# Earliest Detailing Memory



## spyder (Jun 15, 2010)

As per title ,what's your earliest detailing memory? 
Mine was washing my dads car with a sachet of zip wax shampoo when I was about 8.


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## tightlines (Jul 16, 2011)

spyder said:


> As per title ,what's your earliest detailing memory?
> Mine was washing my dads car with a sachet of zip wax shampoo when I was about 8.


same as you ,dont know what age but used to do my dads car with fairy liquid and a sponge or tea towel in the washing bowl,

not far from what im doing now :buffer::lol:


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## Clancy (Jul 21, 2013)

Not sure what I'd class as detailing but me and a mate used to go around cleaning cars in the neighbourhood for a few quid when we were nippers


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## vtaylor78 (Feb 21, 2012)

Apparently I cleaned my toy peddle car with a gallon of washing up liquid.
I was 4 ! Thinking back I must of been stripping the old wax off to try a new combo ? LOL:driver:


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## dave-g (Nov 14, 2009)

Polishing my dads cars with srp thinking how great it looked....
With stockinette and a tea towel to buff :lol:


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## spyder (Jun 15, 2010)

dave-g said:


> Polishing my dads cars with srp thinking how great it looked....
> With stockinette and a tea towel to buff :lol:


Can't beat a tea towel! To be fair there wasn't microfibre back in the day!


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## dave-g (Nov 14, 2009)

That is very true, old man didn't really have much else around :lol:

Fairy liquid was the pinnacle of car washes :thumb::lol:


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## Luke M (Jul 1, 2013)

My old man had a white vauxhall cavalier when I was a kid. I used to help him scrub tar spots off if it with max wax and an old t shirt.
It always had a vanilla magic tree in it. That smell still reminds me of those days.


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## spyder (Jun 15, 2010)

Luke M said:


> My old man had a white vauxhall cavalier when I was a kid. I used to help him scrub tar spots off if it with max wax and an old t shirt.
> It always had a vanilla magic tree in it. That smell still reminds me of those days.


Amazing the way certain smells can evoke happy memories isn't it?


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## BaileyA3 (Jun 14, 2015)

I used to help my dad wash the car when I was a kid. Fairy liquid one bucket and a sponge, and when done he would throw what was left of the used bucket over the car before going to fill up to rinse again. Never thought much of it as a kid but looking back now I wonder why. Thankfully he looks after his cars properly nowadays.


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## Jimmy The Saint (Sep 19, 2010)

I remember washing my dad's car with fairy liquid and a manky old sponge when I was about 8. When I got my own car, the sum total of my detailing knowledge was SRP and a can of back to black.

The first time I looked into detailing further was in 2005 after I bought a used Audi S3 in black, covered in what I now know to be holograms. All I knew is that when the sun hit the car it looked dreadful. My mate's dad (who owned a bodyshop) told me what had to be done to get rid of them. He suggested taking the car back to the garage I bought it from, but I didn't want them anywhere near it. So I signed up to Autopia and did lots of reading. Pretty soon after I'd ordered the following:

Porter Cable 7424
Meguiars #82
Carlack 68
P21S Wax

It all snowballed from there.


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## vtaylor78 (Feb 21, 2012)

spyder said:


> Amazing the way certain smells can evoke happy memories isn't it?


Anybody Remember the "Few orange " I think that was what it was called.
Air freshener that looked like a traffic light ?


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## salow3 (Mar 8, 2015)

vtaylor78 said:


> Anybody Remember the "Few orange " I think that was what it was called.
> Air freshener that looked like a traffic light ?


Oh yeah, the 'fue orange'!










Theres one on eBay buy it now for *£45!!* :lol:


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## vtaylor78 (Feb 21, 2012)

salow3 said:


> Oh yeah, the 'fue orange'!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's the one, £45 Wow must be a collectors item


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## Kev.O (Dec 10, 2015)

I remember always wanting to give my dad a hand washing his car, but I was only allowed to do the wheels. This explains my obsession to wheels these days!


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## HeavenlyDetail (Sep 22, 2006)

Preparing my 205 GTI I had bought brand new the year before for concours at Silverstone in 1991.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

I remember dad getting me to polish the chrome rings on the steel wheels of his Datsun Sunny with Autosol.


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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

When I was a wee lad mum got me to polish/wax the car.
Nothing ever got wasted in our house. 
I remember having to use an old pair of "Y-fronts" as a buffing cloth!
You guys with your tea towels had it good :lol:


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## Bulkhead (Oct 17, 2007)

Washing dad's Princess with Zip Wax and a brush for 50p!! Swirls weren't a problem as it was more rust than paint. First proper attempt was using Zymol shampoo and cleaner wax from Halfords on my old Impreza. I then progressed onto Meg's stuff and thought I was the nuts!!


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## Actrosman (Oct 23, 2013)

1st 'proper' go at detailing was 31 years ago on my first car...... Red Mk5 Cortina.....tricked up with fogs/spots and a proper rubber RS boot spoiler, not the cheap old plastic Halfrauds rubbish!! Sunday's were spent polishing and buffing with Turtle Wax and Minute Cut etc using a couple of polishing pads that fitted in the end of the old chaps Black & Decker drill......were DA's invented back in '84???


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## organisys (Jan 3, 2012)

vtaylor78 said:


> Anybody Remember the "Few orange " I think that was what it was called.
> Air freshener that looked like a traffic light ?


Have one in my Mk2 Golf!

