Washing/Waxing/Detailing

[MrMike]

- A pure soap with no added gloss enhancers, waxes or fillers. This aspect is vital for a ceramic coating. As a comparison, something like Meguiar's Gold Class is laced with conditioners to add gloss, which will not play well with a coating, producing smeary or hazy results.

This is the soap I used for years, but once I started trying ceramic coatings I moved on as well. I grabbed a bottle of the Griot's ceramic wash/wax to try as a maintenance wash with their spray coating, but I haven't used it yet. I was holding off on the big detail on the Mustang until I got my new suspension on.

Reset really became the standard for ceramic coated vehicles.

Do you still use wheel cleaner (Sonax) on ceramic coated wheels (C5 wheel armor)? I was thinking of mixing the Griot's or Reset in a spray bottle to use to be more gentle on the coating.

Sponsored

 

[Bulutt]

One of my key requirements when choosing a soap is for it to work in both a foam cannon and a bucket. I'm all for setting fire to cash on detailing products, but quite often the detailing companies offering separate soaps is all about selling more product.

In some cases, a soap might be geared towards foaming and completely suck at washing, and vice versa. For the most part though, the majority of soaps on the market will foam just fine even if they aren't advertised to do so. (With the exception of Auto Finesse Lather, which will not foam, same for P&S Pearl.)

So, with that in mind, these are the soaps I can easily recommend based on slickness, cleaning ability, foaming ability.......................................and scent! All three will produce thick foam and have an ultra-slick feel -

Carpro Reset -
CarPro Reset Shampoo – Waxit Car Care

Koch Chemie GSF -
Koch Chemie Gentle Snow Foam GSF – Cleaning Foam Ph Neutral 1L/5L (detailingshed.com.au)

NV Snow -
Nv SNOW | pH Neutral Wash | Waxit – Waxit Car Care

If you prefer a runnier foam, I really like Optimum Car Wash. Good value and a bit of sleeper -
Optimum Car Wash (detailingshed.com.au)

DIY Incredible Suds is a recent introduction and is slightly alkaline for added cleaning ability (still safe on waxes though). Producing thick foam, the big benefit for this soap is the super easy rinse off, with no reactivation -
Shop DIY Detail - Incredible Suds Online - CarCareCo

More detail on soaps here -
DFB's Soap Shoot Out | 2015+ S550 Mustang Forum (GT, EcoBoost, GT350, GT500, Bullitt, Mach 1) - Mustang6G.com

You sir are a walking f…g encyclopaedia of car care product. I’ll bet you know more about every one of these products than their sales people do.

 

[DFB5.0]

This is the soap I used for years, but once I started trying ceramic coatings I moved on as well. I grabbed a bottle of the Griot's ceramic wash/wax to try as a maintenance wash with their spray coating, but I haven't used it yet. I was holding off on the big detail on the Mustang until I got my new suspension on.

Reset really became the standard for ceramic coated vehicles.

Do you still use wheel cleaner (Sonax) on ceramic coated wheels (C5 wheel armor)? I was thinking of mixing the Griot's or Reset in a spray bottle to use to be more gentle on the coating.

If your wheels are ceramic coated, that's half the battle sorted.

My Mustang's wheels are coated, ensuring most of the brake dust is removed during the rinse. I only use a wheel cleaner every six months or so to do a deeper clean, otherwise I use soap.

I typically mix up my foam cannon and a bucket with the same soap in it. I then foam and clean each wheel. Once I'm finished, there is still more than enough soap in the foam cannon to then foam the rest of the car. I feel this is nicer on the ceramic coating than smashing it with wheel cleaner at every wash.

Some further reading for you -
Wheel Cleaners vs Soap | 2015+ S550 Mustang Forum (GT, EcoBoost, GT350, GT500, Bullitt, Mach 1) - Mustang6G.com

 

[DFB5.0]

You sir are a walking f…g encyclopaedia of car care product. I’ll bet you know more about every one of these products than their sales people do.

Would you believe I have my own online store all planned out in my head, with brands and products I would sell, packages, descriptions, images...................................

Just wish I had the balls to do it.

 

[Bulutt]

Would you believe I have my own online store all planned out in my head, with brands and products I would sell, packages, descriptions, images...................................

Just wish I had the balls to do it.

Start small and see how you go. You already have a world wide customer base here.

 

[TTT12]

I found these spots on my car when washing it yesterday. I have no idea what it is. In the "hole" under the driving light , the paint surface feels really rough. This is the only part of the car that wasn't ceramic coated due to it being reprayed just prior to delivery. I've tried washing and nothing happens. I'm worried I have stuffed up the application of one of the products I used but I have no idea what or how. I don't know how to get rid of it.

