What are some things that the general public does wrong when they try to detail their cars? I ask this because I am doing an informative speech for one of my classes and I am just interested to hear from you folks. I have my own ideas of what the general public does wrong when detailing there cars...but having more examples would be great. Thanks!
Please help me!
- Thread starter golfdude
- Start date
One of the things I can think of is using towels that are not 100% cotton or microfiber when washing / drying / polishing / waxing their car. I would guess that 90 % of swirls and damage to the paint comes from the towels used when the surface of the car is rubbed. I don't have a picture, but if you were to need one, any of the swirl mark "before" shots should help you.
Using dish soap for car shampoo.
Using an old rag/towel/sponge for a wash mitt.
And what I think is the worst thing that people do that really creates some paint flaws:
Not getting the vehicle clean before they start to dry it. If your drying towel gets dirty, you didn't have the vehicle clean when you started your drying process.
Charles
Using an old rag/towel/sponge for a wash mitt.
And what I think is the worst thing that people do that really creates some paint flaws:
Not getting the vehicle clean before they start to dry it. If your drying towel gets dirty, you didn't have the vehicle clean when you started your drying process.
Charles
Beemerboy
Just One More Coat
Welcome to the site use the search feature to look for the detail processes and that will help you understand, what a vehicle goes threw in a full detail. To answer your question, most of the general public have no real idea what detailing is. What goes into it and what the real out come should be.
Detailing is not washing your car in the driveway and slapping a coat of turtle wax on the outside. I have spoke to car clubs about my detailing and what I have found what works best is to define the difference in what a true detail is and what car care is.
It drives me crazy when someone posts pics of a car and says, look I detailed my car, and you can see dirt in the wheels wells.
I wish you luck in the speech there is allot of information on this site that will help you with the do's and don'ts. Its not saying that we are all right, because I feel that most here are anal about their cars, and that's not always the sediment of the general of public.
Detailing is not washing your car in the driveway and slapping a coat of turtle wax on the outside. I have spoke to car clubs about my detailing and what I have found what works best is to define the difference in what a true detail is and what car care is.
It drives me crazy when someone posts pics of a car and says, look I detailed my car, and you can see dirt in the wheels wells.
I wish you luck in the speech there is allot of information on this site that will help you with the do's and don'ts. Its not saying that we are all right, because I feel that most here are anal about their cars, and that's not always the sediment of the general of public.
Jngrbrdman
New member
The wax in the sun. It won't really hurt anything, but it is a less efficient way of doing the job. Wax won't set very well on 110 degree surfaces. Waxing in the sun is fine as long as the surface can stay cool. Once it gets too hot to touch it is not a good idea to wax it.
People use sponges way too often. Sponges are great at trapping dirt inside only to deposit it back on your paint and scratch the surface. They are not be the best wash tool in the world.
Using beach towels or bath towels to dry the car is not the best idea. I see professionals at detail shops using bath towels to dry cars and it makes me want to cry. They are not soft enough to not scratch the paint. They are great for drying bodies but not good for cars.
T-Shirts are not waxing rags. Those are also not soft enough to use on paint. A majority of damage can be avoided if you use the proper tools when you wash, dry, and wax. Forget about products and focus on your tools for a minute. Get rid of the sponges and dirty t-shirts and get some real tools.
People sometimes use Armor All like it isn't going to hurt anything. I'm not one of the "Fear armor all because it will crack your dash" clan or anything like that. I'm talking about the people who spray it all over the place and end up getting it on glass and plastic gauge covers. That stuff will haze plastic and become a real problem if you aren't careful where you spray it. It is dash protectant and not glass cleaner. Spray it on a towel first and then apply it to the dash. That avoids a lot of problems.
People think that there is a 'Best' wax or any kind of product out there. I think people need to realize that there is no such thing as best. There is only what works best for your particular situation. I don't care what letter the products starts with. It isn't the best just because everybody says it is. What works best for you may be something totally different. Get off the damn band wagon and think for yourselves. Mindless followers make baby Jesus cry.
I'm sure there is more. I was working on an article just like this for OCDetails.com but I took it down because it isn't finished yet. When I get home I'll put it back up and let you take a look. I don't remember what all I had done on it, but it was probably basically the same stuff I just wrote.
People use sponges way too often. Sponges are great at trapping dirt inside only to deposit it back on your paint and scratch the surface. They are not be the best wash tool in the world.
Using beach towels or bath towels to dry the car is not the best idea. I see professionals at detail shops using bath towels to dry cars and it makes me want to cry. They are not soft enough to not scratch the paint. They are great for drying bodies but not good for cars.
T-Shirts are not waxing rags. Those are also not soft enough to use on paint. A majority of damage can be avoided if you use the proper tools when you wash, dry, and wax. Forget about products and focus on your tools for a minute. Get rid of the sponges and dirty t-shirts and get some real tools.
People sometimes use Armor All like it isn't going to hurt anything. I'm not one of the "Fear armor all because it will crack your dash" clan or anything like that. I'm talking about the people who spray it all over the place and end up getting it on glass and plastic gauge covers. That stuff will haze plastic and become a real problem if you aren't careful where you spray it. It is dash protectant and not glass cleaner. Spray it on a towel first and then apply it to the dash. That avoids a lot of problems.
People think that there is a 'Best' wax or any kind of product out there. I think people need to realize that there is no such thing as best. There is only what works best for your particular situation. I don't care what letter the products starts with. It isn't the best just because everybody says it is. What works best for you may be something totally different. Get off the damn band wagon and think for yourselves. Mindless followers make baby Jesus cry.
I'm sure there is more. I was working on an article just like this for OCDetails.com but I took it down because it isn't finished yet. When I get home I'll put it back up and let you take a look. I don't remember what all I had done on it, but it was probably basically the same stuff I just wrote.
Jngrbrdman
New member
I reloaded my Myths page to OCDetails.com. It isn't finished (as is the case with half a dozen other projects) but it at least goes into a little detail on dishsoap, sponges and bath towels. I really need to finish that one... Maybe after the car show.
Brenton
aka PEI Detail
Using Nu-Finish is the worst thing I've heard.
Beemerboy
Just One More Coat
PEI
BIGRON not going to like your answer he is a spokes person for Nu-finish
BIGRON not going to like your answer he is a spokes person for Nu-finish
Brenton
aka PEI Detail
Beemerboy said:PEI
BIGRON not going to like your answer he is a spokes person for Nu-finish
I was kind of joking, but it certainly isn't my favourite. I'm just cheesed at how radically different real life and their commercial is. And putting in on a black surface that isn't silky smooth is like begging for an extra weekend of work.
Beemerboy
Just One More Coat
PEI
I was also kidding its a joke with BIGRON :wink:
I was also kidding its a joke with BIGRON :wink: