Car Detailing

what is car detailing or auto detailing?

Car Detailing is one of those buzz words that gets bounced around  a lot but is often miss understood, if I talked with ten people I could get 10 different definitions about detailing and all of them would not be entirely incorrect.

We hear this word detailing, detailed etc… kicked around a lot however there needs to be a definitive foundation that we can build on and explain what is it means to have your car detailed. Below listed are the 5 steps and we will delve a litter deeper into each one.

1. Wash

2 Clay

3. Compound

4. Polish

5. Protect

Before we start to explain the process,  we need to understand there are different types of car details depending on your needs, budget and time.

Every car detail starts off with a through washing that cleaning wheels/tires, opening doors and washing in and around doors and door jams, opening trunk and washing in and around weather stripping, opening hood and wiping around edge of hood. Finally clean windows interior, vacuum carpet, seats and wipe (using a moist towel not dripping wet) off seats, dash, center console and door pockets.  Finally protect car with your favorite wax and dressing on tires.

This type of service is what most people call a full detail or the works , for us professional detailers this is the basic detail or a maintenance detail for our regular customers.

The next level of detailing picks up where the above detail stops,  this type of detail  is in the middle it adds a few more steps.  The paint in this detail will get a clay treatment to remove embedded dirt and contamination from the paint.  The paint will receive a compound to remove swirls and a polishing. Finally add your choice of wax for protection.  The wheels will have the inside barrels cleaned with a brush especially if the design allows a brush to clean inside the wheel.

The next level of detail Is called paint correction this is the BiG Daddy of detailing, the process is very involved and requires several steps. This detail is also the most expensive, but the results are well worth the extra effort.

Now let’s take a look at each of the 5 steps mentioned above.

Wash: seems simple enough but I have spent an hour or more just washing some cars. First DON’T use house soap.  Why? It will remove wax from the paint and it was designed to get grease off dishes not clean your car. Soap is ok to clean wheels and tires and wipe down some interior parts as long as it is not too aggressive.

Next step in the wash make sure you spray the car down with water good to remove debris, this is important because you don’t want to have your wash mitt grind this debris into the paint causing scratches swirls. The wash mitt should be a big fluffy one that will allow small particles of dirt or debris to get trapped in the mitt and not scratch the paint, also make sure you dip your  mitt in a bucket often to remove particles of dirt off mitt so not to scratch paint.

When you finish washing exterior now go back and open door, trunk and hood and wash and wipe with soapy water in these areas.

The next stop drying the car sound simple, but not so fast I have seen way too many people including detailers use terry cloth towels to dry a car or towels that are not appropriate. You must use a towel made specifically for drying a car, it will remove water better and less streaking or scratching.

Claying: even after you wash your car there sometime can be dirt embedded in the paint, the only way to remove this embedded dirt is to clay the paint to get a nice smooth finish ready to accept your wax or paint sealant.  When claying the paint you must have some type of lubricant you spray on paint while gently rubbing it with the clay bar.

Compounding:  this step helps to remove swirls from the paint, but be aware this step can take several passes with a hi-speed machine to finish and you may need multiple buffing pads. Compounding can be very time intensive but it is well worth the efforts.

Polishing:  helps to remove any swirls left from compounding.

Protection:  your final step. You  can now apply your wax.

The above steps can take anywhere from a couple hours to several hours depending on the condition of yours cars exterior painted surfaces.  For best results  I have multiple buffers and pads for optimal results.  Car detailing is time consuming but the results are worth it, not only will your car look better but it resale value will increase not the mention the compliments and the overall feeling you get when your car is detailed.