IN THE STICKS

Zymol is not that expensive (I think I paid about £11 ish from Halfords ...its a light/pale green colour and smells good enough to eat), but swisoil is a fair bit more .


Dave

[Edited by IN THE STICKS - 10/6/2003 2:55:22 PM]

fdpxfunix

Started using Swissol a few months ago and I've not looked back.

Terry wash cloth to wash, Turtle Wax water blade and terry towel to dry, Swissol applicator pads for the paint cleaner and wax and then a very very very clean terry towel for buffing.

Still get a few water marks when dryng, but just wet the area again with the wash cloth and dry off straight away.

Best thing I've found about Swissol is the time it lasts. Still get a great shine even after just washing the Scoob.

J.

[Edited by fdpxfunix - 10/6/2003 2:48:20 PM]

jwallis

When I bought the car, and when it has been in for a service it always comes out gleaming.

When I clean it however, I get white residue when it dries (I used the little bottle of shampoo that came with the car, and also AutoGlym with the same results). The stuff goes rock hard and takes ages to rub off - not the light buffing that is described on the label.

So what could I be doing wrong? Too much shampoo in the water? Is it a hard water area problem? What could the dealer be doing or using that works so well and so quickly?

John

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

Are you drying the car off with a chamois leather / towel or just leaving it to dry in the air. If you live in a hard water area, then drying the car properly is as important as washing it to leave a good finish with no water marks. There are some excellent squeegy type blades available to speed this job up too, which just whisk away all the water and you can just dab off the last drops with an old towel.

jwallis

I'm drying it off as fast as I can with a cloth - but maybe not fast enough - and it's a sunny day today so maybe some is air drying. I'll nip outside and try again!

mark@wrx

Read the instructions! Most waxes/polishes will say on them Do not use in direct sunlight or on hot surfaces

jwallis

Yeah, but who wants to wash the car in the dark!

Tried again by the way - carefully measured 10 mls in 5 litres of cold water, sponged onto bonnet, rinsed while still wet, persuaded number 2 son to dry off with a towel almost immediately after I did the rinsing (says "Mums going to kill us when she finds out"), then finished off the drying with a chamois. Result is fewer marks, but still some there. I don't know how we could possibly follow the instructions any closer. Is there some secret step they've left off?

John

pbee

Some of the autoglym "wash and wax" products i had seemed to go off if left in the garage,

ecxactly the same problem a white "fatty" mark left.

Fix I dont use Autoglym anymore and keep everything inside.

jwallis

The AutoGlym was new from Halfords today

Dave_A

what kind of cloth are you using to put the polish on and then remove? The only type to use is the proper polishing cloth that comes in various size bags either pre cut or in rolls from somewhere like halfords.

If you are using normal t-shirt type cotton cloths, it doesn;t do a very effective job imho.

Dave
www.scoobyphotos.com

quicksprint

I had the same problem when i used MER but since i have gone over to ZYMOL i have had NO problems!!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like a residual build up on the paintwork. Atmospheric fall-out or wax that is already on the car. Do you use any silicon-based polishes - or use "Wash & Wax" car shampoo?

Autoglym (and other polishes etc) is'nt strong enough to remove it, so will just smear what's already on the car.

Two(well 3) solutions: T-cut and a **** load of elbow-grease, or get the bodywork "mopped" at a valet/bodyshop.

Alternatively try and get some more "intensive" cutting paste than T-cut. 3M light cutting solution is excellent for this as it's one step up from T-Cut. Then treat with your usual wax/polish afterwards.

Still a day's worth of work - unless you get someone else to do it

phoenix1

hello mate, if the car is basically clean but you want it to really shine then use 3M handglaze. apply small amount not in direct sunlight as this is very thin and watch the baby shine.
it is about £10 a bottle but is well worth it. happy polishing.

Paul Woodward

use a chamois leather, not a towel.

IN THE STICKS

Agree with the above , use a chamois ,not a towel. You can get the worst off with a water blade then finish with a chamois (a real one not a synthetic one ) . Give her a real good going over with a good polish (Zymoil from Halfords I've found good , or Swisoil if you can afford to splash out a bit ), its worth spending a bit of time on this because next time you come to wash her it will be a piece of pi**.

Dave

dead_neurons

1) after washing you should really use either a squeegee or a chamois - i prefer a chamois, there's a few stories of the squeegee leaving scratches on here.
2) autoglym is pap. The least expensive decent wash/polish/wax is Maguires, followed by Zymol, followed by Swissol.
the Maguires stuff is about 7 quid per bottle, and 4 quid for the shampoo I use the 3 stage stuff first the pink gel shampoo then
paint cleaner (removes swirls/stains), followed by crystal polish, and lastly the canauba wax. all together about £25, and it will last you probably about 3 months of weekend washes/waxes.
Swissol is the best apparently, but i cant justify spending £200+ on a bit of polish!
3) make sure the car is dry, mixing the cleaners/polishes/waxes with water will make them go dry and powdery and be hard to polish off.
4) use applicator sponges to put the stuff on, that way you dont waste any, and its fairly difficult to over-apply which will also give you the residual dry powdery patches.
5) polish off using 100% terry cotton towelling. You can buy "hotel grade" towelling for about £5 a towel, but personally i find 100% terry face cloths just as good - wilkinsons 75p each
6) DONT wash them with fabric conditioner - they wont polish properly, and will 'squeek' over your paintwork leaving more swirl marks than you started with.
7) while you can wash and chamois the entire car in one go, you're best sticking to one panel at a time when doing the clean/polish/wax phase. if it dries on too much, it will leave you with the powdery hard to get off patches.
8) invest in a polishing machine, with some extra bonnets. you can get a spanking HILKA one with a 12" wheel from argos for £20. it really really makes a big difference, and take our the elbow grease bit to a great degree, although you will end up with vibration white-finger after about 30s LOL

Although all the waxes say you shouldnt use in direct sunlight/hot weather, i seriously doubt that the uk weather ever qualifies as this, and i've never had any problems with polishing in the summer sunlight even at midday.

Lastly, note there is NO miracle polish that you can 'lightly buff to a perfet shine' like most of them advertise, you will still need a fair amount of elbow grease despite what it says on the packaging. You didn't _really_ believe the advertising did you??? lol

enjoy
/2ob

jwallis

LOL No,I didn't really believe the "light buff to a perfect shine", but didn't expect to have to chip off the residue either!

Dave_A - the cloths being used are AutoGlym Perfect Polishing Cloths (I went a bit mad and bought lots of stuff including the Autoglym wheel cleaner and brush, which is fine by the way).

ALi-B - I don't fancy the T cut idea, although I've used it on previous cars. The car is MY03 with Protection coating and I need something that's going to work for every wash.

dead_neurons - thanks for the long reply. Zymol sounds like the next one to try, then maybe Swissol when funds allow (are there ever any group buys on this?)

Looks like another trip to Halfords.

John

Barnesy

Just tried the meguiars 3 step clean. It's cheap and gave a miles better finish than autoglym. Well impressed!!
When drying the car always rinse the chamois in clean water as you go along.

dead_neurons

jwallis:
zymol is quite expensive compared to maguires, and most people dont rate Zymol/swissol as being worth the price increase.

I havent used either of them , having the sensible "lets-not-take-a-second-mortgage-to-buy-a-tub-of-wax" head on.

I have used other 'ordinary' products and did use autoglym before maguires, maguires is about twice the price of Autoglym, but i think the results are noticably better than autoglym, especially after the Carnauba Wax step. the water beads on the cars surface cleanly, and rolls off, dead flies simply brush off - they dont stick at all.
I cant imagine getting a finish *that* much better for the price differential on Zymol/Swissol. Just My opinion anyway.


/2ob

greg.g

Another vote for zymol
The cleaner wax is quite quick to use.
It doesnt leave any white powder if used correctly.

The only draw-back is that it will not remove any marks left after washing ie left over dead fly squigges.

A pretty good product though.

(and it leaves your hands smellig of coconut)

Greg

Mr Gee

Sounds like hard water or a dodgy chamy or a combination of both.

Go get som Mur, add a capfull to warmwater. Sponge on and clean car. Leave to air dry for 10 minutes , then wipe clean with a damp chamy.

- Now go get the Raybans !!