DFB's Detailing Garage

[Jekyll_Hyde]

Bigger picture. Thoughts?

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[LouG]

Jeez, I thought I was fussy, but now I see I'm just a slobbish amateur.

 

[Jekyll_Hyde]

Jeez, I thought I was fussy, but now I see I'm just a slobbish amateur.

I always liked the Brembo’s with a pop of color.

 

[DFB5.0]

The final piece of the puzzle arrived for my new buckets today..................

Most buckets come with a standard plastic sleeve handle — functional, but not much else. The Snappy Grip handles are a significant step up. Larger, contoured and noticeably more comfortable when you're lifting a full, heavy bucket.

Snappy Grip Ergonomic Bucket Handle - Skys The Limit Car Care
Snappy Grip – gritguard.com

And yet again, this is one of those tiny details that was hard to find in Australia, and more expensive than it should have been. Ideally, I'd have colour matched with the decals and Gamma Seals — red and blue — but black was the only colour I could make work. Watch, next week red and blue will suddenly appear.

Snappy Grip Ergonomic Replacement Bucket Handles (3 Pack) - BLACK : Amazon.com.au

Installation is straightforward. The Snappy Grips are a two-piece design that clip over the existing handle — but first, the original plastic sleeve needs to come off. A sharp utility knife does the job; I supported the handle with a towel to avoid taking a finger with it. Once clear, each half of the Snappy Grip clips together over the handle. Done.

The difference is hard to put into words, but you feel it immediately. Substantially larger, contoured in all the right places — lifting a full bucket just feels better. At $2.50 USD, it's a no-brainer. At $11.90 AUD, the maths doesn't quite hold up — but I'm glad I went ahead anyway.

 

[DevilDog]

I always liked the Brembo’s with a pop of color.

Had my calipers done in Porsche racing green. They really pop. I've had a bunch of compliments on them. I've had several people ask me if they could take pictures of them when I'm out and about.

 

[DFB5.0]

A couple of months ago, I decided to try a different microfiber detergent. My go-to had been P&S Rags to Riches, but it commands a significant price premium in Australia, and I'd often read people say R2R is just hype — not worth the premium over competitor products. So I switched to 3D Towel Kleen.

3D Towel Kleen: $59.95 AUD (1 gallon)
P&S Rags to Riches: $109.95 AUD (1 gallon)

While roughly half the price, I don't think Towel Kleen is as effective as R2R. I've noticed my drying towels becoming increasingly hydrophobic since switching. Those towels had been in service for years under R2R with no issues, and only started underperforming after the switch.

So I've picked up a fresh gallon of R2R and I'm doing an overnight soak to try to revive them. To 15-litres of hot water, I added 125ml of R2R, gave it a stir and left them with the lid on to soak overnight.

I know towels have a finite lifespan, but the timing — performance dropping right when I switched detergents — points to the detergent, not just age.

I also know 3D and P&S are under the same parent company now, but both products were developed independently before merger.

 

[Dark Sprite]

I always liked the Brembo’s with a pop of color.

That yellow caliper on the vapour blue looks insanely good, do you happen to know what the colour is called?

 

[Jekyll_Hyde]

I don’t, I saw it somewhere and really liked it, so held on to it.

 

[Dark Sprite]

A bit of googling suggests to me that it’s probably Acid Green.

 

[DFB5.0]

With all of the rain we've had over the last week, the Wildtrak was in desperate need of a wash. Mud, road grime, tar, bugs and debris.............all hitching a free ride.

Before I did anything, I mixed up a 1.5% dilution of Bilt Hamber Touch-less, foamed it on and left to dwell while I filled buckets and got setup for the wash. I decided to do this first so that it would give me a headstart on the wheels, arches and tyres. After rinsing the Touch-less, it was business as usual; tyres with Wise Guy, wheels with Brake Buster, tar removed with KCx TEA. NV Snow then finished off the cleaning.

The Can Coat EVO I applied last May has left the building, so I'm nursing this car through winter. While performance dropped off around February this year, it's been present right up until this last wash, so the claimed 12-month durability is about right. The water behavior on the vertical panels is basically toast, the roof and hood are still decent enough. Completely normal.

To get it through the next few months, I decided to give a new-to-me product a try, Bilt Hamber Touch-On.

Bilt Hamber Touch-On Crystalline hydrophobic Treatment - Detailing Shed
Bilt Hamber Touch-On - 30 ml - Detailed Image

Touch-On is a competitor to the likes of Carpro HydrO2 Foam and Gyeon Bathe+. In that I mean a low foaming soap that delivers a layer of Si02 with minimal effort. Compared to HydrO2, which has separate versions for washing/foaming and the spray/rinse action, Bilt Hamber does it in one single product and applied three different ways -

- Via foam cannon. Add 30ml to 970ml of water, foam it on and rinse off immediately.

- Via bucket washing. Add 30-60ml to 10-litres of water, then wash working section to section and rinsing as you go.

- Via a trigger sprayer. Add 30ml to a 970ml of water, I'd use demineralized water in this case as you'll likely store this for a while. Again, working panel to panel, mist it on, then rinse off.

