Winter Washing Downfall

Funnily enough I am not far away from taking the plunge on a DI vessel for rinsing to help save drying, looking at one on ebay or the raceglaze one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11-7Litre...omeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item35d6bf9d26

One of the reviews that helped persuade me :-

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=104955

That guy got 836 litres out of the vessel before replacing the resin. Considering you only use it for the final rinse what would last a fair amount of time. (dependant on water softness in your area)

Just wondering if its worth the £100 to be able to wash the car in direct sunlight and not have to dry so much using drying cloths. I suppose the least amount of times you actually touch the paintwork with a cloth the better.
 
If your looking to correct paint defects - I can help you. But, you have to forget working by hand. It's just not practical or effective. If you can't figure out a way to work by machine - it will be virtually impossible to restore the vehicle to a show car detailed appearance if it has noticeable defects.

The machine I would recommend starting with is the Griots Garage 6" polisher - which I believe is sold as the Das 6 Pro in Europe. If your interested in doing this - I can help you further on what to get and what to do.
 
minefields said:
Just wondering if its worth the £100 to be able to wash the car in direct sunlight and not have to dry so much using drying cloths. I suppose the least amount of times you actually touch the paintwork with a cloth the better.
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You don't have to dry it using a cloth at all. Assuming you care about the car looking as good as possible, but don't have the time/money/patience to invest exponentially over it's life...

Save money on drying towels & m/f cloths - check
Save money on QD - check
Save money on corrective polishes, machines and associated gear - check
Save time on the whole cleaning process - check

I bet if I could be bothered to add it all up and put an imaginary price on my time then it would pay for itself well inside a year. Actually, it's a no-brainer - I'm going to stop toying with the idea and get it done :thumbsup:
 
And to justify it, wash the house windows and "sell" it that way at home :)
 
I agree with pvr, distilled water is the way to go. I use rain water now to avoid drying, and it leaves minimal residue. I used to hose down (in a hard water area) and towel dry, but the added time and contact didn't add up on top of a 2 bucket wash. It took too long to do it regularly.

A waterbutt on the roof down pipe, with a second waterbutt as extra capacity, and the English weather is doing me proud!
 
MHZ4C said:
I agree with pvr, distilled water is the way to go. I use rain water now to avoid drying, and it leaves minimal residue. I used to hose down (in a hard water area) and towel dry, but the added time and contact didn't add up on top of a 2 bucket wash. It took too long to do it regularly.

A waterbutt on the roof down pipe, with a second waterbutt as extra capacity, and the English weather is doing me proud!
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we make demin water in the power station ! Pity I can't get it out :D lol is this not just a problem in hard water areas ?
 
Distilled water is the best bet, if you can source it easily. Bing's recommendation above is on my birthday wish list now.

The tap water in my area is hard as nails, so I can't use it without immediate drying. I've settled for 2 200 L waterbutts. The water sits before use, and the sediment, esp grit etc, settles out. I never use the bottom third and the water coming out is good, but not perfect. Good enough to let the car drip dry without visible residue, or any patting with drying towels though.

With a silver grey car I can use the 2 bucket method, and rain water rinse and get away with it. I use the hose water as a pre rinse if I'm up early enough to complete the wash before the sun heats the panels.
 
I got a chance yesterday morning to try out the Poorboys Super Swirl Remover on my heavily swirled 2007 Vauxhal Astra.

Washed and clayed the entire bonnet, then polished one side of it. One pass with the PB SSR didn't really make any visible benefits, but a 2nd pass definitely appeared to reduce the amount / severity of the swirls.

Overall the product doesn't appear to be hugely abrasive (i.e. not a compound), but does appear to help. I'm happy to give it a go on the Z now, which is very lightly swirled in reality, so 1 or 2 passes should remove the vast majority of the light defects.

A lot of work and no doubt a DA would make life much easier, but no access to power really has my hands tied.
 
MHZ4C said:
I agree with pvr, distilled water is the way to go. I use rain water now to avoid drying, and it leaves minimal residue. I used to hose down (in a hard water area) and towel dry, but the added time and contact didn't add up on top of a 2 bucket wash. It took too long to do it regularly.

A waterbutt on the roof down pipe, with a second waterbutt as extra capacity, and the English weather is doing me proud!
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This what I do, costs nothing and works very well :D
 
StevenH72 said:
I got a chance yesterday morning to try out the Poorboys Super Swirl Remover on my heavily swirled 2007 Vauxhal Astra.

Washed and clayed the entire bonnet, then polished one side of it. One pass with the PB SSR didn't really make any visible benefits, but a 2nd pass definitely appeared to reduce the amount / severity of the swirls.

Overall the product doesn't appear to be hugely abrasive (i.e. not a compound), but does appear to help. I'm happy to give it a go on the Z now, which is very lightly swirled in reality, so 1 or 2 passes should remove the vast majority of the light defects.

A lot of work and no doubt a DA would make life much easier, but no access to power really has my hands tied.
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In general vauxhall clear is much softer than bmw. So I'd think the same polish would do much less on the zed. You may need something stronger!!
 
I just washed these two, rinsed with the destilled water and dry in the sun. Saves half the time.

photo4_zpse7ad518a.jpg





 
Damn, if i had the garage/driveway/money i'd be doing the same. Looks like good results and time saved.

Sun has gone in, so time to go do mine.. minor thunderstorms got in the way yesterday :(
 
The method I use also shows the risk of drying by towel: As I do not touch the car and only rinse it at the end, any part of the car that has not been properly washed will still show up as dirt.

It is amazing that no matter how careful you are when washing the car, there will always be a little bit somewhere that you have missed. When drying the car with a towel, that bit would most likely be picked up by the towel and the grit will then be spread across the paint.
 
Sim_Simma said:
StevenH72 said:
I got a chance yesterday morning to try out the Poorboys Super Swirl Remover on my heavily swirled 2007 Vauxhal Astra.

Washed and clayed the entire bonnet, then polished one side of it. One pass with the PB SSR didn't really make any visible benefits, but a 2nd pass definitely appeared to reduce the amount / severity of the swirls.

Overall the product doesn't appear to be hugely abrasive (i.e. not a compound), but does appear to help. I'm happy to give it a go on the Z now, which is very lightly swirled in reality, so 1 or 2 passes should remove the vast majority of the light defects.

A lot of work and no doubt a DA would make life much easier, but no access to power really has my hands tied.
Click to expand...

In general vauxhall clear is much softer than bmw. So I'd think the same polish would do much less on the zed. You may need something stronger!!
Click to expand...

Cheers Sim, I'll give it a go in any event (I already have it now), and will move on from there.

It only needs to do much less on the zed as the swirls are nowhere near as severe as the Vauxhall, AG SRP does nothing imo, so any results is better than I've previously achieved.
 
I actually tested SRP on a very small taped up patch of one of the front wings to see the effect and it does kinda work, just apply some pressure, and do a good 4-5 passes, you'll see the difference (and you'll also quickly realise you're never going to polish the entire car by hand..).

I think the problem with most hand polishing is that people tend to just ... kinda .. wash the car with polish, wipe on, wipe around a bit, wipe off - shiny, but no swirl removal. Even with some applied pressure (and the resulting dead arm after one body panel) doesn't really return much difference.

If/when i get a DAS-6 pro you're welcome to come and try/borrow/use it Steven :)
 
jimmybell said:
I actually tested SRP on a very small taped up patch of one of the front wings to see the effect and it does kinda work, just apply some pressure, and do a good 4-5 passes, you'll see the difference (and you'll also quickly realise you're never going to polish the entire car by hand..).

I think the problem with most hand polishing is that people tend to just ... kinda .. wash the car with polish, wipe on, wipe around a bit, wipe off - shiny, but no swirl removal. Even with some applied pressure (and the resulting dead arm after one body panel) doesn't really return much difference.

If/when i get a DAS-6 pro you're welcome to come and try/borrow/use it Steven :)
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Cheers Jim, I'll give it a go when you're in ownership.

The problem I find with SRP is that it has filling properties also. If you did 4-5 passes, but then clayed the area afterwards to remove the filler, I'd question whether it still looked like it works. I've got Black Hole which is very good at filling and hiding the swirls, but I want to remove them.
 
Probably correct Steven. My working area isn't ideal, but it does luckily allow me power/water when needed so i can do most things. Would be awesome to find a workspace to rent, like a warehouse unit or something.
 
StevenH72 said:
Sim_Simma said:
StevenH72 said:
I got a chance yesterday morning to try out the Poorboys Super Swirl Remover on my heavily swirled 2007 Vauxhal Astra.

Washed and clayed the entire bonnet, then polished one side of it. One pass with the PB SSR didn't really make any visible benefits, but a 2nd pass definitely appeared to reduce the amount / severity of the swirls.

Overall the product doesn't appear to be hugely abrasive (i.e. not a compound), but does appear to help. I'm happy to give it a go on the Z now, which is very lightly swirled in reality, so 1 or 2 passes should remove the vast majority of the light defects.

A lot of work and no doubt a DA would make life much easier, but no access to power really has my hands tied.
Click to expand...

In general vauxhall clear is much softer than bmw. So I'd think the same polish would do much less on the zed. You may need something stronger!!
Click to expand...

Cheers Sim, I'll give it a go in any event (I already have it now), and will move on from there.

It only needs to do much less on the zed as the swirls are nowhere near as severe as the Vauxhall, AG SRP does nothing imo, so any results is better than I've previously achieved.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah definitely give it a go. Don't be fooled by the amount of swirls, the depth of the swirls is more important as you are removing the clear coat down to the level of the scratches.
 
StevenH72 said:
...............I'm perplexed by how I have created the swirls, I'm incredibly careful with my washing (two bucket method, grit guard, lambswool mitt and microfiber drying towel) and am slightly concerned with which part of my routine is causing the swirls. I'm guessing that drying is most likely and it's something I will be uber careful with going forward.

Anyway, enough of my rambling any tips would be appreciated.
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Dont beat yourself up mate... I consider myself ULTRA fussy when washing but even then after a while you will get a few slight marks.... hard rainfall on grit/dirt, washing and drying over and over again.... all you can do is vastly reduce the time required between swirl reducing detailing sessions!

I find to limit the damage caused when drying, use a watering can and some demon shine to act as a drying agent before JUST LAYING a wooly mamouth on top of the paintwork and gently dabbing the reverse of it. No dragging, no marking :thumbsup:
 
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