Right, this could be one of those question nominated for 'stupid question of the year' so i appologise in advance.... I did a search on here and got loads of info on products etc

I have a bianca 6 and its in need of a bloody good clean! The lads who saw it at germany can vouch for how it needs a clean so im getting on it!

Im wondering what order i should go about cleaning it and what products do people use for the job? As its white any special things i should do?

Really want to get it back to a decent standard!

Thanks in adavnce



Donny

Get down to autobrite in Fenton. They'll sort you out.

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Ex SC-6

Now in a Megane R26

Sweet, i shall go autobrite this morning see what they say....

I took it the local romanians the other week, they did a great job on the inside but the outside seemed to be just wet..... think i need some stuff to remove oil finger print marks, grease etc then something to get the shine back as its started to go a mat colour.

Dont think the previous owner washed it......ever!!!

Donny

Wuuuuuuuuurd

Then drop it on the floor and have to throw it away.

I bought a half-decent DA polisher as well, makes paint correction and scratch removal infinitely easier.

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Yes, you really do need to get it properly clean. Not a once-over, not a bit of a scrub, but an actually good clean - any crap you leave behind will get scratched all over your paint when you come to clay or polish.

Snowfoam's pretty good if you've got a decent pressure washer, it actually forms a thick foam over the car which you can leave to soak for a few minutes.

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Thats the problem im having, the paint is so flat its hard to get the marks off....

Im off to the shop in stoke that was mentioned above later, i will let you no what they say/i bought haha

Donny

Well yes, but there are two issues. Firstly, it's expensive. You could buy all the chemicals and kit for the cost of a decent detail.

Secondly, you can only have a proper rotary polish a limited number of times before the paint gets too thin.

That's the kind of thing I'd maybe do once or twice in a car's lifetime, no more.

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If it's one you can do as often as you like, he's probably using a DA polisher rather than a rotary.

As you say they are far safer, but won't get as good a result as skimming off the top later of paint. However I completely agree it's only worth buying the stuff if you're going to do it a few times, if it's just a one-off you're best getting someone else on the case.

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DA basically just wobbles about a bit, it's extremely safe, takes off a minimal amount of material. Very good for home/amateur use and can get very good results.

The rotary ones literally just spin, and if you don't know what you're doing you'll be straight through to bare metal in a couple of seconds. They're the kind of thing you don't use until you've measured the paint thickness at various positions of the panel to make sure you don't leave the paint too thin.

They're normally used to get the factory orange-peel to being completely flat, ie they leave the paint *better* than it was when it left the factory. However as they remove a fair bit of material you can only do it once or twice on in a car's lifetime, and even then you need to be careful what products you use with it if the car has particularly thin paint.

I've used DA ones quite a bit, and I'd still never consider going anywhere near a rotary.

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Not necessarily, a DA head will spin when not in contact with a panel. And speed is also controllable.

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I hope he's either an amateur or a trainee with that logic? Removing swirls and scratches is done by removing a small amount of the clear coat (in the case of base - clear paint jobs). The deeper the scratch, the coarser the compound and pad required, and the more material is removed. Even using a finer compound will burn through, i've seen clear coat completely removed (burn through) by someone using G10 finishing compound and a rotary and that stuff's pretty fine!

As for you level of cleaning, depends how much you want to spend. AG Tar and Bug remover works well, as does the Meguiars clay bar. Don't just lightly rub it over the surface though, really muck in and keep it lubricated well.

I've been using Farecla G3 scratch remover and G10 finishing compound recently by hand giving half decent results, ideally though you should use a rotary for the first time. As owain said, only do it maybe twice the whole time you have the car, burning through the clear means respray time and take it from someone speaking from experience.. respraying's an avoidable ballache.

Once it's been detailed you just need a GOOD cleaning routine. Swirls don't appear naturally after a detail, they come from a bucket of fairy liquid and a 99p sponge. Check detailingworld, plenty of routines on there for any budget and/or skill level

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Bye bye Sundance Kid

haha autobrite were first class mate thanks for the heads up!! top bloke there!!

Im now armed with, a de-greaser, shampoo, polish and wax.... i will hopefully put up some before and after pics on how i get on!!

He said see how they go, then once its clean then use a clay bar which makes sense really.

Plenty of work to be done now over the next week ready for a clean shiney 6 for oulton on next friday

Thanks again for the heads up!!

Donny,

Right, so 6 hours is the target!! Any beer consumed during this time? That could affect my time!!

Yeah i was planning on one panel at a time, but the weather looks gash for the weekend so might have to be next week now

She is a sorry state at the moment but hopefully gleeming when i have finished!!!

Donny,