Good afternoon Steemit.
What are weekends for? Catching up on those jobs you've been meaning to get to for a while. For me, one of those jobs was giving the car a good detail. I find it therapeutic actually; I always have. Often I put on some music and just get into the zone. Not only is it a great way to check the car over in fine detail for any issues but it's a good way to meditate. By focusing the mind on the simple tasks of washing, I find I can free it from the normal troubles that occupy it... so let's begin!
I started at just after 7am. The sun was already biting by then. The first step was to wash off the grime, dirt and anything abrasive. Without hosing a vehicle down first, when rubbing a cloth over the paint to wash it any find specs can act as sand paper and damage the paint. Best to always rinse before you wash.
At first, I had planned to wash both cars as you can see. The smaller one has gone even longer without love. Here they are rinsed.
Let's introduce my cleaning kit. I keep the bucket that I used washed and stored upside down on a shelf in the garage. This prevents any dust, dirt or insects from getting into it and finding their way into washing water and onto the paint. I also keep a zip bag pictured for all my cleaning gear.
I use a microfibre sponge for washing which is soft and non-abrasive. I use a chamois for drying and a separate older cloth for the really dirty bits (wheels etc.). I don't mix these. Anything that's touched the wheels doesn't touch the paint.
Time to get the suds working! I use Armor All wash and wax. It contains a wax additive that provides the paint with a small amount of wax like protection. Saves the need for a polish afterwards. I just don't have the time to do that so this produce is a good solution.
This is the first car I've had that required a ladder to get to the roof. Worth it however. Continue to rinse as you go, don't let the suds stay on for too long as they'll dry (especially in this heat) and cause more mess that requires cleaning again.
Here's the drying chamois in action. Make sure to give the glass a good rub over to dry in order to avoid spotting.
Now I like to detail the boot and engine bay on occasion. Today was one of those occasions. Not only does it keep things looking good and provides again an opportunity to have a sniff around for any issues but in the case of the engine bay, keeping grime and dirt at bay can actually improve the cooling efficiency of the engine.
This car I usually keep in fairly good condition but you can see how leaves can accumulate and how dirt makes its way in.
Not bad condition... but could be better.
Armor All does the trick. It's a great all-rounder. I use it for sun protection and to moisturize the interior and also for exterior parts such as the plastics in the engine bay. Here you can see how it's cleaned up the intake.
Here's the engine cover done and the left hand side of the rear plastics for comparison.
That was the easy bit! Now for the hard work. Rims, if done properly, require a lot of back breaking effort. Depending on the style of wheel and how intricate the patterns are, it can be difficult to get into all the corners to clean everything out. The front wheels are usually work as they do most of the braking and hence distribute most of the brake pad residue. Here's a before shot.
I'm lucky that these wheels are big enough to get your hands and fingers behind but it can still be challenging. Often you'll notice pitting which can't really be washed away. It comes from hot flakes that fly from the brakes and "weld' themselves to the rim as they cool. Still, you can get wheels looking nice. For this task, I use degreaser which I apply liberally after an initial wash with the same stuff that I wash the car with (different cloth however - you can see the raggy tattered one in the below picture).
A wipe over shows how much gunk can come off. You'll see later what the actual colour of these wheels are when the dirt's gone!
Looks different doesn't it!
Another job that's a labour of love is cleaning the exhaust tips. Now surface rust can grow and looks unsightly. This is an example that's been bugging me for a while. Now sometimes it wont wash off. In this case I very gently used a flat head screwdriver and some water with soap and degreaser and managed to carefully remove the surface rust leaving the chrome to shine through. Came up well I think!
Looks much better!
Now some after shots. Amazing that it took 3 hours. These shots are without tire blackener. That really adds punch.
I've not been fair up to now as I haven't mentioned that my lovely wife was working away with me on the interior the whole time. Conditioning the doors, dash, seats and all. Very detailed work. She did an amazing job. When you add it all up then it was probably more like 6 hours. Here's a snap of her amazing work.
There's little that tops the sense of achievement after it all. It was a great time shared chatting with my wife as we enjoyed the sunny Australian summer heat. That's for sharing our morning with us!