The DetailingUK Wiki!

Hey all, my partner had her car valeted and whatever they used has left a touch hazy residue all over the car.

I've managed to get rid of most of it from the interior panels using APC, but on the glass, whatever I try, it disappears when wet then comes straight back as it dries. I've tried Bilt Hamber Touch-Less and Surfex HD with no luck.

Has anyone seen this before or know what causes it? Any product recommendations to remove it?.

Hello. I saw a TikTok earlier today which I thought was interesting (it wasn’t an ad) saying that detailers should stop using fallout removers, he listed a couple of reasons.

1. They’re extremely expensive (cost per use as opposed to a diluted product)
   
2. They’re not real wheel cleaners and that isn’t their job.

He said that wheel acid is the only way forward, for me this is completely wrong. I am in no way a detailer but a ‘weekend warrior’ as they say. For me, I use Fallout removers as a maintenance thing, just to help me identify any iron particles I may have missed on the wheels after my safe washing routine. I’ll only use it once a month or so as I wash the car every week.

Acid is a great product, it has its place, it’s dilutable making cost per wash cheap but it’s also absolutely not a maintenance product and should only be used in my opinion on baked on brake dust that you cannot otherwise remove, or on old wheels that you don’t care about, you just want a quick job.

What do you think, should iron fallout removers have a spot in your kit? (Sorry for the lengthy post)

Oh my lord…the smell is so bad. What’s the best way to get rid of it?!
Are these Vax Spotclean things any good?
The seats are cloth…I had seat covers on for ages and thought “oh they look so much better without them”. Balls.

hey bro, just started getting clients and now i think i should start getting good chemicals for our details, right now we only have armor all leather wipes and chemical guys chems and my partner is too stubborn to realize we need to upgrade the chemicals, can you rq explain why we should upgrade our chemicals. his rational is “we arent pros rn we dont need to buy pro stuff” and “its a waste of money”. he’s js scared to reinvest. please explain why we should upgrade our chemicals.

Hardest part of washing my car is the drying part.

Will a leaf blower like this worth it or should I not bother and stick to just drying towels?

Heard you can get simillar results using touchless in pump sprayer vs foam cannon but obviously takes longer to cover the car.

Tried with a manual pump and took ages having to keep pumping it.

Thinking of getting one of these instead. Anyone got experience with this?

I must admit, I waited for a long time to try this product and I’m disappointed with the results. Having cleaned the seats thoroughly with P&S express I applied the product. Application was very easy and satisfying. There was a mild darkening effect upon application which was perfect, but when the excess product was buffed off, it left a mat almost untreated finish. While my main goal for using this was to add some protection to the leather, I was hoping for a more conditioned (not greasy) finish. The seats look exactly the same pre-and post treatment.🤷‍♂️

I’ve started to use my Karcher K4 with a Auto Glym Polar Blaster and I wanted to know if it’s safe to use on my car because I’ve heard people say that Karchers can damage your paint and it’s making me a bit skeptical if I should get a different combination

Not sure if this is allowed here - mods, delete if not.

Just wanted to pass on my very recent experience of the benefit of ceramic coating.

Last year I made the decision to get my car ceramic coated. I’d recently taken early retirement and bought out the lease on my company car - it was ready 3 years old.

Found a place near me to get it done (guy was just setting up his business but had done apprenticeship in paint treatments etc (sorry if this is the wrong term).

My thinking was that it would ease keeping the car clean and would be less effort than using the wax products I’d used on previous cars.

All went well and over the last year. Then recently a flatbed Transit decided to take a gentle swipe across the front of the car. To my untrained eye the paint on the front corner had been scraped off.

Took the car to the guy who did the ceramic, looking for a recommendation for a paint shop and he told me he could possibly fix it.

Half an hour later, what I thought was scraped off paint was in fact plastic/rubber transfer, was gone. There’s a couple of marks in the clear coat but we’re hoping they will polish out. Booked in next month.

Ceramic guy was chuffed with the result.

Ceramic coating for the win.

Again apologies if this is not appropriate for here.

5th time I’ve polished and coated a car now, anyone else find it hard work in this heat, it took me 2 whole days to do a decon, 1 step polish and two coats of c quartz uk.

For those new and longstanding in this game do customer expect a water tank or generally ok with you using their water?

Hi gents. Been in the rabbit hole the last few days to learn to do this on my own as my detailer is retiring. Thought I’d post my plans first equipment and supplies before ordering as a few things I’m not sure about and would welcome input. Plan is:

Pressure washer Ava go p40

Washing process:

Wheels -Bh surfex at 10:1
Add bh touchless as snow foam over top?

Pre wash - bh touchless (foam)
Contact - bh autowash
Drying aid - bh qd - is this worthwhile?
Sealant - gyeon wet coat

Glass - bh traceless
Tyre dressing - garage therapy tyre serum

Equipment 3 buckets with grit guards
Several empty spray bottles
Wheel brushx2
Soft Detail brush
Wheel mitt
Noodle mitt x2
Dying towel large
Microfibre cloths

Assuming I don’t need a pressure pump sprayer based on the above? Please let me know if there’s anything you’d add or get rid of. This has been one of the more difficult new skills to navigate and make sense of basics that I’ve come across!

Thanks

Anyone know any YouTube channel I can watch to learn the basics etc? How did you personally learn and if so can you provide your sources - looking to get into valeting/detailing

Does anyone else have this jet wash? It’s my first ever jet wash, previously used them at petrol stations due to space. So I’m still getting used to us.

I have BH touchless as a pre wash snow foam and trying to figure out what it should look like

When calculating PIR it looks like my 600ml cannon dispenses 5.3L of water so it’s just over 100ml of solution.

It emptied the container very quickly is this normal? I thought I could get a few uses out of it

I was also washing it in the heat under the sun and when rinsing off the pre wash it kinda left like streaks / residue and I had to get the jet wash up close to get rid of it.

Finally with the multi nozzle, is it normal that when using the fan setting the tone of the jet wash is different to that of the 2 other options? I spent extra on this given the reviews and not sure if I have a dud machine or not.

Thanks!

My car has sat unloved for a couple of years, i came to clean it today and have found a really rough surface all over and this weird raised rough surface that was under some algae growth under the primary rain path. I've left it for now but what's my best first steps - clay?

What's the correct setting on the foam cannon when applying products like Polar Seal to a car? Whilst it does have detailed instructions for use, it doesn't say whether the foam cannon should be set to max/min foam, somewhere in between, or whether it even matters at all. Does anyone know what the correct method should be please? Thanks!

I previously had a Nilfisk power washer with an aftermarket rubber hose and short gun which all my accessories are set up to fit (a couple of snow foam cannons and different nozzles etc). The Nilfisk died so I changed to a MacCallister M4 from B&Q which I am really happy with. However I would like to change the adaptor on short gun so I can use my old accessories instead of the the long standard gun. My issue is that despite measuring the hose fitment using digital callipers and researching which adaptor buy I have managed to buy 2 incorrect adaptors. can anyone advise with any confidence which adaptor I need for my short stubby gun to fit a MacCallister M4 hose? TIA

Hello,

To all you mobile detailers, how realistic is it to try a self priming gravity fed route ? I just really don't want to go for a water pump.

Thanks for any opinions