One of the many questions I get asked is how do I manage to clean my car after a journey in such a short time, and when on a client job?

Preparation

So, before I answer that one, I thought I would first explain the preparation work that goes into ensuring our big cats have a protective cover over them that helps to reduce the amount of dirt that actually sticks to the body work.

I make no apology that all the products I use are from one supplier who have proved to be so reliable in their customer service, and supply great products that ‘do what it says on the tin’ so to speak - shout out to The Clay Cloth Company.

When a Deep Clean is Needed

When our cars are covered in heavy dirt, they are treated to snow foam using a lance and jet wash. This is the first treatment when the dirt is softened without any physical contact to the car at all.

After leaving for 10 minutes, acting as a pre-soak, the car is then jet washed again.

Now its time to use shampoo, and a wash mitt, to wash the car normally. I use a woollen mitt as it is gentle on the car’s paintwork, and then, after another jet wash, dry the car with a micro fibre towel, which is much more efficient than using a leather chamois.

Just to confirm I only use snow foam when the car is extremely dirty. The above process is repeated except the snow foam for every wash when back at our base.

Preparing for a deep polish and wax

After doing the above process except the drying part, I use a clay cloth when I am preparing the car for a deep polish and wax. This I only do when the weather is planned to be fine for the day, as polish and wax are essential after using the clay cloth, which has the below functions:

Removes bonded contaminants
Before polishing provides a clean canvas
Prevents dragging particles across the panel

After claying, I then dry using the micro fibre drying towel.

Polish and Wax - why both?

Car polish is a product that uses fine amounts of abrasive compounds in order to remove very very fine layers of the top coat to flatten out the surface to ensure an equal reflection of the light, thus producing a highly polished look. The polish I use is ‘Killerwaxx No 1 Moon Shine’

Wax in its natural form can come as vegetable waxes, carnauba, animal and bees wax to name a few. It's these natural properties of some of these waxes that make them ideal for use in car waxes, with the most popular for use in the automotive industry being carnauba wax. The wax I use is 'Killerwaxx Carnauba Paste Wax’.

Wax can be referred to the product that provides a seal to protect the shine produced by the polish.

Both are applied using micro fibre clothes and are very easy to use compared to the products I used when polishing my fathers cars!

Windows

Currently I use Killerwaxx Extreme Window Cleaner. Glass gets very warm in the sun and the real added bonus with this product is that you can spray it on a hot window and it will not evaporate, steam away or streak like all others on the market.

Alloys & Tyres

CCC Devil's Mist Fallout Remover & Wheel Cleaner is really great for providing the sparkle on those alloys and turns red due to the chemical reaction during use which will indicate contamination!

Killerwaxx Tyre Gel produces a rich, long lasting, high gloss on rubber. vinyl and plastic.

Leathers

Killerwaxx Premium Leather Cleaner cleans and lifts away dirt and oil build up on all types of leather. Cleaner will not dissolve the natural oils found in leather.

Killerwaxx Premium Leather Conditioner seals and protects the surface from wear and tear and will bring the original luster look and feel back.

So above is the process and products that I currently use in preparation for making sure our cars are well protected. The whole above process is only done about 2 or 3 times a year. I will leave the process I perform on each client job for another blog.