't know it was this serious). what's the difference?

[/ QUOTE ]

Besides the regular washing products, you have polishes and waxes. A polish will be lightly abrasive and helps "refresh" an older paint. I wouldn't use polish on a new car.

A wax, on the other hand, is just a protective coating you apply on the car once it's clean and dry. It's a little time consuming, but the result can be stunning.

Don't worry, I'm new to this as well, and the terms employed can be misleading.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You still haven't told me how many mikes you can get from a tank of fuel Eeef.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't want to upset you /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Highest estimated was 855

Highest achieved before I could hear the fuel pump complaining..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.746 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/fuck_you.gif

Probably could have squeezed a few more out of it but didn't want to risk having to re-pressurise the system if I ran out of fuel.

Don't bother trying to beat it though, it was so dull. More of just a one off exercise to see how it compared to my old Golf 115

Average tank seems to last about 500 miles now.
 
So am I the only one that uses £3 Halfords' Shampoo and £3 'wax it wet' stuff then.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/fuck_you.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/goofy.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
awww crap.

I guess I'm gonna have to give this stuff a try. I presume the application method is the same as polish?

Who's good online for ordering the stuff?

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.vertar.com/zymol.asp

Try them they are the UK agents.
Now, well as for application, its not the same as ordinary polish. Its several steps, first is to wash you car and dry it, then you apply HD cleanse, which is a brown coloured thick liquid, you do small areas at a time, certainly no bigger than 1/3 to 1/2 of a bonnet at a time, its worth getting their applicator for this, this stuff removes all the crap and old polish on the paint, polish it off after about a minute. Dont do this and not apply the glaze as your paint has no protection. Next is the glaze (wax) application. For the better glazes the applicator is your hand. Thats right your hand, using a small amount of glaze about the size of a bean you slowly rub your hands together to melt the glaze, then apply it to the paint surface. You dont need much and it goes a long way, leave this on for a about thirty seconds to a minute, dont let it dry. Then with one of their special microfibre cloths (you will need one of these) you apply pressure and just wipe it off. The shine thats left is just amazing, let the wax set for a couple of hours and give it a buff up with a terry type of polishing cloth, once again the Zymol polishing cloths are ace. Thats it. Once the car is done all over there's no need to do the HD cleanse again and you can add extra glaze to bits of the car as you wish.
One last important point is now your car has the best wax protection on it dont wash it off next time you clean your car. Ordinary car shampoos will remove a significant proportion of ANY wax on there. Use a shampoo (and use it sparingly) that will not remove your wax. Guess what? Zymol (or Swissol) do shampoos that will leave your wax on. The Zymol is called CEAR, its not cheap but you only need a thimble full in each bucket of warm water.

So there you are, I can do a complete car in well less than a day.
STEVE.........

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/groovy.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
 
i might have gone off this idea i think. I paid extra cash for the Autoglym lifeshine treatment, and it sounds as if this HD cleanse stuff would probably strip it off.
 
Eeef it will strip it off...

Anything like that will polish it off.

The only people that those lifetime crap applies to are those that will never bother their **** to wax the car themselves.

Save your money, buy some decent wax (not Autoglym!!!) and your car will look better.

Just a gimick IMO!
 
I would guess it would strip it off, not much use using a glaze if it doesnt. It needs a clean paint surface to bond.
 
got to agree with steeve, just did my car with Zymol last weekend and was amazed at the results.

I had been wanting to try Zymol for ages, but when i bought the golf, the previous owner had zymol's it from new, so i coudln't let the side down and had to carry on using it.

Honestly, my car is tornado red and is over two years old, but it looked better than a brand new mkv tornado GTI which was parked in the dealers!

The best thing you could do is buy the starter zymol kit for £99, this includes the HD cleanse, the car wash, the Zymol wax plus either leather or vinyl cleaner. Plus two applicator pads, a wax applicator and a terry cloth.

Go on give it a try, you won't regret it!
 
@ Married blonde,

Did you run wheel spacers on the R32. Those CH's really make the car sit perfect!
 
iirc, Married had 5mm spacers behind each rear wheel of that sublime .:R, for a total of 1cm extra rear track...

They were FK, correct me MB if I'm wrong...
 
That swissol looks great! Good job!!

Just waxed (again!) my Ebony black A3 with Meguiar's Gold Class, it's sitting outside my office window, shining in the sun and begging me to take it for a spin...
 
[ QUOTE ]
@ Married blonde,

Did you run wheel spacers on the R32. Those CH's really make the car sit perfect!

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you the CH's are my all time favourite wheel, if I hadn't had them on my R32 I would definately get them for my a3 (still can't make up my mind which wheels to get ...)

The Ch's are the wrong offset for the car, they should be 35 but you have to get them machine down to that offset so they are 30's which makes them sit slightly further out. Yes thats with 5mm spacers on the rear. Although I had to remove it when i dropped it on the coilovers. The only pain with that set up was I had to have the front arches rolled to stop the wheels from rubbing.

J.
 
[ QUOTE ]
iirc, Married had 5mm spacers behind each rear wheel of that sublime .:R, for a total of 1cm extra rear track...

They were FK, correct me MB if I'm wrong...

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you Jamie /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif And top of the class correct on the spacers and yes I had FK Konigsport Coilovers fitted although in that pic is was only a slight drop.

J.
 
Probably been mentioned by how the hell do you clean the dash?? I rips up any cloth you rub on it....

Plus what solution should you use??
 
[ QUOTE ]
Probably been mentioned by how the hell do you clean the dash?? I rips up any cloth you rub on it....

Plus what solution should you use??

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wipe it with a damp leather, never use silicone... unless you like that minicab feel! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

You can use either mkiv or audisport for a discount. Also have a look at seriousperformance.co.uk as he does free delivery and a 10% discount as well.

J.
 
Finally ordered myself some proper cleaning products from clean and shiny instead of using the powerwasher detergent.

Got the Meguiars Soft Wash Gel, Hot Rims and a Microfibre Mit. Normally just use the brushed with the powerwasher and a sponge so I'll see what difference that mitt makes.

Was going to get a brush for my wheels but there's too many varieties. I'll just give an old sponge scourer a go for now.

Supposedly the Hot Rims is spray on hose off but we'll see.
 
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