CarPlan Screen Cleaner

Part of any thorough car cleaning is making sure the glass is left clean and clear. If you use Sat Navs you can find unsightly rings and fingerprints appearing on this inside of the window and you park under trees or near buildings sap and bird lime will need removing before it becomes ingrained.

The product I use the most for cleaning my car windows is CarPlan Screen Cleaner. CarPlan Screen Cleaner is an affordable product only costing around £3.00 and certainly lasts a fair few washes. It's slightly blue in colour but wipes off clear and can be used both on the inside and outside of the car which is a bonus.

To use CarPlan Screen Cleaner you simply need to spray it onto the glass surface, wipe it over the glass with a microfibre towel and they dry it off to a clear shine with an additional microfibre (I like the Kent microfibre towels). CarPlan Screen Cleaner brings the glass up to a fantastic clearness and on top if its cleaning properties helps the glass mist less, which is particularly helpful in the winter months.

Another important factor that I take into consideration is how it reacts to other parts of the car's body work, I have seen some screen wash products that say they can harm the rubber seals or any overspray onto bodywork should be washed off immediately. With CarPlan Screen Cleaner you can rest assured that your paint work will be safe and glass will remain both clean and clear.

The product is well worth buying and it removes any wax or other chemicals that have found their way to the glass very well. CarPlan Screen Cleaner is available from most stores.

Carplan Tyre Shine Foam Review

Well if you’ve been reading my reviews you’ll know I’ve recently added a set of AEZ Raver alloy wheels to my car and some new Achilles ATR Sport 17 inch tyres. Well it’s been raining a bit here recently and as a result my new tyres have started to look a bit tired.

I guess what I mean by tired is that they're no longer the brand new glossy black they were and instead have an almost brown tint to them. Well after a quick look at the products available I was eventually swayed towards Carplan Tyre Shine Foam. My decision was based on 2 main deciders, the first was the price at around £2.50 a can its great value and the second was that I’ve used and trust Carplan products.

The foam is straight forward enough to use. Shake the can; hold it about 4 inches away from the tyre and spray. You only coat the outside tyre wall profile and be careful not to spray it onto the tread, as I guess it could make the grip slippery. Leave the foam on the tyre for about 10 minutes, then wipe of with an old microfibre cloth, or rag.

The results are I’m pleased to say new looking tyres and they stay new looking for quite a while too. Another benefit of using the Carplan Tyre Shine Foam is that it helps keep the tyre wall in good condition, helping to prevent the tyre cracking.

There are other tyre shine products available that I will try and review at some point, but for now the Carplan Tyre Shine Foam works just fine for me.

Meguiar's How To Video

Ok today I was browsing YouTube and came across this video that really shows the difference between paintwork that's been treated to a clay bar and wax vs paint that hasn't. Now I haven’t used that many of Meguiar's products, but their reputation is excellent and I believe a similar result can be attained with different brands. Anyway I hope you enjoy the video.

AEZ Raver Alloy Wheels Review

Well as my last post focussed around the Achilles ATR Sport Tyres I thought it would be a good idea to review some alloy wheels, in particular the AEZ Raver Alloy Wheel, from AEZ.

Now AEZ aren’t the biggest name in alloys, which to some extent is a surprise, a quick look over their website shows a handsome range of designs and they look to be as at home on Euro built cars as they are on Jap style cars.

Now before I purchased the AEZ Raver alloys I did a great deal of looking round at wheels and the different alloy wheel styles. I decided that as my car isn't overly modified I’d go for a style that was simple and looked close to the standard wheels, albeit a little better looking and 17 inch as opposed to the factory filled 16's.

Another factor was I didn't want split spoke alloys as they can be very difficult to clean and I came across this video which shows they have a nano tec coating that helps repel dirt and grime, certainly a selling factor to me (see embedded youtube video).

I ordered the AEZ Raver alloys from a popular UK based alloy wheel retailer and they came complete with the Achilles ATR Sport Tyres fitted for around £500.

My first impression of the AEZ Raver alloy wheels was very good; the silver of the wheel was striking without looking cheap or overly bright and once they where no heavier than the 16’s I’d taken off (not that I could tell anyway, although perhaps an accurate weighing is in order).

I would recommend these alloy wheels to anyone who is looking for a simple yet good looking well made alloy wheel, although how they will look on your car is of course a matter of taste.

Achilles ATR Sport Tyres Review

I recently was faced with the prospect of getting new tyres for my Toyota and decided to upgrade my alloys from 16's to 17's at the same time. I decided to purchase a set of AEZ Ravers (review coming soon) and after doing a little research decided to get Achilles ATR Sport Tyres. Now Achilles ATR Sport Tyres are fairly unknown in terms of brand compared to the big names and I was initially attracted to them for their price tag. I don't do any track work and although I drive in a spirited manner, I don't drive excessively fast. For this reason I was happy to consider a budget tyre (every one is different and how they perform on your car depends on your driving style).

They arrived already fitted to the wheel and I paid around £55 per corner. My first impressions were very good. The Achilles ATR Sport Tyres have a substantial grooved surface and the blade design on the edges looked promising in terms of grip through bends and corners.

I'm happy to say that the Achilles ATR Sport Tyres have not disappointed. I have driven in wet, hot and dry conditions and they have proved to be excellent, giving me confidence to accelerate round corners and they didn't make the car feel twitchy even in heavy rain. I haven't used the Achilles ATR Sport Tyres in snow or frosty conditions yet so I will add to this post when winter arrives.

