[Video] How To: Detail Your Wheels, Wheel Wells and Tires

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Product Review: Carplan Eco Car range

As the world becomes more environmentally conscious and individuals and organizations start going green, how will detailing become a part of it? Are we still able to keep our cars clean with minimal carbon footprint?







Click 'read more' to read the full review of Carplan's Eco Car range.



As people realise the world's natural resources are becoming scarce and pollution is going to be a constant battle, people start to become more environmentally conscious and responsible. Going green has put a foothold in many aspects of our present lifestyle. Individuals and organizations try to minimize their carbon footprint by changing their way of living, organizational objectives, manufacturing techniques and creating a new product segment altogether. For example, Samsung recently released their Eco TV, which boasts clean and efficient manufacturing techniques, minimizing waste and saving on packing.

So where does detailing fit into all this? To answer this, we first have to ask ourselves what are the benefits of detailing. Sure it increases your car's resale value and helps to maintain the condition of different surfaces. For example, car polishes and waxes help to prolong the life of the clearcoat to prevent the need for a respray. Similarly, leather cleaners and conditioners prevent leather seats from cracking and drying out. Detailing also creates a stronger sense of pride for car owners.

Now let's look at detailing from an ethical perspective, does it contribute anything to humanity? No. Detailing is not beneficial to human existence, unlike fields such as medicine or engineering, which contributes towards humanity. Therefore, from a humanistic approach, one might argue that detailing is a total waste of time, effort and resources. A very ethical car lover might want to keep their car looking good but at the lowest cost possible. A bottle of all purpose cleaner, shampoo and cleaner wax is enough in most cases. However, many products contain solvents and surfactants that might be harmful to the environment. An ethical and environmentally conscious car lover would then want to keep their cars looking good with the minimum cost and minimum impact to the environment.

There have been many products created to satisfy this (niche?)market. An example is Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine, designed to wash a car without a hose saves water and the chemical itself is also environmentally friendly. Other eco products include waterless spray and wipe products that claim to clean, polish and protect in one step.

What if a person prefers the conventional method of washing with a hose and bucket, giving the paint a good rub down with a polish and deep cleaning interior surfaces with a specialist cleaner?

This is where carplan's eco car range come into the picture. Four products to be reviewed will be the car shampoo, polish, wheel cleaner and dash cleaner. The test mule is an '08 metallic silver Toyota Vios.





























First up is cleaning the wheel wells and tires with Osren Multi Clean










The wheel face and barrel was cleaned with the Eco Car Wheel Cleaner.







It cleaned the wheel face pretty well, but the wheel barrel not so much. As you can see in the picture below, a second cleaning using Osren Multi Clean still removed alot of brake dust as the foam turns brown.



Conclusion, it is okay for frequently cleaned wheels but lack the cleaning power for very dirty wheels.

Next up is the Car Wash. Firstly, the lower panels were sprayed with Osren Multi Clean,





Then the whole car is washed with the car wash diluted at one ounce per gallon ratio.







It does not create much(or any) suds, washing the car feels like washing with water.



It also requires a bit more agitation on an unwaxed car, which could indicate the lack of cleaning power, but it also proves that it is gentle and diminishes any wax on the surface at a slower rate.



Conclusion, does not sud much, (too?) gentle on the surface, relatively costly as only sold in 500ml quantities.

Next product is the car polish. Applied using a Lake Country CCS DA white pad via Random Orbital Buffer(ROB), it cleaned off ingrained dirt pretty well, turning the white pad to dark brown and grey after the whole car.







Only little amounts were used.



However, the lack of chemical solvents made it unable to remove sticky residues such as tar spots. It also dried up very fast, after applying it over three panels, the first panel was already dried up and cannot be buffed off with a dry cloth. After polishing the whole car, polish residue removed using some Meguiar's Last Touch, a damp cloth would be fine too.

The finish it left was clean, glossy and slick to touch.







It should be noted that it is also very low in abrasives, so do not expect it to remove scratches. Conclusion, cleans well(except for tar spots), removal can be difficult as polish dries up quick, unabrasive and will not scratch or scour clearcoat. Protection will be improved if topped up with a non cleaning wax.

Final product is the dash cleaner, directions state to just spray and wipe, but when tested on a glass surface, it leaves some residue, so I think some form of rinsing would be better. Method of cleaning was to slightly wet the surface first, spray on Dash Cleaner, agitate and rinse with Autoglym Hi Tech Interior Cleaning Pad and wipe off with a dry microfiber cloth.




Before cleaning,







During,









After,






Before,



After,





Carpets vacuumed and pedals cleaned,





It cleans off oily stains and dirt well, turning the water in the rinse bucket from clear to murky grey after cleaning all interior plastics(forgot to take a picture, D'OH!). One thing I noticed while vacuuming, a few red insects were flying in the cabin, somehow it was attracted to the scent. Conclusion, good cleaning power, may discolor some surfaces if it's not wetted before application, fragrance may be unappealing to some and is an insect attractant?

