Exhaust cleaner, which ????

[Marc07]

Hiya

I was just wonder if you have used or know which exhaust cleaner on the market is the best/most effective.
I'm not planning to change it at this stage, so I want to give it a good clean.

I think it would have to be a chrome cleaner.
Is all smoky and with some hard smoked bits/rubish sticked to it.

Here is a pic if that helps

cheers

 

[Loz]

I normally just use alloy wheel cleaner & spray the exhaust on my way around the car, I then polish the exhaust with Autosol, you'll find the polish in most popular car shops.

 

[Marc07]

I normally just use alloy wheel cleaner & spray the exhaust on my way around the car, I then polish the exhaust with Autosol, you'll find the polish in most popular car shops.

Great stuff Loz, cheers

Found the Autosol so thats sorted
Can you recommend any good Alloy Wheel cleaner?? as I believe there is quiet few of them on the market.

Many thanks

 

[Loz]

I just normally use Turtlewax products or even Halfords own! PG & MA are the detailing guys so they'll probably have better recommendations. :bigsmile:

 

[obi_waynne]

Put some SupaGard on your alloys and the brake dust will just rinse off everytime with a minimum off fuss!

You might need a dremill polishing tip to bring the exhaust up to shiny levels, it is hard work but very rewarding. Just remember you have 2 of them, so do them simultaneously or when you get bored it will just look silly having one shiny one and one dirty one.

The exhaust tips on my A4 are similar to yours but have a dark black paint on them and this looks quite nice.

 

[T9 man]

Recommend the Autosol that Loz uses also, if you do this on a regular basis the cleaning will require next to no effort from you.

 

[Marc07]

Thanks boys

 

[MasterAuron]

Autosol is a bit pants tbh, once you've used the Britemax Twins (Easy Cut and Final Shine) you won't go back to Autosol and the like. Use the Easy Cut on some 0000 wire wool and it will cut through in no time. Then follow up by Easy Cut on a Microfibre then final shine on a microfibre to refine the finish.

 

[T9 man]

Autosol is a bit pants tbh, once you've used the Britemax Twins (Easy Cut and Final Shine) you won't go back to Autosol and the like. Use the Easy Cut on some 0000 wire wool and it will cut through in no time. Then follow up by Easy Cut on a Microfibre then final shine on a microfibre to refine the finish.

Thanks MA, this Britemax Twins must be really special as I think the Autosol is great!
Many thanks for the heads up and I will try some of this wonder material at the weekend.
Hopefully her indoors will stop talking and planning our imminent move next year due to the riots long enough for me to pop over to Halfords to pick some up and try it out! Bless her :bigsmile:

 

[MasterAuron]

Britemax? Not something you can get in Halfords, have to order it from a detailing specialist chap. It was originally made for and sold in Harley Davidson dealerships in the US...Look here:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=1969581

The final shine acts like a sealant too, you should see how easily dirt it comes off my exhaust.

 

[Marc07]

Well, just finished the first one, but going now to do the second one.
I had to work with what I had at the minute, Autosol Metal Polish.

Because exhaust never was cleaned before from new, there was a very thick black smoky rough layer with lots of hard bits stuck on to the surface, so Autosol on its own wasn't making much difference after 10-12min of polishing.
So I first I used P100 sand paper to remove that black thick layer, then P150 to smooth it down and then at least 15min of just Autosol...
...and the final result (so far) look like that:

Not perfect, but looks much better.

Thanks for advice guys and I may try other stuff as well in the future as it will much easier from now on.
Cheers

 

[Laz]

Autosol works brilliant on the 182!

Twin pipes ftw

 

[Marc07]

...and just finished the second one

so overall effect is quiet good, much better than 2 smoked hardly visible pipes.
Small detail but makes such a difference

Overall experience with Autosol, good.
It does what it says on the tin, but don't expect it will do everything for you or amazing final effect on smoky and over burned pipes like mine with small chips around the end.
On a smooth piece it does very good job and it's very easy.
On very rough areas, do use a fine sandpaper (but ONLY if you working on a exhaust pipe) and don't worry about being a bit matt-ish and scratched as you will polish it off anyway

Even if I'm not an expert or experience chrome polisher , I do believe that there is better stuff, on the end of the day Autosol costs 5-7quid per 75g tube, so its obvious that it's not a top notch product.

So, if you just want to polish/remove a small scratches or bring your exhaust pipes to life, go for it, cheap and good
BUT !!!!!
DO NOT USE on parts such as alloy wheels or front grills or anything with a very smooth fine mirror effect !!!!!
As it says on the tin, use Autosol Super Fine, hard to get in UK unless you are happy to wait approximately 2weeks or just use any other FINE Metal/Chrome Polish

 

[Marc07]

Just a quick update in regards to exhaust clean/polishing and also super fine chrome polish.

With first stage of exhaust cleaning one of this can help

Its a 00 Fine Grade wool wire balls. It can be used together with polish, for example apply Autosol on one of them and crack on with the pipe When you get the all dirt of and nice shiny effect, then use just Autosol and microfibre cloth for a final super shine finish.
Shame I didn't knew that before

Then...
For a super fine mirror polish parts such as front grills or alloys or some chrome decals you can use one of them, both are very recommended for super fine chrome mirror finish.

This ready made stuff is a Supernatural Fine cut metal Polish from DODO.
15-20pounds per 100ml
Standard procedure, apply with a cloth, wait until gets dry, polish it off with a microfibre cloth.

or....the stuff used by jewelers, sold in the form...like soap lets say.
5-10pounds per cube, white or blue, but you need both really

You start with the white one first

and for the final super shine finish you use the blue one

There are 3 ways to use it:
1) rub it straight onto the surface, and the polish with the cloth
2) take the brush, rub the cube and the apply onto the surface, and then polish with the cloth
3) crush it and mix with water until you get the paste from it, apply with the cloth, wait until it gets dry and finish it off with a dry microfibre cloth

I will certainly try one of them on my front grill and all chrome detail around the car and inside as well.
I'm kind of very keen on that jewelers stuff

Will update you when I get the chance to do it.

P.S.
This week I'm planning to test some Leather Cleaners and then Leather Balm
also
I want to try some Titanium 'super thing' car polish/wax