Want your car to have that showroom look, just like the first day you got it? Car washes are too short to deal with all the dust, dirt, mud and road debris that stubbornly stick to the paintwork and are conspiring to eat into the metal. For thorough results and to remove all contaminants, you’ll want to tend to all the nooks and crannies that often get neglected until they’re an eyesore or have done considerable damage. This is where detailing comes in. It not only restores your car’s good looks but also adds a layer of protection to keep it that way for longer.
With the wide selection of car exterior detailing products, many car owners are now taking matters into their own hands and skipping the exorbitantly high costs of professional detailing. You can tend to all the nitty-gritty of keeping the vehicle spotless in your own time, and all that from the comfort of your home. And the savings soon add up if you’re like most UK households with more than one car.
Why Regular Detailing Is a Must
Consider detailing, like regular service intervals. Oil and fluid changes are fine, but a rusting car won’t get far no matter how good the engine is. Detailing protects the paint, wheels, tyres and bodywork from common road nasties and prevents rust buildup on vital suspension and chassis components. It also staves off advanced wear on cars exposed to the elements, with UV rays doing much of the harm.
So this is not just about how the car looks, though surface or deeper damage doesn’t exactly help with aesthetics. Products are designed to deal with specific car parts and materials, and finishing touches with waxes and sealants bring back that showroom sheen we all crave.
How It’s Done
Detailing your car should be done in the shade, on a dry day, and with plenty of time to spare. Every car is different, so tending to details will also be different. Most drivers first do the interior, allowing seats, mats and trim to dry before throwing more weight to the outside.
Like every serious undertaking, the job is done in stages, with different exterior car care products in each. You’ll want all your gear together before beginning, and you should have a good pressure washer with all the right attachments. This is what you’ll be using to get on foam, deal with stubborn stains, and get better results in tight spots like the wheel arches.
Start with the Wheels
Wheels pick up all the grime from the road and have a nasty habit of spraying it elsewhere. They’re the dirtiest car parts, so they need your attention first. They need a good pre-soak and a wheel cleaner to eat into hardened dirt, mud and grease. Here you’ll also have a decent-sized bucket filled with warm water to rinse dirt that’s collected on microfiber cloths or clear out grime stuck to brushes.
Use Pre-wash Foam
Pre-wash snow foams offer the biggest differences in results, and this is often left out in a regular car wash. The foam is sprayed from top to bottom using a pressure washer and compatible lance. It breaks down ingrained dirt particles and loosens them from the paintwork, making the rinse phase afterwards more effective. The thick lather also reduces the likelihood of damage from swirls and scratches when dealing with stubborn stains.
The solution is especially effective in overlooked areas, like the gaps in the body panels, around number plates, the side mirrors, the grille and more. If the car has visible stains and grime pockets, you can previously spray a pre-cleaner on problematic areas. Let both do their thing, then rinse.
Get Your Mitts On
This is where detailing deviates most from automated car washes. You’ll be throwing in more effort with a proper car shampoo, a few mitts and a pair of buckets. Car shampoos are specially formulated solutions that remove more contaminants while still being gentle on the paint coatings. Most are pH neutral, so there are no harmful chemicals like you’ll find in many household cleaning products. Moreover, there are gloss shampoos for a more noticeable sheen and matte shampoos to keep things simple.
The shampoo is applied with mitts, working your way from top to bottom and rinsing as needed. Ensure you get to all nooks and crannies and deal with hardened dirt using brushes with the right bristle hardness.
Deal with Ingrained Contaminants
After the cleaning phase, you’ll be preparing the car for polishing and waxing. But first, there’s the issue of stains that just won’t go away. There are quite a few car exterior detailing products to choose from, depending on what you’re dealing with.
Use clay bars to get rid of tar spots from chipped asphalt, iron fallout cleaner for rust pockets, and birdlime remover to prevent flaking paint and rusting panels. Follow up with rinsing and using drying towels, working your way from top to bottom, and making sure you don’t leave streaks or watermarks. You can additionally use an electric blower to speed things up.
Polishing and Waxing
Polishing is about giving swirls, scratches and imperfections in the paintwork a scare. Polish can be applied by hand or machine, and give similar or different results if you know what you’re doing. Generally, avoid machine polishing if you haven’t had any previous machines.
Less aggressive polish can tackle minor paintwork damage, bring back the gloss finish, and additionally protect against UV radiation. You can also follow up with glaze polish or filler if you’re also thinking of dabbing on some wax too. This is applied with microfiber cloths or hand pucks and should seal the paint against damage.
Keeping up with nice methods is a nice wax. Specialized businesses like JennyChem or related ones should keep you covered.
Final Touches
There are a few more things to do before you get the perfect finish. Tyre cleaners and dressings bring back life to the rubber and help reduce tyre wear. You’ll also need to deal with the glass, including the windscreen, windows and mirrors, as well as the glass trim. Spray-on glass cleaner is an easy way to increase visibility and get rid of sticky insects, birdlime and grease marks.
The benefits of thorough detailing mean you can boast how good your looks are, earn some more cash if you intend to sell, and have the exterior protected in bad weather or adverse driving conditions. This should be done at least twice a year with the full suite of products, but you also clean down minor dirt and dust with general-purpose cleaners now and then for more respectable looks.
