EDIT: repost for the evening rabble. I am watching. ((WARNING, picture heavy)). 

"Svend" (svend) 02/26/2018 at 22:25 • Filed to: Svend, detailing

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Rum and coke watching car cleaning videos (sneering at some, agreeing with others and cleaning from a few). Here’s some good ones.

Getting started.

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Interiors.

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Cleaning exterior.

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Polishing.

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Wax or sealant sealing.

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Trim dressing, etc...

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Glass.

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Inspection.

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Common forgotten areas when cleaning a car.

Engines.

Looks clean, could be cleaner.

Wheel arches.

Door shuts and door surrounds (and tailgate).

Cleaning under seats and seat bases.

Don’t let it ever get like this.

Cleaning boot space and plastics therein.

Scuffs on exterior gloss trim.

Don’t forget to tape off rubbers around the doors from polish as polish residue is an arse to remove.

(shown on different car to illustrate)

Tape inside the door where the front and rear doors come together.

Tape as much rubber as you can with 3M Blue low tack tape.

Tape all the way around.

Exhaust tips.

Cleaning inside the wheels themselves such as behind the wheel face.

Real difference creating more depth of shine.

If you can, address any scuffs.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Svend 02/26/2018 at 12:45

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Good info, though after scrolling through I feel both hopelessly inadequate and in desperate need of a rum and coke. Though that might just be a Monday thing.

Svend > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 02/26/2018 at 12:59

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It’s areas the majority of people (normal people) don’t look at or see.

But that’s the difference between cleaning and detailing for me.

I’d clean a car and the plastics would be dull, dress the plastics then it makes the dull tyres stick out, dress the tyres and it makes the wheel arches stick out. I’m borderline whether to buy.

Thankfully there are a couple of products that greatly help.

It’s a time thing but done once makes it so much easier afterwards.

I get asked what polish I use as the cars are so clean and shiny. I reply I never polish unless it’s needed.

E90M3 > Svend 02/26/2018 at 22:29

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Come clean my M3, I have the monies.

wafflesnfalafel > Svend 02/26/2018 at 22:32

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jebus - what lived in that Honda? Yikes...

Scary__goongala! > Svend 02/26/2018 at 22:40

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Also drinking rum and cokes. Desperate for Spring Break to come around so that I can clean my car. Its so dirty inside and out and I’ve got a small rust issue to take care of. Just have to remember to buy the IronX stuff ahead of time to get all the road crap from the winter out of the paint.

Svend > wafflesnfalafel 02/26/2018 at 22:41

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Are you meaning the Ford Focus Mk1?

It came up good though.

The owner had just let his dog loose inside after walks, trips to the river, pretty much anything really.

wafflesnfalafel > Svend 02/26/2018 at 22:50

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wait, you are right, I was thinking it was the black Honda hatch that had all that hair in the seats - yikes...

Svend > E90M3 02/26/2018 at 22:51

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I’ like to one day.

I did a training week with a customer of the store I work at. He is a police officer and likes to look after his car. So I took a couple of weeks off work and we did his car (me doing most),

then his friend’s car (him showing what he had picked up while I did the really bad parts).

Then we did his wife’s car (asking him to tell me from what he’s learned, what the car needs doing, what wasn’t necessary, how to look and listen to what the car is telling you so as brake dust before it embeds into the paint*).

*

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

and I don’t take money or gifts.

E90M3 > Svend 02/26/2018 at 22:52

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and I don’t take money or gifts.

Perfect. You can fly over here, wash my car and then make dinner. I accept.

Svend > Scary__goongala! 02/26/2018 at 22:54

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Make sure to wash, let dry a little, then spray Iron-X (let dwell to activate, but don’t let dry) then re-wash.

Svend > wafflesnfalafel 02/26/2018 at 22:58

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Six and a half hours. After half an hour I had a throbbing headache, so climbed out the car, had a car of Guinness and thought about how I was going to tackle it.

Scary__goongala! > Svend 02/26/2018 at 22:59

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yup thats what i always do

Svend > E90M3 02/26/2018 at 23:00

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Sounds like a plan. Make breakfast or lunch, clean the cars, make dinner and then fly home.

E90M3 > Svend 02/26/2018 at 23:03

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I would be on board for all of that.

