Getting the car professionally washed/valeted

[MrOverheads]

Tried SELOC but just got abuse or over the top detailing advice.

I just want to get the car nice and shiny without spending 3 days doing it and buying 15 different products.

Can anyone recommend a professional car valet service that can come to my house/work and wash/polish etc the paintwork on my Elise?

[Dennis]

All you need is a tub of elbow grease, oh and halfrauds are ding a 3 for 2 at the moments.

Seriously you will not get abuse re cleaning but you will if you use the term detailing...I hate it, I have been concours-ing for years and we did not have to make up a possey word for washing the car

What exactly are you wanting to do, apart form taking your wheels off to cleaning inside (do the wheel arches at the same time) everything else is easy, was, dry, tar remover, wash again, dry, polish then wax, (so called detailers just make it look hard so you pay them again next time). It should take you a day to do a really good job and save you a few £ and you know it has been done right.

For a start you would need the ovious bucket (or 2) wool wash mit (but a decent sponge will be o.k.) Autoglym semisynthetic leather, Tar remover (tardis is great but you have to get that online), Maguires Gold class shampoo (their NXT is also good), Maguires NXT liquid wax and then the Autoglym high definition wax.

This stuff will also last you ages

[PaulT]

As Dennis is our resident car-cleaning nut-job (I mean that in the nicest possible way) his advice is going to be as good as you'll get. But if you're after finding a reputable local valeting company (I'm assuming you're somewhere in Yorks) then it might be worth ringing Paul Mitchell Autoglym distributor and asking him who's good. 01423 879741

[Nyloc 1]

There's a company called Shine-on based somewhere in Harrogate who look after one of my client's collection and he speaks very highly of them

[Moggy]

There's a company called Shine-on based somewhere in Harrogate who look after one of my client's collection and he speaks very highly of them

The guy who runs Sine on also posts on seloc

[theelanman]

meguiars soft wax gel........I find it a very good base to start from......
just start by washing the car with it once a week......for about 3 weeks then hit the washing and detailing hard with the wax gel and the NXTor gold......
for your wheels there rimwax.....tyres I have rubadub......

there was another product that was mentioned for the wheels but I cant remember what it was called....it was 'brothers'...or 'bad' or something....

anyway then its sort of a free for all on the inside....depends on how far you want to go

[MrOverheads]

Thanks for all the advice, I can do a quick 2 buckets and sponge wash with water and maybe some halfrauds soapy stuff of somesort, but I would rather get a professional that has all the kit etc to do it and pay a fee.

Mr Shine-On on SELOC is based down south and costs £300 a time (plus travelling time if needs to do a distance) which is more polishing than I need, it will look fantastic afterwards no doubt but more than I want to spend when it will get dirty very quickly in the April rain. I jsut want to get off the winter grime without scratching it! I did a jet wash (from a distance) to get off the majority but there is still a thick layer if grime on some parts.

Pure Lotus in Wetherby will do a full valet for £30 but as they are on an industrial estate you have to sit there while they do it for 2 to 3 hours.

There are lots of mobile man with a van types between £20 and £50 but some will be cowboys and scratch the car with gravel caught in the cloths and some will have an excellent reputation.

I'm in Leeds by the way.

[MrOverheads]

Googling I've found:
http://www.divine-detailing.co.uk/

Not quite the £300 charged by Mr Shine On, but seems like he knows what he's doing.

[AndyC]

Got some of this stuff from ebay 2 weeks ago - product number 260551353002.

Its called Greased Lightning Showroom Shine, recommended by my neighbour who uses it on his SL55AMG.

It says you can use it without washing the car (tried it on my old Rover and you can it is really surprising, but wouldn't recommend this for the Lotus!). After washing the Exige, polished it with this stuff, the additional grime it lifts off and finish it leaves is pretty damn amazing. Has a mix of oils and waxes including Carnuba, but is a whizz to use, 2 microfibre cloths (in the words of the Karate Kid - wax on...wax off...)and the job is done. Did the whole Exige in about 10 minutes, looks the best it ever has (top tip - watch you don't overspray on the windscreen!).

Cost is about £30.00 for 2 x 1 litre bottles, each bottle supposed to do up to 20 cars. Wouldn't normally sing the praises of something, but was amazed at the protection and finish for little effort put in. Dead Easy!

[Nyloc 1]

You'll find the Harrogate Shine-on through google, my client is slightly further from Harrogate than Leeds so I'm sure you're within his travelling range.

Shine On Valeting
Hornbeam Park
Hookstone Road
Harrogate HG2 8QT
01423 873337

[albutch]

Pure Lotus in Wetherby will do a full valet for £30 but as they are on an industrial estate you have to sit there while they do it for 2 to 3 hours.

That's not as bad as it sounds, I'm sure Jay will keep you amused and there is a decent cafe not very far away - 5-10 mins walk.

[SimonE]

Pure Lotus in Wetherby will do a full valet for £30 but as they are on an industrial estate you have to sit there while they do it for 2 to 3 hours.

Blimey 10 quid an hour - thought William Wilberforce had nailed the coffin lid down on slave labour

[Dennis]

What you need is a good snowfoam to get rid of the realy rough stuf, but obviously do not jet wash it off on a Lotus





My second covering is used a lubricant when doing the 2 bucket (nb a quick wash takes me about 3.5 hours and now you know why )

[christimson]

I'd recommend the carwash at Sheepscar in Leeds. For £6 they do a great job and I've taken the lotus there loads of times.

[Moggy]

£30 for 2-3hrs work sounds far too cheap, I'd expect to be paying around £100 for a professional job unless its a loss leader to get you hooked for further work Jay does post on nyloc so maybe he'd like to comment