New to car cleaning ...

[Jules]

Hello everyone! I have bought my very first car ... a used Golf Driver and wanted to check out my method of cleaning so that you can put me right if I'm doing anything wrong!
*I wash it weekly using Turtlewax Zip Wax and a sponge.
*Then I dry off using a chamois (but will try terry cloths on the advice I've read somewhere in here)
*I use Autoglym Bumpercare but with poor results - the trims still look greyish and uneven ... am I using too little product I wonder?
*Today I used Autoglym Super Resin Polish for the first time and intend doing this every month or so. I used lint free cotton cloths to apply and buff this and got a nice finish but don't know if I used enough product ... how many applications in a 325ml bottle lol!? And how long do I leave it on before buffing off? Shopuld buff in straight lines, right?
Is there anything else you would recommend given that my car is a G reg in excellent condition.
Would you recommend buying an electric buffer and finally is it ok just to bung all cloths together in the machine or will the residue from Resin Polish ruin the cloths kept for buffing? A lot to ask I know but I'd be grateful if you could get me off on the right foot. Until now I only had two push-bikes and a sledge lol! so I'm dead chuffed with my Golf! Thanks a lot, Jules.

[BrianS]

Congrats on your new car & welcome to the forum.

Sounds like your doing fine. You should just use an ordinary car shampoo though. Any 2-in-1's are harsh on paint.

A lot of people prefer the towels to the chamois, but there are still many who swear by the chamois. Just make sure it is really clean as you use it.

Most dressings are just useless. I haven't found an off-the-shelf bumper dressing that was black enough, or lasted more than a few days. I put a dye on bumpers, coated secondly with a UV sealant. Stays on for ages.

If you are getting a haze on the paint, then you are using enough product. You don't really need a lot of wax. What doesn't adhere to the paint, dries into the haze and you buff it off. Hence, trying to put on a thick coat of wax doesn't work. Know what I mean? Layering wax achieves far better results. The SRP contains a high solvent level, so you would need to give it at least 24 hours, otherwise the second layer will remove the first one.

Buff off the haze after about twenty minutes, but give as long as you can. 90 minutes would be best. Don't bother with an electric buffer. The cheap ones are crap. The results you get by hand will justify not spending loads of money on a professional-level buffer.

Try to rinse your cloths in a bucket of hot water with a fair bit of Fairy liquid in it. Dish-washing detergent is great for loosening wax from cloths. Then bung it in the machine. Don't put window-cleaning cloths in with the wax towels. Any tiny residue of wax will cause streaks. Learned that one the hard way!

[Jules]

... for the advice and the welcome! Sounds as though I'm doing all that's needed. Polished the AGSR off too early by the sounds of it ... got carried away and couldn't wait, lol! Bye for now, off to wade through the other posts and make some notes.
Probably the best site I've come across! Jules.