What is your detail step by step method when cleaning your vehicle?

[atlantarange]

Hello.. Its really been a LONG time since I really detailed and cleaned my own vehicle. I have been paying a detail company for many years to maintain my vehicles and now Im ready to start tackling on my on again. There are so many new products out right now.. I am very interested in knowing what your washing and wax method is? How do you guys go about cleaning your vehicles? Can some of you veterans give me your washing process and what works best for you? From the time you put the water into the bucket until you dry.. how do you do it? Thanks.

[Orinda Auto Detail]

I don`t know what kind or color car you have but Todd wrote an awesome write up on proper car washing!

http://www.autopiaforums.com/forums/...-your-car.html


Start there! And good luck! Oh BTW Welcome to Autopia Forums!

[Jaddie]

Dear atlantarange

There`s also this chart.

[Swanicyouth]

Its getting pretty complicated, actually

1. Rinse dust out of buckets.

2. Fill 3 five gallon and 1 two gallon buckets with water. Put grit guards in two 5 gallon buckets and shampoo in one. Soak wash media in soap bucket.

3. Cover buckets.

4. Pull out pressure washer and connect.

5.Clean wheel wells with dirt blaster wand ( no chemical).

6. Pressure rinse one wheel. Clean face with boars hair wheel brush and surfactant wheel cleaner. Clean behind spokes and rotor hats with Daytona Speed Brush mini. Clean barrels with Daytona Speed Brush regular. Use one of the 5 gallon buckets I filled to rinse brushes in.

7. Clean tires when cleaning each wheel with tire brush. Rinse wheel well.

8. Repeat on other 3 wheels.

9. Empty and clean wheel bucket and hose out all brushes used to clean wheels and put them away.

10. Foam vehicle.

11. While foam is dwelling, clean windows with Montana Boars Hair 10" car wash brush. Clean cowl, emblems, cracks / crevices, fog lights, grill, etc.. With round boars hair paint brush style brush and foam. Rinse brushes as needed in 2 gallon bucket I previously filled.

12. Pressure rinse foam off vehicle from bottom up.

13. Clean and rinse 2 gallon bucket I used to rinse brush when agitating emblems, etc... Put that bucket away.

12. Perform 2 bucket method wash making sure not to let any part of vehicle dry.

13. Clean exhaust tips with APC and Daytona Speed Master mini brush. Clean brush and put away.

14. Rinse vehicle with DI water from CR Spotless

15. Take a brake while vehicle drips dry a little. I`m usually pretty tired by now.

16. Empty 2 five gallon buckets and clean them out. Dry them and put them away. Hose out wash media and grit guards. and handle as appropriate for whatever wash media I`m using. Store grit guards in bucket.

17. Start blasting water from the cracks and drying wheels using AirForce Blaster.

19. Go around vehicle with QD or spray wax.

20. Apply any dressings I`m going to apply.

That`s it for a 2BM

[glen e]

I used to have a 12-15 step program and have given it up, as I can keep my car in great shape in just a few steps. The key for me is I do it often like every 5 days, so the car is always not much work....

1. Do a gary dean rinseless wash, use the discarded towels on the wheels and tires-dry
2. follow with wolfgang spritz
3. Use many diff tire dressings
I can do 1-3 in less than 30 minutes...

Every 3rd wash
4. vacuum out interior
5. apply natural look to the interior

every 8th wash
6. BF CS or Prima HM...

[Beemerboy]

Hello.. Its really been a LONG time since I really detailed and cleaned my own vehicle. I have been paying a detail company for many years to maintain my vehicles and now Im ready to start tackling on my on again. There are so many new products out right now.. I am very interested in knowing what your washing and wax method is? How do you guys go about cleaning your vehicles? Can some of you veterans give me your washing process and what works best for you? From the time you put the water into the bucket until you dry.. how do you do it? Thanks.

One word and I don`t mean this in a callus way. Use the "search" feature. There are tons of threads about every aspect of detailing.

Good luck in your venture into detailing

[atlantarange]

thanks for taking the time to share your detail steps with me. This is really helpful.

[The Driver]

Have fun...

Phase I

Decontamination aka "Prep"

1. Citrus Wash, Foam Canon, Power rinse.
Using citrus to break down all the topical elements such as bugs, dirt, tar, iron, bird droppings etc. The citrus breaks down everything gently, it also strips the old wax so the polish and new wax can be applied with out bonding conflict. 30 mins

2. Citrus Wash Scrub, Rinse.
Car was rewashed again, this time by hand to remove any fixed/stuck debris on the car such as tar or caked on dirt. 30 mins

3. Wheels, Wheel wells, +Dye (Later)
Wheels sprayed with Sonax, Scrubbed, drums cleaned inside an out. Wheel wells scrubbed clean. 45 mins - 1 hour

4. Soak, Clay.
The whole car is soaked, when the car is wet it is properly clayed with a proper selected density clay (Soft, Medium, Hard). Every body panel that is paint is completely clayed. Claying removes imbedded contaminants that wash mits cannot remove, think of it as removing dead skin like an exfoliator for your car. 45 mins - 1 hour

5. Full Strip, Bleeding, Removing elements.
Car is completely sprayed with CarPro Trix, this literally makes the paint bleed out all the metals imbedded in the paint, especially the ones that have bonded and cannot be removed even by clay. The car literally bleeds, the red bleeding color is chemicals reacting with Tar, Iron and other metallic elements. This is very good for cars that are regularly "pushed hard". CarPro trix strips away one of the most detrimental things to a car, brake dust. All cars shed brake dust, especially high performance cars with large rotors and calipers. This process removes all metallic elements off a surface and the added bonus of eating away lovely highway road tar. 30 mins

6. Final Wash, Scrub, Rinse, Full dry.
Car is again completely washed with citrus, this time scrubbing off all the chemicals applied before, leaving a perfect contaminant free surface which is rinsed and then fully dried by a touch less air dry unit. All cracks and crevices are completely blown out to no runs lines from stagnant water. 20 mins

Phase II

Polish aka "Perfection" - The hard part

7. Inspection & Diagnosis. The car is completely inspected under special lighting, the marks and paint analyzed, a list of polishes are then assorted from highest to lowest cut. Pads are selected, machines are also chosen depending on the job needed. 30 mins-1 hr.

