Platinum Ice Advice / Valet

[adammarriott]

Hi i'm looking for some advice on the best polish / gloss to get the ultra wet look that showrooms or dealers have on the forecourt.

So far im using -

Snowfoam

2 bucket method with turtle wax ice shampoo

Autoglym super resin

Meguiars ultimate wax

Any advice or info would be much appreciated

[ColinBarber]

it is the polish that gives you the wet look and the wax then protects it. I would go with Meguiars prep and polish, possible stage 1 & 2 or stage 1 and then ultimate polish.

[adammarriott]

it is the polish that gives you the wet look and the wax then protects it. I would go with Meguiars prep and polish, possible stage 1 & 2 or stage 1 and then ultimate polish.

Thanks Colin i will check it out :-)

[BarneyTT]

Hi Adam. I use Harley Wax: Used this on my Supra and now my Platinum Ice Sportcross, if you prepare the paint well it should give you the results you require, I buy it from this eBay member who is really good.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HARLY-WAX-car-polish-Harly-Harly-Harly-Harley-Harly-/230355857043?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Car_Care_Cleaning&hash=item35a2476e93

Have attached a few pics of mine after using it, best of luck.

[HoodRich]

Nice work man - your car looks really cared for.

[BarneyTT]

Nice work man - your car looks really cared for.

Many thanks Rich, it's a labour of love for sure.

[HoodRich]

Well, the rewards are definitely worth the effort, eh? She looks awesome!

At the risk of thread-jacking, I have a related question : How long can one use a Meguiars Water Magnet Drying Towel? Mine is about 2 years old and feels a bit hard to the touch. Still works well, but I'm afraid it might be scratching the clear coat on my cars? Any input on this guys?

EDIT : What do you use on your headlights? They look awesome!

[Dinho]

Machine polish if you have one.

I use poorboys white diamond which is made for lighter coloured cars, and then I use poorboys nattys paste wax.

[adammarriott]

Thanks for all your replys, your car looks awesome Barney the Harley Wax seller is only about an hour away from me too so i'm thinking nice trip out to pick some up and its mostly long open country roads :-)

[BarneyTT]

Well, the rewards are definitely worth the effort, eh? She looks awesome!

At the risk of thread-jacking, I have a related question : How long can one use a Meguiars Water Magnet Drying Towel? Mine is about 2 years old and feels a bit hard to the touch. Still works well, but I'm afraid it might be scratching the clear coat on my cars? Any input on this guys?

EDIT : What do you use on your headlights? They look awesome!

Cheers Rich. regarding the headlights: I think the garage I bought it from machine polished them as they were a little faded, I simply use the Harley Wax on them when waxing the rest of the car and they come up a treat. Should they fade again I will get my Porter Cable polisher out and give them a light buff.

On the subject of your towel, why not give Meguiars a call or drop them an email as I think they are pretty good with customer service.

Thanks for all your replys, your car looks awesome Barney the Harley Wax seller is only about an hour away from me too so i'm thinking nice trip out to pick some up and its mostly long open country roads :-)

Thanks Adam. Sounds like a worthwhile trip and I'm sure the seller would pass on plenty of tips if you go in person. One other thing I forgot to mention with regard to the Harley Wax, the more coats you apply the better the finish. Keep us posted as to how you get on.

[petayV8]

Its hard to get a good result with the platinum ice ive found. Barney's IS about the best your gonna get it. The blue and black IS's shine up beautifully

[BarneyTT]

Its hard to get a good result with the platinum ice ive found. Barney's IS about the best your gonna get it. The blue and black IS's shine up beautifully

Have to agree, most light cars paintwork will never look as good as dark ones, on the plus side dark cars do show up defects, dirt etc more and require more work if your like me.........fussy :D . I would have loved a Mica Blue Sportcross but I'm really glad I have mine in Platinum Ice now as my back can no longer cope with extended cleaning sessions.

Having said all that I was really pleased once I had got to work on mine as the Platinum Ice has a really nice metallic sparkle to it in the sun.

[richardghia]

Try using a clay Bar between the washing and polishing stages. This decontaminates the paint and leaves a glass-smooth finish.

[LexIS200Sport]

It's gonna be a nice weekend, so I've decided to dedicate an entire day to give my car a good scrub. My car is also Platinum Ice in colour. :zee:

The mantra I follow is: wash -> clay bar -> wash -> polish -> sealant -> wax -> and perhaps another layer of wax :P

Panya also mentioned in a prior thread that topping all that off with a layer of quick detailer helps reduce dust from settling and staying on the paint. I'm gonna give that a shot too.

