Car wax

[AndyRM]

[QUOTE 5005809, member: 45"]Car paintwork needs a soothing balm to be applied to it frequently, otherwise it gets upset.

Car paint is actually wet tissue paper. This is why your dealer will spend 30 minutes when you order your new car trying to persuade you to pay another £300 for a special coating to protect the sensitive body work.

Snake oil. Slippery snake oil.

A friend once told me that it's important to keep your car clean and polished, as if you don't then others will see that you're not bothered about it and are more likely to damage it.[/QUOTE]

Ah, so it's like a carbon fibre bicycle then!

 

[Jason]

meguiars clay bar once a year, and then a polish every 3 months or so. I take great pride in keeping my cars and bikes in good condition. same for the house and driveway ... now that I think about it - OCD!!!

 

[Drago]

I maintains the appearance, greatly reduces opportunities for corrosion, all that kind of malarkey. I'm not remotely interested in shafting the environment to build me a new car just to stroke my ego and impress the neighbours, so if I keep the old one looking good and well maintained I save a lot of money (potentially tens of thousands every decade) and the planet benefits.

I'm not one of these people who thinks "oooh, it's got 60,000 miles, better think about a new car", and then get a loan or finance to spend money I cant afford, on a car I don't need, to impress people I don't like. No siree, I think "60,000 miles, eh? I'll get another 15 years out of that." I'm not pishing my life away getting a job to pay for unnecessary rubbish like that.If people want to work into their sixties to pay for shiny cars they'll never fully own then good luck to them.

 

[swee'pea99]

Genuine question: what is the point in waxing a car? As far as I'm aware, nobody I know waxes theirs and they all look fine to me.

I do mine twice a year: spring & autumn. I just assume it helps maintain the bodywork, discourage rust, that sort of thing.

 

[AndyRM]

Our car is a decade old and kept in good mechanical nick by a local garage when I'm stumped.

It lives outside, never been waxed with no sign of rust, corrosion, discolouration.

I'm with @User on this one!

 

[screenman]

I am sure many people who keep their cars nice and shiney wonder why people cycle. Choices, what a nice thing we have.

 

[AndyRM]

I am sure many people who keep their cars nice and shiney wonder why people cycle. Choices, what a nice thing we have.

I agree.

Our car should be nice and shiny by the time I get home, rain forecast for most of the day!

 

[Drago]

It lives outside, never been waxed with no sign of rust, corrosion, discolouration.

Yet.

 

[AndyRM]

Yet.

Assuming we haven't been wiped out, I will provide a progress report in 10 years.

 

[oldfatfool]

Pete's 53, dodo wax and a couple of others depending, clay, polish, and seal first though.

 

[Moodyman]

I use whatever wash n wax combo is on offer.

My car has mudguards all round so doesn't get that dirty. Gets washed a few times in Winter to remove the salt and a deep clean in Spring. Rely on the rain in summer and autumn.

I came across a few 'professional' car wash videos on YouTube and they look painful.

Rinse with hose, rinse again with power washer, clean with sponge and soap, quick dry with micro fibre towel, dry again with chammy, clay, buff, wax and finally buff again.

It seemed like a days work.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I use whatever wash n wax combo is on offer.

My car has mudguards all round so doesn't get that dirty. Gets washed a few times in Winter to remove the salt and a deep clean in Spring. Rely on the rain in summer and autumn.

I came across a few 'professional' car wash videos on YouTube and they look painful.

Rinse with hose, rinse again with power washer, clean with sponge and soap, quick dry with micro fibre towel, dry again with chammy, clay, buff, wax and finally buff again.

It seemed like a days work.

Some people enjoy it. I used to.

 

[screenman]

I use whatever wash n wax combo is on offer.

My car has mudguards all round so doesn't get that dirty. Gets washed a few times in Winter to remove the salt and a deep clean in Spring. Rely on the rain in summer and autumn.

I came across a few 'professional' car wash videos on YouTube and they look painful.

Rinse with hose, rinse again with power washer, clean with sponge and soap, quick dry with micro fibre towel, dry again with chammy, clay, buff, wax and finally buff again.

It seemed like a days work.

Riding a bike can be hard work.

 

[swee'pea99]

Some people enjoy it. I used to.

I don't. I consider it a chore, and it brings me about as much pleasure as chopping up kindling or fixing a tap washer. It's just one of those things you need to do. But I think it does pay off. My wife had to call the rescue people when she got a flat in Sainsbury's car park, and when they finally tracked her down they said it had taken a while because 'I was looking for an old car'. The car's 20 years old, and tho' I'm anything but obsessive, I do retouch paintwork chips, deal with rust if it appears and do the twice-yearly wax. Seems to work.

 

[Threevok]

Cleaning bodywork was one of my favourite things, when I worked at a garage. I would spend hours (sometimes days) finishing a car ready for sale

There's something very rewarding and satisfying about it and I think I have transferred it to my bike life

Spending 5 hours cleaning a bike after a 1 hour ride is not uncommon