LITP 2024 Competition Winner

Alex210191 · Thursday at 10:57

We’ve attended LITP for a couple of years now and 2024 saw our first raffle donation of one of our treatments. We’re proud to help support the raffle which goes to an incredible cause - supporting rainbows children and young people hospice both as an individual and as a business. We’d like to thank Ray and his team for all the effort they put in to running the event along with everything else that goes with it!

2024 saw Robert win our raffle. This was an Ultimate Detail which comprises of a methodical and thorough deep-clean. Both the interior and exterior would receive treatments to help remove some of the engrained dirt and add long lasting protection.

Robert owns a stunning S1 Elise in black. A challenging colour which shows up everything, however once clean really does help to show off the curves the series 1.

I wasn’t able to grab many pictures as I was focused purely on doing the best job possible but the interior was tackled first.

Like many convertibles they suffer with a lot of dust and dirt that gets blow/drifts into the cabin. So a thorough vacuum was in order to start with. During our details we can vacuum the same Lotus 2-4 times depending on the level of dirt and also engrained dirt that gets agitated out of crevices. We use a multitude of tools and equipment to get into all the nooks and crannies.

We then work into each of the areas using a gentle interior cleaner - this is on most trim, plastics etc, but not glass and not delicate trim pieces. The seats are then treated with either a cloth cleaner, Alcantara, suede or leather cleaner depending on what’s presented. The steering wheel and gear levers area treated next. We like to use a soft scrub pad which helps remove the engrained dirt. Usually steering wheels are dirtier and harbour more bacteria than your toilet seat at home. So these area’s are crucial to pay particular attention to.

Depending on the dirtiness of the glass, is it a convertible? Has it been smoked in, or vaped in? We tackle this next. We hit these areas with a variety of tools and various glass cleaners and isopropyl alcohol to ensure a streak free finish.

Finally we will tackle the pedals and the infamous ridged kick plates with soft brushes to remove dirt and also toothpicks to remove any stones that are trapped.

We’ll then hoover again to remove any dislodged dirt and conduct a thorough check of the area before closing up.

Once the interior is done we then tackled the exterior of the Elise. Now being black it shows everything, that doesn’t mean to say a white car doesn’t - just that it’s easier to see.

Like many Lotus we tend to find they’re summer cars or weekend cars. As such they tend not to be too dirty on the surface but when you look closer you see more engrained dirt and usually a lot of road tar and iron contaminants.

On Roberts stunning S1 Elise the first thing we do is perform an initial rinse. This helps remove any surface level dirt before we lay a cover of snowfoam over it. The snow foam we use is a gentle sugar based formula so it helps ensure a good level of cleaning power whilst being gentle enough to not cause any damage. This is then rinsed away and the Elise is then hand washed. Various mitts, mirocofibre cloths and brushes are used to get into all the different areas safely. Before moving onto chemical decontamination.

Chemical decontamination we like to perform first as it helps breakdown tar and iron before hitting with a clay bar. This helps reduce the chance of picking up excess chemicals in the clay bar which we perform afterwards. Clay, when used correctly, is a really useful tool to help remove dirt that normal washing doesn’t. Effectively think of it as a blackhead strip, you put it on your skin, leave it a few mins and peel it off. This is in simple terms how clay bars work on cars.

After claying and washing again we dried the Elise off and sprayed with a Panel Wipe. Panel Wipe is important as it allows the wax to effectively bond to the various surfaces and provide the best longevity.

Waxes, we have various ones from all different brands for different vehicles and requirements but we went with a man made PTFE based wax to provide the best gloss and greatest longevity.

The exterior glass was polished to remove engrained dirt and a hydrophobic spray sealant was applied to help with water beading when out on the road.

Before dressing the exterior trim and applying a glossy tyre dressing.

Finally we performed a final check on both the exterior and interior of the Elise before handing back to a very happy owner.

I didn’t get many pictures but here are some from the stunning S1 Elise. Hope you enjoyed your Elise Robert and hope to see you out at an event soon.

For those looking to get their Lotus, or dare I say it other cars, detailed please reach out to me or view our treatments on our website at www.wainwrightsdetailing.co.uk

Thanks, Alex