How often do you polish your French car?

Paul240480 · Unread post by **Paul240480** » 05 Jun 2010, 18:22

My daughter is our Citroen owner with her trusty litle Saxo! I so wish she'd wash it once in a while, let alone wax it

Tis a veritable 'skip' inside most of the time too!

Clearly, she never caught my love of washing & polishing cars

Synergietom · Unread post by **Synergietom** » 05 Jun 2010, 19:57

cant remember when i last cleaned the synergie but did give xantia a quick rinse when i bought it i dont really clean my cars as the dirt isually the only thing holding them together plus its harder to find faults at the mot test on a filthy car

Homer · Unread post by **Homer** » 06 Jun 2010, 02:54

I wouldn't even like to think how long it would take to wax the 807. It gets some water slapped on it whenever the kids nag enough (they are still young enough to find car washing fun).

Napoleon · Unread post by **Napoleon** » 06 Jun 2010, 06:54

Is wax the same as polish?

vince · Unread post by **vince** » 06 Jun 2010, 09:06

Hi Napoleon. No its not....although some polishes provide a finished "waxed" look.

Polish is a cleaner...so is a very fine cut whoch helps restore the colour and shines it up. Wax is a protective layer which seals in the polished finish and protects it from losing its finish for longer.

To get a bigger idea on the processes have a look around on
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/index.php

Once youve spent a day (although this can be broken down into stages) cleaning the paint and sealing it with a good wax, then all it will need is a careful wash once a week or so when it gets dirty...then re wax once a month (if that) depending on what wax youve used and how long it lasts.

Alot of it is down to personal preference...ie what kind of finish you want and how much time you want to spend keeping your car looking tip top

I like my car to look clean pretty much all of the time, but i wash mine when it gets dirty (usually once a week or so) and only wax if i can be bothered or if i have a reason to (car show, day out etc)....once the paint is polished up well then keeping it cleaned through washing will maintain a good paint look indefinately

A great tried and tested cheap combination polish/wax and sealant combo is Autoglym super resin polish topped off with Autogylm Extra Gloss Protection...Doesnt cost the earth and protects for up to a month or so

scratcher · Unread post by **scratcher** » 06 Jun 2010, 09:54

Hi, I did not know that one had to polish a french car!

Trainman · Unread post by **Trainman** » 06 Jun 2010, 10:49

vince wrote: I like my car to look clean pretty much all of the time, but i wash mine when it gets dirty (usually once a week or so) and only wax if i can be bothered or if i have a reason to (car show, day out etc)....once the paint is polished up well then keeping it cleaned through washing will maintain a good paint look indefinately

There speaks the voice of a master.....

I could brush my hair using the mirror shine on Vince's car (well, the bit I've got left).

Unread post by **myglaren** » 06 Jun 2010, 11:56

scratcher wrote:Hi, I did not know that one had to polish a french car!

Never heard of French Polish?

Actually, I could do with some advice on which machine polisher to buy vince! I have collected some horrendous scratches from some bushes in my parking area (going to murder them on dark night with old engine oil and possibly fire

) that need polishing out.

XantiaDaveEire · Unread post by **XantiaDaveEire** » 06 Jun 2010, 12:04

I like to dedicate a good 6 or 7 hours cleaning and polishing the car inside and out every month or so ,i find a good polish keeps the car cleaner for longer or maybe its just me

Napoleon · Unread post by **Napoleon** » 06 Jun 2010, 12:13

I've never done is since with a vehicle, but when i ran a 400/4 Honda, I used to part dismantle it to polish every damned part I could. The frame, the engine, hoses, exhaust, in and around the instrument cluster, mirror under the bike to see the bits underneath.

Used to take avery long time. I loved that bike.

i sold to a bloke who blew the engine up, and when he fixed that he drove it into the side of a car.

What a waste.

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 07 Jun 2010, 12:12

The difference between polish and wax ...

Polish can get rid or dull down scratches, removed swirl marks (if done right with clean cloths and often turned cloths, otherwise swirls are made), cleans paint to remove road grime. So in general a polish prepares the paintwork ready for a wax - some polishes do have a mild wax included.

Waxing is to protect the paintwork, it gives it a thing layer of wax protection and keeps the paintwork looking better. Usually waxing makes the car stay cleaner longer. Especially good in the winter when salt is trying to attack your paintwork.

Which is why i say waxing is no good without polishing. As your just sealing in the grime and muck, you might no see it ut its there and the cars isnt as clean as it should be. Before a wax is applied the cars paint must feel like glass, with no roughness.

If im doing a good cleaning session then i use a paint cleaner before a polish, as they cleans the paint before the polish prepares the conditon.

I do rarely get around to doing this though and ive ot yet done m5 C5 since ive had it - 6 months. It does get washed about every week to two weeks, along with being hoovered.

I hate dirty cars, really annoys me.

I usually have to clean our other cars too, as no one else bothers. So by the time ive cleaned them all im not really bothered about polishing. Every so often ill give them a good clean and polishing, but i keep them all quite clean all of the time.

Unread post by **RichardW** » 07 Jun 2010, 12:35

I washed the Xantia about 2 years / 40k miles ago. I think the Picasso has been washed once in the 25k miles we've had it. Mind you, it looks like the council have been shovelling salt into the door jambs on the Xantia, so perhaps I ought to rinse it off....

I did T-Cut a pink (it was supposed to be red!) BX TD once, then polished it. It looked good for about a week, then went pink again, so I didn't bother after that.

Life is much, much, much too short for that sort of shennanigans

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How often do you polish your French car?

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