the 'little tricks you've learned' thread

Originally posted by paul e


But I said I have a WHITE car......Most polishes are white, so its hard to differentiate between the product and the paint.

Intermezzo said to use a polish with a black or dark colored towel. You will see the white paint on the towel. 3M SMR is a gray color, and klasse AIO is beige. I am certain you will be able to tell the difference. BTW, your 99 M3 is clearcoated, no need to check.

[StyleTEG]

Originally posted by joed1228

StyleTeg - I just read a post suggesting using a vac to suck the water out of the crevices instead of using the compressed air cans. Isn't that kind of expensive?

Yeah, it is kinda expensive. I have tried the vac method, but didn't get the results I wanted. I definetly need a more powerful vac to get the best results.

I can do 6-7 washes on average with one can, I tend to use it as a last resort for crevises instead of trying to get all the water out.

[joed1228]

6 to 7 washes isn't bad at all. I thought you were using the can for just about everything. If it really works all that well I guess you could buy in bulk to save even more. I wonder what the shelf life is for those can's.

[catfishnugget]

a black magic marker or a sharpy works great for this

[Mid-Life Cruiser]

The permanent ones also do a fine, but temporary, job of touching up the key scratches on the black lock assemblies.

[joed1228]

Originally posted by Mid-Life Cruiser
The permanent ones also do a fine, but temporary, job of touching up the key scratches on the black lock assemblies.

I have used the key in the lock once, just to see how it fit. Aside from that I couldn't manage without my keyless entry. I wonder how much scatches that has saved me so far.

[Tiger88]

I use Zaino now, but back in the days of wax I used to do this:

Use the towel that you used to buff off the wax to wipe off the outside of the windows. The dry wax dust on the towel will make the windows really shine!

[JustinTRW]

Originally posted by StyleTEG
I buy several cans of compressed air at office supply stores, and use them to lightly blow water out of the cracks and crevasses after washing & drying. Works great if you don't have a leaf blower, or are detailing away from home

Just don't hold them upside down or any akward angles

Holding them upside down and spraying someone is the best part.

[PathfinderGuy]

Originally posted by JustinTRW


Holding them upside down and spraying someone is the best part.

Ahh.. gotta agree with you there. I buy 3 packs of compressed air from Sam's. I always have a bottle standing next to the computer to get dust and depris out of my keyboard, and when im bored, i just start playing with the compressed air.. the cold stuff that comes out when you spray it upside down is absolute FUN! Especially if you have animals.. they freak when you spray that stuff near them..


note: DO NOT spray onto the animal.. spray it in the air whiole animal is close. The stuff coming outwhen upside down can burn skin easily.

No animals were harmed in the making of this post.

[YoungDetailer]

hahaha I used that canned air as a weapon once...... I held it point blank about an inch from a guy's neck upside down...... told him if he didnt put his hands up I'd shoot.....

he didnt raise his arms so I froze the back of his neck...... lol

this was when I was working part time as a computer repair tech.....

[SL500]

With a houseful of kids there are always baby wipes around. Tonight I used them to wipe down my wheels with a couple of days of brake dust accumulated. Baby wipes are just tough pre-moistened paper towels. Give them a try - if they are soft enough for baby's bottom then they are good for my other baby as well.

[Belicoso]

Baby wipes are good for quick clean-ups of spills, specially on vinyl, they work on all the stuff my 3 year old spills on the mini-van.