It might sound stupid but it is really playing on my mind that the car is not "perfect" anymore. I hate knowing these spots are there.

Finally got to take it to my detailer today and he thought originally it was his fault and may have been polishing dust. But after he had a look and tried to clean it he thinks it might be Solvent pop too.

He also said he would fix the anomaly on my drivers side door too where he messed up he coating.

Car is booked in at Ford on Friday so will be interesting to see any responses,

 

[snake bite]

Start small and see how you go. You already have a world wide customer base here.

Exactly

 

[TTT12]

Finally got to take it to my detailer today and he thought originally it was his fault and may have been polishing dust. But after he had a look and tried to clean it he thinks it might be Solvent pop too.

He also said he would fix the anomaly on my drivers side door too where he messed up he coating.

Car is booked in at Ford on Friday so will be interesting to see any responses,

Wil get a call from the dealer on Monday after they source a loan car and book in some time at the painter. Said they would likely need the car for 48 hours. I said take as long as you need to get it right.

 

[Brisvegas]

Would you believe I have my own online store all planned out in my head, with brands and products I would sell, packages, descriptions, images...................................

Just wish I had the balls to do it.

I would be a customer just to repay the stellar advice you pump out on a regular basis . I still think a youtube channel would be a nice addon to online store and take care of marketing . Maybe a couple of your own developed products even . Not a lot of financial risk and the upside is there . Potential for a detailing shop at the end of it as well #Nike imo

 

[TTT12]

Ordered an MJJC Pro V2 foam cannon today. Should be here by the weekend to test it out

 

[Brisvegas]

Ordered an MJJC Pro V2 foam cannon today. Should be here by the weekend to test it out

Good unit i got one of those , saw it on Pan's Utube channel , works well for me .

 

[TTT12]

Good unit i got one of those , saw it on Pan's Utube channel , works well for me .

Been watching a lot of videos and it seems to create some really thick foam. Not happy with the Bigboi one that came with my pressure washer for a few reasons. Looking forward to testing it out on the weekend. My car needs some love, hasn't had a decent wash for a few weeks.

 

[TTT12]

Wil get a call from the dealer on Monday after they source a loan car and book in some time at the painter. Said they would likely need the car for 48 hours. I said take as long as you need to get it right.

Starting to get shitty now. Gave up my car for two days to have a half job done. They didn’t bother to remove the front bar so the white spots still exist under the headlight. Will get pics tomorrow. There are other spots missed too. Looks like they just masked it up and painted over it.
Now waiting on a paint specialist the salesman uses to have a look and see if we can get it sorted. I swear there are also new “chips” that weren’t there before I dropped it off too. But can’t prove that.
To the credit of my sales guy when looking over the car handing the keys to me he really wasn’t happy.

 

[tuf50L]

It's been 3 weeks since I took delivery and the car has been sitting while I moved house.
I finally got around to start the detail this weekend as I received the car "as is" off the truck without having the dealer touch the car.

The wheels before pic shows how much crud was on them so they got a combination of NV Purge and P&S Brake Buster, letting the chemicals do the work where I could but needed a bit of manual work. Engine bay got a quick wet down, spray in Snow+ and rinsed and dried. Then I sprayed the entire car with NV Purify (500ml worth!), covered the Purify with Snow+ from a foam cannon then did a hand wash with CarPro Descale.

Today I'll wipe the car down with CarPro Eraser then give it a coat of NV Lustre and NV Jet.

Wheels before pic. As delivered with 30km on odometer.

Paint clean and bare with metallic starting to pop. I really love this color now.

 

[Bulutt]

It's been 3 weeks since I took delivery and the car has been sitting while I moved house.
I finally got around to start the detail this weekend as I received the car "as is" off the truck without having the dealer touch the car.

The wheels before pic shows how much crud was on them so they got a combination of NV Purge and P&S Brake Buster, letting the chemicals do the work where I could but needed a bit of manual work. Engine bay got a quick wet down, spray in Snow+ and rinsed and dried. Then I sprayed the entire car with NV Purify (500ml worth!), covered the Purify with Snow+ from a foam cannon then did a hand wash with CarPro Descale.

Today I'll wipe the car down with CarPro Eraser then give it a coat of NV Lustre and NV Jet.

Wheels before pic. As delivered with 30km on odometer.

Paint clean and bare with metallic starting to pop. I really love this color now.

I would consider buying Gyeon Wetcoat for the wheels. imho the easiest way to coat/protect them.

Sponsored