Car Care Advice

Best for ease of use would be liquid waxes. They are far easier to apply, while wax paste usually needs to be applied and removed one panel at a time.

So what is the real difference? This is a question I have seen asked on many occasions of wax manufacturers. The answer is always the same, the only difference is the water content, there is no real difference in performance. But waxes that promise high quality and high Carnauba content tend to come as a paste as it gives the customer the feeling that they are getting more for their money. Some waxes come in a form which is even more sold than a paste, at least by reconing, and have the consistancy of shoe polish… these do seem to have a better shine than most, and I have never had any real problem applying them when following the instructions, in fact as there is no dust, they can often be easier.

I’m sure that there are experts out there with an opossing view on the subject, but as yet I haven’t heard it. If anybody who feels they are qualified to offer an opinion either way, please comment.

Sure they are! We’ve known water-blades since before they were famous and been using them for years and never had a problem, nor have we ever heard of anyone else having a problem.
Although we have heard that there are some cheap ones on the market with plastic/silicone which may be a little harder than the quality ones.

It’s our understanding that they have 15 times less friction on your cars surface than a terry towel.

They are exceptionally useful in the winter months when cars can be difficult to dry, they speed things up.

Water-blades are known by many brand names including Hydra-Blade, Dry-blade, Power-blade, California-Blade, Paint Safe Squeegee, soft touch auto dryer, Hydraglide, and many, many more. And when used properly, they are safe.

However, you do drag them across the surface of your paintwork, so if you get grit on them you can have a disaster on your hands. So make sure you car is properly clean before you use it, don’t put it on the floor, and generally use all the same rules you would for any other tool that is going near your paintwork.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about when I talk of water blades — you know that the guy who cleans your window has that funny tool for wiping all the water off the gass? Well, a water-blade is a tool for doing a similar thing on a car. It usually has a soft plastic or rubber coated handle, and the blade it’s self is made of a soft latex so that it can fit to the contours of your car… because a car isn’t as flat as a pane of glass. It can get a lot of the water off your car without leaving smears and will safe you from having to wring out your chamois quite so often.

Yep!

Wash and wax isn’t the very best of products to use to protect a fabric hood and it’s no substitute for having the hood properly treated on a fairly regular basis, but the shampoo part of the product is fine for day-to-day cleaning, and the wax part will certainly do no harm. In fact, it will help protect it from the elements.

Reproofing is the best thing for a hood and this needs doing once every 12-18 months, but before reproofing the hood should be properly cleaned and this will remove any of the wax residue.

You can wax your windows with liquid waxes (I wouldn’t recommend a wax paste) and even waxes that contain a little ‘cut’. This will help to clean them, once they have wax on them it will help repel rain and keep them clear of water. It won’t work as well as rain repellants, or last as long, but it does work. more »

Warm weather is breading season for bacteria, and it’s the bacteria you can smell when it gets warm.

The extremes of heat or cold may have killed the bacteria, or you may have used a disinfectant to kill them, but the food for them is still in your car, unless you remove this source, the chances are that the smell will always come back.

Lets suppose for a moment that you have spilt milk in your car. The first thing you need to do is wash the area down to remove as much of the milk as possible, but chances are that you will never get it all. Disinfectant and anti-bacterials will work for a while but they will eventually wear off and bacteria will be along to feed on the milk. Many products you can buy just mask the smell, often by masking the odour, but these too will eventually wear off.

The most effective way to deal with the problem is to use an enzyme product. Enzymes don’t effect any living thing but they will eat the milk, this causes the bacteria to starve to death (because it has nothing left to feed on) and once the bacteria has died, the enzymes eat the bacteria. So, no milk, no bacteria, and no more smell - there is no need to cry over spilt milk.

I was in a BP petrol station one morning, I knew I was due to check the air pressure of my tyres but I was late for work and just didn’t have the time. While at the counter I noticed a large display of these electric air pumps… now let me tell you, at first I assumed it was one of those promotions, and I’m yet to be impressed by the quality of any of the rubbish they tend to give away, stainless steel pen-knifes that don’t hold an edge and torches that fall apart while still in the glove compartment. And these electric pumps were just £5. ‘Oh yeah? How good is that going to be?’ more »

Before answering this question, you really have to ask yourself why they are no longer black.

One reason may be that they have become stained by wax and polish, and maybe other things such as silicone plastic dressings, so the first thing to do is try cleaning them up. This subject is covered here. more »