View Full Version : Meguiars cleaning products
Cupramax
08-10-2003, 11:11
Being very loathed to spend the amazing amounts asked by some suppliers for polish/cleaning products I noticed that my local car accesory shop has started stocking the Meguiars range.
Seeing as autumn is now upon us I thought I'd give the red rocket a really good going over before the weather turned completely crap so set off and picked up a Quick clay pack, some Gold class bug and tar remover and a bottle of Quick wax with carnauba. This little lot came to approx £24.
http://www.meguiars.co.uk/acatalog/bugtar.jpg
http://www.meguiars.co.uk/acatalog/qukclay1116.gif
http://www.meguiars.co.uk/acatalog/quikwax.gif
Started off by giving the car its normal wash and rinse, then dried it with a chamois. Once dried I worked over the front of the car with the bug and tar remover which you spray on, leave for thirty seconds or so and then wipe off. The accumulation of flies seemed to come off very easily using this. Once this was completed I ran over any areas that felt rough or were still marked with the clay bar. This left the front of the car with a mirror smooth finish. Nice :D
Then to the Waxing. The first thing that strikes you with the Quick wax is the smell!!!! Its something akin to a sweet shop and the whole car smells great once its on, sad I know but its great :D It comes in a spray applicator which makes it very easy to apply quickly over large areas such as the bonnet and roof. Basically its a spray on, wipe into the paint work and wait for it to dry job. It seems a lot creamier than other (turtle) wax sprays Ive used and needs little work to apply. Buffing off the polish was very easy once it had dried and the finish is as close to a mirror as I've ever seen on a car. Next day I had 2 people I've never met before comment on how shiny the car was :cloud9: :dance1: All in all I would recommend these producst having never used them before not only for the reasonable price but the fantastic finish achieved in just 3 hours.
:cheers:
Nice one.
Can I ask which shop as I think the Motabitz chain is stocking this range?
Is it ok for metallics?
I need to polish/wax mine before the winter and currently have run right out of the normal Autoglym Red I use, so am looking for something new try. Been looking at Zymol, but not yet convinced.
Cupramax
08-10-2003, 12:35
Got mine from Motabitz @ Oakdale. Think all their stores are stocking mate...
I've used Meguiars Gold Wax for a while and not too long ago bought a few other products too. IMO good value cos I don't feel the need to spend loads on wax for a car which is not a show winner.
You can order direct from Meguiars (they've re-adjusted their postage prices) and Banshee also do us a discount on this range:)
Fatbadger
08-10-2003, 13:36
CupraMax,
I use Meguiers products as well and I'm well impressed. Not just by the finish but by the nice sweety shop smell you get.
When I first purchased them I spent about £70 on bits and bobs and could not wait to open them. Once I'd opened one and smelt bubble gum I then had to open everything else to see what it smelt like. :D
They only thing that worried me was if a small child got hold of on of the products it may try and drink what's inside and I'm damn sure that would be no good for them. :(
Anyway back to the cleaning thing. I have the bug and tar stuff and quick wax. WylieCoyote tried some bug stuff at the Rolling Road on Saturday and he was well impressed. Just ask him?
I also have the Hot wheels and it's fantastic spray on lazy man stuff :D
My car was due for a wax on the weekend and I'm glad I didn't do it now as it's in the garage getting fixed.
I cannot recommend these products enough. When I first waxed my car so many people came up to me and said wow nice car mate. Oh what a great feeling. :D
Steve
Cupramax
08-10-2003, 15:22
Originally posted by Fatbadger
I also have the Hot wheels and it's fantastic spray on lazy man stuff :D
Hmmm, cant say I've tried that one. Usually find Wonder wheels works a treat on the "R" wheels.
Originally posted by Cupramax
Got mine from Motabitz @ Oakdale. Think all their stores are stocking mate...
Might pop in to Motabitz tomorrow then as I need to do the car soon.
Have to see how the weather is though.
There is so many products in the range like the Zymol range, how do you know what to start with shampoos, wases, polishes?!
Went to Motabitz today and purchased:
- Meguiars Gold Class Shampoo, £4.99
- Meguiars Quik Clay Detailer, £11.99
- Meguiars Gold Class Cleaner Wax, £8.99
Shampoo was good and easy to use. Better than the Turtle Wax Wash I had been using.
Used the clay straight out of the plastic wrapper with lots of detailer spray to keep the surface wet onto the bonnet, but it seems to have lightly scratched the paint in a few places and left a funny sort of oxidised look to the paint close up, although not visible from a distance. Can only see it really close up. :eek:
I used my Autoglym paint renovator and went over the whole bonnet. This helped a bit but not a lot. Then I used my colour wax twice on the it and it helped mask it a bit, but if I look in the right light I can still see it. Not sure what to do about this?! Try another Meguiars product to fix it?! :confused:
After that I moulded the clay in my hands for the rest of the car so that I was not using hard edges that may scratch the car further and used the soft bits that I made from it with the warmth of my hands and successfully went over the rest of the car.
Then I went over the whole car (apart from bonnet) twice with the Gold Class Cleaner Wax. The bubblegum smell ;) was in this as well as the Clay Detailer which is a pleasant smell to work with and it was good how easy it went on/off and it didn't matter how long I had left it on there, it just rubbed off. :)
Overall I was impressed with the final result, but not as blown away as I had hoped. I was looking for a deeper colour that the car had once had a couple of years back when I got it and maybe a bit more shine. Maybe I need to add more wax, or a different product/mixture of products in a different order.
Having seen some of the reflective mirror finishes of some of the cars on the Meguiars website (www.meguiars.co.uk) the Gold Class Clear Coat Car Wax, perhaps I should have used that or the 3 Step process?
The guy in Motabitz told me that I can put Step 3 wax on top of Cleaner Wax to add protection as its only like a Carnuba Wax. Anyone know if this is correct? Don't want to end up putting something on top of whats there and that removes what's underneath!
Overall its a very good range, but hard to get your head round what to go for as there is some many things that do similar things. Case of trial and error I guess.
If you don't have a shop near you that sells the range its the same prices as I paid on the web (www.meguiars.co.uk) plus about £3.50 carriage.
At least thats the car done and protected for the winter now. :D
Pics follow...:
Cupramax
12-10-2003, 11:10
Looks great Ryan. What a shine!!! :p
If you want a 'richer colour' you need to use the Deep Crystal Polish stuff. I have the first 2 deep crystal products and Gold class wax. Don't really use the paint cleaner much.
Originally posted by Cupramax
Looks great Ryan. What a shine!!! :p
Cheers - should do after 5 hours hard graft!!
Originally posted by edc
If you want a 'richer colour' you need to use the Deep Crystal Polish stuff. I have the first 2 deep crystal products and Gold class wax. Don't really use the paint cleaner much.
Thanks Ed
Interesting combo. So you use:
Step 1 Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner
Step 2 Deep Crytal Polish
and Gold Class Wax rather than Step 3 Wax?
Shouldn't you use Step 3 wax as part of the 3 step system?
Do you know which product I can add to to the cleaner wax I used to enhance it more?
If I use a different polish, eg the Step 2 and 3, I assume the polish I have already used will be removed in the process?
Gold Class wax is better than the deep crystal wax. The combo was (partly) recommended to me by Meguiars product ppl on email. If you wah and wax the car often and regulalry you'll rarely need to use the paint cleaner. They also told me I dodn't realy need to use the polish cos the gold class wax has some paint nourishment in it anyway, but a little more does no harm. I prob only use the deep crystal polish every other wax and the paint cleaner every third wax maybe. I'll give it a good going ove before the weather is too cr*p then that will be it for bout 3 or 4 months till the next warm enough weather to wash the car in shorts and flip flops:p
My understanding is that the cleaner wax is a bit of an all in 1 product for quick results. The DC polish and gold wax just layer up so none of it is removed.
Ed
Does the DC Paint cleaner work a bit like a T Cut/Auto Glym Paint Renovator then? Similar consistency? Or does it only take off all the layers of cr*p that build up on the paint to give that glass like feel they talk about before putting polish/wax on?