For the price I believe them to be excellent value for money and should I need new tyres in the future due to normal wear and tear I would purchase them again.

Turbozilla Air Freshener Review

This is just a quick review of an air freshener I picked up recently. The more you read my car detailing blogs the more you'll learn that my favourite cars are from the land of the rising sun, yes indeed I’m talking about Japan. I frequently check out Touge automotives website  as they have a great selection of car inspired T-Shirts and accessories and the one that caught my attention was a Turbozilla Air Freshener for a very affordable £1.50 (+ £1 postage). The air freshener smells nice and citrusy and isn't over powering like some other air fresheners I've had. It's quite large though, albeit it doesn't annoy me and I rarely notice it.

If you’re into Jap cars and like novelty character designs then this is a great buy. If not, well check out their website anyway as they've got loads of cool stuff.

Carplan Demon Shine Review

Well in a previous post I discussed the merits of using a car shampoo and today's review of Carplan Demon Shine follows on nicely from that. Now I would like to stress at this point that Carplan Demon Shine isn't a wax and doesn't offer the same level of protection in my opinion, what it does do though is provide an excellent wax like shine to your paint work with very little effort.

Once you’ve washed and dried your car, you then liberally spray the Carplan Demon Shine over the paint work, buffing it off with a micro fibre towel. You can use the product on a wet car but I find using it on dry paint work gives a better result. Carplan Demon Shine comes in two varieties and I prefer to use the pump spray, although the demon shine available in a large bottle is mixed with water and poured over the car which some people may find easier.

This product is excellent if you're in a rush or if you've recently waxed your car and are just giving it an intermediate clean. It does seem to bead water as well, so perhaps there is a level of protection, certainly better to use it than no product at all.

Normally priced around the £5.00 mark it's a good value product and does last a long time.

Turtle Wax Zip Wax Car Shampoo Review

I mentioned in an earlier post about the amount of people still washing their cars with washing up liquid. To be fair I can see the confusion, washing up liquid is a good cleaning agent, it does bubble up to a good amount of suds and on the face of it, it will turn a dirty car clean. However I can't stress enough how bad washing your car with a washing up liquid detergent is. The problem with washing up liquid is that it is designed to cut through grease and food deposits and as such it's an abrasive cleaner. Washing your car once or twice might not make a big difference but continued use will lead to the paint lacquer being dissolved and in the long term will cause your paint to fade and corrosion will be likely.

This leads me on to my review. There are many car shampoos on the market and all are better that a washing up liquid. The car shampoo I'm currently using is Turtle Wax Zip Wax auto Shampoo.

 

Turtle Wax is probably the most well known car wax brand and they've been established longer than most. TheirTurtle Wax Zip Wax claims to deliver a powerful clean whilst depositing a coat of protective wax as it washes.

The bottle instructs that you should add around half a cap full to a bucket of warm water and it does indeed bubble up to a good foamy bucket full. It smells pretty good too! The suds transfer well to a wash mitt and it takes grime, insects and tree sap off the car easily enough.

After washing the car I dried the car off and it was a pleasant shine, but I couldn't help thinking that the wax was very thin, it did bead water though.

I would recommend using this product in conjunction with a polish or wax to ensure your car is protected from the elements. I would say that using this and nothing else will still be 100% better than a household detergent and at around £2.99 for a decent sized bottle you can't go far wrong.

Car Detailing Tutorials

It's amazing how many people still don't know how to properly wash a car. The amount of times I hear people tell me that they wash their car with washing up liquid is amazing. Even if you follow a couple of steps outlined in these videos your car will stay looking much better for longer.

Part Two.

Kent Microfiber Towel Review

I've been washing my car for many years and only in the past 2 or 3 years have I really started to look into the world of Auto detailing. A quick search online will give you a vast and somewhat overwhelming amount of information recommending everything from polishes to wash mitts. I'm not a professional car detailer by any means and I don't intend to show my car in any shows, so I'm not keen on spending the earth on top end products. I do however expect good results and truly believe that they can be achieved with products at the lower end of the price scale if chosen correctly, although I'm not in any way saying that top end products don't deliver better results.


While doing my weekly shop (bear with me) I tend to visit the car products aisle by way of a break from the normal boring grocery list. I also find some supermarkets have a fantastic range of car care products at brand leading prices. It was a roll of micro microfibre towels that caught my attention and upon closer inspection they were produced by a company called Kent and at a very reasonable £2 for 6 (although this price does vary depending on the offers different supermarkets run). Being at that price point I thought they'd be worth a gamble and added them to the basket.

Now it's at this point I feel I should explain what a microfibre towel is exactly. Putting it simply, they are a super soft towel that won’t scratch your paint work and they are excellent for either cleaning glass, applying polish and wax or for buffing polish and wax off.

Kent are no strangers to the world of microfibre and a quick look on their website highlighted the vast range of products they produce (expect more reviews soon).

As it was a sunny day I decided to take the Kent microfibre towels for a test drive and washed the car with soapy car shampoo, Chamois dried it and applied a layer of wax using a damp microfiber towel. The microfiber towel held a good amount of the wax and I was able to apply it evenly across the body work. After letting the wax haze I got another fresh towel and began to buff. The towel picked up the hazed wax effortlessly and brought the paint work up to a showroom shine, with far less arm ache than I have found from other polishing cloths. The microfiber towel stayed in good order and as long as it's looked after can be used again and again (they can be machine washed).

The pack of six Kent microfibre towels come in assorted colours which is helpful for assigning different coloured microfibre towels to different detailing tasks.