Not Mini Related at all but thought I'd copy my thread from detailing world

Right, I have just finished cleaning the interior of a 2001 Vauxhall Corsa and performing a quick wipe down to the exterior. I had cleaned the exterior using AG Shampoo, SRP, and HD Wax around 3 months ago but all this rain meant that the dirt was simply that sandy left overs from the Sahara.

So, the interior hasn't been cleaned for well over a year so I started clearing out all the rubbish - personal belongings were already taken from the car. The rubbish ended up being a whole bin liner full.

Here are some pictures of during and after the clearance:







I then removed all the mats and went over the carpets and seats with the vacuum cleaner removing shed loads of dust, hair and dirt. I then used Autobrite Direct - Briteclean X101 APC to clean down all the interior and then rinsed with water. This removed a number of dirt areas that were ingrained in the textured plastics. Tight areas such as joins and vents were cleaned using an Autobrite Direct detailing brush.

I then moved on to Autobrite Direct - FAB. This was sprayed onto the carpets, seats and directly onto a cloth to be used on the seat belts. These surfaces were then scrubbed with water being added during the process.

The car was then left to run with the heaters blowing and directed onto the carpets. This helped to dry out the surfaces before another vac.



I then went onto dress the plastics with Autobrite Direct - Pinksheen. This was sprayed onto a applicator and wiped onto the surface evenly. Vents etc were dressed using an Autobrite Direct detailing brush. The smell of this product reminded me of something but not sure what? - Can say tho that I loved the smell.




Unfortunately, although this left the dash and plastics gleaming, The 11 year old car was showing signs of age with deep scratches in the plastics that will never be removed.




I then gave the car a couple of sprays of Autobrite Directs - New Car Air Freshener and Deodorizer which smells great!



Mats were then cleaned and shampooed also using FAB and were placed back into the car.

The finishing touch was to place the California Scents ' Hawaiian Gardens' (thank you Serious Performance) into the rear cup holder - perfect fit. This smells amazing and is my favorite so far!



The interior windows were then cleaned using Autoglym Fast glass and the interior was complete.

As the sun was out, i decided to take advantage and wipe down the exterior using Serious Performance - Show Detailer. This was sprayed onto the bodywork and then wiped with a microfiber cloth. The car was relatively clean apart from spots from the Sahara rain that we have had recently.



Results:





It then started to pour with rain so I locked her up and ran in doors for safety! 2 minutes later it had stopped so i went back out with the camera to take some beeding shots. The car had its last coat of wax a little over 3 months ago - Autoglym HD Wax. The shower was only short so beading was unfortunately not as good as what it has been but you can see that the wax is still working. - will have a full exterior detail soon including Machine Polish.




Thanks for reading

Much better!! Although I have to say it didn't look too bad to say it hadn't been done for a year!

Good job there Matt

Love the look of those california scents! Do they sell them in Halfords or just online? Never smelt them but they look scrummy!

Moon wrote:

Much better!! Although I have to say it didn't look too bad to say it hadn't been done for a year!

I know and its a low mileage car and hasn't been driven much as I got the mini meaning it was sitting around until she passed.

118 wrote:

Good job there Matt

Thanks

*Vikki* wrote:

Love the look of those california scents! Do they sell them in Halfords or just online? Never smelt them but they look scrummy!

They smell amazing and last really long aswell!

You can get them in halfords but they mark up the price alot..as expected. Look on amazon and they often have 2 for £4.00

Might have to try those California Scents too!

So when are you coming to clean Bert for me? haha

118 wrote:

Might have to try those California Scents too!

So when are you coming to clean Bert for me? haha

You should they're great! fir in the cup holders all snug aswell!

And if your serious then I will do it for you for some wonga :p depends what you'd want doing! Got my sow foam lance today and some snowfoam and magifoam

Oh yeah, anyone else got dents along the top of there doors - r56 models? I'm detailing and correcting the paint on my mums car that's soon to be for sale and its the same on both sides? Think its to do with the heat (quick google).

Matt93 wrote:

You should they're great! fir in the cup holders all snug aswell!

And if your serious then I will do it for you for some wonga :p depends what you'd want doing! Got my sow foam lance today and some snowfoam and magifoam

Oh yeah, anyone else got dents along the top of there doors - r56 models? I'm detailing and correcting the paint on my mums car that's soon to be for sale and its the same on both sides? Think its to do with the heat (quick google).

