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.

Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner Update

Well I’ve been meaning to update this post for sometime, so apologies for the delay. I tried the Very Cherry Acid Free wheel cleaner in my last review without reading the instructions (I only had a sample bottle in my defence ;-) ) and after speaking with Mark over at Ninja Shine I realised that my review wasn’t really very valid. In the meantime, Ninja Shine have written there own review, which is very good and can be found here ->click<-.

The reason for the update is that I used the Very Cherry Acid Free wheel cleaner in conjunction with a Kent wash mitt and soapy water, using the wheel cleaner to lift the initial dirt as opposed to using it as the sole product. I was also unaware that you don’t need to agitate the product and you can simply spray it on, leave it for a minute then spray it off to reveal nice clean wheels.

Firstly I washed the whole car, as I always leave the wheels till last, I’ve heard others start with the wheels so as I learn more perhaps I’ll change my method. I washed the wheels over with a normal non power hose then liberally sprayed the Very Cherry Wheel Cleaner over the wheels, left it for a minute or two then sprayed water over them again. 90% of the dirt lifted straight away and I was surprised at the effectiveness of the product, however I did reapply a couple of times to lift the rest of the grime.

One of the main selling points of this wheel cleaner for me is that you can use it safe knowledge that it won’t corrode the nice finish from your wheels, unlike some strong acid based cleaners used over a period of time.

In conclusion I will certainly use this product again, but in using it I’ve become hungry to try some other products to compare It against as wheels are an area I’ve never focused on in great detail. The next product I’ll be purchasing is P21s Power Gel Acid-Free Car Alloy Wheel Cleaner. It looks like a difficult product to get hold of but if this video below is anything to go by then it’s worth sourcing.

SIX | DAYS by Stephen Brooks

SIX | DAYS from Stephen Brooks on Vimeo.
Superb Coverage of the 2011 season of the Maxxis British Drift Championship. The Video was created by Stephen Brooks who is making a great name for himself. Car Detailing Junkies recommend watching this vid :)

Achilles ATR Sport Profile Video

I was searching across YouTube still trying to find a good video of the Achilles ATR Sport in use (Yes I know I should make one, all in good time :D ) and found this. Although it doesn't show the tyre being used, it does give you a good look at the tread and an idea of the wheels dimensions etc... More to follow.

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.

Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner Review

Update: Since writing this ninja shine have let me know that the very cherry wheel cleaner will work without agitation from a wash mitt or use of additional shampoo’s (in my defence there was no label :P ). I will leave this review up, but will be doing a much more thorough review soon, just using the wheel cleaner and clean water. Sorry for any confusion – The Power Recommends.

I received a sample of Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner a couple of weeks back from a friend over at Ninjashine and finally got round to trying it this weekend, apologies for the delay. On to the review….

First Impressions

As I reached inside the parcel containing both Citrus Pearl Autowash Shampoo and Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner I was really surprised at how vibrant both bottles were that I pulled out. However in comparison with the CitrusPearl Autowash Shampoo, the Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner is definitely a duller colour. Not a bad thing by any stretch though. I removed the lids and had a quick smell and the scent was more chemical than cherry although the cherry could be referring to the colour. I don’t like acid based wheel cleaning agents and Ninjashine assures me that this product is acid free. Although I’ve not experienced any bad effects from using an acid based cleaner, the thought of spraying acid onto my beloved alloys doesn’t seem right.

Onto cleaning the wheels

As it was a warm day, I cleaned the entire car first and sprayed the wheels over with water. I then took an old clean spray bottle (it had previously had demon shine in there, but I rinsed it several times to avoid contamination) and poured a small amount of the Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner into the bottle. Now I’m told that the mix should be around 10:1 which is great and means the product should last you a good few washes. Topping the bottle up with water turned the cherry like colour to a pale pinkish red, much more subtle that the neon pink CarPlan demon shine that I had kept in there previously. I took the Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner out to the car and liberally sprayed it over all four wheels, allowing it to rest for about 2 to 3 minutes. I then took a fresh bucket of water containing the citrus pearl shampoo and worked my way over each wheel using a Kent microfiber wash mitt. Now you can use wheel brushes and I’ve had good success with the Kent wheel brush, but as my alloy wheels are five spokes I can get good access to all by the back of the wheel. Some other car detailers will remove the whole alloy for cleaning which will certainly yield better results but I didn’t have time to do this today.

After washing round all four wheels, I took a hose and washed off any remaining solution. The wheels certainly came up very well and shone like new. Now at this point I will say that the AEZ Raver wheels I currently have on the car feature a Nano Tech coating and they are themselves very new. I will be trying this product again on a friend’s VW Passat as the alloys are both spokey and without added nano protection (or at least I believe they don’t have nano protection).

Even so, looking at the pictures you can tell just how well the Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner cleans and I will most certainly be using the product again next time I wash my car.

Car Detailing Junkies recommend Very Cherry Acid Free Wheel Cleaner.

Achilles ATR Sport Video

Now my Japanese isn't great so I have no idea whether or not this particular track driver likes the Achilles ATR Sport tyres or not. However as I’ve said before I’m enjoying them for lively road driving and if he can hang his car round a corner with them as he shows they still look good to me. I will however apologise for the music!