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I mostly use the nearby local wash bays, in the evening after sunset or after dark. First a all over warm pre-soak, then a high pressure cold rinse twice over including wheels and inside fenders and headlights and into the grill, and finish with the light misting 'spot-free rinse' twice over. It never leaves spots!
Surprising how dusty it gets sitting in the garage.
Only after rain or long drives (bugs!) do I hand wash so just whenever necessary.
As for interior, I use long bristle detailing brush for cracks and crevices, shop vacuum with various attachments (vacuum first then use it's blow outlet to remove any dust/particles the brush loosened), hot mildly soapy water and toothbrush for any carpet stains, blot dry with towel, and I use Sprayway leather cleaner and treatments where applicable. And spray-on tire shine/protectant/conditioner. Everything else just gets a rubbing or wipe down with a damp soft cloth.
I ditched most 'armor-all' type wipes, gels, sprays when I learned that those are what caused the hazy film on interior glass when exposed to sunlight/warmth. It's call 'outgassing' and it's annoying as hell for those of us who have OCD about clean glass, plus, that surely is a health hazard to breathe in? For interior glass I find CLEANING with Windex or similar, then POLISHING with a microfiber or soft clean small towel to gain crystal clarity. On the exterior, same for cleaning and polishing, sometimes I will polish it with a bit of rain repellent, makes cleaning bugs off much easier.
Since this thread's been resurrected, and since I've just washed and polished Lady Mary today, I'll chime in too.
I live in an apartment. So no washing with a hose at home. And Lady Mary has to live outdoors, uncovered. I'm not happy about this, but hope to get a place with a garage within the year. Anyway, this means I need to keep her clean more so than those with actual roofs....
After rain, I use a synthetic chamois to remove the fresh drops before they can dry and leave marks. I draw the chamois across the body in the longitudinal direction, only using the weight of the cloth to catch the water.
When I wash her, I have to take her to a coin-operated place, in the late afternoon. I keep the high-pressure hose as far away from the body as practical, holding it at arm's length above my head - I just want the car wet, not blasted. The standard course is a minute's water, a minute's foam/detergent, five minutes free time to hand-wash, then two minutes of water for rinsing. I fill two buckets from a tap on the site and use the two-bucket system to (quickly) wash her, using a micro-fibre "gorilla mitt" thing.
Once she's clean, I dry her and then move her to the detailing area, where I use a spray-on coating, a "glass" non-compound that you spray on, smooth over, then buff off. It generally works pretty well, though it takes a couple of hours, including driving time. And the drive back would work to shake loose/dry any remaining water that would otherwise cause a problem. I hope....
Here she is after a polish....
Inside, I use standard Pledge on the wood, and Autoglym Leather Cleaner and Autoglym Leather Balm on the seats. I try and massage the balm into the leather as much as possible, for whatever that's worth. Once the weather is warmer, I want to get some proper leather restorer like Leatherique and try to make the seats as buttery-soft as possible. At the moment the leather is a bit stiffer than I would like - here's my finger shoved into the driver's seat front cushion bit:
i was just trawling through for something to read before revisiting my partially fitted kitchen and i saw that OB stated that he washed his pride and joy with washing up liquid.
i remembered seeing something on a car programme that said never do that as the stuff contains salt. im just about to pick up various tools and finish my kitchen but i noticed a rather large thing under a cover in my garage. i cant remember what it is but soon i will take the cover off to find out.
I just washed my ole girl yesterday. I keep her stowed away for a month whilst I am away at sea. I come back and she is always dusty and full of kids finger prints...grrrrrr...
She just needs a pretty basic wash, I lightly spray her with the hose to get the dust off but leave the windows if I can as we all know the water finds its way into the door sills and such. (I separately clean the windows with a semi damp squidgy if their not too bad or if that doesnt work then a separate window cleaner spray and cloth)
Then I have a car cleaner product (Wax n Shine or something) and wash with the sponge.
Hose all that off then let her semi dry a bit and go over her with a chamy.
The rims I spray a little bit of this orange engine bay cleaner which is kinda just a degreaser. Hope it is ok. Use a separate bucket and sponge for this however.
Give her a scrub then again, hose off with water.
