Detailing Connoisseurs Kit

Despite being clear, drinkable and pH neutral, tap water, the water which you've probably just cleaned your car with, is crammed full of mineral impurities. If left to air-dry, the water is allowed to evaporate off and these are deposited all over your paintwork. These may even require polishing out to remove the 'spotting'. The best way of ridding your car of these impurities is while it's still wet and they're trapped in the water (before they're deposited on the vehicle), using a suitable drying towel to absorb them safely, without scratching, and without merely pushing them across surfaces. Rainwater on the other hand is relatively pure, which is why you don't need to dry your car off every time it rains.

Lather Car Shampoo has been developed as a pH neutral cleaner so, while it is extremely powerful, it will not degrade or strip any protection layers, whether that happens to be a wax, a ceramic coating or a sealant. This is what makes Lather extremely effective on maintenance washes where you'd like to keep your protection layers intact, as well as larger details where you may be polishing and adding protection later.

Yes, as long as the 'bare metal-look' surfaces are lacquered and remain in good condition (with no lacquer peel or milky lacquer), you can simply spray away. The same can be said for the majority of chrome-look (most chrome wheels actually use a chrome paint, rather than a genuine chroming process), anodised and polished metal rims, even those with a metal lip. You'll find that most of these are lacquered to help prevent corrosion. Some vintage and specialist aftermarket wheels do have genuine chrome, bare metal finishes and unlacquered polished lips, for these we'd recommend proceeding with caution and checking the manufacturer's cleaning recommendations. Alternatively, on these kind of specialist finishes, Revolution Wheel Soap or a mild exterior pre-cleaner, such as Citrus Power Bug & Grime Remover, or a suitable dilution of Verso All Purpose Cleaner may be used. If you're unsure as to if your polished lips are bare or polished, a little Mercury Metal Polish can be applied to a small part of the lip, if the cloth turns black when the polish is worked in, it means the lips are unlacquered.

For engine bays, we recommend diluting Verso at a ratio of 1:5 (1 part Verso to 5 parts water) for heavy degreasing, or 1:10 for lighter cleaning. You can mix this in a separate spray bottle or a pump sprayer for easy application.

Yes. Glisten Spray Wax is the perfect product for use on previously-applied protection layers, and that includes waxes, sealants and ceramic coatings. In all cases it will add a quick and easy top up of protection during routine maintenance along with a whole load of extra shine. However, Glisten is a product that installs wax-based protection, and while it will extend the life of all coatings by adding an extra layer of protection, it has been specifically developed to install stand-alone protection, or to work at its best by bonding with previously-applied wax layers to extend their life and return the vehicle to the same hard wax finish. Wax protection can be applied over fully-cured silica-based (Si02) ceramic coatings without any problems due to the fact that waxes physically bond to surfaces. Ceramic coatings cannot be applied over the top of waxes because the wax layer will block the chemical-bonding needed between a coating and the vehicle surface. So, if you?re looking to top up a coating with more ceramic protection in the future, or aiming to extend the life and performance of your ceramic coating, we?d recommend using an Si02-based product such as Caramics Gloss Enhancer, Ceramic Spray Wax or Lavish Ceramic Foam, which will chemically bond to the original coating, essentially becoming part of the same layer. For more information on maintaining vehicles with Ceramic coatings, see our guide: Maintain and Enhance Your Ceramic Coatings In Under An Hour.

Although Iron Out Contaminant remover contains heavy-duty cleaning agents and degreasers, it's chiefly designed for the chemical removal of sharp, ferrous metal contamination that embeds itself into paintwork and other surfaces, and should be used prior to polishing or adding protection layers. This kind of corrosive metal shrapnel is generally derived from brake dust and builds up over months - as opposed to days - making weekly decontamination unnecessary. On exterior paintwork and glass we recommend using Iron Out every 3-6 months on daily drivers. On painted and powdercoated wheels, which see a much heavier concentration of brake dust, Iron Out Can be used around once a month. In both cases Iron Out should be used for periodical deep-cleaning and decontamination, rather than on every maintenance wash.