The Beginner's Guide to Detailing a Car Like a ProA guide on how to detailing a car from start to finish including several tips to really bring out the best finish and show shine.
I would not ever pay to have my car professionally detailed by somebody else; it spoils the fun, and after hours of slaving over it, you can stand back with pride and say, "Wow! I did that".
Never use "automatic" or "drive-through" car washes to clean a car, even the ones that claim to be brushless. Automatic washes tend to accumulate debris in their brushes, which will scratch your car's surface. Even the brushless drive-through car washes use strong solvents in their water and very high-pressure water. High-pressure washers will damage the paint surface and sandblast scratches into the clear coat. If there are any minor defects on the surface, the pressure could rip into these and spoil the finish. If you love your car, avoid these!
Why Detail your Car?
Washing and detailing your car makes you look over your vehicle and notice anything new - dents, scratches, rust, tyre defects and other things you might need to look into having repaired before serious damage is done.
When to Detail your Car
Do not wash or polish a car in direct sunlight - cold water on the hot paint can damage it, and the soap and water will dry, leaving a white residue. This is especially important if your car has a dark-coloured finish. Never polish in direct sunlight, as the heat will bake the polish, which will be difficult to remove. Also, never polish when it is too cold - if condensation forms on the paint, it will mix with the polish and become an oily mess. Ideally, you want a sunny day, working in the shade.
What Materials to Detail a Car
Use only a quality detergent designed for washing cars. Dishwashing liquids are too harsh for a car's finish and will damage the surface. Try to use a natural sponge rather than a synthetic one. Use multiple passes instead of one hard scrub, and work in a smooth circular motion, using gentle pressure.
Ideally, you should also use a mild polish and a good quality wax to finish the process. Each of these will need two good quality clothes - one to apply and the other to buff.
You will also need a good quality chamois cloth for drying.
Optionally, you can use clay bars, tyre foam, spray-on wheel cleaner, back-to-black silicone, cockpit shine and metal polishes.
How to Detail a Car - The Car Detailing Process
Start by pulling up the wiper blades and hose the car down. This will remove any large salt, sand, dirt or grit deposits. This is important so that the sponge does not pick them up, which will scratch the paint. Once it has been fully hosed down, wash the roof. Rinse off and then wash the windows, rinse again and move down to the bonnet and boot, rinse again and move onto doors and panels. Always wash from the top of the car first, moving down. This avoids a) dragging dirt from the bottom to the top of the car and b) dirtying areas already washed. After you wash each area, rinse off the entire car. This prevents the soap from drying hard on the paint and keeps the water from drying and leaving water spots.
Do not forget to wash the underside of mirrors, along the lines between panels where dirt will collect, and around the trim. Remember, the door slams. Depending on the door type, you can soap the area, close the door and hose down, but I found in my Civic that the rubber does too good a job. Instead, I use a soft, damp cloth and wipe the slams over and the top of the sills.
Wash the tyres, wheels, and exhaust pipe, then wipe under the sills and inside the edge of the wheel arch.
Now is the time to spray on any alloy wheel cleaner or tyre foam. I use Meguiars Hot Rims, which I spray on and leave for half a minute, then hose off and move on to the next wheel. If you use a spray-on type tyre cleaner, now is the time to use it, as overspray will be removed when hosing down again.
Rinse off the car again and soak your chamois leather; it should be very soft. I use nothing but 100% real leather; synthetic leather can scratch paint, and it isn't anywhere near as effective. Ring it out and dry the body, again from the top down. Pay attention to the creases along the panels where water might sit, especially on a Civic's rear windows.
Detailing your car
After the car has completely dried, you can begin the detailing process. Some people use masking tape to cover plastic trim so it does not get polish or wax. I do not do this, but it's up to you.
If your paintwork still has tiny black dots stuck to it, these are typically tar spots from the road surface, bits of rubber or baked-on squished insects. These are best removed using a clay bar. Clay barring involves spraying on a lubricant and rubbing the area with fine clay. The specs will be lifted and stuck inside the clay without scratching the paint. We'll come back to clay barring in a minute.
Power tools and fine finishes do not mix. There is nothing that an orbital buffer can do that you cannot do by hand. The advantage of power is speed. This also applies to getting yourself into trouble. The edges of your body panels and raised/creased areas of the sheet metal have the thinnest layer of paint. When the body is painted, the liquid paint will flow away from these raised areas. An orbital buffer will concentrate its energy on the thin paint of these high points. This is another way of saying hello to your primer or, as the professionals say, "burning an edge".
To determine the detailing you need, determine the condition of your car's paint surface. Run your hand down the car's body and feel for bumps. Look for scratches. Look for chips. If your car is not smooth, then you need to detail with clay. If your car has deep scratches, they should be repaired before polishing and waxing.
If you are not compulsive and have just waxed your car within the last month, you may wash and dry. If you are going out on a very hot date tonight and want to impress, save an entire day and do all three steps.
Clay Barring
Start with clay, barring the entire car. The product is very simple: a piece of clay and some lubricant. Spray the lubricant on your newly washed car and gently run the clay over the surface. It will pick up most surface contamination like paint overspray, tar, bugs, and tree sap. These things keep the surface from being glassy smooth. As stated before, go from the cleanest part of the car and finish with the dirtiest (the top and rear of the car are generally cleaner than the bottom and front of it).
How To Polish Your Car
After finishing the clay, it is time to polish and wax it. A polish is normally a non-abrasive product based on a nutrient oil matrix and may or may not have a chemical cleaner as part of the package. Most polishes use fillers to help cover swirl marks. Wax is a clear protectant and will not remove or hide scratches or swirl marks. It seals in oils and polish, which would normally evaporate over time.
Make certain your car is dry. Water spilling down from a joint or window will make it difficult to buff out the wax. Water on your buffing towel will make it much harder to buff out the car. Change rags frequently when buffing, as they will be clogged with waxy residue and lose their ability to remove wax and polishes. Shaking and whipping out the cloth may help. Promptly remove wax that inadvertently touched plastic trim using a soft cloth.
Always move from top to bottom and try to break the car down into panels. Use a foam applicator pad to apply the polish onto the paint's surface, and clean 100% cotton stockinette (I use Mr Moggs 100g cotton) to buff the polish off. I polish one panel, then another. Polish off the first, polish on the third, polish off the second, polish on the fourth and so on, such that I have one panel with polish while I polish off another. Always apply and polish off using a smooth circular motion.
How To Wax Your Car
After polishing, do the same with the wax. Apply the wax with an applicator and let it dry, as we did with the polish. Remove the wax with a clean stockinette cloth and then buff it to a shine. You can put on as many coats of wax as you like. The synthetic waxes will generally outlast carnauba waxes.
Finishing Touches
Clean all of the exterior glass with the glass cleaner and glass cloth. Polish the wheels, watching that you do not damage the painted surfaces, and then the exhaust, antenna, and any other exposed or visible metal. Dress the tyres with a tyre shine product if you like. Roll the car forward or back a couple of feet to cover the area on the bottom of the tyre. Finish the detailing by walking around the car and buffing out any polish or wax you might have missed.
Car Interior Detailing Guide (Valeting)
The interior should not see as much abuse as the exterior wall. It might be a good idea to clean inside the car first to keep it dry (water could drip or come in on your shoes after the washing)
Vacuum the interior very well to remove dirt, dust, gravel, stones, leaves, etc. Spot-treat anything that might need it. A steam cleaner is a good idea for used vehicles, too. Wipe down all the hard interior plastics with a wet cloth. If you choose, you may lightly dress your interior plastic with an interior protectant. Armor All leaves a residue which will dull the surface eventually. If you use a protectant, spray it onto the cloth, then wipe it on the surface. This will lessen splashing and spraying on the glass and other interior parts. Try to limit how often you wash the insides of the windows. It tends to smear. Removing tar from smoking will require a bit of hard work. After you wash, get out of the car and check to see that they are clean and streak-free.
For anyone with a used vehicle or one few years old, use a soft, wet toothbrush to clean inside the car, too. You can scrub the "PRESS" button on the seat belt clasps and the shifter knob clean. Do not use the toothbrush on the paint of your vehicle, though. Its bristles are made of nylon, which will scratch your paint.
Now sit back, grab a beer and congratulate yourself on a job well done!
