Well chaps,

After I got tooled up on my previous post, I went out and gave the car a good scrubbing, and I must admit, I'm quite impressed with my efforts I only gave it a shampoo for now, no waxing as I thought I'd wait a couple of weeks.

However, I have a couple of questions that have arisen from my cleaning post mortem.

1, My new chamois has lots of black marks on it now (please tell me this isn't the paint coming off). I didn't use it on my wheels, before you ask, but may have wiped it across the rubber seals around doors etc, could this be what the marks are ?

2, Now that my chamois is dirty, how do I wash and then dry it ?

3, What type of cloth should I use to dry my wheels ? I have a Megs Ultimate Wipe, but I thought this should be used when buffing wax ?

Thats about it for now

Cheers

Lee

just put it in the washing machine on a rinse cycle

Use some 'proper' soap on it, none of this pump stuff, and rinse it off in some warm water.

I have the autoglym chamois, i add a little autoglym bodywork shampoo to warm water give it a rub and rinse it well and store it damp in the plastic box it comes in.

stu

Don't worry about the black marks, they pick them up off the rubber seals.

I didn't think you were supposed to use any soap on a chamois? something to do with the oils in the leather...

I rinse mine in clean running hot water, let it dry open, then fold and shove in the cupboard!

I use two methods;

1, I put in the washing mashine on a medium temp wash

2, I put it on the rear window & jet wash it prior to use.

i just use a little wash to get rid of dirt and such like. and rinse it realy well.
as for letting the chamois dry, i dont think your ment to do this as over time it goes hard may scratch the car. they also shrink if you let them dry out, (to my experiance). But i replace mine 1'ce a year and use it for the wheels or somthing else.

hope that helps.

stu

I read a whie back on here that somebody cleaned theirs on a sink of hot water and carex soap. I gave this a try an it worked great....the black marks won't come right out but will be moved in time.

 

Soooo, warm water and a bit of soap IMO.

bin the chamois, and get a Megs microfibre towel!

Have to admit that, after 40+ years of car cleaning and leathering, using good quality leathers and latterly the best ie. Pittards Leathers from Halfords, I have foresaken them in favour of AutoGlym's 'Aqua-Dry synthetic ones sold in an oblong clear plastic box. These cost £7.99 ea. from Halfords and are a joy to use, at least on my Silver metallic car. Maybe on darker colours you might find that their water removal is not so efficienct as the real thing. However, they can be wrung out easily and cleaned very easily with mildly synthetic soaps without damaging them etc.

Real leathers inevitably get marked but apart from the aesthetics, this does not affect the performance of them. Try rubbing any dark areas with bar soap and then rinsing out thoroughly in tepid water. Always leave a leather to dry naturally and store it dry otherwise it will rot, of course. If you want to buy another real leather then do try a Pittard's leather. They are expensive, the largest ones being about £15 but you won't be disappointed, I can promise you.

Having said that though, I'm in the position now, where having discovered the AutoGlym ones, I am nevertheless putting my Pittard's leather out to graze!

Essex Escy wrote:

bin the chamois, and get a Megs microfibre towel!

 

and dont forget, you can chuck em in the washing machine to clean them!!..and i drive a diamond black......so results matter!

Agree with Marvin on the autoglym synthetic leather - i've used it for the last 5 - 7 years now. They last for ages and are very efficient.

What I have found best is that if you empty out your bucket after washing, then refill with lukewarm water half full and soak the leather in there, wring out and use.  Every panel or so, submerge it in the water and wring out again.  This avoids picking up any dirt or fine grit and rubbing it into your paintwork.  At the end, rinse out and hang over cupboard doors.

To wash, same as above but with a dash of car shampoo (Autoglym again) and give a good hand wash in the bucket. Works fine for me.

I agree with Essex, "Bin the Chamois" ......I  use a silicon wiper blade on the flat surfaces,then just get any 100% cotton towel (Ikea hand size best....about £1.80 each....IMO thats all these named brand ones are at the end of the day ) and dry off the odd bits that remain......once all done chuck it in the washing machine (with the other towels you used to wash,buff cleaner fluid,buff wax etc) BINGO...all nice and clean and fluffy ready for next sunday`s wash .......You can even have different colours for different jobs......the new "colour coding".... them Swed`s think of everything......

i use a silicone blade too.........love it.

Thats two for the "Blade".....calling all "Blade" users.....help the Chamois users see the light..... lol

 

I use one of those autoglym blades and then a cheap synthetic chamois thing from lakeland plastics. Did have one of the turle wax blades but i found it doesn't work as well as the Autoglym one.

Heard the Turtle one wasn`t that good,mine is made by Hilka (the cheapy tool people) only cost me £2.99 couldn`t belive it at first,so got 2,well cheap it seems compared to the others available.....works a treat...

I use a Blade and Meguiars Drying Towel. I will never buy a Chamois again.

whiteboy wrote:

I use a Blade and Meguiars Drying Towel. I will never buy a Chamois again.

 

ditto..........couldnt agree more.......

im all for leathering now.

seems to give a better finish.

and my blade used to scratch my car.  so i only use it on the windows now

I used to use a blade but found after a couple of weeks that it was scratching the car.  If it gets the tiniest if nicks along the blade it marks the paint.  Leather all the way in my opinion.

Just found a use for one of my old aero wipers, seeing as they dont last 2 mins on the car!

 

 i have an autoglm blade and found that it was scratching the car! only use it on my dads mazda pickup now!

STU GOLF wrote:

i have an autoglm blade and found that it was scratching the car! only use it on my dads mazda pickup now!

 

only scratch if you dont rinse properly....small pieces of grit etc.

 

also, keep the blade safe while not in use to avoid damage.