Have you got any pics of your car to show the results? Be interested to see them as I'm still not happy with mine. I want a deeper, richer colour and better shine on top. If it takes time to go throught the process, I don't mind.
Cheers
I'm not 100% sure but I don't think the paint cleaner is that abrasive and doesn't take layers off like T-cut (don't know what the Autoglym product you mentioned does TBH). It does 'smooth' the paint and can fill in some swirls, removes oxidised bits, takes out tar spots etc.
I don't have any clean pics of my car but I've got some great advert pics for MC2's effects on white wheels:D I noticed a better finish when using all the products together and for the minimal cost I think it's worth it. But like I say, I rarely use the paint cleaner, maybe used it once or twice since June?
I have been impressed with the finish on the car this week as it rained early in the week and there has been dew on the car every morning.
After the rain had stopped and things brightened up the car dried itself perfectly with a shine and NO RAIN MARKS at all.
The same with the dew. It just runs off and dries out to a nice shine with no marks or clues it was there.
:D
Ryan,
Oops, forgot to take any pics but I will definitely recommend the Deep Crystal Polish. Whilst the Gold Class Wax has some of the same oils as the DCP I could easily see the colour of the paint become 'darker' and much richer when I applied the DCP. I'm not sure how to describe the look/result but I think it's well worth the effort.
Ryan,
Nice to see exactly how my car would look if I use this polish system, my Cupra is "Natural Copper" too. You've even got the vanilla Magic Tree in the same spot as I have! :D
Anyway, I have an area on my bonnet that is scuffed, and it's one of those "mystery" marks. Looks like something has been hastily cleaned of the bonnet by someone who doesn't have a clue about how to treat paintwork (I'm thinking it could have been the builders that were round recently, as I found other areas on the car where there were spots of plaster that had splashed on the car). I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for this. I have Autoglym Paint Renovator, and I'm wondering if there's anything better around as it's not been fantastic in my experience.
Originally posted by Adam
Ryan,
Nice to see exactly how my car would look if I use this polish system, my Cupra is "Natural Copper" too. You've even got the vanilla Magic Tree in the same spot as I have! :D
Anyway, I have an area on my bonnet that is scuffed, and it's one of those "mystery" marks. Looks like something has been hastily cleaned of the bonnet by someone who doesn't have a clue about how to treat paintwork (I'm thinking it could have been the builders that were round recently, as I found other areas on the car where there were spots of plaster that had splashed on the car). I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for this. I have Autoglym Paint Renovator, and I'm wondering if there's anything better around as it's not been fantastic in my experience.
danny842003
15-11-2003, 15:24
is there an echo?
might just get me some of this,my turtle wax seems to have "gone off".
do meguires do a wax remover type product,so i can clean off all the old wax on it and start a fresh?
been thinking of remortgaging and using swissol,but i just can't justify spending that much on cleaning products,i await some flames from the swissol crew:devil:
Originally posted by jason
might just get me some of this,my turtle wax seems to have "gone off".
do meguires do a wax remover type product,so i can clean off all the old wax on it and start a fresh?
been thinking of remortgaging and using swissol,but i just can't justify spending that much on cleaning products,i await some flames from the swissol crew:devil:
Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner should do the trick for you Jase. I use all my old turtle wax stuff to wax the wheels instead now.
Originally posted by jason
might just get me some of this,my turtle wax seems to have "gone off".
do meguires do a wax remover type product,so i can clean off all the old wax on it and start a fresh?
been thinking of remortgaging and using swissol,but i just can't justify spending that much on cleaning products,i await some flames from the swissol crew:devil:
A good stripper of wax and other polish is Fairy liquid...it's mentioned in the Meguiars brochure in a slightly different way:
"Do not use washing up liquid to clean your car as the acid content can strip waxes and other protectants put onto the paintwork."
The best way, to strip wax i.e to start a fresh is use autoglym spray on fast glass,trust me this works a treat, dun it meself, after seeing it on the aston martins @ the motorshow last time,they do this to strip the wax and then re apply to remove all the finger prints from the toffs that pretend there gonna buy one:D it also removes any greasy grime ready for the wax;)
vern
am thinking of buying the 3 step jobbie,its 23 quid or so +p&p
anywhere cheaper online,or shall i just go to halfords tomorow:cheers:
I got the 1st 2 of the Deep Crystal products and the gold class wax from Banshee. Can't remember how much but the discount was appreciated all the same.
tbh ed i think i'll spend a bit more and go to halfords or me local place,mail order has been a pain to me of late,had to do a 50 mile round trip the other day to pick up me strut brace TWICE!!!:mad:
danny842003
15-11-2003, 19:17
think its 10% off from banshee. but its easier to buy it localy if your only spending like £30
Jason, I don't think I've ever seen a Halfords sell it I'm afraid!
I have a brochure at home that tells me of all the stockists. They might have the details on www.meguiars.co.uk
Originally posted by toXXin
Jason, I don't think I've ever seen a Halfords sell it I'm afraid!
I have a brochure at home that tells me of all the stockists. They might have the details on www.meguiars.co.uk
i'm sure i read/saw them selling it,local"midway"will help me out,
walked in today grabbed a sponge waved it at the guy behind the counter,walked out,dads account:D
Originally posted by danny842003
think its 10% off from banshee. but its easier to buy it localy if your only spending like £30
I know it is mate cos I sorted it out;) You can also get if off the Meguiars website and they recently changed their delivery prices to be a bit cheaper too I think.
Originally posted by danny842003
is there an echo?
:D Just trying to get the thread back on the new posts list to see if anyone could help, tis all...
danny842003
30-11-2003, 13:29
going to order some stuff this week.
deffinatly getting the gold class clear coat wax.
anyhting else anyone recomends as a must have?
Depends what state the paint on your car is already in.
danny842003
30-11-2003, 17:41
most of it should be like new when it comes back from the bodyshop :)
or at least the front end.
just seen this and thought it was worth a punt,gotta see what size bottles etc there is.
http://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=9462
Originally posted by jason
just seen this and thought it was worth a punt,gotta see what size bottles etc there is.
http://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=9462
wow!! Thats an amazing price for that lot, but its gotta be a trick and be smaller bottles of everything, otherwise I think were all be biting there arms off for these!
See these too:
http://www.extremecarcare.co.uk/index.asp
Originally posted by ryand
wow!! Thats an amazing price for that lot, but its gotta be a trick and be smaller bottles of everything, otherwise I think were all be biting there arms off for these!
just mailed them to find out what size bottles etc they are,gonna get one if they are pucker size;)
just got a mail back stating"they are the same size bottles as the ones you would order singley";) just hope noones bought me any for chrimbo:D
edit to add,the kit singley would be 35.98 from meguirs,not that great a saving,and not exactly what i would buy anyway.oh well:(
just spent 40 odd quid on some of there stuff.ordered online,then i get a phone message when i get home"we think you may have made a mistake with your order"i had mistakenly ordered two bottles of the same stuff(3 step system)they CALLED ME,yes,they called me to check it was a mistake,and have rectofied it before despatch.
not used to customer service like this,i just hope the product lives up to it;)
Originally posted by jason
just hope the product lives up to it;)
it will do! getting look as good/better than mine in attached pic in this thread! This was using clay detailer and cleaner wax. I now have gold class, but not had the weather to try it yet!
well its here,instead of rectofiying my order they sent it out anyway:( i mail them with a pic of the order,i get a mail today saying"very sorry ,we have dispatched the correct bottle (step2)please keep the incorrect one as way of an applogy".
result!! i now have step 1,2,3,3 deep crystal system,and it smells like "bubblies"anyone under 30 may not know wtf i'm on about,a dry day tomorow please mother nature:cheers:
well happy with the finish,not happy with them passing off blue tac as a"clay bar"although it does a good job.
what do you think?
http://www.photobucket.com/albums/0903/jason-p/cordie_1_copy.JPG
http://www.photobucket.com/albums/0903/jason-p/cordie_4_copy.JPG
http://www.photobucket.com/albums/0903/jason-p/cordie_3_copy.JPG
Looks good mate. So did you clay and then use the 3 step system?
I'm not sure about the clay bar. I used it straight out the wrapper and sure it made by bonnet worse! Are you supposed to mould it like blue tak in your hands or use it in the rectangular form it comes in?!
not got all the step 3 yet,waiting on step 2.the clay was fine on the bonnet,if ya get it dirty just knead it a bit,mines in front of me now been modging it to make it clean again,i'm convinced its just poster sticky up stuff.the carnauba wax is a great but i over did it in places,used to using hard wax.the piccies don't really do it justice,and my camera ain't to hot either,polished it with an electric mop,it really brings the colour out,worth it for 40 sheets imho;)
Slime101
13-12-2003, 16:49
Hmm....i paid a small fortune (got it from motabitz - oakdale) for the 3 step system recently and wasnt overly impressed.
It wasnt very easy to use, the instructions on the bottles really are naff - could do with some serious improvement there.
The finish was nice, it was shiney, but it was shiney when i used to use autoglym products too, which cost me less and were easier to apply.
So all in all, 4 hours of washing, cleaning, polishing and waxing the car - and it looks nice...but i'm not convinced it was all worth it.
Ho hum....got loads left so i will try it again sometime...she needs a good clean at the mo but its raining as usual!!
how much instruction do you need?
put it on the car,then shine:D
Slime101
13-12-2003, 17:10
Originally posted by jason
how much instruction do you need?
put it on the car,then shine:D
Well i like to know a bit more than that.
Step 3 - the waxing bit.
I found that if i applied it and left for more than 20 seconds it was impossible to remove it and went all "funny" - so i had to put on with one hand while polishing off with the other kinda thing.
There are teqniques for every product and the bottles have no suggestion or instruction for application or removal at all - not what i expect when paying a premium for such a product.
Wax out of the sun and when the metal is cool. I was up the bonnet then do one side then go back to polish off the bonnet then the side. It will go 'funny' if you use too much at one go or if the cloth you're using gets to gunky. Whack it on with one of the applicator pads and I polish off mostly in straight lines.
did it go all bitty?i found this on the roof,found out it was that i hadn't cleaned it properly(bit awkward up there for me),did it again with the paint cleaner and it was fine afterwards.
don't get me wrong its not amazing,but its far easier and a better finish than the turtle wax i paid 36 quid for 3 years ago.if i had the money i'd go for a swissol kit,but its 200 odd quid,so in comparison i think its very good,be good to see how long the carnauba lasts:cheers:
Slime101
13-12-2003, 17:23
It was out the sun on a warmish (18 degrees) day.
I washed and rinsed
Chammy'd
Step 1'd
Setp 2'd
Step 3'd
Took me 4 hours :eek:
The Carnauba seems to be lasting well - the roof is certainly very good still, supprisingly so as its such a pain to get at!
What do i need to do when i wash her tomorrow - do i need to re-wax, or do the whole systm again?? :confused:
I only use the paint cleaner maybe twice in a year. It strips back a lot of stuff so don't bother unless the paint really looks dull or has tar spots on it. If you do use it, polish off the residue, the same for the DC polish.
Slime101
13-12-2003, 17:27
Originally posted by edc
I only use the paint cleaner maybe twice in a year. It strips back a lot of stuff so don't bother unless the paint really looks dull or has tar spots on it. If you do use it, polish off the residue, the same for the DC polish.
no tar spots or anything, just general crap and road grime from all the local flooding and general nasty weather.
Originally posted by Slime101
no tar spots or anything, just general crap and road grime from all the local flooding and general nasty weather.
Just shampoo it thoriughly then. I wouldn't have thought you'd need the paint cleaner on a new car anyway.
when i had the opotunity to use swissol(cheers to zboyd),afterwards i just sponged the car with warm water,and that was it,the wax lasted for months
gonna try this next time the car needs washing,see if it lasts as long:cheers:
It'll probably last 3 months just, but I wouldn't count on it with the crap on the roads over the next few months.
my car hits the roads only on week ends ed,but the shite that falls off my neighbiurs roof is starting to piss me off,the moss has now started growing on my drive:devil: