Another Vios

Had a quick wash on this regularly maintained Vios with Gold Class Shampoo & Conditioner, followed by M21 Synthetic Sealant application on the paintwork. We did a test spot on the trunk lid by claying it, rotary buffing it with M80/W8006/RB and M21 application by hand. The result is awesome!

Detailing Events

These are the events in the past, including the latest Gen2 Club Detailing Clinic...

Gen2 Club Detailing Clinic

New Ford Focus Test Drive Day Detailing Clinic

Swift Club Detailing Clinic

Jazz Fit Friends Club Detailing Clinic

Getz Club Detailing Clinic

More Shots

Avoiding FREE Wash

Detailing enthusiasts never like conventional car wash offered by normal car wash center or service center. Some of the car service centers such as Toyota and Honda throw in FREE car wash especially if the car is undergoing free car maintenance scheme. Usually those car wash services will instill lots of swirls and scratches due to unskilled personnel. Poor quality washing tools such as dirty sponges and rags will also scour the finish quickly.

I have friends who tried reminding those service centers NOT to wash their cars, but still ended up with washes. I learned a method from Autopia to display a note on the dashboard so that people who work on the car knows that washing isn't required on my car (in two languages). I've even laminated it for use in long run...

The 5th Wash

These are some of the pics taken after the 5th wash at my washing bay.

Claber

For the past 6 years I've been using a 10m Bosch garden hose for my car washing (and plant watering). It did the job very well and until today the condition is still superb, besides being abit dirty. I've never experienced water interruption due to the stiff reinforced design. However recently I've brought this hose to the back of the garden so this time I got myself a 15m Claber (Top Black series) garden hose as replacement. It did a great job plus it has anti-UV material to withstand weathering. The price is RM88.90, available in 15m and 30m length at ACE Hardware. Good tools make detailing a fun experience!

Tips #5: Why Frequent Washing is Important?

You've spent lots of money to get someone to detail your car, or maybe you've spent long hours to do a complete makeover. Now you've got an ultra smooth, contaminant-free plus swirl-free paintwork. How do you upkeep the condition? If you're going to use that car (daily driver), the answer is to wash it frequently.

Why frequent washing is important?

1. Prevents environment contaminants from bonding to the surface.
2. Rain water will leave a layer of dirt film. Few days of rain will be sufficient to stain the paint, leaving rough surface. Normal washing will not be able to remove the bonded contaminants, claying is the only way.
3. Tree saps, bird droppings, bees wax, etc...must be washed away as soon as possible. The longer your washing interval is, the more serious defect you'll face.
4. Able to keep track of your car's actual condition. Most of the time dirt will mask away defects such as scratches, dents, etchings, etc...
5. Clearcoat thickness is limited, it will fail prematurely if it's not preserved well. Proper frequent washing and waxing will save you from polishing/cutting your paintwork often.
6. Makes every wash a breeze and quicker.
7. Makes driving a good experience with pride.
8. Maintains the previous valuable detailing job investment in terms of money, time and effort.

A general rule of thumb is to wash once a week, probably twice a week during rainy season. I have a few detailing enthusiast buddies who wash their car daily (20 mins. each session)! Needless to say, their car is always in prestine condition. If you couldn't find time to do your washing, just treat this as a weekly exercise! =)

Relaxing Sunday Detailing

Finally got the time to wash my car after 2 weeks. Also it's time to apply M21 after 3 weeks of ownership. The car is back into acceptable condition. This is one of my favourite shots...

Quality Yet Affordable DIY Wash

If you're a serious detailing enthusiast, most probably you'll be the one doing car washing by yourself. The reason being you get to choose quality shampoo, quality microfiber cloth and more importantly you get the best result out from your own dedicated hardwork. No one out there will love your ride as much as yourself (trust me), unless you're going for high-end detailing shop.

One of my favourite shampoos is the Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo & Conditioner. It offers gentle yet effective cleaning action, plus its lubricity will minimise car wash swirls. Now, the good news is the 1 gallon (128oz) is available at a reasonable price of RM107.00. It's available at U Parkson (1 Utama). Usually I use 3oz of shampoo mixed with 3 gallons of water. This will translate into RM2.50 per wash [107/(128/3)]. It's still alot cheaper than any other car washes you could find out there.


Usually I will pour the 128oz shampoo into the 64oz shampoo bottle to ease my pouring during car wash. If possible, try to get a spout and a funnel to avoid spill.


1 Becomes 2

Vios Bumper Paint Quality

Before leaving to work this morning, I found a few tiny spots of tree saps on my car - 2 on the front bumper, 3 on the bonnet. I carefully removed these spots and found out that the bumper paintwork is already etched while the bonnet (body) paintwork is not affected at all. This shows that the bumper paintwork has poor chemical resistance properties.

Tips #4: Why Not to Park Under The Trees?

Your car might enjoy the shade while it's being parked under the trees, but have you ever thought of the potential damages? Some points below will give you some brief ideas why car detailing enthusiasts never choose to park under the trees.

1. Trees Collapse - Recently a row of trees were uprooted along the road in front of my office due to a mini-typhoon. Quite a few cars were badly damaged due to the broken branches. One of the worst damages you'll ever get from trees.
2. Tree Saps - A kind of fine mist released from the trees. Once it settles on the paintwork, it'll create tree sap etch mark within a short time. Sometimes compounding will not help at all because the sap had etched deep down to the basecoat. Imagine this happens all over the paintwork.
3. Bird Droppings - It's their favorite hang-out and bombing place. The acidity of bird droppings depends on what the bird ate before this. Some contains fine sand which will scratch your paintwork while you're trying to remove it in a wrong way. The outdoor heat will accelerate the etching process and most of the time the damage is just too serious to be salvaged.
4. Leafs and Flowers - It makes your car looks greener and more environmental friendly but these stuffs will damage your paintwork if the surface is wet. If you've found these all over your car, hand pick it as soon/much as possible before it starts to rain.

If your car is maintained often, you wouldn't face pre-mature ageing eventhough you park it under the sun daily. What you can do is to...

1. Wash at least once a week (Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner/ Meguiar's NXT Generation Car Wash)
2. Wax at least once a month (Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax/ Meguiar's M21 Synthetic Sealant)
3. Apply interior rubber/vinyl protectant once a month (Meguiar's NXT Tech Protectant)
4. Apply exterior rubber/vinyl protectant fortnightly (Meguiar's Gold Class Trim Detailer)

Clean Wheel Wells

It's been raining cats and dogs every evening lately. Keeping the car clean is really a big problem for most of the owners, but not really for owners who detail their car once a week. The wax/sealant layer will prevent dirt from staining easily and will make washing alot easier. As for me, I always love to have a clean set of wheel wells. I would wash the wheel wells with Safe Degreaser (with IKEA dish washing brush) and apply Hyper Dressing on it after each weekly wash. Here's how it looks like on the Accord after a heavy down pour one day before...

Just like new!

Reflection on Silver

Hi friends, I'm sorry that recently I was too tied down with work and life, haven't got much time for detailing and my new baby. I managed to capture some reflection shots on my M21-treated silver baby. Silver paintwork could produce nice reflection with proper surface prep work and good LSP (Last Step Product) combination such as the M21. By the way, for you guys who are really keen on M21, please note that the 32oz. version is coming out soon. Stay tuned and hold your purchase on other sealants before you get to buy it from our local Meguiar's distributor (Hypercoat Enterprise) soon.

Doors

Bonnet

Roof

Trunk

It shall receive 2nd layer of M21 after the next wash. :)