Lost my shine

[Sinky]

Ok folks
My R21 is a dull matt with oily fingerprint white.
She needs a GOOD clean up and the shineyness back.

What would you suggest to get her back to her best and a nice deep shine if possible . Start to finish please.

Also while online the car got keyed a while back so I bought the halfuds touch up paint and covered the keyline up.
Now its better BUT you can still see the fresh paint mark.
Could I sand the mark down and polish away into the paint?

Thanks all

[cairyhunt]

Check out detailingworld.com should tell you all you need to know

[akku]

wash thoroughly
use a degreaser if its really that bad. I use fairy liquid for these 2 steps but you'll kill nuns if you do...
use a clay bar to pass over the whole thing to remove the bonded in contaminants
wash it again
use a polish (a mild cutting compound) to bring the gloss back
use a sealer to keep the shine in.
top if off with a wax to give it some depth.

[waveman1500]

Clay bar, pfft! It's a Renault 21, not a Pebble Beach concours winner. Just give it a good wash, degrease any greasy bits which aren't removed by washing and then hit it with some type of cut-and-polish. I prefer an extra-cut cream polish with carnauba wax in it for that kind of thing, but you can use liquid polish or T-cut or whatever, it'll get the job done.

[Deleted]

I've not used it myself, but I've seen the difference a clay bar gives to a white car. If you want it to look clean and shiny, the clay bar is definitely the way to go because white is so much less forgiving on discolouration and ingrained dirt than other colours.

[scoobypete]

I used a coupla tins of rubbing compound on my seriously oil spattered/faded vw t25..worked a treat

[akku]

Oct 27, 2010 17:05:12 GMT waveman1500 said:

Clay bar, pfft! It's a Renault 21, not a Pebble Beach concours winner.

He asked how to do it, I presume he wants to know how to do it right...

A clay bar costs like £6 and makes it easier to polish and to wax if nothing else.

I don't much like T-Cut, there are newer products which do a better job for less effort and the same money (or only slightly more).

I have about a half dozen half used bottles of T-Cut (I swear they breed in the shed) but these days I only tend to use it for removing rust streaks or petrol stains.

I quite like Meguiars Scatch-X, makes a nice job and its very easy to use.

[skinley]

I used Wilkinsons own brand colour restorer (about 1/3rd the price of T-cut) on my seriously faded, white Toyota Carina and it definitely made a lasting difference. Unfortunately it's now a nice shiny write-off.

[surprisingskoda]

Oct 27, 2010 17:54:27 GMT akku said:

Oct 27, 2010 17:05:12 GMT waveman1500 said:

Clay bar, pfft! It's a Renault 21, not a Pebble Beach concours winner.

He asked how to do it, I presume he wants to know how to do it right...

A clay bar costs like £6 and makes it easier to polish and to wax if nothing else.

I don't much like T-Cut, there are newer products which do a better job for less effort and the same money (or only slightly more).

I have about a half dozen half used bottles of T-Cut (I swear they breed in the shed) but these days I only tend to use it for removing rust streaks or petrol stains.

I quite like Meguiars Scatch-X, makes a nice job and its very easy to use.

I need to do this job too... so...

tell me what products to use at each stage, and also... how do I use a clay bar?
It's only 5 years since I last detailed a car but it feels like decades.

[Blown_Imp]

I was skeptical of claybar, but it is quite frankly brilliant, any paint I have used it on has ended up glass smooth.

In fact, I use it instead of cutting compound on all but the worst of paint finishes.

Then some decent quality wax, I use dodo wax, excellent hard wax that lasts ages and gives an amazing shine.

Regards

J

[Blown_Imp]

To use a clay bar, I was the car throughly with a micro fiber sponge. Shammy off with a microfiber cloth, then start at the top and work my way down with the clay bar.

I usually use two pieces about the size of a roll of camera film (nearest common item near me that most people can reference to!) to do my 5 series, flod it over and over in your hand to get it warm and pliable. Get a squirty bottle with a little car soap in it (You can get specific lubricants, but water etc works fine), wet an area and start rubbing the clay bar around. Don't use too much pressure, it will glide over the surface if it is working well, don't let it touch the paint and drag.
As the clay bar picks up all the dirt, tree sap, tar, diesel etc etc off the paint, it will change colour with brown specles in it, keep folding over the bar to keep a clean surface on the paint. Some areas will take a little more work, like the bumper/bonnet front.

Once done, bin the used clay!

The paint will now be very clean, but totally un-protected, so a sealer or just a good wax is in order. Wash the car again as it will be covered in a milky dry film if it worked well, shammy off, and then wax the car. It will be a pleasure as the paint will be super clean and the wax will seem to sink into the surface and polishing off is much easier.

Well worth the effort!

J

[dubzi]

To use a clay bar, leave it in the shop unbought. May as well use some old Blu Tack and water from the dog's bowl....

[akku]

I've not tried blutac so can't comment on how well it works, but it doesn't "feel" like the same consistency. Also how much of the stuff you'd use to do a whole car may work out cheaper than buying the real thing... I have a pack at work so I might give it a go for the giggles.

[akku]

Oct 27, 2010 18:16:28 GMT surprisingskoda said:

I need to do this job too... so...

tell me what products to use at each stage, and also... how do I use a clay bar?
It's only 5 years since I last detailed a car but it feels like decades.

I try not to recommend particular brands as stuff changes very quickly in terms of what is good value for money. There is some real "marketing magic" in a lot of products which seeks to justify its price.

For Clay, there's stuff you can buy off eBay cheaply seems to work OK and should be used with a spray detailer or Bilt Hammer do a clay designed to work with tap water. Its a dearer clay (about a tenner?) but you don't need the spray. If you have the spray anyway then, meh, whatever.

[christian1981]

If its that bad I'd suggest a good Mop and G3 and then a hand polish and wax!

Clay it first if it has bad contaminated paint with Fall out etc!

[Blown_Imp]

Well the snake oil works very well for me, the surface goes from being rough to glass smooth every time I do it, and the clay goes from blue to a kind of scummy blue, so it is taking something off (possibly the paint, as that is blue too :-D ).

J

[cairyhunt]

Oct 27, 2010 19:09:08 GMT dubzi said:

To use a clay bar, leave it in the shop unbought. May as well use some old Blu Tack and water from the dog's bowl....

oh be quiet and put that snake oil in ya engine!!

clay bars work! And the only people who say they don't are people who haven't used em or done it properly!

Don't forget to use some lube tho, there are full guides, product reviews and video guides on detailing world, it's a fantastic site for stuff like this.

Here's a pic of the bonnet of my merc after a clay, m/c polish and wax



reflection like a mirror! You won't get that with snake oil

[skinley]

Cleaning a car is very much like making love to a beautiful woman.

[cairyhunt]

Oct 27, 2010 21:38:07 GMT skinley said:

Cleaning a car is very much like making love to a beautiful woman.

lol, yeah, seems like such a good idea when you started, by the time you get half way through you wish you'd never started! Hahaha

[alfaboy]

Claying your paint is one of the best treatments you can do to tired neglected paint, if your car parks under tree's you simply have to get it clayed twice a year to remove the build up of sap.

Blue tak does work to a degree, use warm water with a little wash solution to lube it though.

I have detailed cars profesionally for several years now and clay is still one of the greatest products there is.

Seal and wax after a good polish with autoglym super resin, its still the best hand polish there is, seriously.