Hints And Tips For Car Detailing

Experienced professionals consider car detailing as an art which can help in improving the

appearance of your car near to its once showroom look or in some cases better than that. By

utilizing a unique set of skills picked up by experience which covers all the topics of car care

including washing, polishing, waxing along with cleaning tires and wheels as well as taking care

of interior upholstery such as fabric, carpets and leather etc. On the other hand professional

detailers consider car detailing as art and science both. According to them as a science it takes care

of concrete elements including equipment, chemicals, industry standards, customer’s requirements

and knowledge of the surfaces of the vehicle. Car detailing as an art combines all these factors into

a procedural activity which can be used in a particular situation. As a professional detailer their

aim is to provide quality service and workmanship to satisfy customers needs.

You will need to follow a number of steps while detailing your vehicle and even more so if you

are working on detailing it back to new car status. Alternatively you might only be protecting your

pride and joy or to make it look better than your neighbours or simply to take routine care of it.

Some car detailing do's and don’ts are discussed in brief in this write-up to help in detailing your

car successfully. You can make your car detailing more enjoyable and far easier by following the

suggestions and avoiding the mistakes and pitfalls given here that could otherwise make your

efforts merely a waste of time and hard work.

Avoid the large chore foam washing Sponge: The first suggestion for scratchless car detailing

from the professional detailers is to avoid the washing sponge you might usually use for this

purpose. You should replace it with quality microfiber car wash mitt to get much better results.

Small chored foam is ok as it doesn’t tend to collect dirt like its alternative.

Avoid using Detergents used in the household: You should never wash your car with the

washing liquids or detergents used in your household. Most of these detergents include acidic

cleaning agents to remove the grime and grease. Such chemicals can strip waxes and sealants off

the paintwork. Each wash with detergent will dull the look of plastic trim and paint. Specifically

designed car wash should be used for removing grime and dirt from your car without damaging its

protective layers and paint. A common myth is that wash and wax will actually wax your car, in

fact the wax component in a car wash solution provides superior lubrication between the wash

sponge/mit reducing the likelihood of surface scratches.

Avoid using dirty water to wash your car: You should never reuse the recycled water on the

bodywork of your car which you have already used to wash it. You should use two buckets so as

not to cross contaminate. One bucket will be for the wheels and wheel arches and the other bucket

will be purely for the body of the car. This ensures there is no grit in the bucket which will leave

micro scratches.

Use grit guard for more protection: Another clever way to protect from surface scratching is to

use grit guard at the bottom of your bucket with clear water. When you rinse your mitt in this

bucket again and again grit matter such as sand and dirt and dust will fall at the bottom of the

bucket through the holes of the guard. It will prevent the grit to mix up with the water again while

rinsing your mitt.

Cool down the vehicle before washing it: Ideally you should wash your car when it is cool or in

shady place to avoid the water spots caused by quick evaporation of water from hot surface.

Use spraying device: If you are using hose connection as an alternative to use buckets for washing

your car then you are advised to use spray system as an inexpensive and water saving option. This

smart device can mix the shampoo with clean water automatically and spray it directly on your car

as per required dilution by fitting it on the end of the hose. It also allows you to switch between

plain water and shampoo mixed water just by rotating your small tap while rinsing the dirt from

your car and mitt. Thus you can easily protect the protective layers and paintwork of your car by

using such an effective device

Wet it to loosen dirt: Before washing your car you should loosen it is dirt by wetting it from it is

top with good spray of water. At this time it is a good idea to rinse the wheel arches, wheels, door

jambs etc to loosen all excess dirt from the car.

First wash wheels and tyres of the car: You should start washing your car from its wheels and

tyres followed by the roof moving downwards. Always rinse the car and keep it wet while your

moving around it to eliminate dry water stains on the clear coat.

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Use separate mitt for paintwork: As mentioned earlier you should use separate mitts for washing

tyres and wheels of your car as well as its paintwork. The use of same mitt for washing both the

parts can contaminate the paintwork as brake dust can be damaging for it.

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Rinse finally with hose: If possible you should use hose to give a final rinse to your car instead

of using spray device. It will help you in removing even the last residue and particle from its

paintwork. You should rinse your chamois thoroughly before using it to dry your car. In this way

you will be able to reduce the chances of swirling and marring on the paintwork.

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By strictly following the car detailing do's and don’ts discussed in this write-up you can easily

improve the look of your car as it looked when you brought it from the showroom. In some cases

your car can look even better than it is showroom look by using quality cleaning products and

better equipment required for this purpose. Polishing and scratch correction will be covered in

another tutorial.

Information proudly provided by the experts in car detailing.

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