Why pay more than a Fiver ?

I can get a bottle of wax and shampoo for under a fiver or I can pay over hundred for the same.
The car is used every day, it is not a weekend show car and I have no desire to spend every second week polishing for hours.
So back to my original question, what reason is there to spend so much on a wash and shampoo kit? Can the finished result be really 20 plus times better ?
This is a genuine question and I know that there are those who enjoy there showing and are willing to spend a lot of time on preparation and I am not having a go at them in any way. I just want to know if the ordinary car owner will be justified in spending so much more on a polish.
Thanks

JBL

JBL

I've used MER for polishing my cars over the years and been happy with it. It was not until I tried Autoglym 'Super Resin Polish' I realised how much effort MER was to get off, and the MER shine was nowhere near as good.

Then along comes my 1st Impreza... Scoobynet... and too much advice I didn't know what to have for a birthday a couple of years back, so I asked for some cash towards a Swissol kit.

The 1st time I used it, it blew Autoglym into the dust. I spent over 8 hours that day using every bit of the Swissol kit. The paintwork was like new, and had such a deep shine it looked almost transparent.

For me... the polishing/cleaning thing is all about how much pride I take in my car, and the fact I use car cleaning as way of relaxing. Gets me out of the house for hours and away from the wife and baby!

Anyone who knows me (on this BBS) will know how much time I take to polish my exhaust. My Ninja gets a full under body polish every time the car gets cleaned.

Sad or mad?

J.

You can get superb results using budget stuff, there is no need to go to massive expense.

The key is preperation and elbow grease.

My budget tools are:

Normal wash and wax shampoo
Hydra blade (wiper blade thingy)
Synthetic wash leather (not the type with small holes in)
Old 100% cotton T-shirts cut up into 12"x12" pieces, regulary washed
Cellulose thinners
Water spray gun filled with water (use with 3m polish on a hot day)
3m "Perfect It" fine polishing compound
Mid range polish: meguires or autoglym, mer
Mid range wax: meguires, autoglym gloss protection, turtle wax etc: For longer protection use a carnauba based wax.

Clean car with normal car shampoo, use hydra blade and synthetic wash leather to dry (not the one with holes in...they are crap). Go from top to bottom, doing lower sections such as sills and wheel last. Preferably do very dirty gritty sections with a speprate sponge. do not allow to dry naturally - you'll get water etch marks, keep wetting the car if you have to until you can dry it properly.

When using the cloths to polish on fold them up into a quarters or halves- this evens out the pressure applied by your hand, work one panel at a time, when removing polish turn and shake out cloths regulary and only use light pressure when removing polish or applying/removing wax.

Use the Cellulose to remove chemical and pollution fallout, tar, pollen, old wax built up - wipe on wipe off. Keep away from any unpainted plastic, rubber seals or glass! This makes polishing much easier.

Use the 3m fine polish to remove surface scratches, deep contamination and matting, moisten the cloth with water and use medium pressure, lightly mist the panel with water before applying - makes it easier to apply and remove. If the body work is very poor and second application maybe needed.

Use the polish as per instructions

Ditto with wax.

The swissol and zymol systems barring the clay bar is very similar in method - and that is waht gets the results, not the products themselves. And in most cases the final result has never disspointed me.


Cue the amature photographers posting pics of their cars...which prooves nothing....you should see the finger prints on my monitor >>>>>

Ali-B

Damn good cleaning advice. Can't say I follow that type of method every time, but time and effort is the key to a good finish.

To be honest I find Karcher 'Auto Cleaner' (for their pressure washers) better than the Swissol 'Car Bath' shampoo. It just seems to do the job and rinses off really well. 'Car Bath' takes a lot of clean water to get off, but it does smell nice

J.

Thanks for the response.

JBL

That meguires nxt car wash seems to wash as good/better and rinse off better than the swissol car bath too. How $6 car wash turns into £12 over here thou....
And as said above its all in the preparation, get a clay bar, and then whatever polish/wax u usually use makes it so much easier..

People have decided that the Swissol kit is expensive & I am not too sure why ! The kit wins all the tests in the magazines & is therefore rated as the best on the market (this is backed up by the fact that the Rolls Royce Phantom comes with a free kit !)

Yes the Swissol initial outlay is the most expensive but with kits starting at £110 & the majority of the products lasting 2 years plus this works out at £2 per week ! Is this really expensive when people will pay £6 to have their car cleaned with a gritty sponge in a car park !

The kit also includes a wash cloth (please never use a sponge on your car) all applicators & buffing towels ! You only need a hose bucket & old bath towel to finish the job !

which ever products you use please try using a wash cloth instead of a sponge & an old bath towel (*washed without conditioner) instead of a chamois etc for drying ! Both these items can be washed after use & will not have grit in when the car is next washed !