Professional Valeters and Detailers - Car Care Advice Thread

[Pro Valets]

Hello all - we are the Professional Valeters & Detailers Trade Association. Posts from our "Pro Valets" user account will only ever be from Bert (a Car Care expert who has many years experience in products and development) or Rich (a Professional Car Detailer, specialising in Classic Cars).
We currently have over 160 members nationwide who are all vetted for Insurance (all members must hold Accidental Damage cover as well as the more usual Liabilities), Experience, Quality and Pricing as well as Customer Feedback.

Please take a look at our website - www.pro-valets.co.uk - where you will find an easily searchable database.

Having been PH members for many years and seeing all sorts of questions pop up on here about Valeting and Detailing with a wide variety of responses from useful tips and guidance to the "pop over and I'll do it for you". By sponsoring this thread, we hope to cultivate an area where we can link PHers with our members for Professional advice and recommendations, or to help you find your nearest Approved Valeter or Detailer to do the work for you, thus removing any concerns about workmanship before they are let loose on your pride and joy.

Our members will be popping up to answer queries, and each will sign off with a link to their PVD Profile so you can see they are legitimate.

OK... Go!!

[RacingMini]

Hi, I went to town on my wheels on the weekend and got all the black marks off the alloys but there are some little rust spots on them which I assume is brake dust residue. Is fall-out remover the best thing to use and what's the best one?

Thanks
R

[lolaking]

Any tips for getting blue marks off my cream Jaguar seats? I think it must be from my jeans.
Thanks, Alan

[kitney]

RacingMini said:

Hi, I went to town on my wheels on the weekend and got all the black marks off the alloys but there are some little rust spots on them which I assume is brake dust residue. Is fall-out remover the best thing to use and what's the best one?

Thanks
R

The best thing to use to remove the iron deposit would indeed be a fallout remover, I would highly recommend sealing them afterwards aswell, Either with a wheel sealant or wax.

http://www.pro-valets.co.uk/store-page/mobile-car-...
http://www.sapphirevaletservices.com/

Edited by Shaw Tarse on Monday 20th April 16:35

Edited by kitney on Tuesday 21st April 17:41

[PoshTwit]

kitney said:

The best thing to use to remove the iron deposit would indeed be a fallout remover, I would highly recommend sealing them afterwards aswell, Either with a wheel sealant or wax.

Absolutely - fallout remover. I tend to use Iron-X from www.carpro.uk.com. Smells like death but is the most effective I've used.

Edited by Shaw Tarse on Monday 20th April 16:36

[Ride Revive]

Hi there,

I just would like to introduce myself, my name is Neil and I own Ride Revive Valeting & Detailing based in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

If you have any questions or would like advice on any valeting or detailing issues, please feel free to ask. If you would like to have a look at my PVD profile page, click on the link below, you can then also click on the link to my website there for further information on Ride Revive's services.

http://www.pro-valets.co.uk/store-page/car-valetin...

Edited by Ride Revive on Monday 20th April 21:53

Edited by Ride Revive on Tuesday 21st April 21:22

[douglas-94sn1]

Hi, I'm looking to take some car valet/detailing courses this year. Who would you recommend in Scotland?

[Pro Valets]

Hi Douglas,

In Scotland, Alan Medcraf at AM Details is your man.

You can find his profile page here - http://www.pro-valets.co.uk/store-page/car-detaili...

Hope that helps,

Rich

[moochofun]

Another vote for Alan at AMDetails - he did a great job on my GT-R prior to its sale.

[maisonblanc88]

Hi all

Another Pro-Valets member here. Dave Whitehouse From Ideal Valeting & Detailing in Horsham West Sussex.
Anything I can do to help, ask away

http://www.pro-valets.co.uk/store-page/mobile-car-...
www.idealvaleting.co.uk

[Pro Valets]

For those of you that aren't aware, PVD have produced a magazine containing loads of editorial content written by our members and supporters.

Regardless whether you are a hobbyist or professional, it is a great read!

You can buy it here - www.pro-valets.co.uk/blog/pvd-car-detailing-magazi...

