Washing was probably the easiest process in the entire saga. Both the Honda City and the Zen underwent a nice wash.
BHPian saket77 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Wise people learn from other’s mistake. Say wise men.
Unfortunately, looks like I am not all that wise that I thought myself to be all these years. In the hind sight, there must have been 101 better ways to spend a home alone Saturday but destiny was such that I chose that I must elaborate my car. (Google tells me elaborate is the correct synonym for detail).
To make matters worse- I have two. To make matters slightly better- one is a small hatchback. But it all depends how you look at the world- some look it as glass half full and some as half empty. I could have looked it as the other car is a sedan. Could have served as a warning, if nothing else.
The seeds of this detailing, err…elaboration had been sown long ago in my mind- courtesy the same thread that gave birth to this thread. But I have nothing but loads of respect for Rudra! Post Saturday.
Also, just crosses my mind that after almost a decade, it should be a good time to ask Secretariat and hope he is as good as before he tried ‘imitating the detailer’. That will give me much needed hope for a long term recovery.
Thankfully unlike Secretariat, I didn’t go through 11913 posts on the mother thread (updated count) and hence the damage to bank was limited and helped me maintain the minimum balance requirements.
Stuff that I got:
1. Pressure washer nozzle with clamps to tighten water pipe.
2. 3M car Shampoo.
3. A bucket- old bucket qualifies only for washing the car; not detailing job.
4. Different Microfibers for all type of surfaces, drying, wiping and everything else. I bought a pack of 12 to be on the safer side. You don’t want to run out of supplies in the middle of the job.
5. Small 3M wiper- for cleaning water streaks from windows and windshield.
6. 3M Liquid something
7. 3M Tire Dresser
8. 3M dashboard dresser
9. Set of fine brushes to clean interior dust.
10. Isopropyl Alcohol to clean glue marks.
I was going to order some other stuff like a foam pressure sprayer bottle and sponge applicator pads but realized that my bank balance has reduced to a smaller number than the CVV on my card, hence had to stop.
I was eyeing that Saturday from long to scratch the itch of detailing my car and using all the stuff that I had in my arsenal. Come Saturday and I was down to my parking, all prepared for the long session.
Washing was probably the easiest process in the entire saga. Both the Honda City and the Zen underwent a nice wash and the 3M shampoo works well for sure.
Mortals mostly end the car cleaning processes here but how could I, when I had all the stuff and the knowledge. I progressed to the next stage- dried both cars with separate microfibers. I don’t know what the world would look like without microfibers. They deserve all the respect and more.
Wiped all glasses with the small 3M kitchen wiper which I bought especially for the purpose much to the dismay of missus. You know, kitchen cleaning can be done with rags and similar other stuff too.
Next stage was interior cleaning. This was a very thoughtful strategy as the time I spend in doing the interiors will also allow to dry any water before I wax the car. Good time management as well. I wish my manager gets to read this and identify the talent I put at work. Coming back, the 3M dashboard dresser worked well. I avoid the polish business on the dashboard area as it reflects on the windshield making driving difficult at times. Also in my experience, windshield fogs a bit too much. Dear Manager- please pay attention to my attention to details. Rest of the fiber area like door pads, console etc were cleaned with liberal use of the polish.
By this time, both cars were totally dry and it looked like a good time to apply some liquid wax. Things went downhill from here- as I went overboard on my time management skills. I applied the wax on the City. Good. Time management lesson kicked in. I had read that the wax should be let dry for 15-20 minutes. It looked like a great time window to do the same on the Zen. Applied wax liberally on Zen as probably it was more in need of some TLC.
I was so engrossed that probably a little more than 15-20 minutes passed. And the wax coat on the City had dried up. Things started going further downhill from here- it took a good deal of effort and time to clean all the wax. To make matters worse, the universe decided to conspire against me. The Zen which was parked in a shade had sun light all over it when my attention went back there. And the wax dried up even more on it. While *scrubbing* the small Zen, I wished it was smaller.
I was completely exhausted by now. Visible patches of dried wax while running my eyes over my work wasn’t particularly encouraging as well. Manager- please ignore.
But still tires needed to be dressed. Couldn’t leave them ‘undressed’ when everything else on the cars were in their best Sunday suit. Or Saturday suit.
3M Tire dresser promises brand new look on tires after use. In God we trust, everything else we test.
The apartment guard had a confused look on his face and must be at his wits end that why am I cleaning the tires which ultimately are meant to be contact with all the dirt and debris on road. Will I stop driving the car on roads? Or the roads in our city have magically become so squeaking clean that they deserve cleaner tires to ply upon. Probably the questions he wanted to ask. For some reason, he couldn’t believe that there was a special product to clean the tires. But who cares to explain a detailer’s thought process to the lesser mortals.
In the hindsight, I should have trusted 3M too rather than putting everything to test. They all work, at your expense- both financially and physically.
It has been 2 days since Saturday. I guess I better head to the free doctor’s consultation thread as painkiller doesn’t seem to be working as much. Any idea if 3M sells a paracetamol too?
Leaving with end results just for some viewing pleasure- as it was all worth it. Please don’t mind, tires first:
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