With all three methods, its recommend to wash the car first. However, if the vehicle isn't very dirty, or you've pretreated with Touch-less first, you can use Touch-On as a light cleaner. I would avoid using this in the sun or on hot days, especially if using the foam method as you risk causing water spots that will be extremely difficult to remove. Bilt Hamber also caution against using Touch-On any more than once a month to avoid overloading the paint and causing streaks and residue buildup.

Touch-On is sold in two formats, a 1-litre bottle or as the 30ml sachets I have here. My application method was via foam cannon. As you can see, the "foam" isn't all that foamy, but that's by design and the same as HydrO2 Foam. While the foam cannon does the delivery, its the rinse that does the work, helping to activate and disperse the sealant.

At this point, I'd say HydrO2 Foam provides a stronger beading effect, Touch-On seems to be more of a sheeter. That's not a complaint, just an observation. Either way, it brought back some hydrophobics to the paint, slickness too.

As for the rest of the process, I dried using ADS Amplify, interior cleaned with ADS Pilot, tyres got OG TD. I also gave P&S Reflect another try, which is proving to be an excellent product.

 

[DFB5.0]

Over the last few days, I've been attempting to revive a selection of towels that had become increasingly hydrophobic. I started by soaking overnight in hot water with Rags to Riches, then cycled through the washing machine with an extra rinse and spin, followed by drying on low heat. For now, I've done this to the following towels -

4x TRC Gauntlet 24x60 (Drying)
10x TRC Gauntlet 12x12 (Wheels)
4x Microfiber Madness Chipmunk Jr. 16x16 (Drying)
12x TRC Dry Me A River 16x4 (Glass)
2x TRC Dry Me A River 20x40 (Door Jambs)
9x TRC FTW 16x16 (Glass, Drying)

There is nothing worse than a hydrophobic towel, it just pushes liquid around and around, increasing the working time and contacting the paint more than you should need. In my case, there are two causes for this -

- Using SiO2 drying aids and glass cleaners
- A change in laundry detergent.

The obvious action here would be to stop using drying aids, at least ones with SiO2 or wax. However, the drying aid process is one of the tasks I truly enjoy, so I do my best to manage the situation.

In the past, I've noted that as long as you prevent the towels from drying out and get them into the wash ASAP, you'll reduce the likelihood of them become hydrophobic. And I still stand by that advice, leaving towels in an open pile for days or weeks is a one-way ticket to Hydrophobic City. But it's clear that the laundry detergent plays a role too. Moving onto a cheaper detergent didn't really save me any money. In the end, its actually been a waste of time and money.

Thankfully, it would appear I've managed to revive them. The drying towels are back to nearly new, easily soaking up water and spreading the drying aid. The glass towels are much better too, again absorbing moisture rather than moving it around.

So, I got lucky on this one. The retail cost of that collection of towels above comes in at about $715 AUD. Buying the cheaper detergent to save $50 risked a $700+ collection of towels.

I will also say this, sometimes the apparent "hype" is justified, as in Rags to Riches is THE BEST microfiber detergent on the market.

 

[5.0ALM]

I will also say this, sometimes the apparent "hype" is justified, as in Rags to Riches is THE BEST microfiber detergent on the market.

Game to buy some Bowden's MF wash and compare it against R2R?

I've been using this for the last 2+ years, only about to start on the second bottle.
Some of my towels are the same age, and aren't showing any obvious hydrophobic signs.
Granted, I don't detail anywhere near your frequency.

One part of my routine I did change a year ago was the drying.
Previously, I would dry the towels in the tumble dryer set to "synthetics or delicates", Fisher and Paykel terminology for low.

Over time, the amount of lint collected on the towels, no matter how minute, became annoying.
At that point I purchased a $6 clothes drying rack, and towels air dry over night.

https://www.kmart.com.au/product/12-rail-clothes-airer-19207735/

Haven't looked back.

 

[DFB5.0]

This is one of those things I didn't know how to search for because I didn't know its name. When I finally landed on it through a vague chain of Google searches, I discovered others didn't know the name either. The product in question is called a Bettix 'Bettamix' — a twin-chambered chemical bottle that makes dosing quick and accurate by eliminating the need for a measuring cup.

I've used these for years, mostly in horticulture, where they're common for dosing insecticides and herbicides. They're also handy for mixing 2-stroke oil — not having to carry a separate measuring container eliminates the mess (and the hassle of finding a way to clean it out) on the job.

This style of bottle is sold under a variety of different brand names, along with a range of designs and capacities. I prefer this particular 1-litre version, mainly for the metric measurements — it makes mixing fuel to a 50:1 ratio easy, at 100ml to 5 litres of fuel. Surprisingly, it's Australian-made, too.

10 X 1L Plastic Twin Chamber Bottle & Tamper Evident Cap Chemical Bottle Food | eBay Australia

Over time, the squeeze and release of the bottle causes them to crack, so I buy these in bulk and replace them as needed for herbicide, mixing oil, and detailing supplies. I then buy the chemical itself in larger bulk quantities and refill the smaller 1-litre bottle as it's used.

This may or may not be news to you, but if you've ever wondered, now you know what a Bettix Bottle is.

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