Favorite Cleaning Products

[XanderWiFi]

Looking at the pictures from ASS inspired me to post this spread. How the heck do you get things that shiny under the hood? I think that I do a good job detailing my car but it just does not seem so based on the pictures that I see. It could be a matter that the camera makes the car look 5 years younger or something (lol : P ) but I am really interested in what people use and do to get things looking that spic and span?

Post away: techniques and tactics; products and where to find them; pictures and how-tos if needbe.

[XanderWiFi]

I'm a fan of what is cheap...I only use turtle wax spray so I wonder if that is why it doesn't appear as shiny. As for the engine I only use engine brite but the engines in the pics looks super clean.

[JLw7123]

get some meguiars car wash and wax and u will notice a difference.

[[ion] C2]

- Mother's Clay Bar & Instant Detailer
- Turtle Wax
- Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish
- Armor All Cleaning Wipes
- Armor All Extreme Tire Shine
- Armor All Wash & Wax
- CD2 Engine Detailer

And lots of microfiber cloths.

[XanderWiFi]

any input on ways to clean the engine? Pressure wash or no? Cover certain things up?

[kwhauck]

wash your car.....lol......who does that?

[[ion] C2]

any input on ways to clean the engine? Pressure wash or no? Cover certain things up?
Hand wash, use cloths and sponges and stuff.

[Oldsman]

i wash mine at the car wash. i use engine gunk and then rinse the engine with no-spot rinse and don't pull the trigger over the critical areas.

[cherrington17]

i use turtle wax paste wax. The spray on stuff doesn't last long. The liquid lasts about a week. a good paste wax will last a few months.

wheel protectant works well. give your wheels a good cleaning, and coat them with protectant and grim will just wipe off.

[XanderWiFi]

i wash mine at the car wash. i use engine gunk and then rinse the engine with no-spot rinse and don't pull the trigger over the critical areas.

though it may seem redundant to ask. What would you consider to be the critical areas?

[ccsmith87]

For the exterior I use Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 (Probably the easiest liquid wax I've ever worked with), NXT Generation Car Wash ,Hot Rims wheel cleaner and their Endurance Tire Gel. Love Meguiar's products. I'm probably going to try the paste next time instead of the liquid and see how I like that.

For the interior I use NAPA's BodyPro Fabric Cleaner and their Vinyl, Leather Plastic Protectant. Works really good. I've never been a fan of Armour All, nice shine but it's loaded with silicon which is hard on vinyl's and such. Dries them out.

I've only really lately thought about really detailing my engine... Don't really need to, nothing special under there other than the engine, no mods yet. Haha.

But that's just personal preference.

[Oldsman]

though it may seem redundant to ask. What would you consider to be the critical areas?

alternator, spark plug area, air filter, things like this

[ares89]

http://1hourmonthlypodcastshow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/02.jpg

Windex...
It solves everything.. Consuela Agrees

[Redog]

Yeah teh car was h thing works very well. I don't pull the trigger on the wand and use the lower pressure setting. Just leave the engine running.

On the wheels. I use a regular Meguairs Cleaner wax. IMHO it works just as well as the Mother's and other stuff, however it lasts longer and dirt comes off easier. The tires I use "Black Magic" tire gel. Easy to go on and lasts soooooooooooooooo long. Tires will shine for weeks.

After I wash the car. I use "Ice" wax from Turtle Wax. They make an interior cleaner now too. The Ice wax is awesome. You can apply it in the sun and it just wipes off easier than the regular wax

[ccsmith87]

After I wash the car. I use "Ice" wax from Turtle Wax. They make an interior cleaner now too. The Ice wax is awesome. You can apply it in the sun and it just wipes off easier than the regular wax

I find the Meguiar's NXT Generation wax is the same way. Comes off easy whether it's in the sun or the shade. Great stuff.

And Windex... hate the stuff, find it streaks too much. Love 3M's glass cleaner, works wonders, no streaking.

[ares89]

And Windex... hate the stuff, find it streaks too much. Love 3M's glass cleaner, works wonders, no streaking.
But.. Consuela loves windex... no streaking, off brand leaves streaking... need windex.. you buy it... (dont mind me..)

[XanderWiFi]

I just bought a whole slew of mcguiers products and gotta say I like them pretty well. Hand waxing the paste wax is a son of a bitch though lol

As for the engine...I use engine brite...but I use a garden hose and pretty much hose everything down...oops. No problems yet-knock on wood.

