Roof cleaning...

I used to think life was too short to worry about how the roof looked on the van. Passers-by can't see it, so why should it matter? Living in a three-storey town house means I often catch a glimpse of the roof, covered in tar spots, tree sap and gifts from the local seagulls.

Time to break out the ammunition:

Today's weapon of choice is another Meguiar's product: Quik Detailer, which safely removes contaminants without scratching. I use this on the paintwork with a clay bar, but for the roof it needed something a little tougher - a very well used brillo pad. A quick spray of the detailer to loosen the grime, a light wipe with the brillo (no heavy grinding required) and then buff off with a cloth. Here's a half-and-half shot:

The van getting some attention:

Once buffed-off the roof then gets a quick coat of Meguiar's Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax to protect the paintwork from future dirt - this means the next time I clean it should be far easier than this was.

Here's the finished roof as seen from the living-room window:

Fingers-crossed for a nice dry (shiny-van) Summer!