MX-5 Winter Spritz

After 3 weeks unwashed, my beloved’s MX-5 was in a bit of a state after taking on the winter M62 many times and having a run up and down the Lancashire coast… it’s also been bloody freezing for ages and the sun goes out of sight by 3 o’clock, so a quickie was demanded!

Fortunately I’d given her a nice coating of Collinite 915 a couple of months ago, the wheels had Poorboy’s Wheel Sealant doing its best, and the glass was Rain-Xed, so I was hoping for an easy ride before I froze something off…

Artillery:

• ValetPro Ph-Neutral Snow Foam
• Meguiar’s Hyper Wash
• ValetPro Bilberry Wheel Cleaner
• Autoglym Hi-Tech Wheel Brush
• Trusty Karcher with its own-brand foam gun
• Bucket & Grit Guard
• Meguiar’s Lambswool Mitt with a mesh back
• Poorboy’s Waffle Weave Drying Towel
• an old Water Magnet for the wheels

First mishap – the Snow Foam had been in the garage, and had turned into a white gloopy mass in the bottle! That soon went back to liquid after standing the bottle in warm water for a while… I made up a broth of 1 shot Hyper Wash, a slug of Snow foam (about 50ml or so in total) and topped up to 400ml with warm water.

The Bilberry Wheel Cleaner was applied first, diluted 1:1 with water into a spare spray bottle (I think it had bathroom cleaner in it originally…). That can stay on the nice gritty grey wheels while I foam up… Unfortunately I didn’t think to take pictures before I’d started foaming… and my phone camera didn’t know quite what to do with the fading light… oh well.

Snow Foamy and Bilberry-y

The bilberry & snow foam smell nice together Left that all dwelling for a while while I warmed my hands on a cup of tea supplied by the lovely Janet, and gave the wheels a good agitate with my trusty Hi-Tech Wheel Brush.

Snow Foam after a cup of tea

All the foam and the nasties it had absorbed was Karchered off, the wheels and arches were blasted clean (look no hands!), and I gave the body a quick caress with a bucket of hot Hyper Wash and a lambswool mitt. Lovely. All rinsed down and dried off with the brilliant waffle-weave towels.

Oh look, the car's red and the wheels are silver!

Stand back, light your pipe and admire your handywork from somewhere warmer… and look smug that you prepped the car in the good weather and stocked up on good shiny products

Shiny review – Rain-X Foaming Glass Cleaner

Mart has been trying out Rain-X Foaming Glass Cleaner…

Rain-X Foaming Glass Cleaner

I’m an absolute stickler for clean windows, and am always sceptical of glass cleaners… 99% of the ones I’ve used in the past have been rubbish, either not shifting grease and bugs, or leaving a smeary mess behind. I even resorted to vinegar & water!

For the past year I’ve been a fan of Meguiar’s NXT Glass Cleaner, because it does the job and is easy to wipe off – I’ve been using it on windows, lights, mirrors, my glasses…

But we had some new Rain-X Foaming Glass Cleaner in stock, so I thought what the heck, I’d give it a test, after a long summer drive involving sending a particularly vast number of insects to their doom with my windscreen. I wasn’t expecting much, especially as I hadn’t seen any reviews of the product.

Giving the can a good shake, the cleaner comes out clear and makes a thin layer of light foam after a second or two. The nozzle gives a nicely controlled circle too and doesn’t splatter, so not too much worry about getting it on the surrounding paintwork (it claims to be a degreaser, so it would probably take off some wax). Let it sit there for a few seconds, and rubbed it off with a microfibre towel, folding over to a dry side to buff off any residue.

Wow! The glass was truly spotless! I was well impressed. No smeariness either. I must admit I was converted. The freshly cleaned surface is ideal for applying Rain-X Rain Repellent too (one of my other favourite products, if you insist on having water beading everywhere!)

Tips:

• if you leave it on too long you’ll get a bit of residue. Wipe it off with a clean damp microfibre.
• work on a small area at a time (one window or half a windscreen) to avoid the above!
• it’s a bit messy to use the spray on interior glass, but you can spray it directly onto a cloth and get good results. Do this for small windows, mirrors, and glass edges, too.

Of course, you can find all the products mentioned at Shinearama.co.uk