 | Home > Off Topic > One for the Londoners on here |
 
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| Cheshire110 Member Since: 26 Jul 2013 Location: Cheshire/London Posts: 2725  
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Ok- I get what you're saying. So are standard 'car washing' products simply a problem then? Or just the ones that places like these use? Would it be just as bad if I bought a car shampoo, wax etc from say Halfords and did it myself? Because I don't see that using a place is any different to that.
I get that using a drive through wash or a supermarket jet wash or cheap car wash is bad because often the brushes are dirty, damaged and old and they are often left on the floor to get dirty. Would be genuinely interested to hear what you have to say on this. Sounds like I may be missing something. I'm no expert and just assumed that if there was nothing 'visible' on the car, and the finish was good (which it honestly is, even in the light) that there was no problems. I thought that was good for the car. Cheers, David Land Rovers of all shapes S3 onwards… Daily is a 110 V8. |
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30th Jan 2015 8:44am |
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| ken Member Since: 18 Aug 2009 Location: Banging Birds with my bitches !! Posts: 4328
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The chemicals that some use are acidic or highly alkali based which ensures a good quick result
So in practice say you had "Lifeshine" or a similar product applied this would be stripped off by the chemicals In practice some of our cars are wrapped the screen print applied was protected by a clear coat to high end level This was stripped off (clear coat) then the ink was attacked and faded out the only place these car were washed well do the math Now apply that to you pride and joy |
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30th Jan 2015 10:40am |
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| Cheshire110 Member Since: 26 Jul 2013 Location: Cheshire/London Posts: 2725
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Interesting, so would the same happen using say Autoglym or cheaper equivalent from Halfords or the petrol station?
What do you do then? Just wash yourself with special products? Cheers, David Land Rovers of all shapes S3 onwards… Daily is a 110 V8. |
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30th Jan 2015 10:56am |
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| ken Member Since: 18 Aug 2009 Location: Banging Birds with my bitches !! Posts: 4328
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Generally retail products are fine
Its the trade ones that can be interesting The best we have come across is Autosmart G101 does the whole thing promise  |
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30th Jan 2015 5:10pm |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5085  
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My son took to detailing cars to supplement his income while at university. On average he took three to four hours to detail a salon car, longer for a Defender.
Some of the products he used cost more than that car wash and on average he would use about thirty pounds of product on a car. I have to say though once he had clayed the paintwork, prepped and then waxed, the gloss and finish was unbelievable. Of course you get what you pay for, but clean cloth's or not, the smallest amount of grit rubbed into your paintwork from a cloth can look horrendous under the right lighting. |
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30th Jan 2015 5:24pm |
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| jomara Member Since: 26 Oct 2009 Location: Lanarkshire Posts: 1762  
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Must say I agree with Ken's points about the damage these chemicals and car washes can do to your car.
A lot of the local valeters use proprietary TFR products via a snow lance, you car looks great for a few days but starts to go dull as any protective products have been stripped off the paintwork. Our driver was having the van wash regularly by one of these establishments, I eventuallt had to have the paintwork polished and a goood coat of wax applied to make it look like a year old van again. I use a combination of Autoglym & Meguiars products on our cars when I clean them, our detailer uses custom blended washes and waxes which are ph neutral and don't strip the wax or degrade the glaze which he applied to the Mrs Q5. Using unknown car washes is a bit like Russia roulette when it comes to their skill level and the quality of the products used, I learnt my lesson after having Ł600 of damage done to the paintwork of my Touareg when a wash bay used undiluted acid to clean the wheels and cills!! 2014 110 2.2TDCi XS Station wagon 1971 Bowler Tomcat 88 4.2 V8 Auto 2022 110 250D XS |
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30th Jan 2015 5:27pm |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5085
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A lot of garage and supermarket jet washes and roller washes use recycled water what you see drain down the long grids under your car is filtered and used again and again and again. This is because Dirty water or run-off from vehicle washing and cleaning carried out as a business or industrial activity is called trade effluent. It’s illegal to discharge trade effluent to drains so the nasty bits are filtered out and the water reused. So in effect you are washing your car with dirty water.
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30th Jan 2015 5:42pm |
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| steventheplumber Member Since: 29 Apr 2014 Location: Lincolnshire Posts: 767  
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did you pay cash or credit card?
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30th Jan 2015 8:43pm |
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| AWOL Member Since: 31 Oct 2013 Location: UK Posts: 222 |
Were you expecting swirl marks? 
If you really want to go to town, I'd recommend Poorboys Black Hole as a filler followed by a couple of coats of decent wax over the top (the Poorboys isn't a wax) - I usually spend a half day doing the wife's black car twice a year (spring and autumn) and it ends up looking better that it did when it came out of the showroom. To do the Landy properly takes best part of a day though... |
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1st Feb 2015 10:02am |
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