Cleaning products review

[MR Roadie 2]

Ok, I am guessing that most of us like our cars to be clean.

So it had me thinking what do you use to clean your 2? And why?, how would you rate it?.

I sometimes use Valet Pro PH neutral snowfoambut I feel product is poor 3 out 10.
I prefer hand wash with car shampoo.

Demon wheel cleaner, good 8 out 10.
Mer car polish, good 8 out 10. Can be hard to buff off.
Armourall shield (wax) better than wax, great 9 out 10.
Armourall tyre gel, good 8 out 10.
Armourall protector for dash and door cards, good 8 out 10.
Rain x for wind screen, great 9 out 10.
Renovo black and Renovo ultra proof for roof 9 out 10

Can anyone advise a great snowfoam product?.

[Ardent]

Have not snowfoamed the 2 as not sure how it would work with the materail roof. If I had viynl would not be too worried.
Think a lot has to do with the lance being used as well as the product.
I have Bilt Hamber snowfoam.

Rating products is always going to be a very subjective issue.
You rate the Mer as 8/10. I would rate it 3/10 for the same reason you give.
I threw a bottle away after using it twice.

Bilt hamber snowfoam
Bilt Hamber Surefex HD degreaser
Bilthamber soft clay bar
Chemical guys maxi suds shampoo
Lambs wool mit
Autoglym Radient wax. (their improved forumla super resin polish, but without the dust.)
Cheicalguys wet look mirror shine.
Chemical guys Pete 50/50 wax.
Zaino Grand finale to finish off
Zaino perfect tire gloss. (tyres look fresh out the mould. Not glossy)
Chemical guys wheel guard for the rims.
Autoglym glass polish.
Aerospace 303 UV protectant for plastics.
Car Lack 68 twins for screen water repelency.
Autosol
microfibre towels

[shnazzle]

Excellent thread! How do we not have a "detailing" section?

Autoglym Tar remover: 8/10. Dissolves tar spots very nicely.

Meguiars Gold shampoo: 7/10. Cleans well, but low on suds. Easy on wax

Autoglym Shampoo: 6/10. Sudless with  pretty crap dirt removal,but does the job. Easy on wax

ValetPro snowfoam: 9/10. Really loosens up the grime and almost makes the use of two mits (one for top one for bottom) pointless. The quality of the gun is most important for a thick foam. Sticks for a fair while.

Turtle Wax Bug&Tar remover: 7/10 for bugs, 5/10 for tar. Usually douse the front bumper in this stuff and the bugs wipe off,then rinse, then wash as normal. Stinks though.

Meguiars Polish compound:9/10. When used with machine and light compounding pad it removes almost any defect other than really heavy and also leaves a great shine. Also great for manual use. Far outshines Autoglym SRP.

Autoglym SRP: 7/10. Great for a quick polish up and filler prior to a show. But a "cheat" product. Hides imperfections. Do like it though

G3 Scratch Remover: 9/10. One of my all-time favourite compounds. Great for polishing out deeper scratches by hand and also great for headlights. Works in very nicely, dries to a powder and wipes straight off. Amazing when finished with G3 Paint Renovator.

G3 Paint Renovator: 8/10. Finishes off where G3 Scratch Remover starts but also a really good replacement for Autoglym SRP, but does more permanent fixing. Really easy to use. Can easily do the whole mr2 by hand with a bit elbow grease.

G3 Compound: 4/10. Rubbish. Really surprising given the above polishes. Really only works with a rotary polisher and harsh pad for removing deep defects.

Autoglym Wheel Cleaner: 5/10. Cleans well, ish. Agitates to a nice foam. Needs to be left on for a fair while but dries quickly. Doesnt hold a candle to Dragons Breath or IronX.

Autosol metal polish: 10/10. Everybody needs a tube of this stuff for any metal/chrome polishing. Even used on a style bar the results are epic. Must-have.

Demon Shine detailing spray: 5/10. Pretty useless for a quick shine, but I always keep this in stock as a lubricant for claying or polishing.

Bilt Hamber clay bar: 9/10. What can you say. Works well. Warms up quickly. Varying hardness available.

