News

Picture this: it’s a warm sunny summer day – you’re at the petrol station fuelling up – when you’re done putting the washing away, you definitely deserve a beer 🍺

 

But you will not be able to un-see what you’re about to see.  They caught your eye. It is undeniable.

😧 There are swirl marks all over your car. 😧

How did it happen? Well, life happened: getting a little bit too close to bushes, to the ever-wagging tail of a golden retriever, to a car wash (don’t even get us started on car washes…).
Bottom line is: they’re everywhere!

 

So what do you do now? Well, you let us help of course, that’s what. Several options are available here, depending on the depth of the scratches, your budget, and your expectations.

Available in a few of our valets already is our hand-applied coat of polish. Yes, you could try your hand (pardon the pun) at polishing your car yourself: just like a pimple that pops, it is very satisfying to watch. But getting the right supplies can be costly, and rarely worth the investment to maintain one car.

Should you choose to go down this avenue, the motto you want to go by is “Less is more”. No need to empty half the tub of polish in one application: the clear coat will be unable to absorb that much product. Go easy on the pad as well, you want to glide across the panel you are working on, not rub it in too hard. Focus on consistent patterns, like small circular motions, to avoid missing some areas or overworking others. It is reasonable to expect light swirls and surface imperfections to be smoothed out.

For cars that need a little bit more TLC, it is a good idea to consider machine polishing. This is not to be attempted without training, as taking away too much of the clear coat can end up causing more damage, including burning the paint. You do not want to have to respray your car – that would be a big costly mistake. Not to mention that polishing machines, pads, compound, coatings, can add up to hundreds of pounds.

Rafal and Tomasz have attended an extensive course on machine polishing with Mirror Image, and will soon be able to offer a one stage machine polish service. This gets rid of up to 99% of swirl marks, and up to 40% of scratches.

Taking up to a couple of days worth of work, machine polishing is an art. The first stage of polishing is done using a heavy compound for the most superficial layer of clear coat. The deeper we go, the lighter the compound will need to be, like during a three stage polish for example. There can be a countless number of stages to machine polishing – but the more stages there are, the more dangerous the polish becomes.

Though dual action machines are more time-consuming to use, they are also safer for the paint as they combine two different motions, hence their name: the pad spins in the same circular motion that rotary machines use, but the handle is also ‘wiggly’ enough to allow for the heat caused by the friction of this repetitive movement on the paint to escape. Think of it as the Earth spinning on itself (the circular motion) and around the sun (the wiggle).

That being said, heat is part of the polishing process. So there are scratches a dual action polisher will not be able to remove. Deeper or more extensive damage should be tackled by rotary machines. That is why practice and experience are key, and we recommend using trained professionals when a rotary machine polish is needed.

The final touches will be a coat of polish, of sealant, and why not a ceramic coating – to make sure all the hard work of machine polishing is not undone after a few hundred miles of driving.

If you’re interested in the process of machine polishing, have any questions about how it’s done, would like us to take a peek at your car and give you our advice on what the best course of action is – simply get in touch 📞📢✍

The Beast from the East has passed, the Little Beast 2.0 has been and gone, the clocks have gone forward, daffodils are coming out.
It is official: 💐 spring is in full bloom 💐!

Spring is a wonderful time to enjoy the stunning vistas across Scotland. In 2015, Scotland had a network of over 27696 miles of roads and 2.4 million cars travelling them. Mind. Blown. That screams road trip potential to me right there! 🚘 So how many miles of NC500 have you travelled? How many isles have you explored? Have many castles have you photographed? 📸

Another few interesting facts, of a stickier nature though. Did you know that a recent study from microbiologists from Nottingham University revealed that an ‘average’ car actually compares to a public toilet seat (say whaaaat?) in terms of the number of bacteria found per square centimetre. Let us all take a second here and read this again. An average car and a public toilet seat are just as nasty! 🤢 The study confirmed that bacillus cereus (a known culprit in food poisoning), staphylococcus and even E coli were a common occurrence in our cars.

Over 70% of car owners consume food in their vehicle on a regular basis. If dirt brought in on shoe soles or by pets wasn’t enough, spilled food makes for the perfect breeding ground for harmful bacteria.

Now, don’t go and dip your car in a pool of bleach: our immune system is perfectly capable of fighting off these creepy crawlers under normal circumstances. But newborns or people with compromised immune systems might struggle.

The point is: spring is a wonderful time for a road trip, and for a good ✨ CLEAN UP! ✨

Before you start off on a wonderful journey to the Hebrides, before you make life-long memories in Durness exploring Smoo Caves, before you buckle up and start riding into the sunset to Dunnottar Castle – do yourself and your car a favour, and book a valet.

Nobody will know your car was smelling of Cheetos looking at the pictures… But you will…!

