Advice for a newbie cleaner

[mk2k41]

Hi guys,

After picking up my new DS3 last week, I want to really try and keep it as clean and show room fresh as possible. I'm sorry if this has already been asked, but I did have a look and couldn't see anything. I've been looking at various cleaning products but, and I won't lie, I have no idea what I'm actually looking at! Previous to this vehicle, I've only ever owned older cars which I wasn't that fussed about keeping spotless so I just kept it simple. Can anyone point me in the right direction for the sort of products I'd be after, and any advice for using them correctly?

Thanks in advance

[Jimbob]

Hi and welcome

It's only a matter of time before full instructions will arrive from Andy (RabidRaccoon).

JB

[Auto Finesse]

Hi there Mk2k41

Good to hear you are looking to look after your new car. Its always an exciting time! I would recommend that you pop over to our site with the link below. We have handy guides to help you look after your new DS3. Be sure to keep watching these as we are currently build new kits around the guides.

Heres a link for you: Auto Finesse Guides

If you have any question let me know and I will assist you.


Hope this helps, Joe.

[Clean Your Ride]

Hi there

Washing is the process of removing loose grime from the exterior surfaces of your car and should normally be done on a weekly or fortnightly basis. I will explain the benefits a lambswool wash mitt offers over a traditional yellow sponge, how to use the two bucket method, when to use a microfibre wash mitt, how to wash and rinse exterior surfaces efficiently, how to dry exterior surfaces safely, and the benefits a microfibre drying towel offers over a traditional chamois leather or plastic drying blade.

Once a car has acquired a significant film of dirt and grime there is a much greater risk of inflicting sub-surface paint defects during the wash process. This is due to the greater number of contaminants present that may inadvertently be moved around over underlying surfaces as they are removed, and the tendency to scrub the paint more to get it clean. At the simplest level the first thing you can do to minimise this risk is to rinse off as much dirt and grime as possible using a hose or a pressure washer before washing the bodywork by hand. Ten to fifteen minutes spent carefully rinsing off in this way is time well spent, but may not always yield much improvement, particularly if two to three weeks worth of dirt and grime is present and has gone through numerous wetting and drying cycles. In such cases, the use of a pre-wash foaming solution can help tremendously.

The idea behind applying thick clinging foam to your car before washing is simple and the benefits are obvious. If you apply a generous coating of suds to dirty surfaces and allow them to cling in situ for many minutes at a time, the cleaning agents have longer to work and therefore dissolve and suspend a lot more dirt and grime. By the time the foam is eventually rinsed off much of the dirt and grime is simply washed away, leaving relatively clean surfaces behind ready for a careful wash by hand. Clearly, the major benefit here is that the bulk of dirt removal is done before a wash mitt is placed on the car, which greatly reduces the risk of inflicting marring and fine scratches during the hand-washing process.

Normal car shampoos can be used to produce foam with a reasonable degree of success, providing that the correct dilution ratio is maintained. However, this can result in a lot of expensive shampoo being used up quite quickly, so numerous manufacturers also offer specialised pre-wash foaming solutions (often referred to as snow foams) with much higher dilution ratios.

Foam production relies on air being drawn into a foaming solution as it passes through an injector head into the main stream of water running through either a foam lance. The higher the pressure of the water, the thicker the resulting foam will be. Foam lances that attach to pressure washers, like the AutoBrite HD Foam Lance, generate much thicker foam that clings very strongly, allowing more time for the cleaning agents present to dissolve and suspend dirt and grime.





In all cases using warm water in the bottle will produce thicker and more effective foam with greater cleaning power.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgHxNdUBq7s&sns=em

A pre-wash using a garden pressure sprayer which I personally prefer is cheaper and produces less "mess" than snowfoaming.





http://www.ds3club.co.uk/showthread....m-vs-Pre-rinse

The most important thing to remember about the wash process is that more often than not you are working on dirty surfaces. Your choice of products and methods is therefore very important, as you want to be able to gently lift away dirt and grime without damaging underlying surfaces or stripping away existing sealant or wax protection. For this reason, I recommend the use of a high quality lambswool wash mitt in place of a traditional sponge, and the use of a mild shampoo in conjunction with the two bucket wash method with grit guards.



