Hi all. Just moved over to having an RRS after driving defenders for many years. Forgive my ignorance but what is the reason for spending hours and loads of moneygetting your cars to this standard,which looks very good I must admit, to then get it dirty again within a short time driving it in rain etc. Or am I missing something. This is not a dig BTW just a genuine question.

This time of year, I'd say it's more for protection than "show". Having it detailed so it looks its best and then apply a decent LSP (Last Stage Protection) will seal in all of that good work making it quick and easy to wash. That said, having it detailed is a waste of time if your next move is taking it to the local illegals as they'll destroy the finish within seconds. Once I finally get to doing my own RRS.. when it comes to washing it, it'll be a quick snow foam, wipe panel by panel with Optimum No Rinse and then spray with Sonax Brilliant Shine Detail quick detailer and it'll come up like new every time, at least for the next couple of months whilst the weather is bad and enable me to keep all the grit and salt at bay as best as possible.

I've spent weekends in the past for shows for various cars (I spent 28 hours alone with a machine polisher one weekend on my Focus RS when I took it to Ford Fair).. this was basically just for the day.. but in general, I think it's all about pride too.. why not show that you like what you have and want to look after it?

The other side, for me at least (I do detailing as a hobby).. is that it gives me self-satisfaction. I'm a web developer by trade, and just like completing a web application / site, I can look back and think "yup, I did that, happy how it turned out".. the same for the detailing.. I can stand back afterwards and think "that looks good, happy with that".. and even if you don't do it yourself, you can still stand there and look at what you're driving and think "that looks really nice.. happy with that".

That's my take on it personally anyway. Most of my neighbours (and my better half for the most part) think I'm crazy spending a weekend or multiple sometimes, outside with a couple of buckets (more than one!?!? ) and 2 or 3 large boxes of various products (I think I currently have 6 different types of wax sitting in the garage.. some I've not had chance to even try yet).. and more often than not I get the usual "you've missed a spot".. or "when you're done... I know........." but it gets me some fresh air.. some time to chill out from a generally hectic life-style and I get a decent result at the end of it



Cheers..

Ian

Right now I understand. I suppose adding the protective layer does make sense for easier cleaning next time. Unfortunately living where I do I spend a lot of time driving down country lanes getting to the stables etc so at this time of year as you can imagine, that sort of cleaning would be pointless lol, my 110 does have its uses . I've seen people using this snow foam stuff and wondered if its any better than normal shampoo, maybe now with the sport I should spend a bit more time on it. Thanks for the info, I may be back to pick your brains again

Jez

Yup, I can understand that.. although if you wash it yourself using 2 buckets (wash and rinse).. you can still maintain the best possible outcome, but I do understand if this would be more of a chore than taking it somewhere else considering the scenarios you likely encounter

As for the snow foam, it's not a replacement for suds.. but see it as a pre-wash. Actually especially in your scenarios, it'd be more beneficial than most of us (by "us" I'm assuming "tarmac city cruisers" ). The snow foam would pull the dirt off (or a lot anyway) before you even got anywhere near it with either high-pressured water from a jetwash or a mitt. This would obviously help lessen the effects of swirling your paint with mud / grit etc... and for me, I don't find this adds much to the time washing. I snow my motors dry, so that's the first thing I'll do... cover it, leave it for 5 mins or so to dwell and start doing it's thing and then wash it off with a medium pressure set on my jetwash (I don't use high-pressure straight off as this will just be blasting any loose dirt that has managed to run half off the car straight into the paintwork). I might do it twice if it's _really_ filthy.. but then I just wash as normal (I started using Optimum No Rinse back in the hosepipe ban days but I find it works really well with helping to keep particles off of the paint when washing).

I'm no pro.. but been doing it as a hobby for 4-5 years (started after someone keyed my BMW and I wanted to try and fix it myself).. happy to try and help if I can



Cheers..

Ian