Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hopefully a couple of good ideas for saving money on cleaning products.

When my S2 was in for repair / respray four years ago we went along to look at the 'work in progress' - could be a good club day out actually to see what goes on, the place was full of Porsche. We went in our BMW Z3. The hood on the Z3 was getting dull and grubby and generally in need of a clean up. The guy at Lloyds Autobody (Porsche / Mercedes / Bentley official body shop) said that he could sell me some Porsche branded hood cleaner for about £40, or we could buy exactly the same stuff from Millets for £6 - it is just tent / awning cleaner / protector. So I paid the £6, and what a great job it did.

This winter weather really dirties the wheels. I have a bottle of Wonder Wheels in my shed, but whilst looking for something under the sink I found a new bottle of Cillit Bang. The wife was out so she'd never know. I followed the instructions, sprayed it on to the wheels, gently agitated it, rinsed it off - exactly the same method / time taken / result as Wonder Wheels but at a fraction of the cost. It even smells the same as Wonder Wheels... but I'm not sure on the taste.

Has anybody else got any good tips in the same vein?

A detailer I know swears by Tesco's "daisy" (cheap stuff) APC (= All Purpose Cleaner).
Dilute 1 to 5 in water, and use to clean uphpolstery, door cards, carpets, inside of wheel arches,...

Disclaimer: I do not use it on waxed bodywork as it might strip the wax, but I have used it before waxing - to gently remove tar stains. No adverse effects so far...

Muck Off in undiluted form although it's not mega easy to get this way.

I used it on an old classic to scrub up an engine bay. Not perfect, but better than it was:



And after:




That took me around 10-15 mins to do with a stiff painter's brush and Muck off. I admit I may have used a pressure washer on gentle pressure to aid the process.

It smells eerily similar to Blueberry wheel cleaner I've noticed, but it is alot cheaper and looks the same in colour too! .

I also hear that peanut butter works a treat on black plastics.