Car bodywork cleaning chemicals. What is good?

That's rarely a good idea as they all scratch the paint. Not that it matters in this case...

Simplest way is to 'cut back' the paint before polishing. Plenty of products on the market, but the most common is probably T-Cut. They are all simply fine abrasives that remove a tiny layer of paint. Many waxes include fine abrasive too. For removing spots of tar, etc, proprietary products are available, but cigarette lighter fluid (petrol) works pretty well.

If you find something like that, let us know. :-) AFAIA there's no quick way of restoring the colour and shine, apart from using a proprietory paint cleaner with lots of elbow grease.

There is, but they cost more, and take some hours to apply properly. Mer is as good as most ordinary polishes IMO. Mike.

I find the Meguars range is good. You can use the clay bar with water or lube spray to remove ingrained dirt. Then either paint cleaner or clear coat scrub to get rid of oxidisation. then on with the polish to feed the paint (non abrasive polish, abrasion is the job of the cleaner) Then finish with a good wax.

I used to use Autoglym and it worked well on some paints. But found that others weren't so easy to maintain so I switched. I do the full treatment about every 6 months. I will give it a wax every couple of months. And a wash every couple of weeks. On the weeks between waxing I stick a little Mer in the water. It works wonders to the day to day shine.

I also find that Tesco alloy cleaner works really well and costs peanuts compared to the wonder wheels and the like. Also talking of peanuts, plastic rubbing and bump strip can be cleaned using smooth peanut butter. It lifts the excess wax off, and stops the plastic "greying out" so much. And it is cheap and environmentally friendly.

Machine polish with Farecla and a mop.

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Have looked at the site and have ordered some of this. Will look forward to seeing what it can do. Thanks.

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I wouldn't use water, they supply the quick detailer specifically because it acts as a lubricant and lets the clay glide across the paint.

Not trying to be picky for the sake of it, but with just water you run a risk of marring the paint.

Also try soaking the clay in some warm water before use, you might find you're OK but it will help if the clay is hard to work with because of the cold(ish) weather.

cheers, Paul

What's the difference between clay and any other fine abrasive - except that it's popular in the US?

AIUI because of the way it's basically a block of clay, it sort of "floats" across the (well lubricated) paint and when it hits contamination it grinds it off, hence it's important to use the lubricant.

I used one a year or so back on a Golf that I'd had from new and took obsessive care of and it's impressive how much crap it picks up off what you think (and what looks) to be a spotless car.

cheers, Paul