8. Taping up loose ends. Rubber trim as well as other parts don`t fare well when it comes to high speed polishers and the abrasives they lay down. As a result all the cars parts that aren`t being polished are taped up using a special 3m automotive take designed for detailing.

9. Polishing begins, car panels are polished over 1 by 1, graduating polishes until the desired "flawless, mirror, wet look" is achieved. 4 - 60 hours

9. Exterior Parts Refinished
During the polishing process it`s important that everything everything looks fresh, smooth and reflective. This means the taillights, brake lights, hazed head lights, window trim and other misc parts that can be perfected are. Most detailers will charge extra for this, as a perfectionist I can`t do one thing an not do the rest. 45 mins - 2 hrs

10. Top Inspection
The name says it all, using Menzerna`s Top inspection the car is completely sprayed down. The top inspection shows fingerprints and missed areas. It`s also an AIO Cleaner. It is then wiped down, removing all excess polish leaving the car looking rich, deep and polished. 20 mins

11. Wax or Sealant (Your choice)
Hand paste wax is applied, by hand. To add depth and a richer color. This will provide months of protection from the sun, rain and other elements as well keeping the car cleaner for longer periods of time. Sealants do the same but last longer, however they don`t provide as rich of a look. 1 - 1.5 hours

Phase III

Final Touches

12. Exterior dye
All parts that are rubber, plastic or composite are dyed if they are faded. They are brought back to a new deep, dark wet look. 30 mins

13. Interior strip
Completely vacuumed, rugs removed and vacuumed. All garbage thrown out. Interior/seat gaps are brushed out and vacuumed. 30 - 45 mins

14. Interior Clean
Everything sprayed with cleaner, removing grime in cup holders, bins and pockets. Tachometer and other dash parts thoroughly cleaned and wiped down. Roof is also wiped down or brushed depending on material. Seats completely brushed, wiped and reconditioned depending on material 1-2 hours

15. Interior Dye
Once everything is clean, a nice subtle protective layer is sprayed on the hard interior surfaces. This give a nice shine to the interior, note this is not crappy oil shine this is a subtle high end almost oem look, it`s wet but not oily or too much shine. 45 mins - 1 hr

16. Full wipe down
Lastly, Everything is wiped down with an all natural, non petroleum base cleaner. To make sure no wax, polish or dye is on anything. The door jams and all crevices are wiped down to remove any excess dirt and/or water. 20 - 45 mins

17. Glass
Last and certainly one of the most tricky things to clean is glass. Both inside and out are wiped down with an all natural tin safe cleaner that leaves a flawless streak free finish. The glass is also polished with lusso cleaner to give it that extra shine and protection. 20 mins

[atlantarange]

you all mentioned a foam gun. Can you share with me what type of foam gun do you use and what type of cleaner goes into the foam gun? Also, Im not sure what a dirt blaster wand is, can you explain? and one more.. what type of soap shampoo would you recommend to wash? THanks!!

[dooyaunastan]

There are foam guns...

Blackfire Quart Foamaster Foam Gun

which you can hook up to any standard garden hose, I use one of these currently and while I don`t use it with every wash, it still pre-soaks and is great for emblems, wheel wells and bug-ridden bumpers. Don`t expect the same type of aerated foam that clings to the car like the second type of foamer would produce, which leads us to:

foam cannons.

Autopia Car Care Pressure Washer Foam Cannon HP Kit

These require a pressure washer (as you have to choose the appropriate fitting for your pressure washer) but as I said, produce a much thicker, clingier foam and ultimately does the job as intended, where the foam gun is a budget friendly alternative.

Any car wash shampoo can be used, some companies now offer shampoos formulated for foam cannon use, but you can still achieve good results with traditional car washes.

You could look into CG Honeydew Snow Foam, DP Xtreme Foam, Meguiar`s Hyper Wash, DG 901, plenty of options. Usually people use about 2-4 ozes in the container filled with warm water. I don`t know if there would be a noticeable performance decline with cold water, I just read a recommendation on here or AGO to use warm water and I`ve done it ever since.

Dirt Blaster wand is probably a pressure washer attachment.

[Bunky]

17. Start blasting water from the cracks and drying wheels using AirForce Blaster.

19. Go around vehicle with QD or spray wax.

Do you find that water blow out gets all over the paint and you just have to wipe it again or does step 19 end up taking care of that?

[Trouble]

Hello.. Its really been a LONG time since I really detailed and cleaned my own vehicle. I have been paying a detail company for many years to maintain my vehicles and now Im ready to start tackling on my on again. There are so many new products out right now.. I am very interested in knowing what your washing and wax method is? How do you guys go about cleaning your vehicles? Can some of you veterans give me your washing process and what works best for you? From the time you put the water into the bucket until you dry.. how do you do it? Thanks.

Tell me what you are doing currently and I will tell you if I would change anything