so i can see there is a few threads about car cleaning etc all filled with links to this and that but no actual guide that can be sat and read and understood easily!

i valet/detail cars in my spare time and this is merely the process i use, other peoples methods may vary in order and the products they use, but i have lots of returning very very happy customers so take it as you will :)

a list of a few of the products/bits that i use

you can never have too many microfibre cloths! i probably have over 50 which are either being used or are in the wash!

1 quality microfibre wash mitt

2 buckets and grit guard

wheel cleaning brushes and worn scouring pad

TFR (traffic film remover)

quality shampoo (i use meguires gold class)

polish (i use autoglym super resin)

wax (i use simoniz/chemical guys 50/50 pure concourse)

silicone spray (halfords own)

clay bar kit

so to begin with...

step 1: pre-wash; before anything i go around the car and give the wheels a spray with TFR (traffic film remover) i use it neat on the wheels as it is non acidic and wheels tend to be thick with burnt on brake dust, i then go around the lower parts of the bodywork with some diluted TFR and leave it all to get working while i go and get my hose out and ready...

step 2: pre-wash; give the car a good blast down with the hose on full power over all the areas sprayed with TFR, this will remove the thick of the muck to lower the risk of scratches during shampooing

step 3: wheel wash; get your first bucket and splash a small amount of TFR into it and fill with warm water! i now use this with multiple wheel cleaning brushes (depending on the style of wheel) and give the wheels a damn good scrub to remove remaining brake dust, now after this stage you may still notice there is still baked on brake dust stuck in the corners (only do the next stage if you feel confident!) for this i have a well worn scouring pad that i use with lots of diluted TFR to gently scrub off the stubborn bits (if you scrub too hard you will literally start sanding down the wheels so be carefull!!!) after repeating this on every wheel give them a good rinse down with the hose, now using the remaining murky looking water i usually give the exhaust tip a good scrub down and again give it a good rinse off!

step 4: shampoo; using a good quality shampoo give the car its first wash down, i only ever use a good quality microfibre wash mitt along with a grit guard in the bottom of the bucket (at this point i also use a different bucket to the one used for the wheels etc). start at the top and work down, i tend to do this in stages, so; roof, windows, bonnet and boot, give it a rinse and then do the lower parts of the car rinsing thoroughly afterwards (i do this to stop mucky water marks drying onto the paint)

step 5: paint treatmeant; this stage is only required every 6 months or so as it lasts a fair while! after washing the car rub your hands over areas such as the bonnet, front bumper and the bottom of the doors/sideskirts, if it feels rough and bitty, almost as if there is small grains of sand stuck to the paint then this stage is for you! you will require a clay bar and clay bar lube (meguires sell a great kit for 1st timers) start by removing the clay bar and giving it a roll around your hands for a minute or 2 to warm it up until it becomes softer. Now spray the affected area with the clay bar lube and with the clay gently rub it across the surface (i work in a 1ft square at a time) every now and then pick up the clay bar and fold it into its self, do this until the surface feels smooth under the bar and continue like this until you have done all the affected areas! (it takes some time so be patient, it is worth it!) after this i give the car another quick wash down in the areas you have treated and then rinse off again.

step 6: Drying; the best thing i ever invested in is a silicone lance for scraping the water off! it saves soooo much time! so go over the entire car with the lance to remove as much water as possible first and then get out a clean dry microfibre cloth and rub down the car until totally dry! after this you will have a very damp cloth which is perfect for the next step

step 7: door shuts etc; i use the damp cloth from the previous step to wipe down all the door shuts and boot shut etc

step 8: tyres and trim; there and lots and lots of different methods all over the internet for this stage, personally i use halfords own silicone spray as it works wonders and lasts very well! give the tyres and all black trim a quick spray and wipe over with a microfibre cloth to remove any residue, leaving behind a black shiny finish :)

step 9: polish; everybody will have a different choice of polish for this step, there are lots on the market so choose wisely! personally i use autoglym super resin polish, its reasonably priced for a good size tub and works very well! if its a hot day and you are working in bright sunlight you will have to polish and buff each panel at a time so the polish does not go off before you have chance to remove it again. if its a cloudy day you can afford to polish the entire car in one go and remove it all with one microfibre and then go over the car a final time with another clean dry microfibre cloth (or polishing mitt) to give a high shine. i also then give the door shuts a quick polish but thats just me

step 10: waxing; there is a very wide range of waxes available, ranging from £7 a pot to thousands! and for various colours and finishes, so select the right one for you! i personally use simoniz wax for customers cars (£7 per pot) which does do an extremely good job! and for my own car i use chemical guys 50/50 pure concourse wax (i paid £45 for a pot at a show). have a couple of microfibre cloths and a polishing mitt ready for this stage. apply a small amount of wax to the first cloth and rub over a 1/2ft square until it almost disappears and then buff with the 2nd clean cloth, do this until the whole panel is done and then buff over the entire panel with a quality polishing mitt, repeat until the entire car is done! (again this will take some time to do properly but is worth it!)

