A clean, well-maintained car not only looks good but also provides a more enjoyable driving experience. Regular car detailing is an essential part of vehicle maintenance that goes beyond the standard car wash to make your vehicle look like it’s brand new.
But how do you detail a car?
This comprehensive checklist that we follow at RP Auto Detailing will guide you through the process, ensuring every nook and cranny of your vehicle gets the attention it deserves. If you’re searching for “mobile auto detailing near me,” this guide will also help you understand what to expect from our professional services.
Understanding Car Detailing
Car detailing involves thorough cleaning, restoration, and finishing of a vehicle to produce a show-quality cleanliness and polish. It can be performed on the exterior and/or interior of your car. Exterior detailing involves cleaning and restoring or exceeding the original condition of the surface of the car’s finish, windows, wheels, tires, and other visible parts. Interior detailing involves cleaning the inner parts of the vehicle from the headliner to the carpet and everything in between.
Exterior Detailing Checklist
1. Deep clean the wheels: Start by using an iron remover to help loosen break dust, rinse and follow with a dedicated wheel cleaner like Dark Fury either sprayed on or using a foam cannon. Brush all the components from the wheel well, to the wheel face, lug nuts, and the wheel barrel. Rinse with a pressure washer and finish with a microfiber towel.
2. Pre-soak your vehicle: Using an all purpose cleaner lightly mist onto vehicle, especially the dirty areas at the bottom of the panels to help loosen stuck on dirt to make sure you aren’t just blasting it into the paint with a pressure washer. Once it has had time to dwell, rinse off.
3. Time for the Soap: We recommend a PH neutral soap and a foam cannon, but you can also use a rinses wash if the car just has light dirt. Spray the soap onto the vehicle from the top to bottom. This is where we like to use a small handheld brush to get all of the cracks and crevices, and especially around the emblems where built up dirt tends to hide.
Using two buckets, one with a dirt stopper at the bottom and one without, the one with the stopper will be the rinse bucket and the other will contain the clean water, be sure to put soap in both of them. Using a dedicated wash mitt (we like to use ones with microfiber fingers so that there is more surface area), dunk the mitt into the clean water and going one panel at a time using straight lines gently glide over the top of the soap, flipping the mitt halfway through. After the panel is done dunk it in the rinse bucket and move on the next panel. Go from the top down, and once complete spray the car down with the pressure washer.
Don’t forget the fuel door! Hit this with the soap and brush, rinse out, and dry.
Special considerations: Alway wash your vehicle out of direct sunlight if possible, especially if using unfiltered water. This will help prevent water spots and the soap baking into the clear coat! If you can’t avid the sunlight go one panel at a time with the soap and wash process and dry right after before moving to the next Panel.
If your planning on doing a paint correction and ceramic coating, this is where you would apply the iron remover to the paint and waterless wash a lubricant, using a clay bar or clay mitt, you would use the same motions as you did with the wash mitt and remove and imbedded contaminants. Followed by a rinse and then move onto drying
4. Drying Your Vehicle: Using a dedicated drying towel, spray the towel down with rinse less wash to pre-soak the towel and minimize scratches, go in straight lines lightly dragging the towel across the panels again going from the top of the vehicle down.
After the towel dry, using a hand held blower, or blow out gun, blast the water out of all of the crevices so that you don’t get drip lines that could potentially lead to water spots in the clear coat, and give it a much better finished look when you drive away!
5. Seal Your Car’s Paint: Apply a ceramic or graphite sealant spray, or wax for added protection against UV rays and contaminants like bird droppings or tree sap. This will also help make future cleaning easier!
6. Clean Windows And Mirrors: Use an automotive glass cleaner to ensure clear visibility.
7. Dress Tires: Apply tire dressing for that glossy black look while protecting against cracking or fading.
8. At this point if polishing the paint and doing a coating you would move onto those steps!
A good hand wash can take anywhere from 1-3 hours depending on the size of the vehicle and how dirty it is. If you’re getting a coating done with paint correction it can go anywhere from 6-12 hours! This is part of the reason detailers charge what we do!
Car detailing is more than just a wash; it’s about maintaining the aesthetics of your vehicle while also ensuring its longevity. Whether you choose to do it yourself or opt for a “mobile auto detailing near me,” regular car detailing is an investment in your vehicle that pays off in the long run by preserving its value and appeal.
Remember that every car is unique; therefore, it might require different products or techniques during the detailing process. Always refer to your vehicle’s owner manual or consult with a professional detailer if you’re unsure about any aspect of car detailing.