Then I drove her about 100kms to my capital city to stay overnight and she still looked nice and shiny (pretty much just highway driving)
Ah, right - didn't realise Aussies referred to state capitals as "capitals."
Actually, I was referring to the big round one on the front glass, in front of the passenger. I can't actually see the "Blue Goose" sticker in your rear-view shot.
Come to think of it, I get the "blue," but why "goose"?
Ah, right - didn't realise Aussies referred to state capitals as "capitals."
Actually, I was referring to the big round one on the front glass, in front of the passenger. I can't actually see the "Blue Goose" sticker in your rear-view shot.
Come to think of it, I get the "blue," but why "goose"?
No worries mate...yeah I am a bit different. I guess we call them capital cities...or maybe that is just me.
Ok now I know what sticker you mean. I too didn't know what it was until I started this thread a few years ago:
It is basically the warming in notice (on the rear side) fitted to earlier Jags like the E-type. I saw the XJS in a book that had the sticker put on it (for nostalgia?) so I wanted mine to look the same:
Picture from the book. A 1981 XJS HE:
Close up of my sticker:
But yeah, click on the link above to learn more about it
I reckon they are cool and IF I ever get another Jaguar to keep the Goose company I will fit another. I guess it will be my trademark ha ha ha.
Oh and the Blue Goose? Grant Francis aka the WoOz named her well before I took ownership. It was in the garage over a few beers I reckon...not sure he will have to tell the story.
Okay, it's an old-style running-in sticker, so you can pretend to your passengers that your car is actually new . I probably wouldn't have even noticed that sticker if I saw it in a book. My wife would never go for it - she doesn't even like the windscreen wipers parked there in front of her face. Doesn't help that she's so short, of course....
As for the Goose, I'm sure that story will come out one day. Maybe with the application of some more beers....
OB: Thanks! Like quality Japanese beef, the secret is to massage beer into her. And the other secret is not posting photos taken in direct sunlight that show polishing scratches - like this one....
Huh. Never heard of that coloured polish. I'll see if there's something similar available here. I was actually going to clay bar the car once the weather's warmer, prior to getting it professionally glass (nano)-coated (perhaps) - but before that, there's a few minor paint chips I need to fix (or finish fixing, rather). I'm not *too* **** about the paint - the car's quarter of a century old, after all (I want it to look great from a couple of feet away. I'm not worried about it looking great from a couple of inches away). I'm mainly concerned about not creating any entry ports for surface rust.
I sure seem to have little if anything to offer. That car looks glorious!!!
However, one of my first jabs at about 19, was in a full service station. Car wash included. Old tech, by hand in a roofed "rack". Faucet water only. No soaps at all. And, in West Texas, it was mineral laden. First, blow out the interior with an air gun. No vacuum available. Paint the black rubber floor mats and tires with a "goop". Plain black tar dissolved in gasoline. Oddly, it worked !!
Hose the car down, getting it all wet. Use an older chamois to wipe down with chamois in one hand and the hose in the other. Work from the top down.
Then, the wet car goes up front. Dried with better chamois cloths. Windows included.
Ready, two bucks, please Sir !!!
Nowadays, I've used some of that technique. Mostly, keep the car wet. I do use a dedicated wash/wax product. And, a furry mitt. dish soap, no, no, except ina very unusual case. Top to bottom. Wheels last.
My latest deviation is not to dry with a chamois or cloth, but to use one of my leaf
blowers.
I use a CA car Dust broom first then Aircraft Waterless solution.......similar to McGuire's quick detailing fluid..............synthetic McGuires wax. Works a charm and stay bright ........heavy mud requires a flushing with water first, best, JW
Paul, I tried a new combination this week on the Jeep and Jag. Spent about 7-8 hours on each.
You know, Supercheap Auto gift card to spend and all. I got chatting to a guy at our local store, 30ish ex mechanic with classic cars.(can't mechanic because of MC injury).
Real passionate about his cars and what he recommends, even took me to see his LS Monaro. So went with his choice of products.
Both cars came up looking sweet, best I have seen them look. Wax on, wax off.
01-25-2017, 05:09 PM
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. I probably wouldn't have even noticed that sticker if I saw it in a book. My wife would never go for it - she doesn't even like the windscreen wipers parked there in front of her face. Doesn't help that she's so short, of course....