step 11: glass; final step is to give the glass a polish, i use autoglym glass polish which works brilliantlly!

now stand back and admire the fruits of your labour! :)

a few of my completed photos :)

i also then do the interior but that is another subject...

if this is found useful then could it be a sticky? :)

Edited 28 March, 201214 yr by dubownerbilco

Very useful for beginners. I use the spray auto glym , Show and shine i think its called,is that just equal the the liquid?

Any feedback from anybody?

this guide is actually the best, most detailed car valeting guide I've seen so far. just for the outside!! epic guide !! thanks dude :p xD

iccle out!!

u live to far away to do mine i use dodo juice, smart wax and autoglym products on mine and then every 6 months i call a pro valeter in to do the business and then i just maintain it

sticky??? pleeeaaasseeee :)

Sick guide, will be using some of this info no doubt, cheers.

Very helpful! Next time I wash the car I'll be sure to follow this guide!

Very helpful! Next time I wash the car I'll be sure to follow this guide!

nice one

no sticky? :(

We're in the stickiest situation since Sticky the Stick Insect got stuck on a sticky bun :)

Good man cheers!

Good guide mate, certainly the most conclusive I've seen on here.

I've made a few comments, not to be critical in anyway, just my own observations as a fellow car cleaning geek!

(only do the next stage if you feel confident!) for this i have a well worn scouring pad that i use with lots of diluted TFR to gently scrub off the stubborn bits (if you scrub too hard you will literally start sanding down the wheels so be carefull!!!) after repeating this on every wheel give them a good rinse down with the hose

I tried this once, a few years back, and certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Even rubbing lightly, any bit of pressure applied directly to clean paintwork is going to mark the clearcoat and will be very difficult to polish out in such a fiddly area.

The best advice I can give for baked on brake dust is to apply some tar removed (Tardis is great) and IronX. Ironx is remarkable stuff and makes your wheels look like they're bleeding! After that, if still not shifted, I'd recommend a quite aggressive clay. if you're still struggling then I'd move on to an acidic wheel cleaner, used VERY sparingly.

If, after all that, you're still struggling, then maybe carefully try wetsanding the area and applying a small amount of compound polish afterwards to remove the wetsanding marks. If it's REALLY stubborn and still there then it's probably a refurbish job.

step 5: paint treatmeant; this stage is only required every 6 months or so as it lasts a fair while! after washing the car rub your hands over areas such as the bonnet, front bumper and the bottom of the doors/sideskirts, if it feels rough and bitty, almost as if there is small grains of sand stuck to the paint then this stage is for you! you will require a clay bar and clay bar lube (meguires sell a great kit for 1st timers) start by removing the clay bar and giving it a roll around your hands for a minute or 2 to warm it up until it becomes softer. Now spray the affected area with the clay bar lube and with the clay gently rub it across the surface (i work in a 1ft square at a time) every now and then pick up the clay bar and fold it into its self, do this until the surface feels smooth under the bar and continue like this until you have done all the affected areas! (it takes some time so be patient, it is worth it!) after this i give the car another quick wash down in the areas you have treated and then rinse off again.

Claying is a vital step in getting the best out of your paintwork but you can make it hard work for yourself if you're trying to remove contamination that could be removed easier beforehand. If your paintwork is really rough, or there are obvious sap / tar marks, you're probably wise to give the paintwork a misting of Tardis. Leave this for a minute and then wipe a MF cloth over it. It'll disolve the larger spots of tar / contamination and leave your claying stage to focus on getting the paintwork glass-smooth.

