Valeting/Preparation products

[Bluechip Classics 7]

Hi there,

For those of you that prepare your own cars, do you have any good recommendations for product lines to use?   I have over the past few years used 'detailing' products such as Meguiars, Menzerna, Zaino etc.. which look great but frankly it gets a little pricey when prepping more run of the mill cars so thinking of switching to something more trade-appropriate.   I often see cars with Autosmart paper mats in them (yes, I know..), but is their gear any good?   I'd rather stick to one supplier so I can just buy from one place rather than what I have been doing buying lots of different brands from different retailers.

Thanks in advance,

Pad

[Rory RSC 596]

If you wax cars I can recommend buying a tin of collinite 476s the best stuff out there and a little goes a hell of a long way. Once you have cleaned cars and then applied that all they need is hosing off again. Very good product and cheaper than most out there. Last's ages I would have thought you can do between 50 and 70+ cars with a large tin £26 approx.

 

Autosmart stuff is OK you can get better elsewhere but on the whole as a one stop shop pretty good. I used to run a couple of hand car wash/valeting businesses so have tried most products out there. Generally comes down to who is using them and getting the right balance of dilution. 

[Bluechip Classics 7]

Thanks RS, appreciate it..

I'm a big fan of Collinite, agreed as a wax it is great value and it did last me a while, although when I was a bit of a detailing nerd I preferred to use a sealant for metallic paint to get the flakes to 'pop', but that's going a bit over the top for what I do now.   I guess I've just got to the point where I need a fair few things restocking and I could continue as I was getting bits and bobs from different brands or just go down one route for ease.. to give you an idea of what my current preferences are:

Wheels/Engine Bay/Interior Plastic Cleaning = Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner (diluted as appropriate)
More grimey wheels = AutoGlym Clean Wheels
General Shampoo = Meguiars HyperWash
Clay = Sonus or Meguiars
Machine polish = 3M Fast Cut & Finesse It
Cleansers/Sealant/Wax = generally Zaino, but it doesn't like cold weather, Collinite,
Glass = Meguiars NXT Glass Cleaner
Tyres = Meguiars NXT tyre gel (smells great!)
Plastic Dressing = tend to give a very light pass of autoglym bumper care tbh
Leather = Zaino
Convertible hood cleaning and Seal = Autoglym

So you can see its a bit of a Frankenstein's Monster of a cleaning cupboard and I figured if I could cover most bases with single source and less products it would be easier to manage..   are there any other 'trade' brands I should consider other than Autosmart?

Thanks again,
Pad
 

[Steve92 80]

I wouldn't waste money or boutique waxes for stock unless you really need to, I use menzerna or car pro for any polishing and one of our painters uses the rupes Bigfoot, I still think autoglym products do out things, gtechnic is great but pricy, c2v3 is a great quick to use sealant and sonax bsd does give a nice gloss and some protection. Colly 476 is a great wax and very underrated, my tin is lasting ages.

as for roof protection gtechniq i1 fabric protector is the best I have tried. Megs apc and super degreaser is also very good.

[Bluechip Classics 7]

Thanks Steve,

Does the Carpro polish behave itself in the colder weather?  I used to use Menzerna which had a great work time but was really fussy when working below about 15 degrees ambient... 3M is better but still clags a bit.   No heating in my unit!!

cheers

Pad

[It's me 613]

i see it this way

you want the car to look its best for sale

you want it done the easiest way possible

you want it done the quickest way possible

you want it done the cheapest way

 

if you agree with all these because i don't know about you but polish is polish to me and traffic film is traffic film the bits in between need to do their job too

call in your local autosmart guy and if he's on the job he will demonstrate, leave samples and show you the best and easiest and in the long term cheapest option to stay in front of the game

oh and dont put those paper mats in, they cheapen any car and are bally dangerous in many cases