club.liberty.asn.au

Hi all,

I have another few questions..shampoo question, a products question and a leather question

1- Shampoo) You guys recommended optimum car shampoo however carcareproducts says its unavailable any more and recommends Duragloss Car Wash Concentrate. is this just as good?
2 - Products) (I have a rough understanding of detailing.) I have zaino z5 polish at home and Meg's nxt gen2.0 wax/sealant, my understanding is you wash/dry/clay then polish to bring out the colour/gloss and then apply a wax/sealant to kind of seal the polish and provide protection. Am i achieving this by using Zaino z5 as my polish and Nxt Gen2.0? If not what is a popular replacement?
3 - Leather) Please see this picture This is my driver seat and starting to cop a fair bit of abuse. I have this zaino leather cleaning kit but don't know the best plan of action to keep it in best condition possible. I would assume i should not be using a brush or anything as this would make it worse?

Thanks for all the help. Have a sexy libby pic for your efforts

1 - Optimum from ZAS, Duragloss is also great from CCP
2 - Clay bar will do nothing but decontaminate the paint (Remove fallout like Iron, Tar, Overspray, build up of sap etc.) It will make the paint feel smoother
Wax,sealants are for protection, Most make the paint look glossier and feel even slicker but the biggest benifit is the protection they provide
Machine Polishing is the only real way of removing defects from paint. Hand polishing may make a very small difference and enhance the gloss a bit prior to waxing though

Z5 is a good protection so wash, clay, Z5. Sell Nxt Gen on gumtree.

Regarding the leather. That's cracking unfortunately. Cleaners may help a bit to get the dirty out of the cracks but don't use a brush or go crazy because you may make it worse. For this just spray and wipe. Leather thats not cracked then use a brush but be gentle and use a very soft bristle. You're not trying to scrub the leather just agitate the chemicals into the creases of the leather.

Once again thanks for your legendary advice. One thing i am confused about...i always thought Z5 was a polish and i thought you ended the wash process with a wax/sealant to 'lock in' the polish and provide protection. I always thought you apply a polish and then apply a wax/sealant. So in your example

Z5 is a good protection so wash, clay, Z5.

do i then apply a wax after or are you suggesting Z5 (polish) is the last step?

one quick question guys,

for the gen V, plastic side windows and door trims have discolouration and some scratches. i have tried turtle trim restoration and back to black but both dont seem to work. the plastic is some sort of hard, non rubbery material and wont absorb the products used on them. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. i have thought abt trying to apply paint but that seems ridiculous lol. thanks in advance.

Abuz3D wrote:one quick question guys,

for the gen V, plastic side windows and door trims have discolouration and some scratches. i have tried turtle trim restoration and back to black but both dont seem to work. the plastic is some sort of hard, non rubbery material and wont absorb the products used on them. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. i have thought abt trying to apply paint but that seems ridiculous lol. thanks in advance.

I'd love to know this too

Abuz3D wrote:one quick question guys,

for the gen V, plastic side windows and door trims have discolouration and some scratches. i have tried turtle trim restoration and back to black but both dont seem to work. the plastic is some sort of hard, non rubbery material and wont absorb the products used on them. any ideas would be greatly appreciated. i have thought abt trying to apply paint but that seems ridiculous lol. thanks in advance.

If you mean the black pillar trim between the windows, it's a vinyl wrap, not much can be done with it as it doesn't seem to absorb anything as you have noticed.
I saw some products on eBay for covering over those between-window trims, chrome, gloss black or faux carbon-fibre etc, they are an option. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BLACK-Pillar ... 339c85d48c
But they look stick on so could be pretty average.
You could see a vinyl trimmer to retrim them or ask for options.

You could give them a wax which might improve the look a bit, or maybe try (very gently) waxing with a small piece of green scotch scourer pad, lightly running it straight up/down the pillar to at least give even scratching to the surface, rather than swirls. But given how soft the stuff is, it may look like poo in no time.
A soft polish may improve it but it would be an experiment.

thanks mate for the reply.

i have bought some wax and will do it on thursday. will let you guys know how it turned out. just got back from 2 weeks in melbourne and haven't washed the car while i was there... lol... serious withdrawals the whole time..

i have tried a plastic polisher and it seems to work but only lasts a few days, finger prints and stuff gets on it all the time.

wax didnt do much to the outer pillars... still found the plastic cleaner/polisher a better option.