Top 8 tips for vehicle detailing
We’re here to give you 8 of our insights into what you should be doing when detailing your vehicle.
1. Don’t forget to snow foam/pre-wash:
Using a Snow Foam or Pre-Wash is the easiest and safest way to remove dirt, traffic film and grime from your vehicle. As these are spray on, wash off methods there is no need for any contact with the vehicle, reducing the chances of scratching the paintwork.
2. Make sure you’re using the right shampoo:
Fairy liquid is for washing your dishes, leave it in the kitchen. This type of soap is too harsh for your vehicles paintwork and will do more harm than good and will shorten the lifespan of your paintwork. Our vehicle shampoo is pH neutral and will not only just clean your vehicle, but they are safe to use on all protective coatings including waxes and ceramic.
3. Get a good wash mitt, don’t clean your car with a sponge:
We’ve all heard about washing your vehicle with a “bucket and sponge”, but is this the right thing to do? The answer is no, it’s not. Sponges will hold larger amount of grit and dirt as it has large pores. Once the grit is embedded in the sponge you might as well be using sandpaper. Using a wash mitt (usually a microfibre mitt) allows you to wash this grit and dirt off when you rinse it.
4. Use the 2 bucket method and grit guards:
We couldn’t recommend this method enough. It is absolutely vital that you adopt this method to avoid scratching your paintwork. One bucket should just have clean water in it. This is so you can wash your mitt in this bucket, removing all the grit and dirt off it before you submerge your mitt into the second bucket which will contain the shampoo. The grit guards inside both buckets will ensure that the dirt will sink to the bottom, meaning it won’t be floating around and attach to your clean wash mitt.
5. Find a good microfibre drying towel:
It is important to use a good, thick drying towel to avoid water marks/streaks left behind. The last thing you want when you have spent all that time cleaning your vehicle is to step back and find that your vehicle is covered in water marks because the towel you have been using has gotten wet too quickly. Another way to stop this is to use multiple towels, using a new one when the one you have used has become too wet.
6. Always clean up any overspray:
No matter if you are cleaning your dashboard, wheels, tyres, glass etc. it is important to ensure that any overspray that may have gone onto another surface has been cleared up. If you leave any overspray unattended and it dries on the surface, then it could potentially do serious damage to that surface. An easy way to avoid this is to spray the product you are using onto your cloth, sponge, brush etc. first and then applying to the area.
7. Brush your carpet as you are vacuuming:
Unfortunately, vacuuming your carpet alone won’t get all of the dirt out as they are hard wearing. Brush your carpet as you are vacuuming and watch as the dirt bounces up and get sucked away.
8. Don’t limit yourself to just 1 microfibre cloth:
If you are using a product that needs wiping then buffing, like our sparkle finishing detailing spray, don’t keep using the same 1 or 2 cloths. Ensure you change cloths once they become too wet to avoid any smearing or swirl marks.
