the 'little tricks you've learned' thread

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 :cool:
 
How many of us have side moulding that has white chalked? :wavey



Well One Grand provided me with a way to bring back the black and to prevent the chalking look!



You need a toothbrush or detail brush

One Grand Interior Leather Cleaner

Your choice of moulding protectant



Do this before you wash the car*



First spray the toothbruth or detail brush witht he Leather Cleaner (away from the car). Work the cleaner into the moulding all around the car. Then wash the car.



After you wash and dry the car dress the mouldings the difference will amaze you. :shocked This will also prevent wax from getting on the moulding again!



Oh!!! One more thing Clay, Clay, Clay before every wax!!!



Good Luck and Happy Detailing!

Craig
 
FlyGuy - Nice to see a BMW like yours with a few toys.



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?
 
I use a couple of kitchen pump sprayers for Z6 and homemade glass cleaner (see picture). The mist is very fine, and the small size of the sprayer makes it easy to slip into a pocket if you should happen to need both hands for a moment. Click the picture to see the Pampered Chef version . . . you can find them in kitchen stores, Wal-Mart, Target, etc. for less than $10.



click pic





Tort
 
To know if a vehicle has clearcoat or not...........
Click to expand...



Unfortunately, this doesnt work real well with a white car! First most towels are white...But, even if you get a non-white towel, odds are the product will be white! Either way, its damn hard to distinguish between the white product and the white paint on teh towel.
 
3m SMR for dark cars a polish that is dark in color and Klasse All In One is tan in color, so if you use a dark towel with one of the products you will be able to tell if your car has a clear coat.
 
paul e said:




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



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.
 
joed1228 said:


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?
Click to expand...



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. :)
 
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.
 
Mid-Life Cruiser said:
The permanent ones also do a fine, but temporary, job of touching up the key scratches on the black lock assemblies.:xyxthumbs
Click to expand...



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.
 
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!
 
StyleTEG said:
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
Click to expand...



Holding them upside down and spraying someone is the best part. :p
 
JustinTRW said:




Holding them upside down and spraying someone is the best part. :p
Click to expand...





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.
 
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.....
 
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.
 
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.

:bounce
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top