FKE SNK
Well-Known Member
The 1 liter is approaching $30 now(before shipping).
I never thought I'd spend $90 on 5 liters of car wash soap, but at least I can convince myself it's somehow more economical.
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I never thought I'd spend $90 on 5 liters of car wash soap, but at least I can convince myself it's somehow more economical.
HoosierDaddy
Well-Known Member
Why detailers wear safety glasses.
HoosierDaddy
Well-Known Member
Last edited:
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GT 550
Well-Known Member
So...this is wrong? I thought the foam on the wheel/rim was @DFB5.0 working the trigger and spitting the Brake Buster back out to create that pattern.Was referring to the sprayer aimed at your face.
I see a new product by-line:
'REAL Detailing Products. For MEN'
Last edited:
GT 550
Well-Known Member
The one I picked comes with a sprayer but I'm happy to be educated:
https://www.detailstore.com.au/products/p-s-brake-buster-wheel-cleaner?variant=31740325593143
https://www.detailstore.com.au/products/p-s-brake-buster-wheel-cleaner?variant=31740325593143
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OP
OP
DFB5.0
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #116
Excellent.
Brake Buster can be used with a sprayer like in the link above or foamed via a pump action foam sprayer or foam cannon like below.
The concept of foaming Brake Buster is that the foam clings to surface for longer, helping loosen dirt and brake dust. Even so, I find just spraying it from a spray bottle works just fine.
Brake Buster can also be diluted. If you intend to use it regularly on your wheels, dilution is probably advised. If you intend to use it as an occasional deep clean or when dealing with excessively dirty wheels, use it undiluted. For tires, always use it undiluted. In the foam cannon pic above, I found that when diluted, you lose a lot of the products power, at which point I would say just use car soap.
GT 550
Well-Known Member
OP
OP
DFB5.0
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #118
After a 6 month wait, my boss took delivery of his first brand new car last week, a Mazda CX-5. I managed to talk him out of a dealership installed protection package, so next week I will be doing both paint and interior protection on the car. However, the last two days I have been doing a pre-sale detail on their old car, which meant getting to use a much wider selection of products and tools. 
Overall, this 2011 Mazda 3 in Velocity Red is in ok condition, especially for it's age and the 205,000 km's / 127,000 miles on the clock. The paint needed to be polished, and I also suggested an engine bay detail to help the sale. The headlights were in desperate need of attention too.
I decided to do the engine bay first, as this can be a messy job, any overspray of APC or dressing can be dealt with during the wash. First, a pressure rinse -
Next, I applied Koch Chemie Green Star APC all over the engine bay, including the scuttle and the underside of the hood and agitated with brushes. The EZ-Detail Brushes are fantastic for this job, able to get to areas other brushes or your hands can't!
Then I thoroughly rinsed and sprayed the whole engine bay and scuttle with Meguiar's Hyper Dressing.
Close the bonnet and you're done!
Onto the wheels, tires and wheel arches. Brake Buster undiluted for the tires and arches -
For the wheels, I wanted to try a new product, Koch Chemie Magic Wheel Cleaner -
As a wheel cleaner, this product is very good. It's labeled as an acid-free wheel cleaner, despite an acid pH reading of 5.5, and is a reactive iron-removing product. I was impressed with it's cleaning ability, although I can't help thinking NV Purge does a similar thing for $15.00 less!
It was then onto the paint. In this case, I'm using OG Decontamination Soap for the first time. While pre-soaking, I went around the car with a brush cleaning the crevices, badges, grill and fuel door.
This is a very good soap. It won't wow you with a scent, but with a pH of 10, it will strip the paint pretty well as a pre-soak and contact wash combo.
It was then on to a more thorough decontamination using NV Purify and a clay block in unison. It's amazing how smooth the paint became after doing this step, at the start the paint was all kinds of crunchy!
Then came the task of removing VERY stubborn tar deposits. This step was frustrating to say the least! I started using Koch Chemie TEA, when that didn't touch it, I went to Eulex. When even that didn't work, I had to get a bazooka out in the form of Stoners Tarminator. I typically only use that product for tire prep, and even then, I'm careful with how I use it. Today, I needed it's ability. I don't have any pics of Tarminator melting the tar from the paint, by that stage I needed to get on with it!
Because I used so much decon product on the car, I wanted to neutralize any remaining residue with another foaming. I then rinsed as well as possible before applying Hydr02 to the wheels and moving the car inside for the next steps.
At this point, this is how I tackle big jobs like this -
Some of the steps and products I mixed around with, but the idea is to get it out of my head and offer some form of visual structure, rather than getting distracted by thoughts of "what's next".
With the car dry, I got out the polishers and went to town. The goal here was to be realistic, this car did not need to be absolutely perfect, but I did want to restore some of it's shine. I went with the one-step Sonax Perfect Finish on a blue Shine Mate pad.
The result was a much cleaner and shinier looking car. The boot lid was in the worst shape for some reason, and the clearcoat on the lip spoiler is failing. Again, being realistic about the efforts here, and being mindful that Mazda paint is thin and soft.
I showed less conservatism getting the headlights sorted, straight to Sonax CutMax with a yellow Shine Mate Pad on my 3 inch machine.
The lenses are heavily pitted, limiting my efforts here. They at least look vastly better than before and make the car far more presentable for when it goes on the market.
After a wipe down with Eraser, I went over the whole car with OG Drying Aid. While this product is sold as a drying aid, it's actually a spray sealant. I like that I can use this product to quickly and easily boost gloss and add some protection. Again, all about making sure it's presents well for sale without going overboard.
Finishing off the exterior, I applied Mother's Naturally Black to the rear bumper insert and dressed the tires with Gyeon Q2M Tire. (I stopped using Q2M Tire a while ago but have been running it down by using it on customer cars.)
The interior was pretty good, just needed some fine details sorted. I used P&S Express, a microfiber towel and the Carpro InnerScrub mitt to get everything clean. The pedals scrubbed using a small brush and Green Star. The cloth trim was given a light scrub with some Koch Chemie Pol Star. The floor mats were blasted with the Tornador, scrubbed with Pol Star and vacuumed. The glass was then cleaned, and the carpets given a mist of Koch Chemie Fresh Up. No before and afters of the interior sorry, I was getting pressed for time.
The car is spent the night in my garage, it had been raining all day and I didn't want to ruin all of my efforts.
Finished off a couple of last touches this morning before taking some sale photos and returning it to the customer.
The exterior shots make it look better than the paint condition actually is, but it's certainly radiating some gloss now.
The engine bay turned out absolutely brilliant, Hyper Dressing simply levels out as it dry's and leaves an almost perfect finish. Note: No greasy, slimy car yard spec engine bay here!
I chose not to dress the interior; I think sometimes dousing an interior in dressing can make an aged interior look even worse. The interior looks honest and respectable.
As mentioned, these shots will be used for the online listing too. I have an absolute hatred of poorly presented used car listings, you know the type; crooked, poorly lit, out of focus and pointless random pics. I also hate laziness, if you want to sell your car, at least remove all of your crap from the interior BEFORE you take pics. And clean the thing! Clean and tidy car, some decent pics and some effort put into the listing, a car should sell quickly. Be lazy, and well, you reap what you sow.
This car should sell pretty quickly, it looks great and drives very nicely for it km's. I can see this being someone's first car.
Overall, this 2011 Mazda 3 in Velocity Red is in ok condition, especially for it's age and the 205,000 km's / 127,000 miles on the clock. The paint needed to be polished, and I also suggested an engine bay detail to help the sale. The headlights were in desperate need of attention too.
I decided to do the engine bay first, as this can be a messy job, any overspray of APC or dressing can be dealt with during the wash. First, a pressure rinse -
Next, I applied Koch Chemie Green Star APC all over the engine bay, including the scuttle and the underside of the hood and agitated with brushes. The EZ-Detail Brushes are fantastic for this job, able to get to areas other brushes or your hands can't!
Then I thoroughly rinsed and sprayed the whole engine bay and scuttle with Meguiar's Hyper Dressing.
Close the bonnet and you're done!
Onto the wheels, tires and wheel arches. Brake Buster undiluted for the tires and arches -
For the wheels, I wanted to try a new product, Koch Chemie Magic Wheel Cleaner -
As a wheel cleaner, this product is very good. It's labeled as an acid-free wheel cleaner, despite an acid pH reading of 5.5, and is a reactive iron-removing product. I was impressed with it's cleaning ability, although I can't help thinking NV Purge does a similar thing for $15.00 less!
It was then onto the paint. In this case, I'm using OG Decontamination Soap for the first time. While pre-soaking, I went around the car with a brush cleaning the crevices, badges, grill and fuel door.
This is a very good soap. It won't wow you with a scent, but with a pH of 10, it will strip the paint pretty well as a pre-soak and contact wash combo.
It was then on to a more thorough decontamination using NV Purify and a clay block in unison. It's amazing how smooth the paint became after doing this step, at the start the paint was all kinds of crunchy!
Then came the task of removing VERY stubborn tar deposits. This step was frustrating to say the least! I started using Koch Chemie TEA, when that didn't touch it, I went to Eulex. When even that didn't work, I had to get a bazooka out in the form of Stoners Tarminator. I typically only use that product for tire prep, and even then, I'm careful with how I use it. Today, I needed it's ability. I don't have any pics of Tarminator melting the tar from the paint, by that stage I needed to get on with it!
Because I used so much decon product on the car, I wanted to neutralize any remaining residue with another foaming. I then rinsed as well as possible before applying Hydr02 to the wheels and moving the car inside for the next steps.
At this point, this is how I tackle big jobs like this -
Some of the steps and products I mixed around with, but the idea is to get it out of my head and offer some form of visual structure, rather than getting distracted by thoughts of "what's next".
With the car dry, I got out the polishers and went to town. The goal here was to be realistic, this car did not need to be absolutely perfect, but I did want to restore some of it's shine. I went with the one-step Sonax Perfect Finish on a blue Shine Mate pad.
The result was a much cleaner and shinier looking car. The boot lid was in the worst shape for some reason, and the clearcoat on the lip spoiler is failing. Again, being realistic about the efforts here, and being mindful that Mazda paint is thin and soft.
I showed less conservatism getting the headlights sorted, straight to Sonax CutMax with a yellow Shine Mate Pad on my 3 inch machine.
The lenses are heavily pitted, limiting my efforts here. They at least look vastly better than before and make the car far more presentable for when it goes on the market.
After a wipe down with Eraser, I went over the whole car with OG Drying Aid. While this product is sold as a drying aid, it's actually a spray sealant. I like that I can use this product to quickly and easily boost gloss and add some protection. Again, all about making sure it's presents well for sale without going overboard.
Finishing off the exterior, I applied Mother's Naturally Black to the rear bumper insert and dressed the tires with Gyeon Q2M Tire. (I stopped using Q2M Tire a while ago but have been running it down by using it on customer cars.)
The interior was pretty good, just needed some fine details sorted. I used P&S Express, a microfiber towel and the Carpro InnerScrub mitt to get everything clean. The pedals scrubbed using a small brush and Green Star. The cloth trim was given a light scrub with some Koch Chemie Pol Star. The floor mats were blasted with the Tornador, scrubbed with Pol Star and vacuumed. The glass was then cleaned, and the carpets given a mist of Koch Chemie Fresh Up. No before and afters of the interior sorry, I was getting pressed for time.
The car is spent the night in my garage, it had been raining all day and I didn't want to ruin all of my efforts.
Finished off a couple of last touches this morning before taking some sale photos and returning it to the customer.
The exterior shots make it look better than the paint condition actually is, but it's certainly radiating some gloss now.
The engine bay turned out absolutely brilliant, Hyper Dressing simply levels out as it dry's and leaves an almost perfect finish. Note: No greasy, slimy car yard spec engine bay here!
I chose not to dress the interior; I think sometimes dousing an interior in dressing can make an aged interior look even worse. The interior looks honest and respectable.
As mentioned, these shots will be used for the online listing too. I have an absolute hatred of poorly presented used car listings, you know the type; crooked, poorly lit, out of focus and pointless random pics. I also hate laziness, if you want to sell your car, at least remove all of your crap from the interior BEFORE you take pics. And clean the thing! Clean and tidy car, some decent pics and some effort put into the listing, a car should sell quickly. Be lazy, and well, you reap what you sow.
This car should sell pretty quickly, it looks great and drives very nicely for it km's. I can see this being someone's first car.
GT 550
Well-Known Member
@DFB5.0 nice work!
Headlight polishing with Cutmax is next on my list for a Lexus IS350. Any tips for getting a 3" pad into some of the tighter angles where the headlight meets the bodywork like the lower right corner on the Mazda where it's nestled in the front bar?
Photos like this show full appreciation for the depth of Race Red. Gorgeous.
Headlight polishing with Cutmax is next on my list for a Lexus IS350. Any tips for getting a 3" pad into some of the tighter angles where the headlight meets the bodywork like the lower right corner on the Mazda where it's nestled in the front bar?
Photos like this show full appreciation for the depth of Race Red. Gorgeous.
OP
OP
DFB5.0
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #120
What model year is the IS350?@DFB5.0 nice work!
Headlight polishing with Cutmax is next on my list for a Lexus IS350. Any tips for getting a 3" pad into some of the tighter angles where the headlight meets the bodywork like the lower right corner on the Mazda where it's nestled in the front bar?
Photos like this show full appreciation for the depth of Race Red. Gorgeous.
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