Chamois / Shammy Leather
- Thread starter Jaw
- Start date
North West Surrey
ihadablackdog
Senior member
What about those vessels that de-ionise water so it will dry with no spots? Always been tempted to try one.
I’ve toyed with getting one, about £100 for a basic one for that last rinse.ihadablackdog said:
We have a dark coloured Jaguar XF which spends nearly 6 months of the year in France. The water is extremely hard and washing it is a nightmare as it’s almost impossible to do without getting water spots. Unless I can do it when it’s cloudy with no risk of the sun breaking through I go to a car wash. Fortunately there is a brushless drive through not too far away. The last cycle is a spray with deionised/ Demineralised water which certainly works. I looked into getting one of the units for producing deionised water but the filters don’t seem to last long and the reviews are poor.
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derin100
Active member
Tinker15 said:
Yes, we have this problem at our place in SW France too and as you say, if it's a hot sunny day (which is often) it's a nightmare whatever you use. Fortunately, the cars we leave out there aren't too precious or pretty! :lol:
You're Jaguar XF looks lovely, by the way!
derin100
Active member
Silverzedtom said:
To be honest, over the years, I've also come more and more towards this way of seeing it too.
Obviously, I still try to avoid being wilfully neglectful when drying a car but now accept that there is some degree of inevitably in what ever one does and that at some stage a more formal de-swirling will have to be undertaken again right from scratch (no pun intended).
The same goes for washing with me as well now. I try to take reasonable and sensible precautions but again I think there's a degree of inevitability about it. To the extent that even though I still do it because it makes me feel better and possibly it does help to get off/soften any large detritus, I've begun to question how effective snow-foaming really is. It always seems to leave a little of the really fine stuff behind and I'm sure some of this must cause some form of micro-abrasion to some extent when then washed off manually?
I use a micro-fibre mitt. I don't know any more if things have moved on and there are better alternatives that are recommended. However, it seems logical to me that whatever one uses contacts the paintwork and that by necessity there must be (however small) some particles of dirt between the paintwork and whatever 'instrument' one chooses to use which are then inevitably dragged across it. Obviously, one doesn't see it happening but surely it must be every time we wash unless one had some form of system whereby the dirt was literally sucked off the paintwork in a completely contactless manner?
On that basis, one thing that I now do is try to limited what I now think of as 'the pointless' and potentially damaging excessive type washing frequency that I used to do. You know the type where perhaps you're car is just a bit dusty, so doesn't look quite the 100% that you'd like it to look and so you'll give it yet another wash?
While I'm on the subject of 'doubts'.... :lol:
Those "Detailing Bucket" things...with "Grit Guards" in them...like this sort of thing:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-CLEANING-2-BUCKET-WASH-SYSTEM-GRIT-GUARDS-LIDS-CAR-DETAILING/233112690489?hash=item3646995f39:g:WtYAAOSwBDlavPM~:rk:3
f:0Look! This advert even says: "Help to stop those horrible swirl marks with this safe wash kit"
Unless I'm really missing something... how?
Look at the size of the 'mesh' on those things. How does that stop any grit and small particulate dirt that could cause swirls or micro-marring?
Unless you're worried about digging right down into the bottom of your bucket with your mitt, picking up particles the size of pebbles on Brighton Beach with it and then scratching your car with them what use can that be?
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.
derin100 said:
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.
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/7L-Vessel-complete-full-of-DI-resin-PV7F.html#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/25L-CEDELITE-highest-grade-Virgin-mixed-bed-DI-resin-VIRG.html#SID=29
You need one of these to re-fill it : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog/Spare-resin-canister-filling-funnel-FUN.html#SID=29
And a cheap TDS meter : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog/TDS-meter-with-case-with-thermometer-TDS3.html#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 :lol:
No snake oil here, just completely contaminant-free water, air and sunlight when available 8)
I use one of these : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog/7L-Vessel-complete-full-of-DI-resin-PV7F.html#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/25L-CEDELITE-highest-grade-Virgin-mixed-bed-DI-resin-VIRG.html#SID=29
You need one of these to re-fill it : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog/Spare-resin-canister-filling-funnel-FUN.html#SID=29
And a cheap TDS meter : https://www.cleaningspot.co.uk/acatalog/TDS-meter-with-case-with-thermometer-TDS3.html#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 :lol:
No snake oil here, just completely contaminant-free water, air and sunlight when available 8)
derin100
Active member
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.
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.
derin100 said:
Buy yourself one of these
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