What Our Customers Say

Choosing the Best Car Cleaning Kit

With so many choices available choosing the best car cleaning kit for a present or indeed yourself can sometimes be a bit of a minefield. Does the highest price kit really mean the best? Which is the best value for money? Which kit will help me get and keep a showroom shine? These are just some of the questions you will be thinking about in your choice.

So what are the essentials for ideal car cleaning kits? One of the first things you will need is to ensure it has a good quality car shampoo. Most of the popular car cleaning kits from manufacturers such as Meguiars or Autoglym will contain a specially formuated car wash shampoo that cleans effectively but does not remove any of the protection from the cars paintwork.

The next item to consider is a good quality wash mitt. I would recommend you shy away from kits that with a sponge or think about replacing the sponge with a lambswool wash mitt or microfibre wash mitt. Where any dirt or grit remains on the paintwork, sponges have a tendancy to drag themn across the surface causing fine swirls and scratches, especially visible in sunlight.

A good quality wash mitt on the other hand will pick up these dirt particle within their deep fibres and hold them away from the paintwork helping to reduce the possibility of swirls or fine scratches. Not all car cleaning kits come with either a sponge or wash mitt and again I would highly recommend you consider buying one to add to your chosen kit. Your friend, collegaue or loved one receiving your gift will most certainly thank you for it.

The next step in your choice of kit now really depends on how much of an enthusiast the car owner is or how much you want to spend. For a great value for money , easy and quick to use kit then the next most important component would be a good quality car wax to sit alongside the shampoo. This will ensure that the person using the kit can protect the now clean bodywork from the elements and the dirt and grime that is picked up from the road, especially in wet and wintery weather.

Most quality waxes will either be described as carnuaba wax based or synthetic wax based. Very simply the natural carnauba based waxes give a great depth of shine and generally last 4-6 weeks, whereas the syntetics will tend to give longer protection, but some will say do not provide the depth of shine. However some of the lastest synthetcis are now giving an equally deep shine but not all of these have yet found their way into the ready made kits.

For someone who is extremely passionate about their cars apprearance, then a kit, such as the Autoglym Concours Collection, which gives them most or all they need for a perfect shine inside and out is likely to put a great big smile on their face when they open your gift. This is one of the ultimate in car car kits you can get staright off the shelf and containing no fewer than 14 items.

But what about a present for someone who has a grage full of car cleaning products? This can be a difficult one as you won't necessarily know what they have or haven't got. I have therefore put together the following list of products that most enthusiats would be pleased to receive to add to their detailing supplies:

Clay Bar Kit - a step professionals and enthusiats use to get their paintwork silk smooth before polishing and waxing.

Lambswool Wash Mitt - something all car enthusiats should have in their kit.

Microfibre cloths - a selection of quality microfibre cloths is another essential item in any detailing kit bag and mothing you can never have enough of.

Applicator Pads for applying polish, glazes or car wax - these can come in sponge, microfibre or terry cloth and will always be a great addition.

And the ultimate - a Dual Action Polishing Machine complete with pads for cutting, polishing and buffing - guaranteed to put an smile on any car enthusiats face

Whatever car cleaning kit you decide to get for your friend, relative or colleague, ensuring that they include at least some or all of the above will start them on the right road to achieving a perfect shine.