Morning all, just wondered what you would suggest for keeping a black car looking nice and what products you would use.Am about to take ownership of a new SUV on monday that is black so would like to know the best things to do, also what do you all use on your windows to keep them nice.Thanks all have a great day
phillip.weston,
Feb 16, 4:09pm
In short - you can't. Black cars will show up every spec of dirt and dust. Further more as the paint work gets older in age it is more prone to showing up water spots after washing it too. You will have to get used to washing, polishing and waxing it more frequently. But it's worth it.
andrea_w,
Feb 16, 4:20pm
^^^ +1
.and, glass cleaner
richardmayes,
Feb 16, 4:28pm
Remember that when you polish paint, the shininess isn't a thing that you're adding to the paint, the shininess is what remains after you've rubbed some paint away.
So just water, lots of it, regularly.
turton,
Feb 16, 4:37pm
wash car every weekend with warm soapy water, and wipe the windows with window cleaner. You can even wax the car every few months if you can be bothered. Tyre shine is also a quick and easy way to keep the car looking clean and shiny.
hyborn,
Feb 16, 5:12pm
cheers thank everyone.- Re soapy water are you just meaning ordinary dish washing liquid or proper car was!
johnf_456,
Feb 16, 5:14pm
No dishing liquid, it will act as a abrasive to the paint work. Get the proper car wash stuff.
ninja_man,
Feb 16, 5:26pm
yeah, use car wash saop, any will do.
phillip.weston,
Feb 16, 5:28pm
yeah you wouldn't use dishwashing liquid for washing your clothes also would you! use the proper stuff for the job - something like armourall car wash (I used the heavy duty green stuff, not the blue wash&wax) or XT88.
hopie,
Feb 16, 5:33pm
and don't use warm water on the black plastic trims, it will fade them to grey in no time.
vtecintegra,
Feb 16, 5:35pm
What's the verdict on separate polish and wax as opposed to an all in one polish + wax
carstauranga001,
Feb 16, 5:36pm
How to keep a black car clean 101.
1/ Keep in garage. 2/ Do not drive. 3/ Keep children out of garage.
johnf_456,
Feb 16, 5:37pm
lol #12 May as well sell the car
kcf,
Feb 16, 7:15pm
mothers three step + about 16 hours polishing :-)
Then vacuum seal the car!It'll look bootiful.
Sadly, black car is going to get grubby really fast.But get some good car wash, couple of buckets, mitt, chamois, and give it a good wash once a week, then it will be clean one day a week.
The ex had a black car, and it looked awesome for the couple of hours that it stayed clean.
grangies,
Feb 16, 7:31pm
I suggest initially washing the car ( if dirty ) with a premium soap and then dry it and give it a good polish.
The Turtle Wax Ice polish is fricken amazing. Once you have a coat of that on, all you need to do is wash it with water and a soft sponge. No soap.
You will notice with the Turtle Wax Ice that if your car is dusty and a good rain shower comes along, the rain will wash you car for you.
hyborn,
Feb 16, 8:05pm
Thanks all - I like the sound of the turtle wax ice that sounds great!Will invest in some good products to keep this new car clean
kcf,
Feb 16, 8:33pm
2c worth, I prefer mothers wax to turtle wax ice (never could get a good clean shine from that stuff, might just have been that it didn't play nice with the paint on my car) . but the same theory applies.Good coat of wax (any brand) will make it easier to keep the car looking nice.
trogedon,
Feb 16, 8:42pm
Why even bother when it's going to be on the beach, up farm tracks, in the paddocks, bush bashing.it is an SUV afterall.
leesil,
Feb 16, 8:49pm
Black cars look so good when they're clean. I use turtlewax wash and wax then sometimes follow it up with Turtlewax express shine. Looks great. I think my main tip would be not to let it dry in the sun after you've washed it. Use a chammy or towel. And use tyre shine stuff.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 16, 8:53pm
I advise leaving any polish you can buy at repco alone, its all over priced and most of it is rubbish. Go and buy some proper polish from an automotive paint wholsaler.
You can get a really big bottle of Farecla Wax Top which is supurb stuff for something like $40. In terms of cost per polish its a fraction of the price of the stuff they suck the general public into buying at the likes of Repco and its a superior polish to anything I have tried.
Nice and easy to use too, just clay bar as required first then apply witha microfibre towel.
hyborn,
Feb 16, 8:59pm
cheers all - this is why I love the community line there is so many people with great thoughts and hints for us all to learn from Thanks
grangies,
Feb 16, 10:57pm
I totally agree that Farecla are a premium brand product up there with the likes of 3M.
I use their G3.
But the reality is that Farecla products are designed for the collision paint repair/refinish industry, where synthetic waxes and silicones are a big no no.
And the reality is that silicon wax is superior in a DIY situation where it's all applied by hand.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 16, 11:08pm
Unlike your G3 or the G10 finishing compound the wax top product is designed to go on by hand and only by hand. It gives a superb finish, I have compared it and as yet find it unmatched.
Farecla actually make a consumer line as well, they are not just an automotive professional only product any more.
You are correct in that it is silicone free, however I find that an advantage if anything. It certainly dosn't seem to cause the products performance to suffer.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 16, 11:08pm
Unlike your G3 or the G10 finishing compound the wax top product is designed to go on by hand and only by hand. It gives a superb finish, I have compared it and as yet find it unmatched.
Farecla actually make a consumer line as well, they are not just an automotive professional only product any more.
You are correct in that it is silicone free, however I find that an advantage if anything. It certainly dosn't seem to cause the products performance to suffer.
If you are ever down my way your are most welcome to call in, bring your favorite product and compare it to the Farecla one, with it coming in 1 liter bottles I am sure I can spare some for a test!
mm12345,
Feb 16, 11:21pm
Dishwash liquid should be a complete no-no. Apart from the fact that it's not efficient for that purpose, it's got quite a lot of salt in it = corrosion. Good car cleaner uses a special cationic surfactant.There's only a few makers of this ingredient in the world, different brands all use the same stuff, the only significant difference being the quantity they put in, as the surfactant is quite expensive (10x the price of the active ingredient in dishwash liquid). Using more than recommended won't make it work better (I know this, but I'm still tempted to add more than one cap per bucket of water - or whatever the label says) Wash & wax formulas should really be banned for sale under that name.The "wax" isn't wax, but what's called "bead oil" emulsified in the formula.The bead-oil emulsion breaks when it hits the paint, and a thin layer of mineral oil coats the paint, making it shiny, making water bead up on it a bit like if had been properly waxed, but probably damaging any remaining wax left on the paint from when you last polished it, and also it stays slightly sticky - so the car just gets dirty faster than it would have done with just a plain wash.They might chuck a trace of carnauba wax in it to make the "wax" part of the "wash and wax" label more believable, but it's mainly BS - a good trick, as the punters notice that it's shiny after they wash it, but don't connect the dots to figure out why they're cleaning their cars every second day.
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