Superb Swissol (updated) (General Car Care & Repair)

Member Name: Nick555

Product:	General Car Care & Repair
Date:	10/11/01 (7032 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great finish, Reasonable price, Kind to your car

Disadvantages: Car cleaning routine to follow, Cleanse is hard work

The best car wax you can buy! (updated for 2005)

Let me give you a little bit of background. I've owned interesting performance cars for many years. I've been area & regional organiser for a number of car clubs & have often displayed cars in concours events.

I've used Autoglym products for 24 years & have had experience of many other brands. Seven years ago, I was introduced to Zymol products & then six years ago, I started using the products from a little company in Plymouth called Wax Wizard. These products took the Zymol natural type of products to a higher level, but at a cheaper price. Wax Wizard have since merged their range with Swissol who have used their resources to further improve & refine the range. The Swissol wax is now even easier to apply & buff.

The proper system of cleaning needs to be explained, so sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here.

1. Washing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First rinse the wheels using a hose pipe. Spray on wheel cleaner & agitate with a wheel brush, use a sponge & car shampoo if you're not using a wheel cleaner. Rinse the wheels & the whole car with hose pipe & use a detergent free shampoo & cotton cloth from the roof downwards. Wash the roof, bonnet, boot, windows & the tops of the doors, using a side to side movement (not round & round). Then rinse the car with a hosepipe. Use a second cotton cloth & wash the lower part of the car. Then use a chamois leather to dry the car starting from the roof downwards. I like the Autoglym synthetic chamois. After you've dried the car, open the doors, bonnet & boot & use a 2nd chamois to wipe the inside edges of the doors. This operation should take about 1 hour.

2. Cleansing & feeding
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every 6 months use the Cleanse #1 product. Cleanse has a great smell & you wipe it on the car, using side to side motions, one panel at a time & buff it off using a terry towel. It's important to buff without putting pressure on the paintwork - just the weight of the towel. Buff using your wrist - not your elbow. Keep turning the towel over & you will need 2 towels for the whole car. Using cleanse has the effect of cleaning off the old wax & contamination from the road & air. It also feeds natural oils back into the paint that have been lost to the sun & air. If there is any dead paint, it will be lightly removed. After this treatment, the paint will feel squeaky clean & smooth. This will take about 1 hour. The car must be waxed soon afterwards as there is no paint protection.

3. Waxing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every 1 month, wax the car. There is a great range of wonderful smelling waxes, your car smells afterwards of pineapple, or almonds afterwards. I use Saphir wax. This is a high quality wax, but is easy & quick to apply. It is made of over 50% high quality white carnuba wax & the rest is enzimes to allow you to wipe it on & bond with the paint surface. There are no petroleum products like the other cheaper waxes. This wax simply protects your paint - that's it. Wax the whole car panel by panel, using the small sponge applicator in side to side movements. Leave 1 minute & then buff using a fresh terry towel. Don't add pressure, just the weight of the towel. Turn the towel often. You are not buffing anything off the car, you are simply making the carnuba wax shine. And it certainly shines! This takes about half an hour. After you have finished, apply a second coat of wax to the edges of the bonnet & wing mirrors (if painted) & buff again. I also use a wheel wax for my alloy wheels, it makes them easier to clean on the weekly wash.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's it!
Wash once a week
Wax once a month
Cleanse every 6 months.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You get a better finish & better protection than other car wax products & you won't harm your paintwork or get swirl marks.
Get another brand, poor some out & set fire to it - it burns! This is because it's about 80% solvents, only 5% wax, 10% cleaning compounds & the rest is silicate dust. The silicate dust acts as an abrasive rubbing compound & the solvents are used to keep everything is suspension & then evapora
te on the car leaving the wax & cleaning compounds for you to rub into your paint. The solvents will also dissolve any tar marks & remove any old wax left on the car.

These "supermarket" car wax products try to do everything at once - & do nothing properly. When you understand what these things are made of, you realise what they are doing to your paintwork!

I've no connection with Swissol apart from being a customer. I'm not in the car business, I just like cars & I like to look after my cars.

Hint
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can safely dissolve tar marks without using strong solvents by applying some margarine (I use Flora), leaving it half an hour & then buffing with a towel.

Summary: