Osh said:
Morning CM
Couple of quick questions if I may...?? Please bear in mind I'm a detailing virgin here – so be gentle with me..!! These are in no particular order....
So I've got a large scratch on the front off-side of my bumper and front wing that was caused by my neighbours wife reversing into my P&J. It's going in to Brin Jones in 2 weeks' time to be completely done and back to its excellent self. Would you say avoid doing a clay-bar detail until after this is done...??
Blackfire – do the applicator pads come with the sealant or do you have to buy them separately; if you do which would you recommend..?
Blackfire Black Ice – do they do one for silver cars...??
How do you clean the applicator pads and the rest of the cleaning kit afterwards
What APC do you recommend...?
Poor Boys Black Hole – do they do one for silver cars...??
What plastic dressing products do you use...??
What do you use to polish the tailpipes...??
What glass cleaner do you use...??
Das6Pro – I've read somewhere that you should never polish a car using circular motions – always up/down-side-to-side. Why would you use a circular polisher...??
Please post up the details about applying C5 to the wheels; never head of C5 - what is it, what does it do and how do you apply it...??
Can you do a similar write up for interiors...??
Found all this really interesting and looking to apply this to my own P&J
Ta m8
Osh
Hi Osh. Sorry for the late response, I've been out in the garden since about 08:30. Totally knackered now!
Anyway, to answer your questions..
Claying is an awesome way to remove overspray... I'd say, why not Wait until it's been to the paint shop. Just clay the areas that haven't had new paint.
Osh, buy the blackfire wet diamond kit from polished bliss. They supply some very good applicators and some super deluxe polishing and buffing clothes in the kit. I usually buy a pack of foam applicators from eBay every now and then. I also have some of the microfibre ones as well. They're cheap so get a load. I use them for all sorts of jobs.
If you buy the blackfire kit, you'll get the gloss enhancing polish, the sealant and the polymer spray. You won't need a glaze like black hole or anything else as the gep has fillers in it.
They don't do a silver specific polish (I'm not sure anyone does to be honest) you could try something like bouncers 'check the fleck' but to be honest, I'd suggest you start by trying out the wet fire kit. A couple of coats of AFPP and you may think that's good enough. If not a coat or two of blackfire midnight sun will do the trick nicely! Silver can be tricky to get really shines, but most in the know would suggest sealant will bling silver and white better than wax.
I use autoglym plastic and trim dressing. There's loads of different products and they're all pretty decent. Next time I might try something different, but it's ok. Same with the glass cleaner. I find the autoglym glass cleaner pretty good as well. I might try some glass polish this weekend if I can get hold of some. It's particularly good at deep cleaning glass.
I might do a write up on cleaning interiors, glass, plastics and the engine this weekend if the weather holds up.
Apc - I think I use the autobrite product. 5 litres for about £18 or something off eBay. To be honest any will do in my opinion.
Metal polish - I use tcut original.its old school but works so well.ive got a pot of meguires metal,polish on the shelf, but never bothered to try it.
The reason that people say don't do circular motions is that in theory it can cause significant scratches if there was any grit or dirt on the paint or cloth. If you're using a rotary or DA, then it's assumed that you know the importance of clean paint and what do with the polish (to truly work polish needs to break down, which it does after being worked with a da or rotary polisher).
I've done a whole thread on C5. Just post on the thread if you have any question.
I think I've covered everything, but please feel free to ask whatever you want. There's lots on here that are experienced and enjoy detailing / cleaning their cars.
Good luck. Show us your work please!
Matt