Episode 13: How to polish your car.

FIRST STEP – SHAMPOO YOUR CAR

The first thing to do is to shampoo your car with the correct shampoo. 

What shampoo should you and shouldn’t you use?

You should use a top quality shampoo.  You usually know that it’s good quality by the price and what is used in it.  The cheaper shampoos tend to contain a lot of methanol and detergents.  Try to avoid using these as they actually cause oxidisation by bleaching and removing the wax and protection every time you wash it.

You should NOT use washing up liquid.  This is designed to clean household products.  It has a detergent in it so it will strip off the protection that you are trying to add to your vehicle defeating the object of preserving the paintwork.

SECOND STEP – DRY YOUR VEHICLE STREAK FREE

Once you have cleaned your vehicle with the correct shampoo, how do you get it dry?

There are two options for drying your vehicle to leave it streak-free.  The best thing to use is a synthetic chamois leather – these are great and you can buy them for a couple of pounds from car or accessory shops.  Don’t rub on the vehicle hard.  Use a dabbing motion and very gentle gliding. 

The other option is to use a weave dry cloth which is basically a towel that you just glide down and it leaves a lovely streak-free finish.

THIRD STEP – CLAYBARRING

So now you have cleaned and dried your vehicle, what should you do next? 

The next thing to do is called clay-barring.  Use a spray first to act as a lubricant and use a clay bar.  This removes anything that still stuck to the paint.   Clay-barring is a brilliant way of making the surface baby soft.  It is literally a block of clay (like sticky putty).  Put the spray on first so ensure that the clay doesn’t stick or leave residue all over the paint.  Rub very gently along the paintwork in a straight line to create an immaculate smooth finish. 

LAST STEP – POLISHING YOUR CAR

Is it now time to polish your vehicle?  What kind of polish should you use?

There are different types of polish.  Cheaper polishes cost around £7-8 or you can treat yourself and go top of the range that costs around £200-300.  If you don’t mind paying somewhere in between you can buy the mid range polishes that cost about £60-70 which do the professional job.  One particularly good one is a waxed cream.  Rub this into your car to create a gleaming finish! 

These products can be bought from most motor factors and car accessory shops.

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