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get this show on the road, shall we? 🌅

 

Quote of the day
“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” — A.A. Milne

It has been a busy year for us all at Fresh Car Valeting. Our busiest ever. And we could not have done it without you. So first things first:

💙 THANK YOU! 💙

2017 has been an incredible year, and we hope you had just as much fun as we have. So let’s look back on a few of the things that helped us get out of bed in the morning and let’s turn to 2018 and welcome the new year with open arms.

So what has happened over the past twelve months? Our Fresh Family has grown to the largest it has ever been. We have welcomed Tomasz in February, Vidmantas and Kristian in August, Rafal’s baby Klaudia in September (we haven’t let her behind the wheel yet), and Gamm and Eve in October. We have also grown our fleet to five vans to service an ever-growing clientele. So once again, from everyone at Fresh Car Valeting: thank you for allowing us next to your pride and joy!

 

In the motoring industry, we are still seeing the aftermath of the VW Dieselgate scandal. Between more legislation to change how cars are tested, and the growing movement to electric/hybrid cars, the UK government is looking to try and remove traditionally powered cars from the roads from as early as 2040. The hybrid and electric vehicle revolution is well under way pushed in part by companies like Volvo committing to have a fully hybrid range in the next few years. So whether you are a Nissan Leaf or a Tesla S kind of person, chances are you might have to decide on your next car after considering how it is fuelled, and soon you will have to think of how autonomous you would like your car to be! It is a completely different approach to acquiring a vehicle. We have put our trust in Andy at Simplicity Cars to get us the best deals for our new vans, so give him a shout if you could use a little bit of guidance in choosing your next motor. 

Let’s also not forget that in 2017, in other parts of the world, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber got back together; you can now have an appointment with a doctor on your phone; Beyonce gave birth to twins Sir and Rumi; the new Star Wars movie came out; Harry and Meghan got engaged; the most powerful country leader in the world stared straight at a solar eclipse; and Manny the Cat took a selfie! I told you, we’ve been blessed!

 

Now, the best thing is, 2018 should be even BETTER! We are looking forward to Tomasz’ new baby coming very very soon; terribly excited about hiring a new valeter to service our customers in Fife; but also about the Winter Olympic Games and a World Cup; the UK maybe definitely leaving the EU; a royal wedding and royal baby; the first self-driving car; the new Fantastic Beasts movie; and the Edinburgh Sushi Festival.

And of course, car manufacturers never rest for very long and always push on towards innovation. Here are a few of the cars which piqued Andy’s curiosity and that you can expect to see much more of in 2018:

Volvo XC40 –  with the technology borrowed from its bigger brother the XC90. But it is also a funky car full of neat touches like door pockets that can fit a 15” laptop or three 1L water bottles, two handy slots in the door for things like parking tickets or a credit card you like to use for fuel, and best of all a built-in bin in the centre console.

 

Mercedes A-Class – tipped to be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the spy shots of the mules show a car that carries the styling of the new CLS. The new model is set to have more space and be a little more luxurious than the current model.

 

 

BMW 8-Series – BMW has decided to revive the 8-Series after nearly two decades of it missing from the range, in both hardtop and convertible models. Sadly though pop-up headlights will not be returning with the name.

 

BMW Z4 – with the UK being one of the most popular markets for convertible cars (think about it for a second, let it sink in… nah, it makes no sense at all, but there you go!), it’s no surprise to see the BMW answer to the MX-5 making a return. The big news about this car though is that it’s a joint venture with Toyota, with the Japanese version set to bring back the legendary Supra name to the roads.

 

Volkswagen Touareg – this time set to be getting seven seats, a feature that lead to it being a little overlooked in it’s past generations. This new model sits on the same platform as the Audi Q7, Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus, meaning Volkswagen are serious about making the Touareg a challenger in a market that is growing with cars like the Range Rover Velar and Discovery.

 

 

So what are you excited about for 2018? A holiday coming up? A new diet? A promotion at work? Maybe a new car? Give us a shout if your car needs a bit Fresh time!

 

★ With the kind and expert aid of Andy Dickens ★

 

Do Car Washes Really Offer Sparkling Good Deals?

If you have a car, you usually want it to look nice. It comes down to pride, doesn’t it? If you are taking the time to read a blog article about car valeting, then you also know that there is a difference (or a few of them…) between driving your vehicle through a carwash or even washing it yourself in your back garden, with a hose and a sponge, on a warm summer day; and Rafal, Arek, Krystian, Vidmantas or Tomasz coming out to your home and safely and professionally taking care of your valued motor. So here’s a bit of insight on how car washes work, and on how we operate.

Even with the best of intentions, people are not trained to take good care of their car. Not really anyway. Anyone can find tutorials online made by car enthusiasts, but the issue with that is that there are almost as many opinions out there as there are enthusiasts. So it is really hard to navigate the mucky waters (see what I did!) of car valeting and find out if you are not actually doing more harm than good.