[mbeals]

As for the engine...I use engine brite...but I use a garden hose and pretty much hose everything down...oops. No problems yet-knock on wood.

I hit any actually greasy spots with walmart supertech degreaser and let it sit for a few minutes while I scrub the worse spots with a toothbrush. Then I use a garden hose with a spray tip and blast it clean, avoiding directly spraying the pcm, alt and any other major electrical connectors. Repeat until the grease is gone. Get on the ground and hit the undercarriage too.

Then I hit the aluminum parts with steel wool followed by aluminum polish with a mothers power ball. A wire wheel and a drill or angle grinder make short work of the tough oxidation. If you are committed, pull aluminum parts off, polish to a mirror shine then have them clear powder coated or anodized.

Now wash the painted areas (firewall, fenders, underside of the hood) with normal car wash soap and a sponge, then rinse again with the hose. Now I close the hood and wash/wax the rest of the car and possibly start on my truck. After a few hours, things have dried out and I come back and hit the rubber and plastic with protectant and wax the painted areas.

As for glass, there is an ammonia free foaming glass cleaner in a white can that is the greatest stuff ever. You may have to go to a cleaning supply store to find it though, but its worth it.

[XanderWiFi]

As for glass, there is an ammonia free foaming glass cleaner in a white can that is the greatest stuff ever. You may have to go to a cleaning supply store to find it though, but its worth it.

Brand name of the glass cleaning solution? I don't know why-it should seem like the easiest thing but washing windows is always one of the most difficult. The PCM is located on the right side of the engine correct? I just always figured that as wet as it was in Ohio or a torrential downpour-that electrical stuff isn't going to get any wetter from a garden hose.

[mbeals]

I'll have to find it. Its a white metal can with a picture of a 1950's style lady on the side. If you saw it, you'd recognize it.

Everything under the hood is made to get wet, but not sustain a high pressure blast or be submerged. If you blast electrical connectors with water head on you run a risk of forcing water up inside where it can short or corrode the pins or get under the insulation and corrode the wires from the inside out. Just casual contact with water is fine though.

One other thing. You can wash a warm engine to help loosen up the grease, but don't wash a hot engine. Cold water + hot metal = warping and cracking. I also don't wash mine while running and I let it dry out completely before starting.

[XanderWiFi]

One other thing. You can wash a warm engine to help loosen up the grease, but don't wash a hot engine. Cold water + hot metal = warping and cracking. I also don't wash mine while running and I let it dry out completely before starting.


So true. Engine brite says not to spray it on hot engines. Probably something to do with the flammability hahaha

[mbeals]

The cleaner is called "sprayway glass cleaner"

[jhubbz]

Zaino anything works super well. I'm a huge fan of all their products. I've used the Z-CS and Z5 and got awesome results, however I'm saving up to do an all out cleaning with the clay bar and PC-fusion. They also have an amazing tire dressing. The only other cleaner I use would be the Stoner's invisible glass cleaner. As long as you use lint-free towels or newspaper, you are good to go. Also Meguiar's interior detailer works awesome and smells nice!

[Crazytaxi37]

CD2 Engine Detailer and Invisible Glass by Stoner

[TheThickster]

< Meg's Gold Class Wash, Megs Gold Class Wax, Eagle 1 tire gel, Trim Shine for under hood plastic.

[XanderWiFi]

This is my most recent cleaning using the mcguiers products. Also my new tinted tails.

[XanderWiFi]

Any suggestions for detailing chrome rims? I hear a sealant works better than wax.

[sleepyalero]

black magic tire shine.
Maguires cleaner wax.
Purple Power.
Brasso.
Maguires spot free wash.

[MotorCity]

I love using my Q tips for those hard to reach spots... 500 for like $3 bucks.. cant get better than the basics

[Hectic]

I had a Diamond Kote detailing kit given to me, I've only used the vinyl detailer and fabric cleaner so far, it is amazing. The vinyl gives a nice shine and makes the dash, plastics, and leather look brand new and moisturized again. I used the fabric cleaner on a few spots on the carpet, and it lifted them right away.

My tires were all stained since I got the car, and nothing seemed to get the grease, tar and caked on crap off of them. Sprayed them with the fabric cleaner, and it wiped right off.

[kwhauck]

I make my wife clean the cars / thread.....

[XanderWiFi]

I make my wife clean the cars / thread.....

Haha that seems like it would be awesome. But I would never let my wife touch my car...

[kwhauck]

I personally have never waxed either of my vehicles but Lindsey has waxed them numerous times. I guess I do take the the seats out to make sure everything gets clean!