If you examine traditional sponges and think about the washing process, it should become obvious to you that they are poorly suited to the task. This is because they provide no means of lifting particles of dirt safely away from the surfaces being washed. Instead, dirt particles are trapped against the face of the sponge and moved around over underlying surfaces, creating fine scratches that are commonly referred to as swirl marks. The potential for inflicting such damage is greater during the winter months, when coarser particles of grit and road salt tend to accumulate on the exterior surfaces of your car in between washes.

In contrast to sponges, lambswool wash mitts feature a deep pile that enables particles of dirt to be drawn safely away from the surfaces being washed. Moreover, because the pile is fairly loose, particles of dirt can easily be rinsed out. These benefits can be reinforced by using the two bucket method, in which the first bucket is filled with suds and the second with rinse water. The idea behind this method is to load the mitt with suds, wash one panel of the car and then rinse the mitt thoroughly in the second bucket to release any trapped particles of dirt, before reloading the mitt with suds and moving on to the next panel. It is a simple idea, but highly effective all the same.

The only downside of using lambswool wash mitts is that they are fairly delicate and susceptible to damage by harsh use and snagging. For this reason, I recommend switching to a microfibre wash mitt when washing wheels and the insides of wheel arches, as these areas tend to suffer from significant accumulations of gritty particles and also tend to have more potential snags. However, because microfibre mitts have a shorter pile than lambswool mitts, extra care should be taken to rinse them regularly and thoroughly in order to minimise the risk of marking delicate alloy rims. This risk can be further minimised by pre-washing wheels and the insides of wheel arches with a soft tipped wheel cleaning brush.



Moving on, your choice of shampoo is important as it needs to be tough enough to dissolve dirt and grime, but at the same time not so aggressive as to strip or otherwise degrade existing layers of sealant or wax protection. Many shampoos on sale in high street stores are actually quite strong, and thus best avoided. If you wash and protect your car regularly a mild shampoo will suffice, as any dirt and grime will be loosely bonded and fairly easy to remove. Many good quality shampoos also contain natural or synthetic oils that encapsulate particles of dirt, which further reduces the risk of inflicting swirl marks and typically leaves an amazingly slick finish that sheets water very easily and makes drying off less of a chore.





Some modern paint finishes seem to be highly susceptible to marring no matter how carefully they are treated, and drying them off after washing poses two key problems. Firstly, there is always the danger when working outside that fresh airborne contaminants may settle on the car after rinsing off. Wiping the car dry with a microfibre drying towel can then result in these contaminants causing marring as they are trapped by the towel and then drawn across underlying surfaces. Secondly, as paint is dried off, all lubrication is effectively removed, meaning that the friction between the towel and the paint increases. This in itself can be enough to cause marring in some modern paint finishes.

The solution to both problems outlined above is to cut out any wiping of the paint. It is possible to pat dry a car using a microfibre drying towel in only a little more time than that required to wipe it dry. By not wiping, any fresh contaminants are not moved around over the paint, and towel friction is reduced to a minimum.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZrGHejsD_o&sns=em

When it actually comes to the washing process, the first thing you should do is rinse off as much loose dirt and grime as possible using a hose or a pressure washer. If you opt for the latter observe a safe working distance and don't be too aggressive with the power setting; high pressure jets can knock sticky balancing weights off alloy rims and, in extreme cases, can also strip paint from sharp edges (around wheel arches for example). It is worthwhile taking the time to thoroughly rinse the wheels and the insides of the wheel arches at this stage, as it makes later work with the microfibre wash mitt easier and less mucky.



After rinsing (and foaming if desired), the next thing you should do is wash all of the exterior surfaces bar the wheels and the insides of the wheel arches using a good quality lambswool wash mitt in conjunction with a mild shampoo and the two bucket wash method. Start with the roof, and then work down, washing the windows, the bonnet, the boot, the upper halves of the sides, the lower halves of the sides and finally the front and rear bumpers and the sills. Rinse the mitt thoroughly after every panel, and don't be stingy with the suds; make up a fresh bucket if necessary. The same goes for the rinse bucket; the rinse water can get dirty very quickly, so keep an eye on it and replace it whenever necessary.

