FAQ - Your Questions Answered + Car Care Tips

Even the latest, most advanced, automatic car wash will damage your vehicle's paintwork. The chemicals and detergents used are very aggressive as they are designed to remove the dirt and road grime in the fastest possible time by the rollers. This leaves your paintwork with thousands of minute scratches from the rotating rollers, which will eventually lead to faded paintwork and oxidisation. If your car has suffered from frequent visits an automatic car wash and you would like it to look its best again, either for yourself or, maybe, because you're thinking of selling it, then let us help. We can remove all the automatic car wash damage by machine polishing the bodywork, then finishing it off with a quality hard-wearing wax, to leave an amazing finish.

The obvious answer is that it makes your vehicle look great! In addition, a recent article in Auto Express showed that valeting could add as much as £500 to the part-exchange value of a vehicle worth around £4,000. So the main benefits of having your vehicle valeted, on a regular basis by a professional using the correct products, are that it significantly improves the look of your car and increases the resale value. It will bring a quicker sale, at a greater sale price than a car that has been neglected.

You will need the following items if you want to do it yourself: Quality Car Shampoo, Glass Cleaner, Paint Restorer Polish, Upholstery Cleaner, Alloy Wheel Cleaner, Plastic Trim Restorer.

The Polish we use acts almost like a moisturizer for your paintwork, enriching the lustre, colour and depth. Waxing your vehicle will still give the paintwork a lovely shine, but mainly acts as a protective layer by sealing your paintwork either with polymers or carnauba contained in the wax. For your used car we might use Autoglym's wax based polish (Radiant Wax Polish) and for almost new cars we favour Autoglym's hard wearing wax (Hard Wax).

Waxing your vehicle helps to prevent airborne contaminants from settling on the paint and starting a chemical reaction. Waxing also diffuses UV rays and infrared radiation from the sun, thereby preventing both from being absorbed into the paint pigments. Without the wax, the paintwork would end up dull and oxidized. When a vehicle has been waxed, it will actually have a lower paint surface temperature!

Oxidisation is the combination of oxygen with another element. Paintwork can become oxidised due to paint starvation, which happens when the paint becomes dry and has lost its natural oils. Low quality soaps, shampoos, washing up liquids and automatic car washes are a no-go area. They will strip the dirt PLUS the protective layer of wax and polish from the paintwork, leaving it naked and exposed to the elements, thus allowing oxidisation to occur. By contrast, we can Hard Wax a car, then wash and dry the vehicle 20 times using our high quality car shampoo and the Wax will still be on there, protecting the paintwork! A waxed car is so much easier to wash and dry with the correct products. That's why a valeter's car always looks nice. It's not magic. It's Quality products!

If your vehicle has had an after market treatment, such as Lifeshine, Diamond Brite or Supaguard, and it is still within the lifetime of the product, you should not have the car polished as this would compromise the effectiveness of the treatment. You are, however, advised to enhance the protection of the treatment by having the vehicle waxed with a wax-only product. The wax can build up over time, giving even more protection. With our quality products and expertise, we can keep your car's paintwork protected and in showroom condition and, in return, maintain the highest resale value.

It is advisable, but not imperative. We pressure wash most cars before we wash them by hand. This rinses off particles and loose dirt and also cools down the bodywork, wheels and brakes. Bonnets and wheels get hot during use so, if you can, allow an hour before a valet on the exterior of your vehicle. This will prevent water spots and wheel stains occurring due to cleaning products evaporating on hot wheels and panels. If the weather is extremely hot, try to park in a shaded area if possible, especially if you have booked an exterior valet.

Steam cleaning would mean that the seats and carpet are removed from your vehicle to prevent everything else getting soaked. The seats and carpet would need to be left to dry for 2 days, then refitted - "NO Thank you" I hear you say! Don't worry, we can Shampoo carpets and upholstery with our powerful extraction machines without removing anything from your car. Our professional machines result in much quicker drying times, leaving the seats feeling almost dry to the touch. If we need to repeat the application, e.g. to treat particularly dirty or soiled seats, it is advisable to allow an extra couple of hours before using any freshly washed areas. This will allow the area to dry naturally, which ensures a much better appearance and feel.