Chamois / Shammy Leather

[Trav]

I think there's a lot of 'snake oil selling' in the car detailing world...and Lord knows I've fallen victim to enough of it over the years.

I think there are many good products. There is always new science as well. But there will be some selling snake oil at the back of genuine manufacturers. As long is it doesn't get like the healthy food industry. I don't want to see people on any forum putting 'Bifidous Regularis' on their cars. Or whatever that yoghurt advert claimed.
Paintwork blemishes seem inevitable just by what is mentioned on this thread. It seems to be about limiting damage. Limiting damage means less polishing. Less polishing means more nice protective paint for the metal. I am all for that.

[derin100]

I think there's a lot of 'snake oil selling' in the car detailing world...and Lord knows I've fallen victim to enough of it over the years.

I think there are many good products. There is always new science as well. But there will be some selling snake oil at the back of genuine manufacturers. As long is it doesn't get like the healthy food industry. I don't want to see people on any forum putting 'Bifidous Regularis' on their cars. Or whatever that yoghurt advert claimed.
Paintwork blemishes seem inevitable just by what is mentioned on this thread. It seems to be about limiting damage. Limiting damage means less polishing. Less polishing means more nice protective paint for the metal. I am all for that.

Exactly this ^^^

I just wish there were some good method for sorting out the genuinely good stuff from the 'Trumps' of products.

[Bing]

If I am not going to polish or wax the car - which only gets done every 3 or 4 months - I just don't dry it. Even when I am going to do more than wash it's generally in the summer and the car dries naturally very quickly. I've used de-ionised water to rinse down the car for years now, and whilst there are some light swirls and scratches, the paintwork is in great condition for it's age because the only time I touch the paintwork is with a clean wash mitt.

I use one of these : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog ... tml#SID=29

A full bottle of resin lasts about 3 or 4 months depending on how often you wash - I only use it on one car, and occasionally on the windows of the house. You get three fills out of a 25kg bag of resin, that's a bag a year at about £84 once you have the kit. All I do is wash, rinse, walk away. Zero water marks until the resin starts to go off, which you can anticipate with a TDS meter - when particulates get to about 5-7 ppm it's time to change.

When the resin is done you need some of this : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog ... tml#SID=29

You need one of these to re-fill it : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog ... tml#SID=29

And a cheap TDS meter : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog ... tml#SID=16

In the summer in particular I used to find myself chasing the water round the car to prevent spots - clean a panel, then dry it, clean another panel, then dry it. Or worse, using a detailing spray at the end to aid drying but also rubbing water marks off. Complete ball-ache, not ace to the paintwork, and time consuming.

I have a friend who is a professional detailer, he'd heard of this but never been convinced. He saw the paintwork on my 12 year old car, bought a set, says it's changed his life

No snake oil here, just completely contaminant-free water, air and sunlight when available

[derin100]

Sounds excellent!
It must be that or something similar that the guys who clean our windows use because since moving to Lincolnshire we've noticed how hard the water is here and we thought Shropshire where we were before was bad!
The window cleaning guys also just seem to brush, rinse and walkaway yet there are never any mineral deposits on the house glass either.

[buzyg]

Not used a shammy for years now. Never had any issues with them though. They work just fine and don't damage pant work in my experience.

[patriot66]

Sounds excellent!
It must be that or something similar that the guys who clean our windows use because since moving to Lincolnshire we've noticed how hard the water is here and we thought Shropshire where we were before was bad!
The window cleaning guys also just seem to brush, rinse and walkaway yet there are never any mineral deposits on the house glass either.

Buy yourself one of these

hs227wbkit_1.jpg (32.27 KiB) Viewed 835 times

I've been using filtered rainwater for the final rinse for a couple of years now. It may not be quite as mineral free as resin filtered water but other than the cost of the water butt itself it's completely FREE! I 'sheet' the water over my car from a watering can and if I'm in a rush or c.b.a'd then that's it, job done. However, because I just can't help myself I usually go round the car with my air line, drying towel and Sonax Extreme BSD