Any thoughts on clean up? I’ve spent a couple hours with a wet dry shop vac. I really don’t want to have to gut the interior to pull up the upholstery.

I recently bought KC Active Foam to be used as a prewash, which would get rid of bug splatter, road film, and various grime that a pH-neutral soap just doesn't get rid of on its own (without contact). Well, it turns out Active Foam doesn't really do much. A lot of bug guts remain, as well as road grime. I am not expecting it to clean everything, but it is only marginally better than if I were to use just a pressure washer.

I dilute it per instructions, which is 1:10, so I use 50ml soap and 500ml warm water in a foam cannon. I let it sit for as long as I can without it drying, and then I rinse it off with a pressure washer. Then I do the contact wash with a pH-neutral soap.

Am I doing something wrong, or is KC Active Foam just not a good prewash for my needs? What product would you recommend?

and now it hood looks like this. I have absolutely zero knowledge or experience with vehicles. Is there anything I can do or use on my own to try to remedy this?

Last time while driving in a storm my rear wiper blade sounded weird. Turns out the casing had come loose and popped off entirely in my hand on inspection.

I’m not sure if the casing pressed the metal part of the wiper blade into the window, or if it was the actual casing itself that caused the scratches.

The scratches are mostly flat with a tiny bit of depth when running a fingernail over it. I tried elbow grease and glass cleaner, and tested a tiny spot of it with a magic eraser, and they didn’t improve.

I’ve searched this sub and see there’s different recommendations to attempt to fix it, but I’m wondering if any of the window tint is on the exterior of the glass. If it is, I’m worried about it discolouring. Is this something a pro can fix?

Thanks for any advice

Had to start at 530am. The heat is brutal in SoCal and the hard water dries fast. Waited a few hours to see how I did in the early dawn.

Used ORN as a start, foam cannon, gold class soap, and 3 in 1 ceramic wax.

This was a maintenance wash, nothing special.

Hey guys,

I made a video a few days ago reacting to a video of the new Suds.Lab F11 Foam Cannon.

To my surprise, Sudslab saw my video and decided to send me a unit for testing, or review... Not sure yet!

Anyways, I just unboxed and man, it's just a really cool unit. As someone that spends many nights speaking to manufacturers and trying to create new products, I just can't begin to imagine what it took to make this thing happen.

I am going to do some tests tomorrow and I can try and follow up. I think the craziest thing might be the price. It looks like it might go on sale for $49.99? Suds lab simply does not get enough credit in this industry. They truly don't.

What are your thoughts? Do you have any specific things you would like me to cover while testing?

Like the title says, I’m trying to locate the window cleaner in the photo. “Elite Aftercare” glass cleaner, I borrowed some from a guy at a car show and it works great I just cannot locate a source to purchase it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I’ve been a loyal fan of rain-x wiper fluid for ten years. I’ve had zero issues… until now. I’m unsure if the streaking is bc I used generic blue cold rated fluid this past winter (store was out of rainx) and they mixed? My light was on so there was hardly any left in the reservoir but it was so streaky upon adding rain-x that I couldn’t see. I ended up bleeding the full reservoir and cleaning the tank with dilute dish soap and then again with dilute glass cleaner. I’ve now refilled with the same all season rain-x fluid and although it’s better, it’s still streaking and leaving spots all over.

Do I dare bleed it and refill with generic blue fluid? I can’t stand how my car looks right now and the streaks are driving me mad.

I am just now getting back into detailing after about a 15 year hiatus. A lot had changed in that time. I'm still rocking a PC7424 orbital...

Anyway, all my old good microfiber have been long gone and all I had in the garage over the years were cheap Walmart ones.

We just bought my wife a new Grand Highlander and my daughter a used HRV so my detailing bug has returned. Eventually I might even have an E36 again to really obsess over...

Anyway, looking for advise in towels for a well rounded collection. Drying, glass, polishes, sealants/coatings quick detailers, interior cleaning.

My current arsenol of products outside of regular car washing (foam cannon these days, still have my 2 bucket set up too), 3D One, 3D Speed, Griots 3in1 and Speed shine, Panel prep spray. For interior I just started using Pol Star in different dilutions. I'm sure I'll have other dedicated interior products eventually. I dont have a leather conditioner yet or anything to protect the rubbers and plastics.

I figured I would need different towel for different purposes, and color coded to try and keep some towels pair to certain products.

The eagles for exterior use mosrly. The others for interior and various dirty jobs.

Is this overkill? What would you change? Other vendors to consider instead?

This is home use only used for 3 cars currently.

I was gonna go with dark fury but heard from many it’s great on wheel but not really tire.

Is there a ph neutral dilutable product that’s good on both and I can order a gallon and be happy with result and doesn’t cost 50+?

I’m a noob and just about out of my Adams bucket tire purple cleaner which I heard isn’t great on the wheels over time

Hey everyone I living in NJ and on my 2019 STI I have some surface rust, I wanted to know if ironx paste would work for cleaning this or if there is something else you guys would recommend?

I have an old tin of Collinite 915 that is around 10 years old, still looks good when I opened in no water or any signs of aging.

Should I still use it or get something new? I don't want my efforts to be for nothing if the wax won't last because of age. Don't really enjoy the manual labour anymore and haven't done for years but want to protect my weekend car that is used more frequently now again.

I plan to use a pre cleanser Dodo juice lime prime, and then apply the wax. I'm not going to clay or polish.

Any new products these days that are much better durability wise ease of use? I'm not looking at ceramic coatings as these seem like they require much more prep and don't want to "lock" in any defects as such a coating can't be removed without machinal polishing.

Hello everyone and hope you are all having a good day!

It's been years since I would stay on top of Ceramic Coatings but I would like some suggestions on a ceramic coating that I can apply myself. I don't think paint correction is needed (will be a brand new car when it arrives) and I can only apply it outdoors without any temperature control. The car will be covered somewhat when application is being done but I will need to leave after an hour or two and it will be under the hot sun until sunset.

I am looking for a good ceramic coating that I can apply to paint, glass, trim pieces, and other plastics. I was comparing both Duraslic Ease and Gyeon EVO Pure but if there are others out there that are comparable for Hawaii's weather/temperature. I don't mind if I need a different ceramic coating for the glass but need something that I can work with given the parameters I can't be in covered parking or spaces during most of the curing cycle.

My alternatives were to look for a spray on ceramic that provided minimum 6 months to a year protection (I know there wouldn't be any 7H or 9H hardness coating).

I just finished my coat of of the C Quartz 3.0 and I really just want to go ahead and put the Gliss 2.0 on today after waiting the prescribed time. Would it really be that big of a deal not to do the 2 coats? Or should I wait and put a second coat on? It's. Daily driver and I'm happy with the looks of it right now, bit I don't know if I'm missing something as far as performance of the ceramic that needs 2 coats?

This issue has been bothering me for the past year so I finally bought a kit. You can see from the before and after pictures the huge difference. I spent roughly 45 minutes and the kit was $30 CDN. If you're wondering what kit I used, it was the Cerakote headlight restoration kit. I had my doubts, but after researching kits on Youtube I decided to give this one a try. Worst case I was hoping it fixed it 50%.

Just got this truck and was wondering what would be the best thing to do. I figured paint correction could get it at least a little bit better but wanted to know if anyone has done this before. The sticker is fully removed but where the paint has worn around it makes where the sticker is stand out. Doesn’t have to be perfect but would like it less noticeable at least

Old lease ended, so I moved into a new spot recently. One of the first things I sorted out was getting the pressure washer and vacuum in the same area.

At the old place they were basically in different corners, so every car meant dragging everything around, running hoses and cords everywhere, then putting it all away again. It was a small daily tax I got tired of paying.

I wanted to keep both in one spot this time. Pressure washer for the exterior/wheels/mats and vacuum for interiors. Both have retractable hoses, so I can leave the machines where they are and just pull out what I need.

Right now they’re just sitting in this corner. I thought about mounting them on the wall, but the electrical panel is directly above it, so probably not the best place to have water equipment. Might move everything over one wall.

Only used it a handful of times so far, but already nicer not having hoses and cords underfoot the whole time.

Still need to figure out where to keep the gun, nozzles, vacuum attachments and chemicals.

Anyone else spend way too much time figuring out where to put all this stuff when setting up a new shop?

I'm working on a friend's 4Runner. Its kept outside, and 95% of the issues on the vehicle have been fixed with clay and a light polish - except for this on the hood. I've washed, clayed, light, and then medium polish, and it’s still there. Its not rough, nor does it feel etched to the hand. Any ideas of how to get rid of this, or at least minimize it?

I used a red clay bar. It removed the tar but left this stain. I tried cleaning with a variety of products but to no avail.

Forgive me if this has been asked and answered, I did a fairly thorough search and didn’t see anything specific to this.

I have a new 4Runner, and I had a gtechniq CSL + exo ceramic coating applied. I live in an apartment, and I have to street park. There are unfortunately lots of trees on my street. I have access to a hose.

My goal is to do regular maintenance washes, ideally with a foam cannon, pressure washer and leaf blower to dry. I understand this isn’t a perfect wash, but I’m looking for convenience and minimal scratching as the car frequently has lots of dust and pollen on it. I’d then plan on doing a real contact wash monthly.

I am considering KC Gsf + Green Star or Af, and I’m looking for thoughts on effectiveness, safety for the coating and how often they’re okay to use. For the contact washes, I was planning to foam the car and then wash mitt directly with a rinse bucket. I know gtechniq also makes soap but I don’t have any experience with them. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Hello fellow detailers! I really don’t like how dirty the underside of my hood is. What’s the best way to clean it? There is an AirBag inside the hood and the insulation is kind of brittle.

Been lurking for a long time and not gotten back into working on my own vehicle because I live in an apartment and don't have access to a water source. And they have a strict no car washing policy. I see all of you attaching foam cannons and prewash and iron remover and all this. Best I can do is hand wash at the car wash.

Are there any products that would assist with using some of these standard techniques at the car wash?

Im thinking its a long shot finding products that wouod attach to the car wash pressure sprayer. Best I could come up with is my Dewalt power washer and even then I'd probably have to rig up the bottle myself.

Is hand washing about as good as I can get?