"I've owned my Honda Civic Type R for just over two years and I've always tried hard to keep it looking as good as possible. However, last year we moved house and decided to carry out some major building work on our new property. This left me with little time and no proper space to clean my pride and joy. Dust and debris from the building work frequently ended up on the car and, because occasional washes were rushed, the paint inevitably developed a lot of marring and swirl marks.

After reading all of the information in the 'car care advice' area and watching the detailing videos on the Polished Bliss website, I felt both reassured and motivated to try to fix the defects myself. So, I put together an extensive list of products and ordered them through the Polished Bliss website. The team at Polished Bliss did a superb job of turning the order round quickly and the goods arrived the next day! Eager to use my new products, I set to work on the next bank holiday weekend.

Firstly, I gave the car a rinse with my pressure washer and then pre-washed the car using an industrial traffic film remover (TFR). This step is crucial in my opinion as it removes most of the loose dirt and grime. After rinsing off the TFR I opened the bonnet and doors and rinsed the engine bay and shuts at low pressure. Using R222 Total Auto Wash and a Meguiar's Slide Lock Detail Brush, I then cleaned these areas thoroughly before rinsing them off again.

Next, I carefully removed each wheel to clean the arches, which I must add was an absolute chore and took the best part of 2-3 hours! I tried using Meguiar's Super Degreaser, which I have to say I was a little bit disappointed with; even using it neat didn't seem to strip as much of the bonded grime as I hoped it would - you really need to put a huge amount effort scrubbing to get good results. Before finishing for the night I dressed the engine bay with 303 Aerospace Protectant and then garaged the car overnight.

Up bright and early the next day, I pulled the car back outside for a quick rinse and then turned to removing tar spots. The worst affected areas were the tailgate, rear bumper and alloys. I removed all of the tar using Autosmart Tardis and a Poorboy’s Super Thick & Plush Towel. I was surprised how easily the tar came off and with such little effort. After a further rinse I gave the car a hand wash using a lambswool wash mitt, a mild shampoo and the two bucket technique. I cleaned the alloys separately using Blackfire Tyre & Wheel Cleaner and a combination of brushes and microfibre wash mitts.

Next up was the claying stage. I'd never clayed before and decided to start with a mild clay bar until my confidence grew. I made sure I was generous with the lubricant and followed the advice on the Polished Bliss website. After claying all the exterior surfaces and shuts the paintwork felt like glass; really impressive stuff. That said, next time I will use a more aggressive clay on the wheels as the mild clay worked, but took a while to remove the stubbornest contaminants. With the bodywork perfectly clean and smooth I gave the car one last hand wash before drying it off using a PB Luxury Drying Towel.

I then moved the car back into the garage to carefully mask off adjacent panels and the plastic trims in readiness for machine polishing. Using a Menzerna finishing polish and a Lake Country Light Cut Pad, I began the time consuming, but definitely most rewarding, part of the detail. Honda's paint is notoriously soft and after only a dozen or so passes ~95% of the swirling was removed. I continued a little further with the Menzerna polish before finishing with Werkstat Prime Carnauba. This is a lovely product to apply and has the consistency of runny yoghurt. My only advice here is don't overwork it if you apply it using an orbital polisher.

Once the above work was done the paint really starting to pop, looking like a much deeper and far richer colour. I finished protecting the paint with three coats of Werkstat Carnauba Jett and Carnauba Glos. I used some glass cleaner I already had to give the glass a streak free shine to match the newly lustrous paint, and then finished the exterior makeover by sealing the rims with Poorboy's Wheel Sealant and dressing the tyres. I then finished off the detail by shampooing and vacuuming the interior fabrics, dressing the interior trims with 303 Aerospace Protectant and cleaning the interior glass. Three full three days of hard grafting was finally over... and the results were stunning!"