Had a vacation day to use, and decided to make the most of it

[them240i]

As the title indicates, I had a vacation day that I  had scheduled for today, mainly because I need to use a pile of them before the end of the year, so I gave my newest toy a full on detail today. 

 

1. Engine Bay Cleaning

 

Since this was going to be a full-out detail session, I diluted some APC at a 1:1 and used my new iK foaming sprayer that came last week. I do have to say, I was nervous about lightly hosing down my engine bay, but there is so much plastic and the wires/cables are wrapped up that I just needed to make sure that I didn't use the hose at full pressure. After applying the APC, I then used one of my lug nut brushes to agitate all of the surfaces and immediately following, I rinsed it off. 

 

 

2. Tire and Wheel Cleaning

 

While I let the engine bay air dry, I attempted to use my iK foaming sprayer with the NWC...however, it seems that it is too thick for that, so I used my normal spray bottle and Wheel Mitt and Lug Nut Brush to get within every nook. But, before cleaning the wheels, I used the TRC to hit the tires as well as the wheel well, and I used my Tire Brush to agitate. Then after rinsing that off, I then used the NWC to go after the wheels. 

 

3. Iron Removal

 

After cleaning the wheels, I emptied out the iK foaming sprayer and refilled it with IR, at a 1:1 dilution (primarily due to the fact that I have a 1 Gallon container on order). Having the Foaming Sprayer helped tremendously because at least with a constant stream, I didn't have to deal with using the spray bottle and hoping that I got every surface covered. In fact, I was even doing so well with making sure that it wasn't drying on that I sprayed down my wheels as well. 

 

4. Washing the Car

 

Because I normally wash my car outside, once I fill up the foam gun with water and UFS, I do not stop for any reason so that the soap does not dry on. I have found that using the Wedge seems to make my life a bit easier compared to the washing mitt. I start with the roof, then hood, then passenger side, then rear, and then finish with the driver's side. After this, I hose down the car really well and immediately pull it inside into the garage bay. 

 

5. Drying the Car

 

After pulling the car into the garage, I rinse out all of my washing tools and get them on my drying racks inside the garage. I then refill my bottle of DS from my gallon container and go to town, using that as a dying aid. I'll use the DS as one panel at a time, then use one of the Great White Drying towels to wipe (in one direction, generally downwards) to dry the car. I'll start with the roof and work my way down. 

 

6. Waxing

 

Once the car was completely dry, I moved onto waxing, with the BW and my handheld applicator. Because I was out of direct sunlight, I was able to hit an entire side at a time, so on the passenger's side, I'll apply the wax from front to back, so that when I'm done, the wax had enough time to cure so that it was ready to wipe off with a Polishing Towel. 

 

7. Tire Shine

 

This is self explanatory, but after waxing, I sprayed some TS into the Hex Grip Applicator, and went around from tire to tire. 

 

8. Engine Bay Detailing

 

I opened the hood and used the DS on every visible part of the Engine Bay, as well as the cowling and the rubber gaskets. 

 

 

9. Interior Cleaning

 

I used the New IAPC Gel to clean the driver's side seat and steering wheel, and then moved onto the AGC to clean the windshield and all windows, as well as the MFD and Instrument Cluster. While I was letting the IAPC Gel cure, I used the VRT on the door sill trim as the sun isn't kind to it. 

 

10. Interior Detailing

 

Using the ID, I sprayed some of the plastic bits on the center console and the Infotainment controls. 

 

11. Leather Conditioner

 

Finally, I used the LC on my dash, as well as on my seats and the center console arm rest. 

 

 

[Rich]

Nice write up and great results. 

[Chris@Adams]

Nice job.....looks great!

[RayS]

Great job on the clean and the engine bay really looks great.  I appreciate you adding the details on how you accomplished it.

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

Great job! And great write up!

[SgtLip]

I can't tell you how much I appreciated the write up. I've always had my cars detailed in the past. I retired in March this year and have decided that will be my new hobby. So I am new to the process. The only complaint I gad is not all of the letters highlighted to tell me the product used. Not sure if it is my Mac computer or what.

 

The car looks nice and the write up was extremely helpful. THANKS.

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

18 minutes ago, SgtLip said:

I can't tell you how much I appreciated the write up. I've always had my cars detailed in the past. I retired in March this year and have decided that will be my new hobby. So I am new to the process. The only complaint I gad is not all of the letters highlighted to tell me the product used. Not sure if it is my Mac computer or what.

 

The car looks nice and the write up was extremely helpful. THANKS.

I can try and translate some of these for you.

 

APC - All Purpose Cleaner

IAPC - Interior All Purpose Cleaning Gel

NWC - New Wheel Cleaner (in other words just the regular wheel cleaner, they updated the formula a few months ago)

TRC - Tire and Rubber Cleaner

IR - Iron Remover

UFS - Ultra Foam Shampoo

DS - Detail spray

TS - Tire Shine

AGC - Adams Glass Cleaner

VRT - VRT (stands for Vinyl Rubber and Trim I believe)

ID - Interior Detailer

LC - Leather Conditioner

 

MFD - not sure about this one

[RayS]

Here's the ling to the long list of products and what the expansion should show: