i worked at deland auto cleaning for some time and learn different methonds when it came to making an old hunker look brand new so heres what tips i put together in detailing a car properly.


THE ENGINE

1. first off you wanna open the hood. take a plastic bag bag and cover all the electronics (battery, alt, fuse, etc).

2. find either a high pressure hose or even a light duty pressure washer and take some oil degreaser and a toothbrush to all the small spots.

3. make sure that you dont concentrate water flow toward the spark plugs or anything else that can cause engine failure.

4. after all the engine has been cleaned and dried, take some tire shine and a cloth and shine up hoses, plastic components, and other parts that could use some "liquid bling"

5. uncover all the electronics and dont turn on the engine until the entire car is done.

THE BODY

1. you dont need all the fancy soap and wax mix that you find in stores. the best way to start off the exterior is a regular hose with a scrub brush and a 3 gallon bucket of water with a capfull of muratic acid.

2. scrub the car top to bottom making sure that after you have done one panel to hose down thouroughly.

3. after washing all the panels, take a shammy or a microfiber cloth(my weapon of choice) and dry the entire car, its still may look dirty but the fun has only just begun!

4. after the car is dry, you wanna grab yourself a clybar and a bottle of windex. this is where all the elbow grease is needed as in you wanna bar every spot that has buildup. the windex leaves a cloudy residue after drying up but the wax removes that in the next step. dont be afraid to spray a lot of windex, its better to have more down then to get those screech marks from the clay abraising your paint.

5. the next step you wanna take is the waxing. now what i like to do is work one panel at a time with a wax cloth in one hand to wax on, and a dry microfiber cloth in the other to wax off. lightly work in circles with the wax to apply and use force to wax off. i like to go over each panel three time to ensure all the wax is either worked in or removed.

6. this i when you take a step back and enjoy the tough job youve just done on that paint. if you must you can wetsand areas that need it. after axing the entire car i liek to just walk around a few times and whip down the panels for spots ive missed


THE WHEELS ADN TIRES

1. depending on how bad the wheels are or if the dishes are hard to reach, you might wanna take them off the car to clean them(i recommend doing so, takes time but worth it, and you can scrub the wheel wells at the same time).

2. after dismounting the tires, you wanna pull out the high psi hose or pressure washer again most brake dust comes off on most wheels easily with a presure washer, but incase its caked on, mix up a bucket of diluted muratic acid and scrub the areas with a toothbrush.

3. before final prep of the wheel, apply tires shine. doing so now ensures that you dont mix wax with the shine and create some sort of goo. i use a sponge to evenly apply the tire shine and it makes sure that there isnt much excess that would spray up on the side of the car.

4. waxing wheels help in the end with brake dust buildup so wax them as good as you would wax the car.

5. before you mount the wheels back on, check out the wheel wells if they need a good scrubbing or a quick rinse.


THE WINDOWS

1. for the windows i like to wax them. the wax works just as well as windex and provides a smooth clean surface for the outside to protect against rain and uv rays

so there you have it. i got really bored on my break from school today so i decided to make this huge post. hopefully it is helpful to you. you may ask yourself if i really do this to my xA and YES i do this at least twice monthly. it takes a wholeday of dedication but it is so worth it if you plan on keeping your car for years on years adn you want it looking its best

 

Ummmmmm.....no.

 

youre probably guessin about the whole acid thing

a capfull of muratic acid to 3 gallons of water only breaks down the impurities on the top coat not the top coat itself, then rinsing the panels after make sure all the mix is gone

 

No, Im guessing about a lot of what you posted.

In case you have not heard, Scions paint sucks. If you want it to last, you better take care of it. Your techniques are...interesting to say the least, but very aggressive.

Search "autopia forum" on google.

 

Soap (well, quality soap anyway) made for cars has a high "lubricity" factor which keeps contaminants away from the paint, reducing the chance of micro marring. Muratic acid gives you no lube.

Im not trying to pick on you, just trying to help improve washing tecniques.

 

Windex has ammonia in it. Ammonia is not healthy for plastics.

 

No scrub brushes on the paint you will have massive swirls!!!!!

 

And clay bars are used with detailing spray, not windex. But then again he does have a white Scion which hides all the flaws in the paint. If I used his methods on my BCP I'd have to have it repainted.

 

nah windex does do the trick. i claybarred a metallic blue ranger once and yes it had a haze over it after being bared, but once you wax it after the haze goes away

 

Yes, but that was Ford paint not Scion paint. On the dark Scion colors all you have to do is "look" at it the wrong way and you'll have a dang scratch. lol

 

We all know how important that lube is when you're in a tough situation ...


but yea, all in all, very aggressive way of washing and cleaning. In regards to the paint and how poor/fragile it is, when I'd wash my dad's white ranger, and my mom's blue expedition (there's a funny story to that cus my family is a chevy family, I'm the long toyota supporter; my sister and her husband have a pair of expeditions :D )
....sorry back to what I was saying ... when I'd wash them I used a hard-bristle brush, rather big one. I galked at my dad when he offered to let me use it to wash mine ... I says "No thanks pops, only sponges for the my Scion paint"

I'm not wanting to discredit it, I'd totally take this to my parent's cars, with no second thought, but I'm hesitant to use anything remotely abrasive on the Skee-on ... and I have a super white sexC

 

yeah no matter what way you use of drying your car that uses a sort of medium to dry it, its gonna modify the paint somehow. sometimes the best way is to air dry for example drive on a highway for a while. the touch free car washed with the big blow dryers are also good as well but if its a microfiber, sponge, w/e its gonna scratch the paint just depends how much

 

your using a ranger for your example.........wow.

sorry that is lamest way i have ever heard of detailing a car.....spend the money get the right products, mothers, maquires, dupont, 3m all make a great product, buy a buffer. If you cant afford to do something right dont do it......

i cant stop laughing about the windex thing, might as well ____ on your car and use a bar of soap.

i use compressed air from my compressor to knock off all the water then use a absorber to get the rest.

i dont even use windex on the glass, i use invisable glass by stoner.....

again.......windex with a clay bar.......LMAO.

if anything if you dont want to spend the 5.00 to get the right lubricant, water would be better then windex, windex does not have the correct properties to allow the bar to do its job correctly, windex is for cleaning windows if that.....

did you work for a professional detailer, or a car wash?
HUUUUUUUUUUUGE difference


hey what windex do you use? moutnain berry? i hear the moutain berries help remove road tar.......but what do i know, i have never professionally "detailed" a car with windex......