Svend > Scary__goongala! 02/26/2018 at 23:08

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Good man, just checking.

There are so many occurrences where people has misused it (or similar) and stained the paintwork.

Svend > E90M3 02/26/2018 at 23:15

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Lol.

Scary__goongala! > Svend 02/26/2018 at 23:19

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First time I ever used it I probably left it on a little longer than I should have, mostly just because I was amazed by how much $hit was in the paint. At that point it was a 22 year old car that had never seen that product. But I didn’t have any problems getting it off

Scary__goongala! > Svend 02/26/2018 at 23:20

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My soft top also looks like ass but since some scumbag sliced a hole in it, it will get replaced this summer anyway.

Svend > Scary__goongala! 02/26/2018 at 23:26

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Ye’, it’s good stuff and I enjoy watching it work and develop.

Some people panic when it’s dried and doesn’t come straight off, then leave it on thinking if they do anything else it would make it worse.

Over the years I’ve seen, heard and read so many things. It’s funny but sometimes scary.

Scary__goongala! > Svend 02/26/2018 at 23:30

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Can you use it to clean an engine bay safely? I would think so but I always read different warnings about engine bay cleaning. I’m not so much going for looks, just trying to get some of the crud off.

Svend > Scary__goongala! 02/26/2018 at 23:36

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I hope you caught them and give them a “talking to”.

People just have no respect for other peoples property.

Scary__goongala! > Svend 02/26/2018 at 23:43

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Unfortunately I didn’t and the person didn’t even steal anything from the car, not even my copious quarters I use to pay for parking. Let me also mention that the passenger door is left open because i’d rather have someone snoop through the car than cut my top. But no, he or she cut the top to unlock the driver’s door, realized they couldn’t pull that off, then realized the passenger door was unlocked. I know this because the passenger door wasn’t fully closed.

If you must fuck with somebody’s car at least be smart about it, it equally pisses me off that my car was fucked with by an amateur.

Svend > Scary__goongala! 02/26/2018 at 23:45

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There’s no reason to use Iron-X in an engine bay as Iron-X is a fallout remover of brake particles that’s on or embedded into the paint.

Any good all purpose cleaner would do it.

I don’t like using large amounts of water of open ended hoses or pressure washers in an engine bay. I use a degreaser, brushes and plenty of microfibre cloths.

Use some degreaser/all purpose cleaner and a detailing brush to agitate the crud (if you don’t have a detailing brush, use a paint brush but wrap some masking tape around the metal bits so you don’t scratch any plastic or painted surfaces, then with gloved hands wipe over the area with a microfibre cloth, for more intricate areas, loosely ball up a MF cloth and roll it back and forward, side to side over the area to lift the dirt, or for nooks and crannies wrap a bit around a finger and use your finger to agitate the dirt off the area onto the MF cloth.

Then give the area a liberal spray of 303 Aerospace protectant.

Scary__goongala! > Svend 02/26/2018 at 23:54

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As usual thanks for the tips. Looking forward to the day I take half the contents of the engine bay out of the car. When I have a second car I’ll have no problem removing power steering, AC, and cruise control because I barely need them now. Then the engine bay will look really clean haha.

Svend > Scary__goongala! 02/27/2018 at 00:04

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Bloody hell, you’d think an amateur would at least try a door handle first.

I hate oxygen thieves.

Scary__goongala! > Svend 02/27/2018 at 00:09

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Yeah its pretty easy to tell from outside looking at the interior door handles if its locked or unlocked.

Svend > Scary__goongala! 02/27/2018 at 00:20

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Most people never even look at the engine bay but I like to do it anyway. Even if a lot of it is plastic covering these days.

The best thing I have for engines and door shuts is something I don’t think you have or can get in the U.S., it’s AutoBrite Direct, Jaffa Clean, it’s clean and degreaser with protectant in one, so it shifts even heavy crud and when you wipe it off it leaves a glossy protected coat behind.

((second item from the left)).

I don’t recall if I have your e-mail address or whether I still have it, but if you’ve mine and you want me to, I can send a bottle over. It’s a 500ml bottle but dilutes down to 5:1 making three litres of cleaner.

Svend > Scary__goongala! 02/27/2018 at 00:21

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Mind isn’t it also a country where are are car thieves who can’t drive a manual. So there is that.