Fanatics Kit
Congratulations!
Congratulations on your purchase! This Fanatics Kit was created with the Bowden’s Own fanatic in mind. This guide will give you a run through of the products in your new kit, how to use each product and what order to use them in to get the most out of them all. We have a good selection of products here to get you started and help look after your car - everything from washing and drying, to protecting to your paint, to looking after your microfibre.
Time to wash
The Wash & Rinse buckets and Great Barrier Thingy is a match made in heaven. Place your Great Barrier Thingy into the bottom of your Wash & Rinse buckets before you start washing your car to make sure you’re going to be trapping as much dirt as possible in the bottom of your buckets. We would strongly recommend purchasing our Wheels bucket to go with this kit, to use as a dedicated wheels only bucket.
Always do any car washing in the shade, with the paint cool to the touch for best results. Not doing this can cause the water and the wash suds to evaporate faster than you'd like, possibly leading to water spots on the glass and paint!
With your Great Barrier Thingy's in the Wash & Rinse buckets, fill the Rinse bucket with approximately 10-12L of water. Add 1 capful of Nanolicious Wash to the Wash bucket and then froth it up nicely with either the jet function of your hose, or preferably with a pressure washer.
Start by pressure washing the car down, or giving it a good blast with the jet function on your hose. We do this to remove any heavier bits of dirt and other contamination. Put your Shagtastic Wash Pad into your suds solution, giving It a gentle squeeze while it’s in there to really suck up all the suds it can. Then, starting from the top of the car first, gently wash the whole car, being sure to wipe the Shagtastic Wash Pad over the Great Barrier Thingy when it goes back into your Rinse bucket, to ensure any dirt and grime picked up from the car goes to the bottom of the bucket and is trapped by The Great Barrier Thingy.
Once washed, rinse the whole car off with a nice gentle stream of water from the hose. At this point we want to flood the panels with water to help remove as much water from the surface as possible, so there’s less to dry.
Drying
After Glow is a specifically formulated drying aid, that adds a light layer of protection too. The way you use this one is to get two of our Big Softie cloths. Using clean, fresh water, completely drench one cloth, and then wring it out till it's just damp. Fold the damp cloth into quarters, to the low pile side, and then spray 3-4 sprays of After Glow into the cloth. Work on one panel at a time, work in side-to-side motions; up and down/side to side. Leave the product to flash off for around 1 minute, then buff off any remaining residue with your second Big Softie cloth, again folded into quarters to the low pile side. Continue this technique for the entire vehicle.
Cleansing
Once the car is washed and dried, it’s ready for cleansing. We do that with our Paint Cleanse & Restore. This will deep clean the paint and prepare it for the wax. Place a 50c-sized dollop of Paint Cleanse & Restore onto the Circle Work pad, and then rub it into the surface till there are no more dry spots in the pad. Do a section of the car at a time (maybe 1/4 of the bonnet). Work the product in an up and down, then side to motion till it begins to go opaque. Once this occurs, buff off the remaining residue with a Big Softie cloth and then move onto the next section of the car until it is all done.
Waxing
With the paint now clean and prepared with the Paint Cleanse & Restore, we can wax the paint. Lazy Wax is a super easy way to do this. Get your Drop Bear cloth and fold it in half. Spray 6-8 sprays of Lazy Wax into the folded Drop Bear cloth, and then spread the product onto one section of the car at a time, the same as before (1/4-1/2 of a bonnet etc.). Once the product has been spread, give it 10 seconds or so until you see it flash off, then flip your cloth over to the dry side and buff off any remaining residue. It’s that easy! For an even more protective finish, we recommend topping the Lazy Wax with a coat of Fully Slick or After Glow. Let the wax cure for 3-4 hours, and then apply a good layer of Fully Slick in the same manner as the Lazy Wax with the Drop Bear cloth. After Glow gets applied with a damp Big Softie cloth, then a second clean and dry Big Softie cloth to remove any remaining residue.
Quick detail / car show touch ups
Our method of cleaning is one we have been using for many years, derived from when we would return from car shows with the cars covered in a layer of fine dust. We have found this to be the best, safest and easiest way to effectively clean them down.
You will need the Boss Gloss detailing spray and Drop Bear towels. Working on a small section at a time, like a quarter of the roof, bonnet or a guard etc. Spray Boss Gloss and apply the first mist coat, using a little bit more than you would under normal circumstances, not enough so you have droplets forming, but enough so you can see the liquid totally covers the surface.
Then get your Drop Bear cloth and fold it in half long ways. Now this is the important part: follow this technique for this first clean. Grab a hand on each end of the cloth and gently apply an arms length away from you on the misted surface. Then using absolutely no pressure, slowly pull it in a straight line back towards you, while slowly rolling the cloth upwards at the same time. This way you’re continually exposing a clean surface of the cloth to the paint, further lessening the chance of any scratching. You will see the dust lines in the microfibre. It's important that as you continue, that you always make sure to turn the cloth to a fresh/clean section with each pass, so the dust in the cloth is never in contact with the paint again. Once the cloth has had all 4 sections used, put it away to be washed and get a new cloth.
After the first wipe down, very lightly mist the surface again with Boss Gloss. Grab a fresh Drop Bear cloth and fold it into quarters, and using the low pile side of the cloth, gently buff the misted area. Then grab your last, clean Drop Bear cloth, fold it in half and give that final buff with the plushest and driest part of the cloth, to leave a perfectly clean surface. It's important for this final finish that the you always use it on a dry section of the cloth, to eliminate smearing, so fold and turn it often. Then move onto the next section, doing the exact same process, till the car is completed.
Glass cleaning
Grab your other Big Softie cloth and fold it into quarters with the short pile side facing the outside. Spray 2-3 sprays only of the Naked Glass into the cloth, then lightly apply it to the glass and gently work it side to side, up and down, till you see it start to flash off. Turn your Big Softie to the high pile side of the cloth and give the glass a final buff for a perfect, streak free finish.
Microfibre cleaning
Probably the most important and overlooked part of detailing is keeping your cloths clean. We made our own microfibre wash to break down detailing chemicals from the fibres of the cloth and allow the fibres to rinse free, meaning your cloths will continue to work like new for years to come. For the Circle Work pad that you used with the Paint Cleanse & Restore, put a few MLS of the Microfibre Wash directly onto the pad and massage it around with your fingers to help release the product, then give it a good rinse under some warm water before putting it into the wash. This same method applies for any heavier stained cloths or applicators. You can also put approximately 10-20ml of Microfibre Wash into a bucket with some warm water and let the applicators and cloths soak in there for 30 minutes prior to putting them through the wash.
Put all your cloths and pre soaked dirtier applicators into the washing machine on a normal cycle, on the warm water setting. Put 20ml of Microfibre Wash in the machine (DO NOT USE FABRIC SOFTENERS) and away you go. Once they’re washed, tumble dry the cloths on the cool setting and then store them in an air tight container if possible, ready for their next use.
Any questions?
This gives you a good overview of the products in your new kit, and a step by step guide on how to use them and in what order to use them in.
If you have any questions, please email us info@bowdensown.com.au or call our office on 1800 351 308.
Happy detailing!
Brett Hobbs
