Car is about 1 year old (bought in mid '06 as an '07MY).
My good deed for the day... My wife and I were visiting my parents last night. On the way in I noticed my Dad's Camry Hybrid was looking rather dirty inside and out. He is getting up in the years and isn't able to keep up on things like he used to. My father gave me my appreciation for a clean, well maintained car. He was very particular about keeping his cars nice and that rubbed off on me (in a big way). I told my Dad I was going to take his car home with me, detail it today (Sunday) and I would drop it off when complete. You should have seen the smile on his face. It was priceless.
The inside was dirty (not nasty by any means). Some stains on the front mats and in a few spots on the center console around the cup holders, lots of dust, sand etc. Typical I guess. The outside was pretty dirty. They are redoing some roads in the area and it looks like he went off roading in some mud.
The car color is Desert Sand Mica -- it doesn't really show how dirty it is (it was dirtier outside than I originally thought) and it doesn't look as clean as an autopian would like when it is spotless (just one of those colors I guess).
It took me 9 1/2 hours (ya I'm seriously slow I guess and no threat to any "real" detailer -- I'd be out of business in a hurry if I ever did this for a living).
When I was done my wife followed me over to my parents to drop off the car. The folks weren't home but I got a call later that made it all worth while. Dear old Dad was thrilled. He said it is so clean he doesn't want to drive it
On with the procedure :waxing:
Interior:
Exterior:
I think I remembered everything...
My first attempt at carpet striping while cleaning the matts../
Finished product...
Interior:
My good deed for the day... My wife and I were visiting my parents last night. On the way in I noticed my Dad's Camry Hybrid was looking rather dirty inside and out. He is getting up in the years and isn't able to keep up on things like he used to. My father gave me my appreciation for a clean, well maintained car. He was very particular about keeping his cars nice and that rubbed off on me (in a big way). I told my Dad I was going to take his car home with me, detail it today (Sunday) and I would drop it off when complete. You should have seen the smile on his face. It was priceless.
The inside was dirty (not nasty by any means). Some stains on the front mats and in a few spots on the center console around the cup holders, lots of dust, sand etc. Typical I guess. The outside was pretty dirty. They are redoing some roads in the area and it looks like he went off roading in some mud.
The car color is Desert Sand Mica -- it doesn't really show how dirty it is (it was dirtier outside than I originally thought) and it doesn't look as clean as an autopian would like when it is spotless (just one of those colors I guess).
It took me 9 1/2 hours (ya I'm seriously slow I guess and no threat to any "real" detailer -- I'd be out of business in a hurry if I ever did this for a living).
When I was done my wife followed me over to my parents to drop off the car. The folks weren't home but I got a call later that made it all worth while. Dear old Dad was thrilled. He said it is so clean he doesn't want to drive it
On with the procedure :waxing:
Interior:
- Vacuum everything using various attachments (carpet, seats, doors, dash, headliner etc)
- Front matts were the only carpeting with stains. Vacummed, dry brushed with a HiTech carpet brush (works great -- recently bough this brush), sprayed with a solution of 303 Aerospace cleaner and water (1/2 oz 303 to a quart of water), brushed in and vacuumed. Took out all the spots.
- Tried striping the mats with my shop vac. while they were damp (see pics)
- Cleaned all vinyl/plastic with LA's Awesome Cleaner and a microfiber cloth (10:1)
- Spot cleaned a few shoe scuff marks on the door panels and sills with a Mr. Clean Eraser (worked magic on every mark -- gone)
- Cleaned and dressed leather with Zep Leather Cleaner and Conditioner
- Cleaned instrument cluster, radio and clock dispays with Plexus. I didn't use this on the touch screen navi display. Just wiped it down with a dry mf cloth and then again with a mf dampened with a little nxt glass cleaner
- Dressed all vinyl and plastic with 303 Aerospace Protectorant -- misted it on a damp mf and then applied. Doesn't make a mess and the look is subtle.
- Cleaned all interior glass with Meguiars NXT glass cleaner (I really like this stuff) and a glass mf
- Vacuumed trunk and cleaned and dressed plastic in the trunk (including weather stripping)
Exterior:
- Remove front and rear license plates
- Washed wheels, tires and wheel wells with hot water (my hose is setup for hot and cold), and Carp Products Maxi-Clean APC (1:1)
- Cleaned all door jambs including trunk and under hood with a wet MF and LA Awesome cleaner (same ratio as above). The jambs collect dirt on this car
- Rinsed entire car well and sprayed all the way around the car below the door molding with Max-Clean APC 1:1, let sit for a couple of minutes and rinsed again. The car was pretty dirty down low and this removed a lot of dirt without agitating it against the paint with a mitt.
- Washed car with Meguiars GC using a Costco MF mitt (nice mitts)
- Rinsed car with water using my CR Spotless (I have really hard water and if I don't dry immediately before claying I get nasty water spots)
- Clay entire car including glass with 3M clay. Used a bucket of Water (CR spotless) and GC as the lube (usually I use a spray bottle, this time I used a bucket and mitt -- I think I like this method better)
- Rinse again using CR Spotless water
- Dry with a waffle weave mf bath towel
- I was going to go over the entire car with the UDM using Presta Chroma 1500 polish and a blue Ardex polish pad but once I got the car cleaned, clayed and dry there were no swirls of any kind and only one small scratch on the entire car (which I took car of) so I skipped this step
- Cleaned entire car and windows (including plastic and rubber trim) with KAIO followed by KSG on all the same surfaces
- Tires were dressed with Eagle One Wet Tire shine applied with a tire swipe
- Plastic trim under windshield and wipers treated with 303
- Cleaned under the hood with a damp mf and LA Awesome (wasn't too dirty) and dressed plastics with 303
I think I remembered everything...
My first attempt at carpet striping while cleaning the matts../
Finished product...
Interior:
