Looking after paintwork

snuffle_uk

Active Member
Sep 25, 2016
15
0
Had my Leon almost a week and really like it :)

Realistically it's going to get taken down the local hand car wash every 3 weeks or so. From looking at the paint on my old car,im not sure the hand car wash did it much good in the long term. So, is there anything I can do to protect my Leon's paint?
 

Curtly

Active Member
Jun 5, 2015
893
19
Essex
Wash it yourself....that's the basics. No doubt someone will be able to give more details but you have to be able to commit to it too get the results
 

Ckpearce91

Active Member
Feb 20, 2013
1,287
15
Milton Keynes
Don't take it to the local hand car wash. They do more damage than good. But if you want to protect your paint, I recommend getting it sealed with a ceramic coating. This protects the paintwork for 2 to 3 years
 
Last edited:

Zaco95

Active Member
Oct 31, 2016
132
8
Bury St Edmunds
Or find a mobile valet person who will come and clean it a quick search on the internet for "mobile car valeting" or something along those lines may come up with some results, you may pay a little bit more but I'd imagine they would do a better job than the hand car washes that are around.
 

martin j.

Active Member
Feb 11, 2007
1,996
889
Fife
Some of the "hand car washes" I've seen don't involve any hand contact, a brush and a pressure washer are their tools, warm shampoo laden water with a lambswool mitt, open end hose, and regular coatings of polish/wax of your choice are best.IMHO of course.
 

xSullx

Active Member
Jul 16, 2012
125
0
Estonia
Get the car waxed with wax or sealant every spring and autumn. If you can afford it, you can even go for a ceramic coat as suggested above. I'm not sure about the UK prices, but they are a fair bit more expensive than the waxes or sealants, where I'm located.

During the spring, summer and autumn months I wash the car myself. If you have the opportunity to do the same, I recommend this option. Best bang for your buck and you even might enjoy washing your car ( I know I do). There are plenty of videos on Youtube where professional detailers show the techniques to wash your car safely. I might not use, or have the opportunity for all techniques, but I do my best. My go-to youtube channel for car cleaning is AMMO NYC. There's a lot of very high maintenance stuff there, but simple washing tips can be found as well.

As for the winter months I go to a hand wash, but not a cheap one. I go to a detailing place, where they do all kinds of detailing work as well (including some very expensive cars - Lamborghini Aventador was there a few weeks back!). It's more expensive than your cheaper hand car wash, but the quality you get from a higher spec place is well worth it in my opinion.

btw - after about 1.5 years and 28k km (about 17k miles) the place where I got my car waxed a month or so ago. The guys commented on how good my paint looked. No swirl marks or anything that they could see, which (based on their experience) is a rare thing these days.
 

SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
2,388
1,279
To the OP; as evoke1xt has said, a good place to start in protecting your Leon's paintwork is to keep it away from the local hand wash.:D

I've never entrusted cleaning my car to the local hand wash or supermarket car park car wash teams and never will. However careful you are, you are likely to get some minor swirling of your paintwork over time. If you take your car to the hand wash/supermarket washers, then swirling is likely to be a feature of your paintwork from day-one.

A good washing technique and good basic cleaning kit (2 buckets wth grit guards, lambs wool wash mitt and microfibre drying towels) if used correctly will minimise the risk of damage to your paintwork. The local hand wash teams will be looking to get your car cleaned as quickly as possible, so they're unlikely to use the best washing technique; time's money for them, so the more cars they clean, the more money they can make. They're also likely to use some fairly harsh cleaning products to get the dirt off your car as quickly as possible and these harsh products will either strip any protective wax or sealant off your car, or significantly reduce it's longevity.

Waxing or applying a sealant 2-3 times a year will also add some protection against the elements. As xSullx has said, a ceramic coating is an option, and should give longer protection.
 

Deano3

Active Member
Sep 28, 2016
86
2
I wash myself just foamed then washed with 2 bucket method and the used some quid detailer as already waxed just for bit extra protection, have a look at detailing world it's a great helpful forum to understand the basics of washing etc

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

andrewpain

Active Member
Jul 5, 2014
1,852
3
Meppershall Beds.
depending where you live there may well be a quality detailer/valeter that can seal it...there's an trade association for them, but personal recommendations are worth more.
whereabouts are you?
 

Stuart83

Active Member
Jan 2, 2007
290
0
Tamworth, Midlands
Snow foam
Rinse
Wash (two bucket method)
Rinse
Dry
Machine Polish with a light pad and filler polish
Glaze
Wax x2
Sealant

Depending on the age of the car you might also want to give it a claying.

As everyone above has said, keep away from the standard hand car washes - they're the best way to introduce swirls into your paintwork.

Plus they tend to use cheap products which won't offer any lasting protection.
 

Ckpearce91

Active Member
Feb 20, 2013
1,287
15
Milton Keynes
Snow foam
Rinse
Wash (two bucket method)
Rinse
Dry
Machine Polish with a light pad and filler polish
Glaze
Wax x2
Sealant

Depending on the age of the car you might also want to give it a claying.

As everyone above has said, keep away from the standard hand car washes - they're the best way to introduce swirls into your paintwork.

Plus they tend to use cheap products which won't offer any lasting protection.



