DFB's Garage
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DFB
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In the past few weeks, I've been fueling my OCD tendencies with other interests......................and enjoying every single second of it. In addition to the actual subject matter, I'm trying to push myself to make more videos. Quite often, the process of getting the camera out makes to film a particular subject has me over thinking what I'm trying to do. When in reality, its just a matter of turning the camera on and going with it. But, I'm pushing through, mainly so I become more confident with the camera rolling nest to me, but also with editing.
But, I'm happy with how I'm progressing. I just need to cross the barrier of being seen and heard. As a shy person, that may never happen. With my lates videos, I'm very pleased with how they turned out. Although, I'm not sure the neighbours agree with that.
With that said, I thought it was about time for more detailing content. Today, it was the Mustang's turn.
To start, the wheels were pre-treaded with NV Purge while I filled the buckets. With the Purge rinsed off, I went back in with Brake Buster for the tyres and foamed Carpro Reset for the wheels. From here, I applied some Hydr02 to top up the coating, then Atom Mac on the rotors.
For the wash, once again the transcendent Reset, teamed with the Carpro DabDab.
Following the final rinse, I again grabbed Hydr02 and applied it to the upper and lower grills as these weren't ceramic coated. From there, Amplify was the drying aid, Opti-Coat Clean & Protect for the glass, OG TD on the tyres. Moving to the interior, I gave it a wipe down with Griots Interior Cleaner, then applied a fresh layer of ColourLock Leather Shield to the seats, steering wheel, gear selector, handbrake and door panels.
Freshly cleaned and ready to swap places with old blue..................
But, I'm happy with how I'm progressing. I just need to cross the barrier of being seen and heard. As a shy person, that may never happen. With my lates videos, I'm very pleased with how they turned out. Although, I'm not sure the neighbours agree with that.
With that said, I thought it was about time for more detailing content. Today, it was the Mustang's turn.
To start, the wheels were pre-treaded with NV Purge while I filled the buckets. With the Purge rinsed off, I went back in with Brake Buster for the tyres and foamed Carpro Reset for the wheels. From here, I applied some Hydr02 to top up the coating, then Atom Mac on the rotors.
For the wash, once again the transcendent Reset, teamed with the Carpro DabDab.
Following the final rinse, I again grabbed Hydr02 and applied it to the upper and lower grills as these weren't ceramic coated. From there, Amplify was the drying aid, Opti-Coat Clean & Protect for the glass, OG TD on the tyres. Moving to the interior, I gave it a wipe down with Griots Interior Cleaner, then applied a fresh layer of ColourLock Leather Shield to the seats, steering wheel, gear selector, handbrake and door panels.
Freshly cleaned and ready to swap places with old blue..................
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DFB
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Some bike detailing today.
This bike has been in storage for a while, so it was extremely dusty and had a fair bit of oil and grease build up on the crank, gear cassette, derailleur and chain. So, I started by spraying those areas with Bilt Hamber Sufex HD mixed at 1:1, which is quite a strong rate. I then foamed with Touch-less.
Touch-less doing its thing, breaking down contamination, then pulling it from the surface and onto the ground.
After a rinse, I followed with Hydr02 and dried it off with the EGO. As a finishing touch, a little Bead Maker on a towel.
Then, I replaced the lubrication the wash removed, this time trying something new to me, WD-40 Gel Lube (Spray & Stay No Drip) -
Spray Gel Lubricant for Tools | WD-40 Spray Gel Lube | WD-40
Gel Lubricant - WD-40 Australia
Effectively, a touch free wash that delivered the result I was looking for.
This bike has been in storage for a while, so it was extremely dusty and had a fair bit of oil and grease build up on the crank, gear cassette, derailleur and chain. So, I started by spraying those areas with Bilt Hamber Sufex HD mixed at 1:1, which is quite a strong rate. I then foamed with Touch-less.
Touch-less doing its thing, breaking down contamination, then pulling it from the surface and onto the ground.
After a rinse, I followed with Hydr02 and dried it off with the EGO. As a finishing touch, a little Bead Maker on a towel.
Then, I replaced the lubrication the wash removed, this time trying something new to me, WD-40 Gel Lube (Spray & Stay No Drip) -
Spray Gel Lubricant for Tools | WD-40 Spray Gel Lube | WD-40
Gel Lubricant - WD-40 Australia
Effectively, a touch free wash that delivered the result I was looking for.
Tasmania
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- Jan 12, 2017
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How many Km on that rig?Some bike detailing today.
This bike has been in storage for a while, so it was extremely dusty and had a fair bit of oil and grease build up on the crank, gear cassette, derailleur and chain. So, I started by spraying those areas with Bilt Hamber Sufex HD mixed at 1:1, which is quite a strong rate. I then foamed with Touch-less.
Touch-less doing its thing, breaking down contamination, then pulling it from the surface and onto the ground.
After a rinse, I followed with Hydr02 and dried it off with the EGO. As a finishing touch, a little Bead Maker on a towel.
Then, I replaced the lubrication the wash removed, this time trying something new to me, WD-40 Gel Lube (Spray & Stay No Drip) -
Spray Gel Lubricant for Tools | WD-40 Spray Gel Lube | WD-40
Gel Lubricant - WD-40 Australia
Effectively, a touch free wash that delivered the result I was looking for.
DFB
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It must be the detailer in me, but the following is hard for me to grapple. A beautifully clean, virgin chainsaw only stays that way for so long. But.................. they were made to work and made to get dirty, so it was time for the 500i to make its first cuts.
I'm using pine here, at some stage I want to put it into some hard redgum or box, really make it work! Once upon a time, you'd drive into the bush and take your pick. But with everyone having a camera on them these days, I don't fancy being caught breaking the law for the sake of a video or my gratification. In any case, it's probably good for such a fresh saw to have a few easy cuts on its belt before being made to work long and hard against Aussie hardwood.
There is NOTHING like the sound of an angry chainsaw!
Important to note that the saw was warmed up prior to starting these cuts. I'm also more confident in drop starting it, you just have to man up!
And doesn't she have a lovely voice? Keep following for more on that!
I'm using pine here, at some stage I want to put it into some hard redgum or box, really make it work! Once upon a time, you'd drive into the bush and take your pick. But with everyone having a camera on them these days, I don't fancy being caught breaking the law for the sake of a video or my gratification. In any case, it's probably good for such a fresh saw to have a few easy cuts on its belt before being made to work long and hard against Aussie hardwood.
There is NOTHING like the sound of an angry chainsaw!
Important to note that the saw was warmed up prior to starting these cuts. I'm also more confident in drop starting it, you just have to man up!
And doesn't she have a lovely voice? Keep following for more on that!
DFB
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The Wildtrak was in the box seat this morning. It's been cold, wet and miserable of late, so I had some work ahead of me, inside and out.
Starting out, I foamed everything bar the horizontal panels with Bilt Hamber Touch-less, wheels and wheel arches included. With the roof and hood not covered in road film, I see no reason to douse those areas with an aggressive pre-cleaner if it's not needed. Normally, I would foam the pre-cleaner after doing the wheels, but with the cold conditions, I didn't have to worry about water drying on the paint while attending to the wheels.
Using Touch-less on the wheels and wheel arches is such a genius move as it significantly reduces the amount of grime you have to plough through with your brushes, which is always higher in wet winter conditions. With that all rinsed away, I went in with foamed Brake Buster, then foamed and contact washed the rest of the vehicle with Carpro Reset.
For today, I decided to give Hydr02 Foam another shot. Mixed at the recommended 9:1 dilution, this soap doesn't produce shaving cream foam. In which case, why call it Hydr02 "Foam"? In this instance, I just foamed it on, left it for 60 seconds and rinsed it off, no contact with a wash mitt. I think using it this way is probably better than trying to actually clean with it. Overall, I was very impressed with the uptick in slickness to the paint and the boost in hydrophobics. I'm trying to keep the CanCoat EVO alive for as long as possible.
After a blow down, which I'm finding the EGO batteries really dislike the cold conditions, I went in with Megs HCD. Considering I used Hydr02 Foam, this was probably overboard, but again, I'm doing my best to keep the coating at peak performance.
From there, exterior glass was attended to using the excellent Stoners Ceramic Glass Cleaner, switching to the regular Stoners for the interior glass and info screens. ADS Pilot for the interior cleaning, P&S Swift was used to dress the rubber mats after also being cleaned with Touch-less. The final steps being a light wipe down of the wheels using Bead Maker, and the tyres dressed with Carpro Perl.
It's easy to become desensitized to paint slickness when you are always spraying on something to make gains in that department. But after using Hydr02 Foam and Megs HCD, I have to say the slickness was extremely high. So perhaps I'll start using the Hydr02 Foam more now?
Starting out, I foamed everything bar the horizontal panels with Bilt Hamber Touch-less, wheels and wheel arches included. With the roof and hood not covered in road film, I see no reason to douse those areas with an aggressive pre-cleaner if it's not needed. Normally, I would foam the pre-cleaner after doing the wheels, but with the cold conditions, I didn't have to worry about water drying on the paint while attending to the wheels.
Using Touch-less on the wheels and wheel arches is such a genius move as it significantly reduces the amount of grime you have to plough through with your brushes, which is always higher in wet winter conditions. With that all rinsed away, I went in with foamed Brake Buster, then foamed and contact washed the rest of the vehicle with Carpro Reset.
For today, I decided to give Hydr02 Foam another shot. Mixed at the recommended 9:1 dilution, this soap doesn't produce shaving cream foam. In which case, why call it Hydr02 "Foam"? In this instance, I just foamed it on, left it for 60 seconds and rinsed it off, no contact with a wash mitt. I think using it this way is probably better than trying to actually clean with it. Overall, I was very impressed with the uptick in slickness to the paint and the boost in hydrophobics. I'm trying to keep the CanCoat EVO alive for as long as possible.
After a blow down, which I'm finding the EGO batteries really dislike the cold conditions, I went in with Megs HCD. Considering I used Hydr02 Foam, this was probably overboard, but again, I'm doing my best to keep the coating at peak performance.
From there, exterior glass was attended to using the excellent Stoners Ceramic Glass Cleaner, switching to the regular Stoners for the interior glass and info screens. ADS Pilot for the interior cleaning, P&S Swift was used to dress the rubber mats after also being cleaned with Touch-less. The final steps being a light wipe down of the wheels using Bead Maker, and the tyres dressed with Carpro Perl.
It's easy to become desensitized to paint slickness when you are always spraying on something to make gains in that department. But after using Hydr02 Foam and Megs HCD, I have to say the slickness was extremely high. So perhaps I'll start using the Hydr02 Foam more now?
DFB
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- Aug 12, 2019
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More Touch-less action today.....................
First up, the weekly wash of the Ranger. I've been parking this car outside over the last week as I'm currently house sitting for a gardening client. With no undercover parking, I probably wasted my time washing it, but I don't care.
As per yesterday, I used Touch-less to pre-clean the wheels, wheel arches, tray sides and lower body panels prior to contact.
From there, I cleaned the wheels and body using Shine Supply Shift. Drying aid of choice today was KCx Quick & Shine, Glass via KCx Speed Glass, the tray wiped down with OPT Car Wax and the interior with Carpro InnerQD. After wiping the wheels with Amplify, the tyres were dressed using Carpro Perl.
With the house sit only a few blocks away, I rode my bike and collected the owners Subaru Forrester. I plan on giving this a full DFB-spec detail within the next week so that the owners come back to a clean car. For now though, I decided to plough through months of neglect with a quick foam and rinse, again with Touch-less.
For v1 Touch-less, I had to run it un-diluted in the foam cannon as my pressure washer flows so much that it was not achieving optimal panel impact ratios. With v2, I can run that down to 85ml for a 0.5% PIR, or right up to 340ml for a 2% PIR. I actually split the difference between 1.5 and 2% by mixing 300ml into 700ml of water. Because I don't use all of that on a single vehicle, I'm mixing Touch-less with demineralized water to improve stability.
After allowing the Touch-less to do its thing, I then thoroughly rinsed working bottom up. I know that sounds back to front, but trust me, it works better that way as you keep the soap working for longer and improve the touch-free cleaning effect. With the vehicle parked outdoors 24/7, there was a lot of dirt and debris to be flushed from the roof rails, door belt lines and tail gate crevices.
And that's where I left it, I didn't even attempt to blow dry the car as the water behavior was flat as a tack. I will say though, the Touch-less removed 95% of the visible dirt, road film and bugs spread across the paint, roof rails, wheels and trim. If nothing else, it gives me a head start on the detail next week.
First up, the weekly wash of the Ranger. I've been parking this car outside over the last week as I'm currently house sitting for a gardening client. With no undercover parking, I probably wasted my time washing it, but I don't care.
As per yesterday, I used Touch-less to pre-clean the wheels, wheel arches, tray sides and lower body panels prior to contact.
From there, I cleaned the wheels and body using Shine Supply Shift. Drying aid of choice today was KCx Quick & Shine, Glass via KCx Speed Glass, the tray wiped down with OPT Car Wax and the interior with Carpro InnerQD. After wiping the wheels with Amplify, the tyres were dressed using Carpro Perl.
With the house sit only a few blocks away, I rode my bike and collected the owners Subaru Forrester. I plan on giving this a full DFB-spec detail within the next week so that the owners come back to a clean car. For now though, I decided to plough through months of neglect with a quick foam and rinse, again with Touch-less.
For v1 Touch-less, I had to run it un-diluted in the foam cannon as my pressure washer flows so much that it was not achieving optimal panel impact ratios. With v2, I can run that down to 85ml for a 0.5% PIR, or right up to 340ml for a 2% PIR. I actually split the difference between 1.5 and 2% by mixing 300ml into 700ml of water. Because I don't use all of that on a single vehicle, I'm mixing Touch-less with demineralized water to improve stability.
After allowing the Touch-less to do its thing, I then thoroughly rinsed working bottom up. I know that sounds back to front, but trust me, it works better that way as you keep the soap working for longer and improve the touch-free cleaning effect. With the vehicle parked outdoors 24/7, there was a lot of dirt and debris to be flushed from the roof rails, door belt lines and tail gate crevices.
And that's where I left it, I didn't even attempt to blow dry the car as the water behavior was flat as a tack. I will say though, the Touch-less removed 95% of the visible dirt, road film and bugs spread across the paint, roof rails, wheels and trim. If nothing else, it gives me a head start on the detail next week.
I always enjoy seeing that happen.
Removing most of the visible dirt and bugs does not surprise me, as I think those are "easy" to do. Not sure about road film. For sure its nice to have that cleaned up though.
Vehicle likely to have visible dirt again by next week if outside and windy though
Also, since you mention panel impact ratios (PIR)... when you calculate it (assuming 2% PIR), do you do (measured volume of discharged water * .02) or [(measured volume of discharged water -detergent reservoir size ) *.02 ]?
DFB
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I always enjoy seeing that happen.
Removing most of the visible dirt and bugs does not surprise me, as I think those are "easy" to do. Not sure about road film. For sure its nice to have that cleaned up though.
Vehicle likely to have visible dirt again by next week if outside and windy though
Also, since you mention panel impact ratios (PIR)... when you calculate it (assuming 2% PIR), do you do (measured volume of discharged water * .02) or [(measured volume of discharged water -detergent reservoir size ) *.02 ]?
I measure the quantity of water discharged into a bucket from a full 1000 ml foam cannon canister. That volume is then multiplied by the appropriate percentage, 0.02 for 2%, or 0.01 for 1% and so on.
DFB
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I thought I'd make a start on the Subaru today by knocking out the interior, allowing me to do the exterior closer to the owners return. What I thought would take me an hour ended up being a 3.5-hour marathon. 
I'll do a full write up once I've done the exterior, so for now I'll let some images paint the picture..........................
That cargo mat is useless, the "carpet" underneath was covered in dog hair, surely the bane of any detailer's existence. Addressing the dog hair probably took an hour alone, and even after throwing everything I had at it, I'm not 100% happy with the outcome. The term "carpet" is relative, the front door mat that I wipe my muddy boots on is plusher than this stuff. I've found Subaru to make some of the worst carpet in the industry.
As for the rest, pretty much everything needed the scrub ninja treatment, including the leather. The glass needed to be cleaned twice, first with a sledgehammer to plough through the greasy film, the second pass to refine it. I had planned to knock out the door jambs too, but I'd burnt so much time on the vacuuming that I decided to leave that as part of the exterior detail next week.
Also, why do people keep so much useless crap in their cars?
I'll do a full write up once I've done the exterior, so for now I'll let some images paint the picture..........................
That cargo mat is useless, the "carpet" underneath was covered in dog hair, surely the bane of any detailer's existence. Addressing the dog hair probably took an hour alone, and even after throwing everything I had at it, I'm not 100% happy with the outcome. The term "carpet" is relative, the front door mat that I wipe my muddy boots on is plusher than this stuff. I've found Subaru to make some of the worst carpet in the industry.
As for the rest, pretty much everything needed the scrub ninja treatment, including the leather. The glass needed to be cleaned twice, first with a sledgehammer to plough through the greasy film, the second pass to refine it. I had planned to knock out the door jambs too, but I'd burnt so much time on the vacuuming that I decided to leave that as part of the exterior detail next week.
Also, why do people keep so much useless crap in their cars?
Big Dave
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Reminds me of my brother's Outlander. At least you didn't appear to have the coffee, or whatever it was, spilled on the centre console. I hate doing the interior of other people's cars.I thought I'd make a start on the Subaru today by knocking out the interior, allowing me to do the exterior closer to the owners return. What I thought would take me an hour ended up being a 3.5-hour marathon.
I'll do a full write up once I've done the exterior, so for now I'll let some images paint the picture..........................
That cargo mat is useless, the "carpet" underneath was covered in dog hair, surely the bane of any detailer's existence. Addressing the dog hair probably took an hour alone, and even after throwing everything I had at it, I'm not 100% happy with the outcome. The term "carpet" is relative, the front door mat that I wipe my muddy boots on is plusher than this stuff. I've found Subaru to make some of the worst carpet in the industry.
As for the rest, pretty much everything needed the scrub ninja treatment, including the leather. The glass needed to be cleaned twice, first with a sledgehammer to plough through the greasy film, the second pass to refine it. I had planned to knock out the door jambs too, but I'd burnt so much time on the vacuuming that I decided to leave that as part of the exterior detail next week.
Also, why do people keep so much useless crap in their cars?
Tasmania
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Add Mazda "carpet" to the list i haven't been able to clean mum's Amarok since May....I know i know but with the weather i need two days in a row to complete.
In saying that have we had it YES... have I been allowed to access the car while nice NO!
I do the interior first, then wheels move off the only concrete we have to then park on the grass and do the exterior, body wheel arch ute cover etc,
Dry park in garage let drips dry overnight, Drying Aid the whole car door jambs etc, tyre dressing, megs on the arches seal in the headlights fit headlight covers.
I'm getting cabin fever
DFB
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The cup holder has a rubber insert, which had covered up the stinky rotten milk/coffee residue underneath. With the insert removed, I cleaned it in the sink with Gtechniq Tri-Clean, which has antibacterial properties. I then drenched the cup holder with Tri-Clean, left it to soak, then sacrificed two TRC Rip-N-Rags (I did this step twice). From here, I could still smell rotten milk on the rubber insert, so I sprayed it with P&S Finisher, left it to soak for 5-minutes, then rinsed again in the sink. That sorted the smell.
Finisher is the third step in their carpet cleaning trio, but it worked here as well.