Washed, waxed and polished...

[supergrover]

...to within an inch of its life!

[gvmdaddy]

What wax/polish and by hand or electric polisher?
Looks super.

[supergrover]

Thanks - all by hand - hose off, Demon Shine snow foam prewash, 2 sponge 2 bucket wash with cheap shampoo washing wheels and tyres at the same time, hose down, light leather off, then Autoglym Aqua Wax using a pair of microfibre towels, finally Wonder Wheels Wet Look tyre dressing spray. Including a vac and polish of the interior, total time taken 3 hours. As they say in the ads, "because you're worth it" and more importantly, a colleague has a Tekna so I can only compete in the shiny stakes!supergrover2014-09-21 19:38:02

[supergrover]

I've now added the following to my collection of cleaning/detailing products - Turtle Wax Ice Liquid Clay Bar for paintwork decontamination and prep, plus Armorall Shield Wax/Sealant for final gloss finish, as well as their wheel shield spray. We'll see whether the Armorall is good for 12 weeks dirt resistance and water beading as reported / reviewed. Ah, the joys of owning a black car!

[andrewjoseph]

All the detailing advice I've read says never use sponges.

[supergrover]

You're right - and despite being extra careful and rinsing the sponge between uses in a second bucket of clean water, I can see one or two tiny scratches in the paintwork - so the sponge is going in the bin, and a noodle mitt will be used from here on in.

[Contigo]

Lambswool microfibre mit all the way. And no chamois, use the microfibre towels they make a massive difference.

[supergrover]

Again, I've ditched the chamois and invested in a bale of microfibre towels as well as a Kents jumbo one for drying. Has anyone ever used "The Absorber "? It looked quite impressive in a video I saw...

[stephen160]

any one used www.glare.com on their carI was impressed but still waiting for my car to trysteve

[supergrover]

I can heartily recommend the Kents microfibre drying towel - just lay it flat on the paintwork and draw it across - the car was dry in 2 minutes flat, and no nasty rubbing with a chamois, just the weight of the towel itself so much less risk of marking the paintwork. This one's a keeper!