A clean car is a happy car, and it also reflects on you as
an owner. Take pride in keeping your car clean inside and out, and people will
notice. One step above just washing your car is getting it detailed. Detailing
isn't just an interior cleaning, detailing can be an exterior concept as well;
and you might be surprised what goes in to detailing a vehicle.
Interior
Detailing a car's interior means paying attention to all the
cracks, crevices and fabrics inside your vehicle. An easy place to start is by
removing the floor mats. Vacuum the mats, floor of the vehicle (front and back,
moving the seats forward and back to reach all the carpet), upholstery, rear
parcel shelf, dashboard and trunk.
If your carpet or upholstery has any stains, using a foam
cleanser and rubbing it in with a damp cloth or sponge should get rid of them.
Make sure you allow the cleanser to set in for a few minutes before scrubbing
the spot. Repeat as many times as needed to clean the spots. Make sure to wipe
up the cleanser with a damp (not soaking wet) sponge and do a final blotting
with a dry towel to get all the wetness from the fabric and carpet as possible.
Leaving your fabric and carpet damp may cause mold and
mildew.
While your floor mats are out, spray them down to get all
the sand and dirt off, and then dry them before putting them back in the car.
After you've cleaned the dash there are still probably
places you can't easily get the dust out of. Using a can of compressed air
should help blast that dust out of hard-to-reach places in the dash, doors, and
other places around the car.
Wipe down all interior hard surfaces with an all-purpose
cleaner. Use a super-absorbent (for dust) detailing brush on your air vent
grilles.
For cloth seats, shampoo them with a wet-vac, making sure
they are plenty dry afterward. Leather or vinyl seats can be cleaned with a
special cleaner and wiped away with a microfiber cloth. Condition your cleaned
leather seats so the leather looks shiny and doesn't dry out or crack.
Finally, spray glass cleaner on your interior windows and
windshield and wipe off with a microfiber or lint-free cloth.
Exterior
Starting with the tires, spray the rims with a degreaser or
wheel cleaner. Leave on for a few minutes before scrubbing off with a
stiff-bristled brush. Repeat as necessary. Wash the tires with a whitewall tire
cleaner and let it soak in for a nice glossy finish.
When washing your car by hand, use a car wash soap, not dish
or laundry detergent. Using a microfiber cloth or towel will trap the dirt and
grime without leaving scraps of lint behind. Start with the top of your car and
work down. Work quickly so the soap does not have time to dry on the car's
surface. After rinsing off with a hose, make sure to dry the car thoroughly
with a terry cloth towel or chamois, as air drying will cause soap spots to
form. Clean the exterior windows with glass cleaner.
One special product used in detailing the exterior of a
vehicle is detailing clay. This is a bar of an engineered resin compound that
looks similar to a bar of soap, and it's used to remove contaminants from the
surface of a vehicle's paint, glass, fiberglass and metal. This bar of clay can
be natural or synthetic. Most manufacturers prefer synthetic clays.
Detailing clay is a very elastic type of clay, offering
enhanced durability as it is used to detail, being rolled, flattened, smashed
and stretched repeatedly during the detailing process. In addition, this clay
is designed to repel the kind of contaminants regular clay doesn't deal with;
such as industrial fallout, rail and brake dust, and other pollutants your
vehicle comes in contact with. These things can scratch and pierce paint
finishes, as well as glass and metal, and they can remain stuck on your vehicle
even through rain, car washes and hand polishing. However, with the use of
detailing clay you can eliminate these unwanted blemish-causers.
There are a lot of components in getting your car into
shape. However, keeping your car in top maintenance will not only prolong its
lifetime, but will also help its resale value when you're ready to trade up.