However, make sure you work with the Tardis carefully as it's strong stuff. Use gloves and make sure you rinse the car off afterwards.

step 6: Drying; the best thing i ever invested in is a silicone lance for scraping the water off! it saves soooo much time! so go over the entire car with the lance to remove as much water as possible first and then get out a clean dry microfibre cloth and rub down the car until totally dry! after this you will have a very damp cloth which is perfect for the next step

I've always avoided silicone blades after hearing a few horror stories. The general opinion is that, yeah, they're great if your paintwork is truly dirt, dust and grit free but if ANY of these get caught in the blade then the scratch / RDS it leave behind will be much harsher and more obvious than if it was caught in a MF drying towel and pushed around in a circular motion. Straight scratches are more noticable than circular ones.

step 9: polish; everybody will have a different choice of polish for this step, there are lots on the market so choose wisely! personally i use autoglym super resin polish, its reasonably priced for a good size tub and works very well! if its a hot day and you are working in bright sunlight you will have to polish and buff each panel at a time so the polish does not go off before you have chance to remove it again. if its a cloudy day you can afford to polish the entire car in one go and remove it all with one microfibre and then go over the car a final time with another clean dry microfibre cloth (or polishing mitt) to give a high shine. i also then give the door shuts a quick polish but thats just me

The role of the polishing stage is to remove scratches and swirls and perpare the paintwork for the wax or sealant of your choice. As such, after polishing, there shouldn't really be any polish to 'remove'. Having said that, hand-polishing is going to be nigh-on impossible to actually remove scratches and swirls, so your best bet is to use something like SRP to hide them. If you've got lots to remove from the paint after polishing then you're probably applying a bit too much or not working it for long enough. It is arm-breaking work though!

A rotary or random orbital machine polisher is going to be the only real way to truly remove swirls from your paint, but that's a whole other guide!

step 10: waxing; there is a very wide range of waxes available, ranging from £7 a pot to thousands! and for various colours and finishes, so select the right one for you! i personally use simoniz wax for customers cars (£7 per pot) which does do an extremely good job! and for my own car i use chemical guys 50/50 pure concourse wax (i paid £45 for a pot at a show). have a couple of microfibre cloths and a polishing mitt ready for this stage. apply a small amount of wax to the first cloth and rub over a 1/2ft square until it almost disappears and then buff with the 2nd clean cloth, do this until the whole panel is done and then buff over the entire panel with a quality polishing mitt, repeat until the entire car is done! (again this will take some time to do properly but is worth it!)

Aye, there's a whole world of waxes out there! I've always found that there are generally 4 elements that separate th cheap waxes from the expensive ones, apart from price!

1. Ease of use (application, curing time and removal)

2. Durability

3. Quality / clarity

4. Brand snobbery

Cheap waxes will do a great job, and there are some out there that are old and people still swear by, but some modern waxes last a very, very long time and are also very, very easy to work with. Which brings me on to sealants... companies have spent a lot of time and money developing artificial sealants that replace the need for a traditional carnuba wax. These have been developed to the point where, now, there are sealants out there that are semi-permanent and bond to the paintwork like an additional clearcoat and last for up to a year! Obviously, these are very expensive and require near-perfectly prepped paint before application.

Yeah, I'm a bit of a geek! I'm hoping to give me newly acquired 6n a good working over tomorrow so may post up some results in here if the weather permits...

Adam :)

thankyou for the interesting comments buddy!

although i intended the guide to be useful to somebody who wanted to know how to give there car a much deeper than standard clean, without going geek indepth haha

but thanks none the less!

Oh my god! That is insane.. I just went out and bought everything on here and my car is so so clean! i did spend a few hours doing this but well worth it. feels like a new car! Cheers dude. Ooh and those cars look amazing!!! ^^

Oh my god! That is insane.. I just went out and bought everything on here and my car is so so clean! i did spend a few hours doing this but well worth it. feels like a new car! Cheers dude. Ooh and those cars look amazing!!! ^^

i am glad you are happy with the results! :)

get some pictures up of your efforts, no use going through all that and not showing it off!

Dont spouse you have any tips for getting swirl out ?

its as if somebody modded the whole car and did not do it correct :sad:

Edited 13 May, 201214 yr by mr-snob

Brilliant guide inspired me to clean and polish, bonnet looks more like a red tinted mirror :) happy chap with the result

Awesome thread, will get this done nearer time of getting my 6n2 on road.

No point just yet as it'll sit collecting dust and need cleaning all over again...

I think you should get an interior one done :)

I wish it would stop raining for long enough to let me do all this :( haha

Just cleaned my polo 6n today, love giving an older car a good clean they usually look in better condition than 11 reg bmws which are usually neglected round by me :L

REALLY want to wash my car now, I basically just do this but the waxing is a pain in the arse haha. Excellent sticky and very useful to anyone just starting out. :)