G3 Clay Mitt: 10/10. This is where it's at. A must have. So easy to use and so effective. Havetl to replace them though and are pricier than a clay bar, but would the extra for ease of use

PoorBoys QD+ quick detailer (black bottle) : 10/10. Incredible shine, amazingly easy to use. No streaks. Little goes a long way. Smells amazing. Must have

Fusso 12month dark sealant: 9/10. Lost one point for application as it can turn to cement and make your life a living hell while trying to buff it off. But the protection is the best I've found so far. Excellent water repellency well past 6 months later and makes the car really easy to clean.
Also adds a great deep shine, for a sealant.

Cherry Glaze: 8/10. Still the best glaze aside from PoorBoys Black Hole. Don't use glaze often enough. But if you want that shine, cherry Glaze is a great one to keep in stock. Very easy to apply and can be used with almost any wax/sealant.

Autoglym HD wax: 9/10. Amazing protection, amazing shine. Expensive.

Turtle Wax ICE Glass cleaner: 8/10. Always loved this stuff. Makes the glass look really nice and also adds some great water repellency. No wipers needed over 40mph. Doesny last ages though and streaking does occur if you don't buff well.

RainX: 7/10. Great for water repellency, making wipers pointless over 40mph but no shine and streaks really easily. Also, Im under the impression that it knacks your wiperblades.

Autoglym vinyl dressing: 8/10. My new favorite products for the soft top. Makes it look really fresh without an over the top unnatural shine. Lasts a good while. Applies very well.

Autoglym tyre dressing: 6/10. Like the vinyl dressing, works well,  but could do with leaving a bit more of a wet look for that impact. Protection lasts, look doesn't.

Turtle Wax tyre and bumper gel: 8/10. Leaves a great looking tyre wall for a good while but is a bit messy to apply. Prefer this to the Autoglym.

Mother's carnauba Wax: 7/10. Sitting on a nice sealant and good paintwork it brings a really deep shine. Doesn't last long though and can only get it in the US.

Pink sheen: 7/10. Great smell and leaves a nice clean finish on anything internal. Just don't put it on anything you touch like steering wheel, gear knob etc. Also works very well on the soft top and even as a tyre gel. I keep about 5 liters of this stuff.


Not going to go into all of the waxes/sealants/glazes I've tried over the years. There's just far too many. But the above is what I use now and I'm pleased with the results.
Also, I've tried a lot of Autoglym lately because it's just easy to come by. Conclusion is.. It's worth ordering "proper" stuff from sites like juicydetailing or cleanyourcar

[MR Roadie 2]

A "detailing" section would be helpful for a lot of users.
I use to wash and polish my car in my younger years, but I have started taking a more interest since I bought my 2. Some of the products I use are the same products I had back then, infact the same bottle! Mer and Armourall protect.
Over the years I know products have changed and improved. So it would be handy for the novice to read some of the opinions of other owners about certain products and why they like it. For the experienced buffers out there it is a chance to compare and find out what others uses.
I'm sure I could buy anything with a Autoglym label and it will be descent, but I am sure there is better products for certain jobs or some people might have a wee secret cleaning product that's not even for car use but works well.

[Ardent]

MR Roadie 2
Quote "or some people might have a wee secret cleaning product that's not even for car use but works well."

I shall open that account with Kiwi or Cherry Blossom black shoe polish for tyres. (Hat tip to Dad)

[MR Roadie 2]

MR Roadie 2
Quote "or some people might have a wee secret cleaning product that's not even for car use but works well."

I shall open that account with Kiwi or Cherry Blossom black shoe polish for tyres. (Hat tip to Dad)

Strange you should mention this, my gator and gear knob look like they could do with some black polish.

[Ardent]

Big fan of this stuff.
 m http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/interior/ ... d_366.html m

Just leaves trims, plastics and rubbers looking factory fresh. Not artifical shiny/glossy. Just looks right.

[shnazzle]

We don't have a detailing section because it seems a bit silly when there's forums like DetailingWorld out there (great forum, if you can see past the know-it-alls). DW has a huuuuge database of reviews, opinions, professional tips, etc etc. A lot of them are either full on professional outfits or the one-man car cleaning shops.

Seems silly to try to replicate it.

