The largest Civic Type R club forum

[Dave H-B]

Just thought i would add that the site Jules recommended http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk is great. I ordered what Jules said i should (thanks again buddie!) and it arrived next day with some free polishing clothes! If anyone is buying something for washing their car, use that site, just great!

[Jules]

Glad you had a good service. I always find them to be brilliant!

[darren4]

Just cleaned my nhb with the products you said( used zymol cleaner wax at the end with microfiber cloth) and even though my arm started to hurt i had no swirl marks

Thanks again for that guide, looks like ive been doing crap jobs on other cars lol

[chemdog]

I suppose I'm a noob even though its a Meguirs Chamois that I use!

Thanks for the detailed post, it is appreciated. I've had my CTR about 4 months now and when I got it I had the garage put Diamond Guard on. I wash it 'regularly' with the DG shampoo and use the conditioner about once a month. What is the general consesus for other cleaning stages requirements; is there any need to polish or wax it? My paintwork is looking extremely nice and I'd like to keep it that way!

Another one, a friend recommended Armor All Dash Wipes Matt which I bought and cleaned the inside being immediately impressed with the finish. However I dont have AC or wind deflectors (awaiting the group buy atm) and whenever rain/water drips onto the door interior (either by the door being opened or through having the windows opened slightly) it goes all streaky/leaves water marks. What product do you use on the dash & door interior?

Thanks again

Iain

[Jules]

I would imagine the wipes leave a coating on the dash. If you use a creme it should absorb into the dash better.

Lose the chaimois

Wax will protect the paint and give a much nicer depth to the finish as will polish. Polish once, wax twice then wax again after a few weeks and every 3 or 4 weeks untill it needs stripping back and doing again :thumbup:

[chemdog]

Wax will protect the paint and give a much nicer depth to the finish as will polish.

isnt that what the diamond guard is supposed to do? :scratch:

[Jules]

Yeah but its more of a sealent. Its pretty sh-it tbh, you can buy the stuff for £5 off ebay!

[chemdog]

Yeah but its more of a sealent. Its pretty sh-it tbh, you can buy the stuff for £5 off ebay!

you've got to be joking, I spent an extra £200 quid on that... off to ebay...

iain

[Jules]

Yeah and tbh its not even worth £5. Jetseal will outlast and outshine it for £12 a bottle. You pay for the labour and extra charges they whack off, its a huge con!

[Darjo86]

Hi a question which is from a complete novice-what is better meguiars next gen shampoo or the gold glass-is there any difference sorry if its been aked before tried searching but didnt have much joy

[Jules]

To be honest its up to you! If you find one foams better and gets dirt off better then use that. I like poor boys super slick and suds. I have used megs gold class and i like it aswell but just not as much. It is fairly well known that the gold class has some properties that mean it slowly takes away wax etc (more so than most shampoos anyway as nearly all do it) it isnt enough to worry about though! :thumbup:

[Jules]

Just updated the main post a little bit. I will continue to add more as i know more :thumbup:

[Drunken Master]

Just reading this some good points made etc.

Where would you look to purchase the Zymol Wax. I've looked on the site you've listed but they haven't got any.

Thanks

[Jules]

Hard to find it now mate. They are not a good company to deal with (even though there products are very good)

[Superbully]

Hey Jules, not sure only a noob guide, there are some decent tips in your write up even for the car washers with experience

I shamefully admit that i don't wash my NHB one as I should and also not as often as I should.

Here's what I do.

Park car in shadow. thoroughly wet car with hosepipe to get rid of dust etc.
Bucket of warm water with Meguiars NXT car shampoo(used gold class shampoo before). Wash from bottom to top with meguiars mitt. Had lamswool one before, now got the white one.
rinse off with hosepipe from top to bottom.
Dry with Meguairs water magnet towel.I use a mini squeejee like the window cleaners for all the windows before going over the paint with the water magnet.
After that I do the wheels. I spray with a non acidic wheel cleaner and use a wheel brush before finally rinsing off with hosepipe. The use meguiars tyre dressing product to get those shiny.

And that's about all I do Only one bucket, not two. no grit guard in bottom of bucket either.
It goes ages without a polish or gloss enhancer and don't think i've ever put a real wax on in 4 years, just polishes.
When i do polish it (just done it last week and it's very shiny now!) I use meguiars gold class.
One of the reasons that i polish so infrequently is quite honestly I find the gold class a pig to get the results I want. I find that i have to put quite allot on to get decent coverage and therefore when I want to take it all off it's really difficult. I've also had the effect where under bright sun you can see swirls from the polish like it's had too much polish put on it and not all taken off. That's why i'm afraid to use polish much.

As you can imagine I have quite allot of swirl scratching on my paintwork and on NHB you can see really well unfortunately in bright days and under artificial lighting. I've hankered after a PC for ages in the hope I would be able to remove this swirling. If I did I would certainly have to put a correct cleaning regime into place to avoid me scratching and swirling the paint again....

[Jules]

Put another bucket into your routine mate and you will be fine with what you are doing. A good thing to do where you do not polish much is use a detailer spray , spray it on the car after you have hosed it off and are drying with the water magnet. It will absorb water better, leave less streaks and leave a nice shine to it. I have gone off most megs products, there are not a huge amount of 'easy' polishes to be honest. Try autoglym if you get your bits form halfords. Have a look on cleanyourcar.co.uk for some products (they are quite cheap) to use :thumbup:

[Superbully]

Hey Jules,

am using two bucket method now :thumbup: much better i will admit. I'm after some grit guards to go in the bottom of the buckets now!

I have also treated myself to a decent prewash system before i start with the 2 buckets. Got a HD foam lance, Megs Hyperwash and a karcher 2.36 pressure washer.

Still don't really polish and wax hardly at all By the time i've done a decent prewash and wash and then drying off, plus doing the wheels, that's easily 1.5 to 2 hours. I often run out of time so don't have time to get polish/wax on etc. Did manage to go over the whole car with Krytox polish impregnated cloth (probably pretty pants, but still ...) last wash this weekend, and looks pretty OK. Probably still not protected amazingly well though ...

[Jules]

Dont worry mate, its not easy!

You can do it in stages, do a good clean one weekend with a clay. Next weekend give another good wash and use some polish. next weekend another good wash followed by some wax! Will get a nice finish but will just take a little longer

[ToonType-R]

Nice write up mate, Really interesting, Ive got some of that Autoglym super resin polish sat on the shelf, going to use it when weather gets abit better, I keep my car very clean inside and out and people coment all the time and say I am nuts.

[Superbully]

got myself 2 megs buckets now with grit guards in the bottom. Cost me 60 euros oh well ....