Car washes offer a basic wash for as low as £2. Our Exterior Safe Wash is £24. It is pretty obvious that the services available in a carwash and the ones we are able to provide stand at two very different ends of the car cleaning spectrum. We do not see speed as being synonymous with convenience. What do you actually get out of a £2 seven-minute trip to the car wash?

Well, most of the carwashes in the UK work using friction. Hard bristles, or more commonly now soft Lammscloth or Mitter curtains, work at removing any dirt from the surface of your paintwork. But as they brush fall-out away, the bristles or curtains also rub that dirt into the paint creating thousands of tiny scratches through your clear coat. We use lambswool mitts and the two-bucket method instead. Lambswool is a lot less abrasive than any other cloth or cleaning fabric, so dirt does not scratch your paint. And, well, two buckets instead of one: because, you know, clean water is better than dirty water! One bucket with soap to wash your car; one bucket with clear water to rinse the mitts off.

Other car washes opted for the ‘touch-less’ approach: no bristles or brushes, only high-pressure hoses blasting water at vehicles going through. The good news with that is that the risk of damaging the paintwork is drastically reduced, though not eliminated. The bad news: is standing under the shower head, no matter how great your water pressure is, enough to make you feel clean? Or do you need a good scrub to consider the trip the bathroom a success? We think the latter! Car washes do put heavy chemicals in their water mix to try and dissolve dirt away, and it does work. But it also strips off any protective layer of wax or sealant. If it came to that, the average cost of respraying a car is around £2500. We have been very vocal about the benefits of keeping a coat of wax on your motor throughout the year and especially during the winter to keep your car paint vibrant and protected against grit. We think that undoing all that hard work and investment would be a shame and definitely not good value for money, despite the alluring original offer made by car washes. 

In our humble opinion, of course 😉 

 

Even though winter doesn’t officially start until today, it has felt like time to take the electric blanket out of the cupboard for a while now. In winter, just like us, cars get cold. They get cranky. And irritable. And that’s because every single panel of metal is put under pressure; every single drop of liquid in every single pipe wants to turn to ice; and batteries start choking. So, what can you do to care pro-actively for your car?

Check your tires

Tyres are one of your car’s most important components when it comes to keeping safe on the road. Do not neglect them. We recommend that you visually check the sidewalls of your tyres every four weeks for any obvious damage – like bulges or rips (Keeeerb!!!!). When it comes to your tyre tread, the key number is 1.6mm: above, all good; below, you’re driving with illegal tyres. Damaged sidewalls, low tyre tread or wrongly inflated tyres could mean a fine up to £2500 and three points on your licence. You do not want that, folks!

Check your battery

Batteries can be put under a lot of stress in winter, due to extreme temperatures. At least we don’t have the same issue in summer! Although batteries can now last up to five years, we would still recommend you change them every three years. Definitely much cheaper than having to send for ‘Recovery’ in the freezing cold, on Christmas Eve, knowing the turkey is getting cold and the cat is eyeing the black forest gateau! A failing battery will also affect the fuel performance of your car. If you want to reduce the number of trips to the petrol station, make an appointment at your local garage soon.

Pack for the occasion

When it comes to driving, we should probably take the expression ‘spur of the moment’ out of our vocabulary for a few months. You need to be prepared.

Edinburgh does not usually get snowed in but, if you are going to venture to further afield, we strongly recommend you use your boot to its full capacity.

Take a torch (and batteries), take a shovel (better safe than sorry, right?), take a hi-vis jacket (cause if you’re going to get stranded, you might as well look good).

Top up your fluids and do a walkaround

If your service date or mileage is coming up, make sure to get that out of the way before winter. Regardless, though, it is your responsibility to check the overall condition of your car. Is this good enough to survive the harsh times ahead? Check your windscreen for any chips, as the constant frost-thaw cycle might cause irreparable cracks. Check that your wiper blades are not worn. Check your lights are in good working order.

And we know that you’ve topped up your engine coolant with water throughout the year – don’t even try and deny it. But make sure you now swap the  water top-up for antifreeze to get a nice mix.

Be the smart one and the pretty one

It is easy to see how taking care of the inside of your car makes sense, but it is not just vanity to keep your car looking great on the outside as well. Road grit may drastically improve your car’s grip on icy and snowy roads, but it also accelerates the corrosion of its bodywork. Getting your car cleaned regularly over the winter will help avoid a build-up of fall-out and road salt. Add a coat of wax as well and it will make life a lot harder for those impurities which stick to your paint. Think of it as moisturiser for car paint: the wax will bond with the paintwork and keep it flexible so it doesn’t crack when temperates drop, and snow and grit will slide off a lot more easily.

 

~ Thank you to Fran Brady for her kind contribution to this article 🙂 ~