What & Where & How - Detailing

[mikee]

I just spent the better half of my day (today) doing a wash/clay/wax/seal. I thinkit took a total of 5.5 hours for me!

Goddam it takes a helluva lot of time. BUt it feels so good to feel and see the results you get from doing it. I only clay once a year so happy I wont be doing that again for a while!

[Ian]

This thread rocks!

Im going to buy some shit and detail a car tomorrow for the first time. See how much I cock it up.

[hamish_023]

rainx anti fog = FAIL

It works ok for bathroom mirrors for about 3-4 weeks but for the windscreen of cars it does NOTHING. It also makes the glass look worse after 3-4 weeks as it streaks and seems to collect the condensations and stuff in the car.

I also looked up other forums and found out what other said and found nothing but bad reports.

[BlackGT]

Dan is very good, used him before. He is in Castle Hill
http://www.dmsdetailing.com.au/

[Kekotic]

Added - Thanks.

[Hobba]

Some good tips and product reviews on here. Not that i've been keeping my car clean lately
http://glowridaz.com.au/forum/

[Kekotic]

Haha yeah it gets a little depressing when it slowly gets dirtier and dirtier.
I have had to drive my car to work the last couple of weeks because my dad was on holidays, so it was getting a bit dirty (although what I consider dirty is probably different to some people) so I did a major wash on the weekend and it took me about 6 hours, took all the wheels off as well
Best feeling looking at a nice clean car

[Kekotic]

Met Jelwin today for my first (of hopefully many more) batches of Meguiars products. Awesome guy and great prices, I'm very happy! He even delivered it to me, and actually came to the mini meet at Knox City to do so, not a bad effort after he had just driven all the way from Ballarat today.

Thanks Josh!

[apg39]

Dr Buff - Sydney NSW, haven't used personally but seen results & talked to him a number of times so definitley recommend. 0418 118 998
Sublime Detailing - Perth WA, mobile & awesome. 0437 782 546
Inside & Out Car Care - Albany WA, workshop...and it's me... 08 9841 7616

Please guys, look outside of the Mequiars & Turtle wax range at all the stores, they are 'ok' but there are a heap more products for cheaper & IMO do a better job if you know what you are looking for.

[Kekotic]

Thanks Andrew, very helpful....thread updated.

Obviously this thread is still a work in progress, and I'm still learning a lot about detailing.....haven't had much time to research in to products as I am busy with other stuff, so any information or products you can add would be greatly appreciated as the products I have used is very limited, this is effectively my first car so I'm new to the world of detailing.

[Kekotic]

Got the car detailed at Final Inspection today, Amazing stuff by Damien.
He's a one man show, puts the car inside a sealed garage and works his magic.

I will be going back there again....and again....and again.

They also have a really nice lounge upstairs with a plasma TV and free wifi, and free cappuccino also. A nice big window is there so you can look out and watch Damien work on the car for the final hour or so, I wouldn't recommend staying for the full 5-8 hours though!
They also have a mini showroom of their Final Inspection branded products for sale, which Damien has designed himself and uses on the cars. They have great prices and have an online store as well, I highly recommend these. I'm pretty much going to be selling off all of my other products that I have purchased as FI products seem to be the way to go.
Needless to say my wallet is quite a bit lighter after today
Had a nice hour long chat with Damien, and Aaron (Devour) from the forum was with me too and we learnt a hell of a lot.

For anyone willing to fork out the money, Final Inspection is the way to go. I would like to say it's the best in Melbourne, but I don't actually know that for sure as I have not tried the other few high end detailing places.
Damien details the ONLY McLaren F1 in Australia though.....if that is any indication of the quality of his work. If you go on a weekday like I did, there is a fair chance you will be the only car he has to detail on the day and it makes it feel that extra bit special!

[jacobraftery]

Hey guys,

Freaking love this thread...
I work at Supercheap, and I'll be the first to agree that our range is a little on the sparse side of town. I often direct people to Autobahn... Heck I even shop there myself a little. But as for the knowledge, depends what day of the week and who you talk to.. Some of the DHC's (D*ck Head Casuals) don't understand what end of the spanner to hold.

ANYWAY, couple of quick bits n pieces I have found that work, and I have only heard good things about...

Meguiars Quick Out - JUST used it on my floor mats, came up a couple of shades cleaner... After vacuuming, I still got A lot of dirt out of them.

Meguiars Tech Wax - A little more expensive, in fact quite a bit... but Really is worth it. Before I got the job I was waxing with a kitten based product and the difference is amazing.

Mequiars Swirl X - Fantastic. Especially for black cars. Removes swirl marks like an absolute champ and isn't as aggressive as a cut.

Spend the money here :L
I still enjoy doing all the work myself, and seeing the shine.

[hamish_023]

If you think nxt gen wax is good try zaino Z5 or Z2.

[Kekotic]

If I could be bothered I would totally edit the first post and remove a lot of the products on there. But I can't.
I agree with Hamish though, nxt gen is shit.

To roughly tell you what Damien from Final Inspection told me last week....

All of the big car care product companies like Meguiars (for example) that have flashy packaging and huge marketing campaigns for their products. Well that product goes from the production line then sold to distributors etc who will then sell it again to a store, finally it gets sold to the customer.
Think of how much of all of that advertising and reselling markup gets put on to the final price of the product to recoup those costs.....then think of the small amount that you are actually paying for the PRODUCT itself. You will soon begin to realise that it's just cheap shit that kind of works but doesn't necessarily work well and is far from being the best out there at that price.
That is why I'm looking in to other products, like Final Inspection which Damien himself creates, and also trying to get info from Hamish_023 about good stuff but sometimes it's like trying to draw blood from a stone just kidding Hamish!

Wouldn't mind someone who knows their shit with detailing to make a lengthy post on here some day about all of the products that they use.....cough Hamish cough.


Damien mentioned that he does detailing nights where a club can organise to have 25 (min) people to come to his workshop for a night for a few hours, get a few test cars there to show how things can be done, and Q&A session with Damien. Unfortunately I doubt we could even scrape together 5 people in Melbourne for it in this club, but just throwing it out there anyway.

[hamish_023]

I never said meguiras NXT gen wax was shit. It is fine for some one that wants to buy an of the shelf product which is better then kitten and a few other supercheap brands but I found it doesn't have long durability and there are other sealant and waxes that take the look to the next level.