New Car Paint Protection

[Ninja59]

cheers Robert for the input and confirmation of what i thought

[XC60MY12]

Hi Robert,

Thanks for your detailed thread and the photos of my car. You were going to give me some aftercare tips, which you might like to put up here for the benefit of everyone.

Cheers

John

PS Love the way you obscured the reg! Care to share your method?

[Prism]

Wash Technique

As a professional detailer, I have seen many many cars with paint defects caused by poor washing by the owner and many paind contractors (valeters, car washes etc..). When I carry out a detail for a customer or when doing demo days representing Swissvax, I’m always asked about the correct wash technique. This guide is really only for the body work and taken from a forum which I sponsor an have done many demo days for in the past helping their members keep on top of maintaining their car, because the last thing you want to do is ruin the paintwork after it looks soo good. Sorry the pics are taken from an Audi S5 (the guide was for the A5/S5 Owners club)

Let’s start with what you need:

• 2 x Buckets
• Shampoo
• 2 x Lambs Wool Wash Mitts
• Sponge
• Hose (with gun attachment)
• 1 x Microfibre (2x optional for ease of use)
• Pressure Washer (Optional)
• Grit Guards (Optional)
• Detailer Spray (Optional)

You want to fill the first bucket with look warm water with the correct dilution ratio for your shampoo and the second bucket with look warm water. Add the grit guards if you have them




To start with you want to rinse off the car, start with the roof and work your way down so the water and dirt is constantly moving downwards on the car. Pay particular attention to the arches/sills and remove as much dirt as possible. This will be easier if you have a gun attachment on the hose and easier again with a Pressure Washer.



With your first wash mitt, dunk it into the clear water bucket to remove any contaminates within the wash mitt. Then dunk into the bucket with the shampoo. Start with the roof in the middle and work in long straight lines from the windscreen to the rear window from the middle of the roof to the edge. Never work down the car and back up or in circular motions as this will cause swirls in your paint work. At this stage you want to dunk into the clear water bucket and shake to remove any dirt from the wash mitt. Repeat the process on the other half of the roof.



Then onto the bonnet of the car, same process as the roof, long straight line from the back to the front of the bonnet. Half way down the bonnet again rinse the wash mitt and again back into the wash bucket and keep going.

Onto the sides of the car, start at the top and one full length of the car and work your way down in steps, once your half way down the door move to the other side repeat the process and the same for the rear. At this point because of the amount of dirt lower down on a car, move onto your second wash mitt and keep going.



Now use the sponge dunked into the shampoo bucket to wash the tyres and alloy wheels and inside the arches, every time it’s heavily soiled dunk into the rinse bucket until all 4 are complete.

At this stage you will notice one of the buckets (the rinse bucket) black with dirt and the other bucket (the wash bucket with shampoo) still clear.



You want to rinse the car, using your hose with gun attachment or Pressure washer, again starting from the top and working down again paint attention to the wheels and arches.

Empty both buckets safely.

To dry the car, fill one of the buckets with warm water again and use the microfibre to dry the car, if it become dirty rinse in the clear water and ring out. If you have detailer spray then use this first before using the microfibre as this will help to disperse the water and give a better finish.

Wheels:

You need:

• 1 Bucket
  Wheel brush
  Tyre Brush
  Arch brush
  APC (All Purpose Cleaner)
  Wheel Cleaner (Non acidic)

Fill the bucket with clean look warm water and leave your brushes in it to soak.

Start by rinsin the wheel, tyres and arches....at this stage your wanting to help yourself by removing any of the loose dirt, road grime and brake dust.

Start by applying the wheel cleaner to the alloys then work with a wheel brush an into the back of the alloys with a long reach brush.

The tyres and arches, spray with APC and work with an arch brush (I used the same brush for the tyres and arches)

Then rinse with a pressure washer....

This video shows much of the washing process which should give you some insight into how best to wash your vehicle:

+ YouTube Video

My recommended list of products for use after your details john are the following:

Shampoo: Dodo Juice Born to be Mild (definately considered as on of the best shampoo's on the market)

Wheel Cleaner: I would recommend something mild, with Rim Sheild being applied there will not be much work involved, but would consider something like Dodo Juice Mellow Yellow Wheel cleaner, but If Rim Shield was not applied and you use protection on your wheels yourself then Duragloss 821 as its a fantastic wheel cleaner

Tyre Dressing: This is one of the first things you will notice to disappear after you have had your car protected. My personal favourite is Swissvax Pneu, but this is quite expensive costing £20 for 250ml, alternatively you could get Duragloss 253 for £12 for much more, but recently there has been a product from Dodo Juice called Tyromania which unlike the previous two you dont spray on, its like a pot of wax an you apply it like so but onto your tyres. This can also be used on the trim as well with excellent results.

Trim dressing: As mentioned above you could use Tyromania, but my favourite is Swissvax Nano Express andd this was used on John XC60, this cost £30 for 250ml but in reality it will go a very long wax........

Glass cleaner: Dodo Juice Clearly Menthol, without a doubt the best glass cleaner on the market.

If i have missed anthing out then let me know but I hope this has been some guidence

If you are looking for any other help please do not hesitate to contact me

Robert
Prism Detailing

[SonyVaio]

Excellent Robert,

Thank you for your contribution and enhancing us with your detailing knowledge, John (XC60FAN) seems over the moon with your high quality work and I think everyone else is equally happy and impressed with your write up.

[robg]

i use the two bucket method with a grit guard. It works. No swirls on either of my cars. Worth the extra effort.

rob

[XC60MY12]

Originally Posted by SonyVaio

Excellent Robert,

Thank you for your contribution and enhancing us with your detailing knowledge, John (XC60FAN) seems over the moon with your high quality work and I think everyone else is equally happy and impressed with your write up.

Too true

[12345]

The best thing about dealer paint protection when I was a car salesman was I got £50 for every one sold ! 20 cars a month and it soon adds up.
My valeters would put it on as quick as possible as they got paid on each car they valeted.

Basically supaguard and diamondbrite are a con. I don't think any wax will last lots of months as it will wear away with washing. Far better to get a good quality wax and apply every 2-3 months. Turtle wax ice came out best in recent tests.

[XC60MY12]

Originally Posted by 12345

I don't think any wax will last lots of months as it will wear away with washing.

Depends how you wash it I think. See above answer #63.

[wimorrison]

Originally Posted by 12345

... I don't think any wax will last lots of months as it will wear away with washing. ...

Good thing then that Supagard isn't wax then

[Prism]

Originally Posted by 12345

The best thing about dealer paint protection when I was a car salesman was I got £50 for every one sold ! 20 cars a month and it soon adds up.
My valeters would put it on as quick as possible as they got paid on each car they valeted.

Basically supaguard and diamondbrite are a con.

I would agree with a few points, Supaguard has been proven to be a decent protection system, if the preperation is good before hand and even application, but as mentioned for the time given to the valeters there is not enough time.

A customer of mine asked a dealer how long will it take to apply, they said 20 mins, his reply was he could get a detailer (myself) to spend 12 hours on his car fully protecting it, so it shows your really are being conned.

Also with these products, if you use any polish to take out the swirls the dealers have put in then you have lost the protection....

Originally Posted by 12345

I don't think any wax will last lots of months as it will wear away with washing.

I am currently using sealants offering up to a years protection but i do have a wax which will also last a year (but it does cost £800 for 200ml of it) and another which will last for 8 months, both of these waxes like the good sealants (wolf Chemicals/Permanon/G-techniq) then they have self cleaner properties making it easy to clean the car.