Car cleaning...

[Colinn]

I like to keep my car clean, but am usually satisfied with a regular hose down, just with cold water, and sponge/leather off. Every now and again, I succumb to the temptation to try a polish, but I'm convinced it's not worth the effort. Occasionally, for masochistic fun, I polish half the bonnet just to see if it fares any better - nope, can't see the difference a week later. Tried RainX on the windows on one side of the car this week - again couldn't spot the difference. Similar story with alloy wheel cleaners (although I admit they're necessary for the worst grime). So are all these products a complete waste of money - or am I missing something???

 

[trevor123]

Hi Colinn, Let be honest like anything we buy for car/home ect may be a good idea at the time for us mug to buy then found it a waste of time in the first place, bet if you look around your home/garage and find there are thing that you brought in the past are stuck in the home just hanging around, most company are out there are to make us belive it work, because it make money for them, But there are some good products out there that will last better than the cheaper one at a price, Trevor

 

[cooky1]

Polish is a mild abrasive and will make the paint look clean and shiny after you have applied it but it will not put much of a protective coating on your paint. Try using a good quality wax and hopefully you will see the difference.

Alloy cleaners are a good way of removing grime from your wheels, but again you need to wax them once they have been cleaned.

Sorry, don't know anything about RainX.

HTH.

Graeme.

 

[David_from_Ashby]

Hi Colinn

I used RainX a few years ago on a Westfield sportscar which had a very small near vertical windscreen with 10" wiper blades! The wipers were next to useless, and seeing as it was an only car I could not avoid driving in the rain. RainX, applied about once a month made the wipers almost redundant. On that car it was almost an essential bit of kit. It also stopped the bugs from sticking to the screen (but not to my forehead)

However, I tried using it on conventional cars and it was not as effective. I think it works well until you use the wipers, as they have the effect of wiping the rainX coating off the windscreen. You then go through a difficult period when RainX appeared to make things worse until it was all gone.

It does work well on motorcycle helmets though, which of course don't have wipers to scrape it back off again.

Cheers

David

 

[rob_jax]

Colinn,

When it rains on your newly cleaned car - does the water form little beads and then these beads just slide off the car, or does the water just spread out as a continuous flat smear?

If the water beads then the paint already has a good amount of wax or silicone surface protection on the surface - and you won't notice too much difference.

But if your car is 2 or more years old, then this factory protection layer will have started to disappear and, then yes, it's a great idea to apply a wax protection.

Agree with Graeme - the word polish implies an abrasive material that is used to prepare the surface before you apply the wax sealer.

And as with many things - a quality wax will cost money - the best I've used is TurtleWax Platinum - about

 

[Bernie_5110919]

Colinn,

When it rains on your newly cleaned car - does the water form little beads and then these beads just slide off the car, or does the water just spread out as a continuous flat smear?

If the water beads then the paint already has a good amount of wax or silicone surface protection on the surface - and you won't notice too much difference.

But if your car is 2 or more years old, then this factory protection layer will have started to disappear and, then yes, it's a great idea to apply a wax protection.

Agree with Graeme - the word polish implies an abrasive material that is used to prepare the surface before you apply the wax sealer.

And as with many things - a quality wax will cost money - the best I've used is TurtleWax Platinum - about

 

[ShadySadie]

I use RainX cleaner before applying RainX and use it on the windscreen and rear window where the wipers don't touch and the side windows and mirrors. The rain water "beads" and streams away leaving the windows and mirrors clear.

I find it very good on towing mirrors in heavy rain as you can see what is coming from behind you far easier.

And most race drivers use RainX or similar in wet conditions.

 

[rob_jax]

There's no need to buy the RainX Cleaner - because that is just Methylated Spirits (without the dye) - and it's a fraction of the price...

After washing the windscreen / side windows, I just use some methylated spirits to really clean the glass and then apply the RainX treatment.

 

[cooky1]

Just been doing a bit of a search on RainX and found a test done by Autoexpress and they put the Halfords product as best in test.

Halfords Rain Repellent

Price:

 

[ShadySadie]

There's no need to buy the RainX Cleaner - because that is just Methylated Spirits (without the dye) - and it's a fraction of the price...

After washing the windscreen / side windows, I just use some methylated spirits to really clean the glass and then apply the RainX treatment.

I dont have to buy it. But thanks for the tip!

 

[Colinn]

Apologies for delay in acknowledging your replies - been away, in the van, of course. Car's turned yellow with pollen dust, exactly the same on the polished side as the water-swilled side! So time to get the hose out again...thanks