I used to drive a Honda Civic, always got it washed at my friend’s car wash. Just bought my 07 Lib STI and have decided I would love to be able to wash it myself!! After browsing through the detailing sticky in this forum I headed over to the Final Inspection (FI) online store and spent about $400 on various goodies, as well as getting a Gernie 125.2 Classic from Bunnings. The first wash will be this weekend and I can't wait! I'm going to list below the materials I will be using and steps I am going to take, and will hopefully take some photos (weather permitting) and post them! I’m only a beginner so won’t be doing anything like claying or polishing, and have decided to use Sealant instead of Wax. I'm also not claiming to know what I'm talking about, this is just the process I'll be following after all the research I've done
(Please note, I decided I would buy all my products from FI to start off and see how it all went. I can pick and choose with products in the future if I don’t feel any of them are right for me)Items used:
- Gerni 125.2 Classic High Pressure Washer
- Hose without attachment
- Commercial vacuum cleaner with attachments
- 1x Warm bucket of water (~60 degrees)
- 1x Cold to luke-warm bucket of water
- 1x Empty bucket of water
- 1x FI Microfibre Wheel Cloth
- 1x FI Microfibre Moquet Weave Wash Mitt
- 1x FI Microfibre Waffle Weave Drying Towel
- 1x FI Microfibre Door Jamb Cloth
- 3x Microfibre Paintwork Cloth
- 1x FI Microfibre Paintwork Hand Pocket Applicator
- 2x FI Microfibre Interior Cloth
- 1x FI Microfibre Leather Hand Pocket Applicator
- 1x FI Glass System (light green MF Glass cloth, dark green MF Glass cloth)
- 1x FI General Purpose Cleaner
- 1x FI Power Wheel Cleaner v.2
- 1x FI Wheel Brush
- 1x Xenit Citrus Degreaser
- 1x FI Paint Pampering Body Shampoo
- 1x FI Cleanse Light (Paint De-contamination)
- 1x FI SEAL Regular (Sealant)
- 1x FI Gloss Boost
- 1x FI Leather Clean Gel
- 1x FI Leather Feed
Steps (in this order):
1. WHEELS:
1.1. Pre-rinse the wheels with high pressure washer.
1.2. Spray General Purpose Cleaner on tyres.
1.3. Spray Power Wheel Cleaner on wheels, and use wheel brush to clean wheels.
1.4. Wipe wheels down with MF wheel cloth.
1.5. Clean wheel arches using Xenit Citrus Degreaser and wheel cloth.
EXTERIOR:
2. WASH
2.1. Pre-rinse exterior (including rinsing wheels) with high pressure washer to loosen any dirt and debris.
2.2. Pre-soak with foam gun (using FI body shampoo). Let it soak for 5 minutes.
2.3. Rinse exterior again with high pressure washer, hopefully rinsing off the majority of the dirt and debris.
2.4. Wash the exterior panel by panel, including glass, with FI body shampoo using a MF Moquet Weave Wash Mitt. (2 bucket method. This is explained in the detailing sticky in this forum).
2.5. Rinse exterior with high pressure washer.
2.6. Rinse exterior again with a hose without an attachment, to sheet water from top of each panel down.
2.7. Dry exterior with MF Waffle Weave Drying Towel.
2.8. Wipe down door jambs, fuel bay etc. with MF Door Jamb Cloth sprayed with General Purpose Cleaner.
3. PROTECTION
3.1. Spray FI Cleanse Light onto MF Paintwork Cloth and wipe surface of exterior to remove previous waxes/oils etc.
3.2. Apply a few pumps of FI SEAL Regular to the MF Hand Pocket Applicator and apply to each panel.
3.3. Allow SEAL to bond for approx. 10 minutes depending on weather.
3.4. Wipe SEAL off, panel by panel, with a damp MF Paintwork Cloth (separate to the one used to apply Cleanse).
3.5. Wipe car down again with a dry MF Paintwork Cloth (separate to the two used previously).
(Another layer of SEAL will be applied at next wash, minus using Cleanse Light. Will then be reapplied in 6 months time)
4. POST-WASH
4.1. Spray FI Gloss Boost onto MF Paintwork Cloth and buff exterior, panel by panel.
5. INTERIOR
5.1. Take carpet mats out and lay them onto newspaper. Vacuum mats.
5.2. Wipe down all areas of interior with a slightly damp MF Interior Cloth.
5.3. Vacuum interior carpets, using a vacuum brush for the corners and delicate areas to avoid scratching plastics.
5.4. Spray FI General Purpose Cleaner onto MF Interior Cloth and wipe down all interior panels, dash etc.
5.5. Wipe down interior glass with slightly damp MF Glass Cloth, followed by a wipe down with a dry MF Glass Cloth. (My windows aren’t as dirty on the interior, it doesn’t warrant using product. This is also the FI recommended process).
5.6. Put carpet mats back into the car.
6. LEATHER
6.1. Fill empty bucket with warm water.
6.2. Apply Leather Clean Gel and Leather Feed as per FI instructions (see http://finalinspection.com.au for this process).
(This will only be repeated every 12 weeks)
I THINK I’ve covered off everything. Thanks to everyone that takes the time to read, I really can’t wait for Saturday. I’m estimating it’ll take me around 3 hours so we’ll see how I go! And stay tuned for the photos!
Cheers,
Jerome
