Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

I guess like most of us I have tried all sorts of compounds, polishes and waxes over the years on all of our vehicles and at the time of application been mostly pleased with the results.
Decided to have a bit of a shine up on the CD for the coming weekend event with my latest discovery, Bilt Hamber Double Speed Wax, a paste wax in a screw topped tub.
I have used it before on our daily cars and been most impressed, once applied it develops an almost frictionless surface allowing a lot of dirt to be moved with the hosepipe (I use a fan type spray) and water just cascades off waxed surfaces in an amazing manner. Like water off a ducks back.
On top of that it also appears to last very well unlike others some of which seem to wear out after a couple of weeks.
Would I buy another tub of it once this is used up? You bet!
Just though I'd mention it and of course I have no connection with Bilt Hamber other than being a satisfied customer!

Alan

I seem to recall that the enthusiasts used to rave about a whole cleaning procedure including "snow foam", then clay bar'ing and then a final polish with "Meguires" in a purple bottle.

I myself, am a super lazy person...
I use whatever is quickest, easiest and laziest.

Last week, I washed with Turtle Wax wash and wax shampoo. I have used it for almost thirty years.
Best results obtained in cool dry weather conditions and a towel dry afterwards.
A recent boost for my lazy-itis was Greased Lightning Showroom Shine with canauba wax. I haved used that for about 4 or 5 years.
The trick is to use clean dry micro-fibre cloths to lift away dirt or excess wax.
It is meant to be a water-less cleaning system.
It does great fast results, but I prefer a freshly washed car first.
No point polishing the car with dirt still on it.

30 minutes all-in.
15 minutes to wash and rinse.
15 minutes to spray on the canauba wax and polish off when dry.

Amazing how clean and shiny the car was the other day. And without spending all day on a tedious weekly ritual.

Polar Sea Blue looks terrific when clean and shiny on a sunny day.



It was still looking freshly washed today, despite being my daily work horse.

Hopefully the weather will hold out this Sunday
Current forecast for Northampton is cloud with sunny spells.
Quite breezy but less than 10% chance of rain. And a mild 18°C.

Saturday is meant to be Sunny all day, so hopefully no worries of flooding etc.
Fingers crossed.

Quite agree, you can get carried away with different products, I have in the past!
But this one's a keeper.
I bought one of those 'dry wash' kits a while ago but have never had the courage to use it preferring to do a hose rinse then a wash using a car wash product, I have been using Simoniz - because I got a lot for not a lot of money!
I do use a snow foam, applied with a pump spray for all underside washing as it does loosen dirt quite well.
I agree about Polar Sea, gorgeous colour my Astra Estate is finished in that although it does show up chips quite nicely.
Fingers crossed for the weekend.

Alan

Sounds like a good product to me.
I'm going to need to buy some wax soon as I'm running low, might give it a try.


My ritual is a good wash with autoglym shampoo and conditioner and dry with a microfibre towel.
After that I just do whatever needs doing/what I have the energy to do:

- I like clay baring, it makes the paintwork feel super smooth, but it's probably a once a year thing for me to do, if that.
Next would be a polish with autoglym super resin polish.
- One of my favourite things to do is blacken up the plastics using autoglym bumper care, this makes a big difference and is very quick to do.
I also use autoglym tyre dressing, again super quick (less than a minute to apply) and makes a big difference.
- After that I use collinite 915 wax to protect the paint. It's good stuff, not too expensive and lasts for ages. Only snag is that it's difficult to buff off.
-I have also used autoglym wheel protector which is good at keeping the dirt and break dust off your alloys, it also works for wheel trims.
- And if I'm feeling super energetic had have a car show to go to, I have used autoglym glass polish to make the glass nice and shiny. It also helps to keep the rain off the windscreen and makes wiping smoother.


Good work there Rob, car looks stunning

James McGrath wrote:
My ritual is a good wash with autoglym shampoo and conditioner and dry with a microfibre towel.

Next would be a polish with autoglym super resin polish.

- One of my favourite things to do is blacken up the plastics using autoglym bumper care, this makes a big difference and is very quick to do.

I also use autoglym tyre dressing, again super quick (less than a minute to apply) and makes a big difference.

-I have also used autoglym wheel protector which is good at keeping the dirt and brake dust off your alloys, it also works for wheel trims.

- And if I'm feeling super energetic had have a car show to go to, I have used autoglym glass polish to make the glass nice and shiny. It also helps to keep the rain off the windscreen and makes wiping smoother.

I used to use Auto Glym a lot back in the 90's when I wasn't so lazy.
Another thing the wife got me into, as well as Vauxhalls...

James McGrath wrote: Good work there Rob, car looks stunning

To be honest there was no work at all - except for it being about 29 degrees in the shade, and I am stood there melting in the afternoon sun.
Like I said... probably 30 minutes all-in.
Quick, simple and lazy - just like me

Besides, photos often make a car look better than it is in the metal...

UPDATE - 1_9_2019.
It was nice to see that my lazy wash and wax still gave good results at VauxFest.

Interior wise, nowhere near best in show.

But exterior wise, one of the shiniest on the day.
And the post drizzle bobbling looked good too. (Quite pleased in a smug-git sort of way).