Sealant before wax. Sealant doesn't bond to a waxed surface
 

Stuart83

Active Member
Jan 2, 2007
290
0
Tamworth, Midlands
Sealant before wax. Sealant doesn't bond to a waxed surface

It depends which ones you use ... the Poorboys waxes and sealants can be applied on top of each other as they bond together well.

I'm sure I read on a detailing forum a while ago that to add extra depth they recommended sealant-wax-sealant-wax.
 

Ckpearce91

Active Member
Feb 20, 2013
1,287
15
Milton Keynes
It depends which ones you use ... the Poorboys waxes and sealants can be applied on top of each other as they bond together well.



I'm sure I read on a detailing forum a while ago that to add extra depth they recommended sealant-wax-sealant-wax.



Oh ok, didn't know that. I've done sealant x2 and then wax on top
 

niggle

Rollin' on 17s, baby!
Jan 28, 2014
459
3
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Get the car waxed with wax or sealant every spring and autumn. If you can afford it, you can even go for a ceramic coat as suggested above. I'm not sure about the UK prices, but they are a fair bit more expensive than the waxes or sealants, where I'm located.

The product itself is not necessarily expensive. I have been pleasantly surprised by the protection afforded by CQuartz which costs less than £40 for the product alone. The key to good results is the time (and therefore expense) required to prepare the paint to a sufficient standard to take the ceramic coating.

Snow foam
Rinse
Dry
Fallout remover
Wash
Dry
Clay bar
Wash
Dry
Polish
Degrease
Ceramic coat
 

snuffle_uk

Active Member
Sep 25, 2016
15
0
depending where you live there may well be a quality detailer/valeter that can seal it...there's an trade association for them, but personal recommendations are worth more.
whereabouts are you?

Thanks all for your replies... washing it myself seems to be the unanimous opinion.

Trouble is, I just don't seem to have the spare time at the weekend to wash the car (hence popping down to the car wash); i wasn't able to with my last car, and I've no more free time now than i did then. Maybe a quality local mobile valet (who can also seal the paintwork) is the answer. Local prices (i'm in Ely, Cambridgeshire) for a valet seem to be about £50...
 

Dr.Dash

Active Member
Aug 30, 2015
342
73
Midlands
Thanks all for your replies... washing it myself seems to be the unanimous opinion.

Trouble is, I just don't seem to have the spare time at the weekend to wash the car (hence popping down to the car wash)...

Giving the car a wash need only take 15 minutes, call it 20 minutes from start to finish including getting everything out and putting it away which is probably no more time than driving down to the car wash to have the locals rub some of your paint off. Some people like spending a full day cleaning and polishing their cars, I'm not one of them.

I've been using ArmorAll Shield Liquid Wax. The intial wash and "wax" takes nearly an hour, subsequent washes as above.

- Very easy to apply (whole car done in 15-20 minutes), can be applied in direct sun, no nasty residues and mine is still beading after 3 months. [Full review here >https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/forum...p?f=22&t=18051]
-Just use it sparingly and do no more than a panel at a time. Using too much or letting it fully dry can leave a slightly rough finish which will hold dirt.
- I use ArmorAll Shield Wash for regular washes and the "wax" is revitalised afterwards. You can buy both in a pack for about £15 on Amazon Ebay. I use my leafblower to dry the car after washing, then drag a clean MF over it.

Whole car washed, dried and "waxed" in under an hour . Only 2 products plus a couple of wash mits (one MF, one lambswool) foam polish applicator and some MF towels. Job done.
 

Ckpearce91

Active Member
Feb 20, 2013
1,287
15
Milton Keynes
Giving the car a wash need only take 15 minutes, call it 20 minutes from start to finish including getting everything out and putting it away which is probably no more time than driving down to the car wash to have the locals rub some of your paint off. Some people like spending a full day cleaning and polishing their cars, I'm not one of them.



I've been using ArmorAll Shield Liquid Wax. The intial wash and "wax" takes nearly an hour, subsequent washes as above.



- Very easy to apply (whole car done in 15-20 minutes), can be applied in direct sun, no nasty residues and mine is still beading after 3 months. [Full review here >https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/forum...p?f=22&t=18051]

-Just use it sparingly and do no more than a panel at a time. Using too much or letting it fully dry can leave a slightly rough finish which will hold dirt.

- I use ArmorAll Shield Wash for regular washes and the "wax" is revitalised afterwards. You can buy both in a pack for about £15 on Amazon Ebay. I use my leafblower to dry the car after washing, then drag a clean MF over it.



Whole car washed, dried and "waxed" in under an hour . Only 2 products plus a couple of wash mits (one MF, one lambswool) foam polish applicator and some MF towels. Job done.



How do you manage to wash that quickly? Quickest I've ever managed to clean the car was 1.5 hours. And that was:

Rinse

Snow foam

Rinse

Wash

Rinse

Dry
 

snuffle_uk

Active Member
Sep 25, 2016
15
0
Giving the car a wash need only take 15 minutes, call it 20 minutes from start to finish including getting everything out and putting it away which is probably no more time than driving down to the car wash to have the locals rub some of your paint off.

I think part of the problem is that i take absolutely ages to wash a car. Really not sure how. If i could do it in 20mins that'd be no problem!
 
Adrian Flux insurance services - discount for forum members.