Do they smell strong to start off with? Think I will have to get one

Money??! Pffft I thought you'd do it out of love for SnM haha only joking! Oooh so you'll be foaming everything now then, everything that can move will be foamed

I've not seen or heard of that before, do you have any pics?

Snow foam works well on conservatory roofs too according to Ian (Goonerij)

118 wrote:

Do they smell strong to start off with? Think I will have to get one

Money??! Pffft I thought you'd do it out of love for SnM haha only joking! Oooh so you'll be foaming everything now then, everything that can move will be foamed

I've not seen or heard of that before, do you have any pics?

They do smell quite strong but not over powering , they come with a lid so that you can gradullay open it which makes it last forever, then you can take the lid off and change the position of the pads and it will last even longer! Some say if you want to drag it out even more then add some water to them - just a dribble.

ha! special rates and well I asked the girlfriend to go in and turn the tap on ... expected her to wait for me to say 'now!' - didn't realize she already had and pressure washed my face

and erm: http://www.mini2.com/forum/second-generation-mini-exterior/186098-dents-my-r56-roof-common-issue.html

I'll get some pics tho, its pretty bad. She could get them removed but worried they'd just come back?

Moon wrote:

Snow foam works well on conservatory roofs too according to Ian (Goonerij)

Oh right, shame I don't have one!

Matt93 wrote:

They do smell quite strong but not over powering , they come with a lid so that you can gradullay open it which makes it last forever, then you can take the lid off and change the position of the pads and it will last even longer! Some say if you want to drag it out even more then add some water to them - just a dribble.

ha! special rates and well I asked the girlfriend to go in and turn the tap on ... expected her to wait for me to say 'now!' - didn't realize she already had and pressure washed my face

and erm: http://www.mini2.com/forum/second-generation-mini-exterior/186098-dents-my-r56-roof-common-issue.html

I'll get some pics tho, its pretty bad. She could get them removed but worried they'd just come back?

I'm liking these more and more then, I'll definitely invest come pay day

Haha did you snow foam your face too? Was that your first wash of the year

Not heard of that before, might be worth speaking to MINI customer services and seeing if it's something they're aware of?

118 wrote:

I'm liking these more and more then, I'll definitely invest come pay day

Haha did you snow foam your face too? Was that your first wash of the year

Not heard of that before, might be worth speaking to MINI customer services and seeing if it's something they're aware of?

Probably best to get them off amazon to be honest

and nooooo just water...in the communal gardens of where I live...highly embarrassing! and first wash!!!???!! shut uppppppp (no comeback comes to mind)
Don't know if its worth it now, its six years old this year - they'd find some way of blaming everyday usage! Its just funny how its so like precise along the top of the door :/. Will be for sale soon anyway

Oh hello snowwww



was a bit slow at taking the pictures so it was already disappearing

Matt93 wrote:

Probably best to get them off amazon to be honest

and nooooo just water...in the communal gardens of where I live...highly embarrassing! and first wash!!!???!! shut uppppppp (no comeback comes to mind)
Don't know if its worth it now, its six years old this year - they'd find some way of blaming everyday usage! Its just funny how its so like precise along the top of the door :/. Will be for sale soon anyway

Thanks, I'll have a look on there then I spotted a classic Mini at the show today had one of them on their dash!

Haha keep an eye on You've Been Framed then, incase one of your neighbours saw it no comeback cos it's true I reckon

Hmmm probably not in that case, as they'd probably say it's just happened in a car park or something, not a fault. A pain though, cos once you know something like that is there, you'll always see it!

118 wrote:

Thanks, I'll have a look on there then I spotted a classic Mini at the show today had one of them on their dash!

Haha keep an eye on You've Been Framed then, incase one of your neighbours saw it no comeback cos it's true I reckon

Hmmm probably not in that case, as they'd probably say it's just happened in a car park or something, not a fault. A pain though, cos once you know something like that is there, you'll always see it!

God knows how it stayed on their dash

and shut upppp

and yeah I know and its not one of these little ones where other people don't notice it but its like one of those that everyone can see from quite a few meters away, its awful!