In conclusion, Carplan's Eco Car range is excellent in concept, but only moderate in execution. Cleaning power does not match ordinary detailing products. So if you want to use this range, have your car fully detailed with normal products and then only maintain your ride with this range.

Would I recommend it for the average Joe? No, the lack of cleaning power and average user-friendliness puts it off for me. If you are ethical and very environmentally conscious and dont mind the disadvantages, this product range is okay at best.

The whole range is also relatively cheap compared to other brands.

I then applied 2 coats of Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax over the next 12 hours for more protection and dress tires and wheel wells with Osren Tire Shine. Here are some 'after' pictures.



























As mentioned, it won't do much to reduce swirls.















As always, thanks for looking and any comments are highly appreciated.



P.S. I'm not paid to do this review and these are solely my opinion and should not be treated as an absolute when deciding on purchasing a product. Products in the range not reviewed are the glass cleaner and windshield cleaning fluid.

P.P.S. What's next in store?

A How-To on detailing your wheel wells, wheels and tires, this includes a pictorial and a video demonstration.

Future product reviews include Carmate SIV wheel coat, G3 glass coat and Surluster Crystal shield.

Upcoming details are only quick spruce ups of some families cars and unconfirmed full correction details.

Stay tuned! You can subscribe via e-mail for notification on new posts, don't worry, your e-mail will remain totally anonymous to me or anybody else.

^^V
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Initial Impressions: Carmate Black Resin Restore

Found an interesting product while browsing in Eneos recently.



Inside the box is a small vial of clear liquid meant to restore trim. Being different from regular oil-based dressings, could this be a better long term alternative?

Only time will tell, read about my initial impressions after the jump.



The wiper cowl was cleaned with Osren Multi Clean during the wash stage of this detail. Before application I wiped it down again with Isopropyl Alcohol (cut 1:1).

Products used during this test will be:

1. Jeff's Werkstatt Prime Acrylic
2. Carmate Black Resin Restore
3. Autoglym Bumper Care

The reason for JW Prime is because it can be used on matt surfaces such as unpainted B-Pillars, an oil based dressing will just smear across those surfaces. It will also clean the surface off of any contaminants. So it's a worthy product for plastic trims.

Autoglym Bumper Care is chosen because it has a good balance between good looks and durability, it may not be as durable as Mother's Back to Black, but it provides a darker finish. In my opinion, it is also more durable then Meguiar's Trim Detailer.

So we have a representative from the acrylic category and the oil-based dressing category. Where does Carmate Black Resin Restore fits in, I really do not know. Could it be using a similar chemistry to Dodo Juice Supernatural Gloss Trim Sealant as shown here and reviewed here?

Anyway on to the pics.







Inside the box is a small vial and two rectangular foam applicators.



Are these Japanese Kanji or Mandarin characters?



Clear liquid,



Each section is taped off and product applied with 'ye old sponge.



Seems that Osren Multi Clean and the IPA wipedown did not clean the trim well enough,



JW Prime cleaned the most, followed by AG Bumper Care, and lastly Carmate Black Resin, which did not clean at all.

I left it for an hour to dry,



And then buffed off with different clean sections of a microfibre cloth.



One thing I felt was that the Carmate black resin part was more grabby during buffing, as in, it fellt a little bit sticky. Whereas JW Prime and AG Bumper Care buffed off without resistance or friction.

Left to cure overnight,



So my initial impressions of Carmate Black Resin Restore is that it definitely looks good, it gave a uniform finish, without any streaks or patches. It also looks just a little bit darker than Autoglym Bumper Care. If this could last a few rainstorms and multiple car washes, it's surely something worth looking at. Will keep you guys posted on this product.

Thanks for looking as always! ^^V
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Honda (swirl)City in Nighthawk black

A full exterior paint correction detail on an ’06 Honda City in nighthawk black. The buffer marks from the body shop were horrendous and the paint hardness wasn't making it easy to correct either.

Read the full post to see how the paint that began with this,





ended with this!








Hey guys, so this is a detail for an ’06 Honda City in nighthawk black. It has been in an accident and resprayed in a few areas and there were some colour mismatches as well as other minor damage in other areas. So the whole car was resprayed and Honda kindly provided free buffer marks service.

The car wasn’t too dirty to begin with.













Process for cleaning the wheels were Meguiar’s Super Degreaser(cut 4:1) on the tires and wheel wells and Meguiar’s Wheel Brightener(cut 4:1) on the wheels. Tar spots on the face of the wheel removed with Perma Glass Tar Remover.

































Car’s body is washed with Osren Bubble and Wax shampoo, surface smoothened with Osren Magic Clay Cloth and exterior rubber cleaned with Osren Multi Clean. The paint is then de-waxed with Osren Multi Clean.



Then a test spot was performed on the passenger rear door. First step would be Meguiar’s #105 Ultra-Cut Compound via Lake Country 4-ply twisted wool @ 1500-2100rpms and followed by Meguiar’s #205 Ultra-Finishing Polish via Lake Country Kompressor white pad @ 900-1200rpms. Due to the hardness of the paint, M205 was not enough to completely remove the wool buffer marks from the first step.








So three polishing stages will have to be needed, which were:
1. Meguiar’s #105 Ultra-Cut Compound via Lake Country 4-ply twisted wool @ 1500-2100 rpm
2. Meguiar’s #105 Ultra-Cut Compound via Lake Country Kompressor white pad @ 1200-1500 rpm
3. Menzerna 106FF Final Finish via Lake Country flat black pad @ 600-900 rpm

Some before pictures,







After M105/wool and M105/Kompressor white




After M105/wool only,


More ‘before’ shots,



























Joe a.k.a. Slk dropped by to lend a helping hand (THANKS bro!)









The rear boot gave us some difficulties, M205 were leaving very light holos(could be my wrong technique) and Meguiar’s SwirlX used with an ROB(Random Orbital Buffer) remove holos but left the finish slightly cloudy. So we settled on Menzerna 106FF on an LC flat black pad.

After the three polishing stages,



My rather wet office,



Lake Country Kompressor pad,



LC Kompressor white with M105 left a very decent finish with only very minor swirling.




After M105/wool,



After M105/wool and M105/LC Kompressor white





For the finishing stage, weapon of choice was Menzerna 106FF Final Finish via Lake Country flat black pad @ 600-900 rpm.
Technique was to first work it at 900-1200 rpm until it turns clear (to remove light swirling from M105), spray one light pump of water for relubrication and work at 600 rpm to remove any holograms.










Here are two pictures. One of them is before refining with 106FF, the other is without refining, just after M105/LC Kompressor white. Can you tell the difference?





Neither can I, the first pic is after refining whereas the latter pic is before refining. That’s how fine M105 left the finish with.
After fully refining the paint, polish dust is blasted away with the pressure washer. Firstly by soaking it with a mixture of Osren Bubble and Wax shampoo and Osren Multi Clean, this is to help remove any polishing oils and help dissolve polish buildup in the cracks and crevices. This is rinsed off and soaked again with Osren shampoo only to neutralize any APC that might not be rinsed off.












Here are some pre-LSP (Last Step Product) shots. If there are any holograms from the refining stage, they would show up now.



















Then all polish residue in panel gaps were cleaned off with a MF cloth and Meguiar’s All Purpose Cleaner (cut 10:1).



The car is dried off with a Cobra Arctic White cloth and the blow function on the vacuum cleaner to blow off water from tight areas.



LSP time, I originally wanted to test Duragloss 105 and Zaino Z2 side by side. That would have to be postponed because my sample of Z2 separated and long vigorous shaking didn’t help. However, the Z5 sample was still okay… hmmm. (Sorry about that Brian, I will find another way to review the Z2!)





So my own choice would be to lay down a base of Enviroshield (this is akin to Opti-Seal, Z-cs, UPGP).





While this was curing, tires and wheel wells dressed with Osren Tire Shine. Autoglym Bumper Care applied to mudguards. Wheel face cleansed and protected with Jeff’s Werkstatt Prime Acrylic and Poorboy’s Wheel Sealant.


Areas where Enviroshield was applied too thick were buffed off and Duragloss #105 Total Performance Polish is applied via MF from MadDetailer.com. I followed application technique from Zainostore.com, which is to lay down a strip of product diagonally across the pad, spread them with a finger, and apply in straight lines.







After drying for about an hour, it was then buffed off and Duragloss Aquawax was used in some areas to aid removal.
Here are some post-lsp shots. The paint wasn’t perfectly polished as there are quite a number of RDS(Random Deep Scratches) left, I would say about 92% correction. Hope you’ll enjoy the photos and thanks for looking!





















































Special thanks to:

Joe for the big help, not having to polish another fender and door saved my arm from breaking!

Liew from Duragloss Malaysia.

Brian from Zaino Asia Pacific for the Zaino samples.

Henry from Osren for lending me the foaming head sprayer!

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Update!

Hey guys, finally my exams are over and have a few things planned over the next two months.

Here is what to expect on the upcoming posts,

1. Full Detail on a black Honda (swirl)City
2. Zaino review
3. Carmate black resin trim dressing/sealant review

and more unconfirmed plans, so if you haven't subscribed, just click on the subscribe tab above to subscribe via e-mail. Notification on new posts will be delivered to your e-mail immediately! The e-mail won't be displayed and I won't even know who my subscribers are.

Till then!

p.s. This is the entire post. Don't have to click on 'Read More!'. Read more!