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[Essex2Visuvesi]

I'm too busy driving mine

[shnazzle]

I'm too busy driving mine

There's always one. Thought it'd be Scotte!

[Essex2Visuvesi]

I keep mine clean but the bodywork is a bit tatty so the phrase "polishing a turd" springs to mind

[MR Roadie 2]

We don't have a detailing section because it seems a bit silly when there's forums like DetailingWorld out there (great forum, if you can see past the know-it-alls). DW has a huuuuge database of reviews, opinions, professional tips, etc etc. A lot of them are either full on professional outfits or the one-man car cleaning shops.

Seems silly to try to replicate it.

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But we could do some video reviews comparing products like wax's, tyres shine, snowfoam then put it up on the MR2roc YouTube page. That would help get the MR2roc name out there.

[shnazzle]

Thanks for volunteering! Haha. We look forward to the clips  s;) s;)  
You're right though, it would be a great addition. We'll just use this thread for now and maybe other threads in the Appearance section

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[Kimmy50]

I'm after a reccomend for sprucing up my vinyl hood, it looks a bit faded, anything to blacken it up a bit ?

Ta
Kim

[MR Roadie 2]

I'm after a reccomend for sprucing up my vinyl hood, it looks a bit faded, anything to blacken it up a bit ?

Ta
Kim

My only experience is Renovo black then Renovo ultra proof. Not cheap but I felt it worked very well. I think some this is used by most people on the forum.

[Ardent]

Some swear by Auto glym vinyl and rubber care.
Not always sure about its wet weather capability.

As a above Renovo. Highly rated.

Also above, this stuff
 m http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/interior/ m  ... d_366.html

Or as a left field cheap option
Tin of black shoe polish.
You might be surprised.
Try on a test area. Might need  couple of coats.

[Kimmy50]

Great, thanks very much. I've used the autoglym hood cleaner which was very good, just needs that final top coat

[Bernie]

For top coat stay Autoglym  but it's the bumper & trim gel has UV protection & is what they recommend for our roofs

The vinyl & trim is only for interior !

 m http://www.autoglym.com/products/produc ... d-trim-gel m

Use on mine and very happy with the results

[moorx]

I use the Autoglym bumper gel for plastic trim and on the wiper arms - makes them look like new.

For bodywork, I mainly use Poorboys products - Slick and Suds shampoo, Black Hole Glaze, Nattys Wax (Blue).  I find them easy to use, with great results.

[MR Roadie 2]

After starting the thread, I decided to buy Autoglym super resin and extra gloss protection. I have used the super resin along time ago and I know how good it is. Spent the afternoon washing and polishing my car with my Autoglym purchases, which I did find very easy to apply and buff back off. I also got time to Renovo black and Renovo ultra proof my roof.
I then applied Armourall shield to the bonnet and wings only.
Now sitting waiting for rain to come in. Let the beading begin   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  and wonder if the front will bead better than the rest of the car?
I did use my Mer polish on some stubbering marks/died flys as I find the Mer Polish to be better for these marks. This was my only negative about the super resin.

[shnazzle]

Flies are best taken off with bug remover.

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[MR Roadie 2]

Flies are best taken off with bug remover.

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I tried Autoglym insect remover when I was washing the car, but some needed more than insect remover.

[shnazzle]

To be fair, the AG one is poop  s:) s:)  

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[MR Roadie 2]

To be fair, the AG one is poop  s:) s:)  

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So turtle wax bug and tar removal is the next purchase i need buy? Is that what your advising me?

[shnazzle]

To be fair, the AG one is poop  s:) s:)  

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So turtle wax bug and tar removal is the next purchase i need buy? Is that what your advising me?

Well, it's what I happen to be using right now. It seems to work. It stinks to high heavens and it leaves a greasy residue. So what I do is spray the front bumper/lights with the bug/tar remover (basically just petrol in a white creamy liquid form), then take a microfiber and very lightly spread it. I let that sit for a good while, wash the  wheels. Then come back and rinse it off with a power hose. The rest is done with a normal wash.
The really stubborn ones get a dab of bug and tar remover on and rub with a cloth.

Happy for recommendations myself but this one is far better than AG which does sweet f-all