When using the wash mitt, try to follow the lines of the car and use only back and forth or side to side motions; circular motions will only make swirl marks more pronounced if you are unlucky enough to inflict any. It is better to wash your car in the shade if you can, so as to prevent the suds from drying out before rinsing off. If this is not possible, you should begin rinsing off sooner, panel by panel on really hot days. When rinsing off, I recommend using a hose with all of the end attachments removed; this encourages the rinse water to sheet off the panels and makes drying off easier.

With the bodywork and the windows now washed, the next thing you should do is swap to the microfibre wash mitt and tackle the wheels. If they are particularly dirty you can scrub them first with a soft tipped wheel cleaning brush and a wheel cleaner.

http://www.ds3club.co.uk/showthread....Cleaner-Review

I like these for the backs and insides of the alloys





Be particularly generous with the suds and take the time to get into all of the nooks and crannies and remove all of the brake dust. After washing all of the wheels, finish the process by washing the insides of the wheel arches, rinsing your wash mitt regularly. Finally, rinse everything off with the hose, including the bodywork again if it dried off during the intervening period.

The penultimate step in the wash process is to dry all of the exterior surfaces. This is important, because leaving your car to dry off naturally can lead to the formation of unsightly water spots, which can actually damage painted surfaces if not removed. Although you are now working on clean surfaces, you still want to minimise the risk of inflicting swirl marks when drying off. For this reason, I recommend pat drying with a microfibre drying towel instead of a traditional chamois leather or plastic drying blade. In contrast to traditional chamois leathers, microfibre drying towels are capable of absorbing many times their own weight in water, meaning that you can dry most cars without wringing out once, and are considerably easier to clean and maintain than traditional chamois leathers.

The final step in the washing process is to pack away all of the tools you have used, making sure everything is clean and ready for next use. Firstly, rinse out your buckets and wheel cleaning brushes thoroughly and then leave them to dry out naturally. Secondly, rinse out your wash mitts and drying towel and then wash them all in a washing machine at a low temperature using a non-biological liquid
detergent (avoid soap powders and detergents containing bleach or fabric softeners) before allowing them to dry out naturally.

Of course this is only just to wash and dry your car. You can then go onto using and applying polishes/glazes/waxes and sealants onto bodywork and wheels. Quick detailing sprays, iron fallout removal, tar removal, hydrophobic glass applications, correcting swirls, claying,machine polishing but that's another story for another day.







Hope this helps?

Andy

[mk2k41]

Andy, that is fantastic, thank you so much . When I'm off this weekend (weather permitting!) I shall put that into practice!

[Sparky ds3]

Andy does it again 😃 cracking write up mate

Mark

[Clean Your Ride]

Cheers Mark👍

Sent from my Lumia 925 using Tapatalk

[Jimbob]

Woohoo - that was my (black) car in one of those pictures.
Don't look at it now Andy

JB

[Clean Your Ride]

Woohoo - that was my (black) car in one of those pictures.
Don't look at it now Andy

JB

And how good did it look that day JB?


Sent from my Lumia 925 using Tapatalk

[Bigfeet]

Can I suggest that your write-up Andy gets moved into a sticky?

[joeking27]

Epic post!

[Aidan@Partsworld-uk.com]

I use this microfibre towel as a cheaper method of drying the car off. Absolutely love it, it's quick and easy to dry and wouldn't be going back to the old leather.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kent-Q6100-E...crofibre+towel

...Also available at B&Q. Last week they had a 3 for 2 offer on at B&Q on car cleaning microfibres, spray bottles etc. It might still be on.

[Sparky ds3]

Can I suggest that your write-up Andy gets moved into a sticky?

+1 for that mate

[TypeDS3]

Top Job Andy - very helpful for those who have invested a lot into their DS3.

[Clean Your Ride]

Can I suggest that your write-up Andy gets moved into a sticky?

I have no idea what a sticky is Biggie?

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