Rich
www.classic-details.co.uk

[one eyed mick]

Hi I am having my 23 year old Mx5 repainted next month ,orig colours etc ,what is the best product to keep it looking good ,its a second car [toy! ] and I would like to think it will last a few years , also I intend to stripe it [pro job ] would it be better to wait until the paint is fully cured hardened before applying lemans stripes? thanks in advance

[Pro Valets]

one eyed mick said:

Hi I am having my 23 year old Mx5 repainted next month ,orig colours etc ,what is the best product to keep it looking good ,its a second car [toy! ] and I would like to think it will last a few years , also I intend to stripe it [pro job ] would it be better to wait until the paint is fully cured hardened before applying lemans stripes? thanks in advance

Hi there,

In any circumstance I would not recommend sealing or fitting your stripes until around 6-weeks after the paintwork is finished to allow the paint to fully cure. I would also suggest that you have your stripes fitted prior to application of any sealant to ensure that their adherence is not adversely affected by the product.

The best thing would be to have the car properly prepared and a long-life sealant applied by a professional once the stripes have been fitted. Many of our members offer ceramic or glass based coatings and you can find your nearest approved professional by entering your postcode into the search box at www.pro-valets.co.uk.

Kind regards,

Rich @ PVD

[one eyed mick]

Pro Valets said:

Hi there,

In any circumstance I would not recommend sealing or fitting your stripes until around 6-weeks after the paintwork is finished to allow the paint to fully cure. I would also suggest that you have your stripes fitted prior to application of any sealant to ensure that their adherence is not adversely affected by the product.

The best thing would be to have the car properly prepared and a long-life sealant applied by a professional once the stripes have been fitted. Many of our members offer ceramic or glass based coatings and you can find your nearest approved professional by entering your postcode into the search box at www.pro-valets.co.uk.

Kind regards,

Rich @ PVD

Thanks for the reply this was what I was thinking perhaps a couple of months ,re sealant I,m on a budget and a pro ceramic job may be well above it canyou give me a ball park fig ? thanks again

[Pro Valets]

one eyed mick said:

Thanks for the reply this was what I was thinking perhaps a couple of months ,re sealant I,m on a budget and a pro ceramic job may be well above it canyou give me a ball park fig ? thanks again

You will appreciate tat as we are a Trade Association, all of our members are independent and have their own pricing structures. However as a budget price you will be looking from £300 upward for a pro ceramic job. As an example, with another hat on as my own company Classic Details, I would be charging around £400 for a similar service depending on the condition of the paintwork finish and how much it may need refining prior to the sealant application.

Rich @ PVD

[Pro Valets]

We are planning to undertake some blind product testing and publish the results. As an independant body our test criteria have been rigourously plotted and to ensure a good spread of opinion we are selecting a test panel not just of our Car Care Professional members, but also of a group of other enthusiasts and weekend warriors.

Before we can start the first round of tests we need some nominations as to the best products from each category and we would be grateful if you would visit our voting form HERE and let us know your thoughts.

Keep checking back on www.pro-valets.co.uk/blog/ over the next few months for other opportunities to get involved with future testing opportunities!

Thanks for your help!

Rich @ PVD

[Pro Valets]

As some of you may know, the second edition of the PVD Magazine is now available through www.pro-valets.co.uk/magazine

Almost twice the size of the original issue it has been written by our members to provide a wide-range of information, reports and guides as well as our "Megatest" where we have followed a strict testing procedure on a selection of shampoos, glass cleaners and tyre dressings which were all voted for by our followers and then tested under defined criteria by a panel of independent enthusiasts and professionals using a "blind" protocol whereby each product was sent out in unidentifiable packaging to ensure preconceptions would not affect the results.

We are running a series of Facebook competitions as well where you can win a weekly prize for providing a brief review of your favourite article at www.facebook.com/ProfessionalValetersDetailers/

Rich @ PVD

Edited by Pro Valets on Sunday 7th February 07:41

[Magic919]

Magazine link needs to lose the full stop, as it gives a 404.

[Pro Valets]

Magic919 said:

Magazine link needs to lose the full stop, as it gives a 404.

Thanks! Hopefully all sorted now.

Rich @ PVD

[Scratcher_]

Just signed up to the forum

I'm happy to help out with any questions or queries.

detailR Bespoke Car Care - PVD Approved