I agree that Platinum Ice isn't the best colour to show off your hardwork. This photo was from my previous effort, and you can just about see the reflection of my IS200 on my other car (also silver):

Products that I use:

• Autoglym car shampoo
• Meguiars clay kit
• Autoglym Super Resin Polish
• Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection (sealant)
• Autoglym HD wax
• Autoglym Rapid Detailer
• and of course the necessary polishing cloth, microfibre, wash mit, etc, that goes with all these ;)

Looking forward to this weekend... and the body ache that follows! B)

[Youngiceman87]

^^ Fancy cleaning mine? Lol

[LexIS200Sport]

your car is already immaculate mate, you should be giving me pointers! :P

[Youngiceman87]

A wash and then the occasional light hand polish, im sure it wud look better if it was cleaned properly

[HoodRich]

Well, the rewards are definitely worth the effort, eh? She looks awesome!

At the risk of thread-jacking, I have a related question : How long can one use a Meguiars Water Magnet Drying Towel? Mine is about 2 years old and feels a bit hard to the touch. Still works well, but I'm afraid it might be scratching the clear coat on my cars? Any input on this guys?

EDIT : What do you use on your headlights? They look awesome!

Cheers Rich. regarding the headlights: I think the garage I bought it from machine polished them as they were a little faded, I simply use the Harley Wax on them when waxing the rest of the car and they come up a treat. Should they fade again I will get my Porter Cable polisher out and give them a light buff.

On the subject of your towel, why not give Meguiars a call or drop them an email as I think they are pretty good with customer service.

Thanks - I plan on getting my lights professionally restored as soon as I can find the time. I think they wet sand them down and coat them with a clear-coat of some sort. The advice then is to wax them whenever you polish your car (as you are)

About the towel, I ended up buying a GoodYear Drying Towel the other day. I didnt even know Goodyear make such products, but it did not cost an arm and a leg, but thought I would give it a shot.

Ganesh --> Your IS looks really nice man - good work!

[petayV8]

Well, the rewards are definitely worth the effort, eh? She looks awesome!

At the risk of thread-jacking, I have a related question : How long can one use a Meguiars Water Magnet Drying Towel? Mine is about 2 years old and feels a bit hard to the touch. Still works well, but I'm afraid it might be scratching the clear coat on my cars? Any input on this guys?

EDIT : What do you use on your headlights? They look awesome!

Cheers Rich. regarding the headlights: I think the garage I bought it from machine polished them as they were a little faded, I simply use the Harley Wax on them when waxing the rest of the car and they come up a treat. Should they fade again I will get my Porter Cable polisher out and give them a light buff.

On the subject of your towel, why not give Meguiars a call or drop them an email as I think they are pretty good with customer service.

Thanks - I plan on getting my lights professionally restored as soon as I can find the time. I think they wet sand them down and coat them with a clear-coat of some sort. The advice then is to wax them whenever you polish your car (as you are)

About the towel, I ended up buying a GoodYear Drying Towel the other day. I didnt even know Goodyear make such products, but it did not cost an arm and a leg, but thought I would give it a shot.

Ganesh --> Your IS looks really nice man - good work!

Having new lights makes such a difference on any car. Also new number plates ive found

[HoodRich]

Indeed! I made a set of brand new number plates after I resprayed my car :-)

[LexIS200Sport]

Ganesh --> Your IS looks really nice man - good work!

Cheers dude! :D

I had another go at cleaning my car today. Here are my soldiers:

I began by washing the car:

And then I forgot to take shots in between, but this is the end result:

[Guest]

I've used a number of different products in the past. But this result is a combination of

Wash

clay

Wash

Gtechiq nano polish and Mer polish Zaino Z-2

Ziano Sealant

Victoria Wax

possibly some poor boys in there too :)

Uploaded with ImageShack.com

Uploaded with ImageShack.com

[carlb]

That looks amazing and is really shiny great job ! I am set to do the full clay polish wax etc tomorow. I have all the meguires stuff but no sealent i missed that step when i did it couple months ago will pick some up in the morning. You list 2 waxes do you use both as in 2 different wax coats as i only did one coat of each product ?

I did all mine by hand too is it a better finish with a polisher or just easier? May just buy one tomorow whilst im in the shop.

Thanks

[Guest]

That looks amazing and is really shiny great job ! I am set to do the full clay polish wax etc tomorow. I have all the meguires stuff but no sealent i missed that step when i did it couple months ago will pick some up in the morning. You list 2 waxes do you use both as in 2 different wax coats as i only did one coat of each product ?

I did all mine by hand too is it a better finish with a polisher or just easier? May just buy one tomorow whilst im in the shop.

Thanks

Just listed the one wax? although I regularly use Collinite 476

the machine polish was only when I bought her,used for paint correction by my friends in shot :)

the combination polish trio were actually being test by the guys coin the correction.

I hand polish only now and only polish once a year if even that. the sealant and wax provide enough protection after a proper polish.

Victoria Wax was applied by hand I believe. Actual hand rubbing no pad.

The Zaino stuff is absolutely amazing bit too much work though!

I highly recommend gTechniq amazing stuff and easy used.

http://gtechniq.com/main-page/

[J Henderson]

I had another go at cleaning my car today. Here are my soldiers:

Looking good! What have you got as the top coat? The HD Wax or EGP?