Feu Orange'

(french)


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## vtaylor78 (Feb 21, 2012)

organisys said:


> Have one in my Mk2 Golf!
> 
> Feu Orange'
> 
> (french)


Are they still available?


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## Lugy (Nov 4, 2009)

I remember spilling pink Windolene down the back seat of my mum's Rover 214, she wasn't overly pleased!


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## salow3 (Mar 8, 2015)

Just the standard SRP was used back in the day for me with some meguairs paste wax from halfords.


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## Izzy (Oct 31, 2008)

Polishing my 'Rioja' coloured Renault 18 with burgundy boot polish, looked beautiful for two days then 'bloomed'.

Later on I thought 'MaxWax' was the bees knees-it had PTFE in!


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## spyder (Jun 15, 2010)

So you invented colour charged wax without realising it!


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## SKY (Sep 25, 2011)

My dad was a mer man after seeng the bonnet on fire show at a market. 
I know a lot of jet skiers who still use MER.

Dad use to mer on I had the task of mer off with a tea towel that I'm sure was washed and used for dishes the next day!! Oh how times have changed..

Think my dad also used Mr sheen and a yellow duster as his QD.


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## Actrosman (Oct 23, 2013)

@SKY.....oh christ yeah..... I remember the Mer demo and all the chat that went with it.... Blackbushe Market.....and all the 'any tool for a £' stalls! Think I may still have a blue bottle in the shed.....ultimate polish was it?


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Back in 97-98,wash with one bucket and sponge with turtlewax,polishing with Eagle1 carnauba cleaner wax:lol:,and then in 2008 discovered this forum and everything changes..


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## DLGWRX02 (Apr 6, 2010)

Actrosman said:


> 1st 'proper' go at detailing was 31 years ago on my first car...... Red Mk5 Cortina.....tricked up with fogs/spots and a proper rubber RS boot spoiler, not the cheap old plastic Halfrauds rubbish!!


Ah but did you have the rear window louvre and a cb aerial aswell? lol

This was my memories of our x reg (first time round) mk5 light blue Cortina
Using hair shampoo and a bathroom flannel to clean and the kitchen sink green scouring pad on the wheel trims . eek

And the first polish I ever bought was Mer from Snetterton market, after seeing it on a shopping channel, then again at the market being demonstrated on a red mini bonnet.


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## Actrosman (Oct 23, 2013)

@DLGWRX02 No louvre or CB aerial but I knew a girl who had the louvre on a bluey mk4.....looked bloody hideous......along with a massive selection of soft toys hanging from the mirror! Mine also had Capri Ghia wheels. Was mint when I flogged it.....the price some of th we old cars go for nowadays, wish I'd kept it! And IIRC, the Mer 'salesman' at Blackbushe also used a red bonnet.....probably because it was the colour of choice back in the day and polished up well!


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## Techgeek (Jun 7, 2007)

Simoniz liquid diamond on a datsun.


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## spyder (Jun 15, 2010)

I remember the liquid diamond, blue colour ? Nice stuff to be fair


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## Actrosman (Oct 23, 2013)

I've just 'resurrected' the T-Cut thread and here's another blast from the past I found! How Alloy Wheel Cleaner has progressed over the years!


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## LewisChadwick7 (Aug 22, 2014)

surely wasnt only me that used to use the mop bucket when i had to wash the car? extra glug of fairy never hurt the dirty sponge either :lol:


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## ah234 (Nov 10, 2015)

LewisChadwick7 said:


> surely wasnt only me that used to use the mop bucket when i had to wash the car? extra glug of fairy never hurt the dirty sponge either :lol:


Started driving 3 years ago so the local car wash was my preference :driver:
Car looked really crap so I got some Mer Polish and wax....and something else I can't remember in a halfords 3 for 2....spiralled out of control from there :doublesho


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## LewisChadwick7 (Aug 22, 2014)

ah234 said:


> Started driving 3 years ago so the local car wash was my preference :driver:
> Car looked really crap so I got some Mer Polish and wax....and something else I can't remember in a halfords 3 for 2....spiralled out of control from there :doublesho


i used to go but only when it was 99p for a wash and dry :lol: then bought my first ST 3 years ago and it had a scratch in the side so got my mate to 'buff' it out as he called it looked more like he was attacking it with a silverline rotary old knackered pad and some g3 then gave it a wax with some poorboys nattys wax and it looked good to me then having never done anything like this so i vowed to keep it up now i'm here ££££'s spent and loving it! :doublesho


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## ICBM (Feb 7, 2015)

Ahhhh. My first was a Mini Clubman estate with wood paneling. Used all in one turtle wax and duraglit on the chrome.

My first real foray was a white Escort MK3 1983 that I used Simonize GT40 (I think) and was blown away by the finish. My neighbor saw it and asked me to do the same for his white VW Type 3. The paint was like chalk on the surface. Took me a whole day, but it was bloody amazing. Cleaned the chrome and rubbers with carbon tetrachloride on a rag. I would be carted off by men in orange suits and resperators if I did that today.


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## wd40 (Jun 20, 2007)

Can remember being with my dad at some show and we watched the mer salesman doing his thing with the mini bonnet saying this was the "New wonder product on the market" lol 
He bought a tub of the polish and we cleaned his Sierra 
I remember pinching my mums dish washing brush to clean the wheel trims!!

Oh how things have improved since then !! :lol:


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## warren (Mar 23, 2010)

1980 my dad's cortina 1600E . then 1981 Suzuki ER 50 I polished the carb with a toothbrush and autosol . Then stripped paint off engine casings then used 1200 wet and dry, then came up like chrome.....blimey that takes me back.


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