BEST of 2011 Video

Well this video sums up much of last years Drift activity. Some excellent footage as always created by Togethia Media Services. I can't wait to see what 2012 holds and more stunning drifting! Enjoy...


Togethia - Drift. HD - Best of 2011 from Togethia on Vimeo.

How to remove bird droppings on your car

It’s happened to nearly all of us, walking to your car to find that it’s been given a lucky blessing by a passing bird, or judging by some dropping I’ve seen, a flying elephant. Some times these droppings can be quickly removed with a damp cloth and you can get on with your day, however there are some bird’s droppings that seem to have spot welded themselves to the cars paintwork. Here is my 5 step guide to the safe removal of bird droppings from your cars paint surface.

1. Fast removal is the key here, and ideally try to remove any bird droppings within 24 hours of first noticing them on the car. Depending on the type of bird and I assume diet this can be a very quick task, made much easier if your car is wet from rainfall.

2. If the offending dropping refuses to budge with the wipe of a damp cloth more serious measures may need to be taken. It’s at this point through I’ve had some people come to me with paint covered in what looks like an area rubbed with sand paper. However it’s not sandpaper, it is in fact where they have scrubbed the bird dropping from the paint work with a Brilo pad or pan scrubber! Let’s just say that they did remove the dropping, but also ruined an area of paint work that will need to be re-sprayed or brought back to life with T-Cut (If they’re lucky). Instead of scuffing away at the dropping, purchase a product such as Car Plans Tar and Bug remover which costs around £3.00. Run a bucket of hot soapy water and soak a microfiber wash mitt. Then take the suds covered wash mitt and lay it over the bird dropping for around 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Once the dropping has been soaked, take the bug and tar remover, liberally spraying the covered area, then re-soak the wash mitt and replace for a further 2 minutes. You can then use a power hose or regular garden hose to blast at the edges of the dropping, again trying to break it up.

4. While continuing this process start to gently rub the dropping in a back and forth motion and you’d should see it start to break up (this is a glamorous post!). This isn’t a quick process and the key is not to rush. If the dropping is being stubborn and being blasted with power hose isn’t working, try to pick at the edges, but do so using your hand inside the mitt so it’s the microfiber that comes into contact with the paint and not finger nails that could scratch and mark the surface.

5. Finally once the bird dropping has given up its rain of terror, simply take a quick detailer, such as Demon Shine or Meguiars Quick Detailer and spray over the area, then buff up with a microfiber cloth to restore the paints glossy finish , alternatively take the opportunity to completely wash your car.

A quick search on Google certainly brings up many methods, but I’ve found this one works well for me, however if you have other suggestions please let me know. Patience is the key to removing bird dirt and it’s important not to use abrasive materials to remove droppings, and they could do more harm than good!

Car Detailing Junies 2011 round up!

Well where do I start...here seems as good a place as any. 2011 has been an exciting year for me, it's been the year where I have taken my car detailing hobby seriously, well seriously enough to create a Blog and to review some products. It's also been a year where I have immersed myself in the automotive scene, trying to learn as much about JDM cars and detailing as possible and meeting some great people along the way (you know who you are). What's becoming apparent is that through various forums and social media channels the car scene is very much alive. Seeing established magazines such as Max Power fall by the way side might seem like the modifiers are loosing, but that’s far from the truth. As with many areas, car modding and the automotive scene has simply developed and through online we're learning more than ever. It also means that new trends are emerging much quicker and motor sport categories such as Drifting are becoming globally popular, finally having a platform other than mainstream television.

Online has also made a wealth of car detailing tips and reviews available. My Blog wouldn’t be possible without the endless resources that YouTube and forums offer, not to mention the help I’ve had from experienced professionals.

I hope to continue posting reviews next year and adding videos and other products and videos that seem relevant, after all cleaning your car requires motivation, and few are as inspiring as seeing JDM metal at its very best.

So with that round up out of the way, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy 2012.

Here's a video that I think sums up this year nicely.

Car Detailing Nightmares!

As it is Halloween it seems only right to do a detailing nightmares type of post. Now I will say that in the grand scheme of things these are all fixable issues (well scratches are, but costly to fix), but if I called this post “car washing bad habits” it might not have the same Halloween impact…on with the post…

1. Wearing Jewellery

In at one, it’s wearing jewellery. Now you don’t have to be adorned with gold and silver trinkets like an 80’s darts player to damage you cars paint work. A simple watch with a leather strap and metal buckle will leave a nice deep scratch if it catches the paint. I’ve seen a fair few cars with said scratches and they normally appear on the roof. Unless you’ve got a car such as a coupe, or your very tall, your arm will be out at a right angle to your body and moving in an arc while washing the roof. This leads to a good old scratch if you’re not careful. This kind of scratch can often be as a result of using hand car washes. While there are some excellent hand car wash services available many are run by people who, at large wash cars as quickly as possible. Nothing wrong with that if your not bothered about your cars overall paintwork, but if that where the case you would probably wouldn’t of read up to here..moving on..

2. Dropping The Wash Mitt / Sponge On The Floor

Many of us have heard the cringe worthy story of the neighbour’s kid washing a car with a bucket of stones or an old flannel covered in grit. Well while that might be the worst case scenario dropping your wash mitt or sponge on the floor can have a similar result. Just imagine sprinkling grit over a wet car then rubbing a pad against it, your paint will not thank you, oh no. I could also add a comment about sponges being a detailing no no, but a good clean and new sponge used with a decent car shampoo is better than not washing your car at all. However I’d advise you purchase a wash mitt as there only around 2 pounds more.

Using Washing Up Liquid

My final detailing bad habit or nightmare (I’ve started, so I’ll finish) is good old washing up liquid. I’m not sure why people ever started to use washing up liquids on there cars, perhaps it’s because washing up liquid works so well on dishes, but if that was true why not try using head and shoulders to wash the car or use car shampoo to clean the oven? No no, let’s use the proper cleaning agents for each job. Washing up liquid to be fair will wash the dirt of your car, it will even make it look shiny, unfortunately the abrasive salts will also strip of any protective wax and in time work its way through paints clear coat. Some people choose to use fairy liquid over other bespoke car products to strip of old wax and at the same time save money, I just can’t bring my self to clean a car with a bucket of fairy liquid. If you want to remove wax buy the right stuff for the job.

If you have been doing any of the above the good news is that it’s never to late to change. Purchasing a good wash mitt and a wash and wax shampoo will be a great start and your cars paint work will reward you with a better shine, and if you like the look of that why not read some of the wax reviews on here as well.

Any way I wish you all a Happy Halloween – From Car Detailing Junkies.