Tips and tricks

[Fishroes]

With all the detailing knowledge here, maybe some of you could share some tips/tricks. I have one. Sometimes its a little difficult to put protectant on the plastic cowl in certain spots where the wipers are. I just put a white sock over my hand, sprayed the protectant on the sock. Getting to every little nook and cranny was easy because you can move your fingers around. I was using 303 spray. Might be worthless to some but for me I thought it was the easiest way.

[Lonnie]

I was going to "poo-hoo" the sock idea, until I remembered that similar suggestion in a Woman`s World magazine was to place an old sock sprayed with End Dust on one`s foot to dust base boards and trim in a house without having to bend over to do it.

My best tip/trick is to use cotton swaps (AKA Q-Tips) sprayed with Meg`s Quik Interior Detailer to clean vehicle ventilation vent louvers and ducting. I also use them to get into interior vinyl trim seams, door /center console/dash panels seams, around control panel knobs and switches; anywhere there are "inaccessible" areas that are dirty , but still visible to a vehicle owner/driver. Makes a huge difference in how the interior appears and what a properly cleaned and detailed vehicle SHOULD look like.

[PA DETAILER]

If your looking to remove sticker residue from the INTERIOR plastics without damaging them, use ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL. Works like a charm.

[Accumulator]

I apply all sorts of products with BHBs, including Trim Sealants/etc. The bristles get down into tight spots that I can`t access otherwise (e.g., around the tensioning springs on the back side of wiper arms).

Cutting down the bristles of BHBs makes them considerably more aggressive, useful for some things (undesirable for others).

Same with the tiny disposable brushes made for touching up paint chips, they allow for pinpoint control of where the product goes.

I`ll eventually transition away from cotton swabs to foam ones, probably Swab-Its.

[Coleroad]

I prefer foam paint brushes of various sizes, and cut to size and shape over Q-tips. I finder it faster and easier to get those areas clean.

[rlmccarty2000]

I apply all sorts of products with BHBs, including Trim Sealants/etc. The bristles get down into tight spots that I can`t access otherwise (e.g., around the tensioning springs on the back side of wiper arms).

Cutting down the bristles of BHBs makes them considerably more aggressive, useful for some things (undesirable for others).

Same with the tiny disposable brushes made for touching up paint chips, they allow for pinpoint control of where the product goes.

I`ll eventually transition away from cotton swabs to foam ones, probably Swab-Its.

CarPro sells a large variety of foam swabs. If you know of another source let me know. No more q-tips for me.

[Mike lambert]

91 percent alcohol for tree sap, hand sanitizer as well works. An ink eraser works great for wax stains on plastic. When compounding a trashed finish, make 1 slow high pressure pass to knock down most of the defects. Then come back and finesse the area again. Just off the top of my head.

[Fishroes]

Good stuff guys. Mike where do you get an ink eraser

[Lonnie]

Ink erasers are usually white in color, not pink, and pretty hard material-wise as compared to a pencil lead eraser. I would think any school supply store or stationary store would have them, if you want to buy them over-the-counter.

By the way, Accumulator`s "BHB`s" acronym stands for Boar`s Hair Brush. There was a thread discussion on boar`s hair brushes some time again, but from what I remember, the BIG advantage to using such brushes is the nature of the bristle (hair) itself:
1) It is impervious to MOST car-care chemicals (not acids)
2) It releases dirt easily
3) It holds its shape well and the bristles do not wear as much as other bristle materials (like nylon or Tampico or Palmyra fiber)
The down-side is the initial cost of such a brush.

Another tip I have used is when vacuuming pet hair from carpets or cloths seats is to use a Playtex textured rubber glove on your dominant hand and brush-rub-sweep motion the hair imbedded in the carpet or fabric fibers while vacuuming with the other hand. I say the name brand Playtex, as both the unique textured pattern and rubber compound of that name-brand glove work in tandem to extract/lift/release pet hairs from such fibers. I used this in an emergency interior detailing situation as is was the ONLY pet hair removal tool I had on hand (no pun intended!!) and do not have a pumice stone or pet hair brush in my detailing tools arsenal (still don`t; but am thinking about adding a pumice stone as a must-have detailing tool). Cannot say how it compares to the other two pet hair tools mentioned that I do not have, BUT for me, it worked well, as it does not abrade the seat fabric nor pull the carpet fabric like a stone or brush might, respectively . You would be surprised at how much hair was imbedded in seat cloth fiber that comes out using the rubber glove trick that vacuuming alone cannot remove. I must warn you, however, that it does NOT work well on short, thick cat hair in carpet fibers. That requires a tweezers and some very tedious, time-consuming, and patient manual removal.

[Accumulator]

CarPro sells a large variety of foam swabs. If you know of another source let me know. No more q-tips for me.

I`d be a little surprised if the SwabIts aren`t available for less than anything from CarPro, but that`s just a guess based on how CarPro (whose stuff I *DO* like) prices their other offerings.

We`ll see what I end up with if/when I use up what I already have.

Griot`s used to sell a *GREAT* double-ended foam swab, but they discontinued it years ago

[Accumulator]

Lonnie- Some time I`ll use an acidic product with a BHB and see what happens. Right off-hand I can`t recall *anything* ever having a negative effect one one.

I gather it might just be my vehicles, but I`d be absolutely *LOST* without BHBs, simply no way I could come close to my current level of detailing. Ditto for housecleaning, where I use `em all the time (just finished doing that before logging on here).

I oughta post about using BHBs with RWs some time...I thought it`d be a bad idea but !oh man! was I wrong about that. Well, for some things anyway..

[rlmccarty2000]

I`d be a little surprised if the SwabIts aren`t available for less than anything from CarPro, but that`s just a guess based on how CarPro (whose stuff I *DO* like) prices their other offerings.

We`ll see what I end up with if/when I use up what I already have.

Griot`s used to sell a *GREAT* double-ended foam swab, but they discontinued it years ago

Thanks! Until I placed a recent order with CarPro I didn’t even know Foam tipped applicators were a thing. Why doesn’t Autopia sell them?! Everyone needs a bunch of these. This subject may need a thread of its own.

The Swab-its look like they may be a little cheaper, but they are different. The CarPro ones look a little better based on photos. More foam, stronger looking “stick”. They should make it easier to apply coatings in small, difficult areas like around emblems and honeycombed areas. I recently applied some trim Protectant with q-tips and where I went through 5 q-tips one foam applicator would have been fine and it’s washable instead of disposable. It’s the small things that make Detailing fun instead of a chore.

[DanHen]

I use the car pro ones for coatings. A few come with the Dlux coating. They work great for coating intricate wheels and plastic parts. Another thing I just thought of with coatings is that I have been using pipettes (eye dropper) to drop the coating on the applicator. You can find cheap disposable ones on Amazon. The last 2 bottles of Kamikaze that I bought came with them.

[Mike lambert]

For hair in carpet, the hard rubber sanding blocks work great as a squeegee. Or a small squeegee for shower doors. The square microfiber applicators work much better for applying coatings than the little felt towels and blocks, much more even applications.

[Accumulator]

Thanks! Until I placed a recent order with CarPro I didn’t even know Foam tipped applicators were a thing...

Heh heh, not often I get to turn *you* on to something that slipped under the radar!

The Swab-its look like they may be a little cheaper, but they are different. The CarPro ones look a little better based on photos. More foam, stronger looking “stick”. [/quote]

Ah, that sounds like a Comparison Test Maybe somebody will do one (hint hint).

It’s the small things that make Detailing fun instead of a chore.

Heh heh, oh you crazy Autopian. "Fun instead of a chore.." though I guess *I* am the oddball on that score