Some Year End Cleaning... Part 1

It's a Japanese tradition to clean, clean, clean at the end of each year, so the new year can begin a new, or at least in the cleanest possible condition. Cars included. So while it's now impossible at this date to drop into a detailer to get the car professionally cleaned, most people with cars do take some time to do what they can to clean their cars, whether by machine, or hand.

Now I've already done the wrong thing by having the ISF washed by machine, this time I took the time to do things by hand. 

Right before the year end, I had just picked up the car from the dealership - I had found a slight rattle (a big no no for any Lexus) in the dashboard and they took a couple days to take the dashboard apart, locate and eliminate the source of the rattle.  In any case, the car was freshly hand washed when I got it back, so of course I jumped at the chance to apply some of my favorite car polish/sealant - Zaino (in my efforts to keep my GT-R clean, I have plenty of this stuff at home...gotta use up!).

At the dealership, saw this very nice red IS350, so naturally had to take photo for comparison purposes

Specifically, this time I decided to simply use their all-in-one product, Zaino AIO, because it has some minor cleaning properties, and it also gives the car the Zaino slickness, sheen and protection we know and love.  Oh, and because I wasn't going to spend time eliminating all swirls and then sealing with a clear sealant like Zaino Z-2 or Z-5, because I will eventually take the car to RAPT to get taken care of anyway.  Incidentally, the paint is in pretty good shape (no bumps I can feel using the saran wrap test) so I didn't bother using a clay bar.

From: http://www.zainostore.com/product/Z-AIO.html

I didn't take any photos of the application, but simply used my Porter Cable machine and an orange pad.  Machine apply, hand buff dry, then apply the Zaino Z-8:

From: http://www.zainostore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Z&Product_Code=Z-8&Category_Code=shinemaintenance

The car looked like this when done:

This was actually the next day...interesting how the blue looks different when using the iPhone (first photo) and my DSLR. 

I then decided to take care of the interior - beginning with the driver's seat.

First time using this - the Zaino leather cleaner

Used a shoe polishing brush (soft bristles) to get the cleaner in all the crevices

Dark spots are the dirt that got removed - so not as dirty as I thought

What was amazing (and I didn't take a photo) was that the leather ended up with a satin-like sheen - so it looked brand new I guess. But as I was rushing, I then went ahead and applied the Zaino leather protectant.



Application of Z-10 results in the leather feeling softer and supple. Oh, and it smells like a brand new leather interior now, which I personally love (most Japanese cars with leather, do away with the smell because Japanese consumers don't like the treated leather smell).

So now my car looks pretty good (still need a pro to buff out all the small scratches) but the interior is nice and clean, and smells awesome.

But you know what, I wasn't satisfied with this level of clean... so after the New Year's, I decided to really get OCD. See my next post...