what is the best way to detail a car?

[bobby95m3]

what are all the steps to detailing a car? what are some good products to use for the interior? what is good to use on the dash and on the seats? as for the paint, what are the steps to get the shine the best? also what is good to use on my rims to keep them shine and to keep them safe?

[Greg]

check out www.bettercarcare.com, there are some good how-to beginner articles

[Dewey540i]

Ok this will be quick and basic, any questions just ask and please remember every car is diffeent, products are based on avg. car and my personal preferences.

Interior

1. Vac
2. Compressesd air in all nooks and crannies, under seats, vents, dash, etc.
3. Vac
4. Shampoo/hot water extract carpets
5. Clean all plastic and vinyl w GP
6. Dress all plastic and vinyl with dressing
7. clean and condition leather
8. clean windows
9. final vacuum

Exterior

1. wash
2. clay
3. polish- PC w/orange or white pad
4. glaze- PC w/white or black pad
5. sealant- PC w/ black pad or by hand
6. caraunuba wax by hand

Products

1Z- cock pit premium
1Z leather conditioner
1Z car wash shampoo
Clear Kote Quick Detail & Clay Bar
1Z Paint Polish or Poorboys SSR 2.5
ClearKote Vanilla Moose
Poorboys EX-P
Poorboys Nattys Paste wax

Superior Detail Supplies

[exceldetail]

Proper detailing can be very arduous. Adequate time and materials are of absolute necessity. You may find it easier complete panels at a time as opposed to completing the entire car. I may also recommend completing the exterior before the inside. The exteriors appearance will probably appear "newer", longer than the inside. This way when you complete the interior, the exterior will still look fresh!

[Surge]

My dad's a car valet, on each full job (interior and exterior) he spends roughly 6 hours getting the cars to completion - even then more can be done.
You have to reserve some time to really do a good job.
I advise against doing it a panel at a time, by doing that you run the risk of the car looking like it's got panels of paint that don't match, try doing it all in one hit

[exceldetail]

Originally Posted by Surge

My dad's a car valet, on each full job (interior and exterior) he spends roughly 6 hours getting the cars to completion - even then more can be done.
You have to reserve some time to really do a good job.
I advise against doing it a panel at a time, by doing that you run the risk of the car looking like it's got panels of paint that don't match, try doing it all in one hit

Strongly disagree. 6 Hrs is average for those who know what there doing, and are performing details correctly. There is abosolutley no harm, in the do-it-yourselfer, performing step by steps on individual panels. Granted, hopefully there will be a difference in appearance from completed panels, and non worked panels, otherwise theres really no benefit in the work your doing. Its also easier for one to learn the steps of detailing, when keeping there work platform to limited work area. Imagine using the wrong product, on the entire car ?! Theres waste of time. Its always recommended to try a small area first with products you havent used before.
Obviously Bobby is looking for advice, it appears he is just beginning to discover the basics of detailing.

[KCRuneekVW]

I have a question for CMT...and Dewey and all
I have a99 m3

and heres how ive done it in the past

wash (meguiars "poo")
clay bar (meguairs with quik detailer)

or this is my question
I used to use, Zymol's paint cleaner wax and One time it came out perfect...adn the other time it left this haze of what looked like fine scratches all over my entire car...since then i have detailed that haze away with other products but I feel like I am having trouble getting that Resilient Shine and depth and brightness anymore

So here are my questions...if I used Zymol's paint cleaner ..and then skipped the polish stage and only waxed using "meguiars Gold Class" would that have left those haze marks. Zymol reccommends that after using the paint cleaner u rinse the car..and let me tell u after I do that step the car is butter smooth and after I take it outside rinse it with water as they claim to let the "paint and shine SETTT" it looks nothing short of amazing. But then This haze comes and it seems like its a layer over top of the shine. Is it the polishing step, after the necessary cleaning decontamination step...that Enriches the shine and "wetness" and takes away that haze...originally I thought it was the wax that did that. But I have beent trying to educate myself lately on sealants glazes, techniques and polymers and the whole bit.

Ok second question is there a specific wax, product, or brand that specializes in products for specific colors, or a brand that you know woorks better on Silver cars through your experience. I know zymol makes waxes for certain finishes light color paints vs. darks...but their stuff is expensive...and I dont see the high support of that product that I used to to justify its price. My car is titanium silver, garaged, inside, with a car cover when not being driven ever tho its my daily driver..i try and keep it as fresh as possible since it has been the biggest money expenditure investment of my life thus far. But ever since I bought it...i really have never been able to duplicate the Perfect shine I got the first couple times i detailed it and I wana get into form before snow hits us in MD.

3rd question...Temparture, does it have to be a certain temperature for you to wax and doo all the necessary steps on a car and have them come out perfect, or is this just a rumor. I might think that to really seal, and for glazes and waxes to set and bond...u would want a warmer temp...like fall 60-70s...but with it being so cold I am concerned. I have two portable heaters in my garage that I put on to keep it warm to work on my car. Would that be enough.

4th...Where did u guys learn how to use your Buffers ' or "PC's"...i think is what u use. Do you always use those..or often do it by hand. Im working by hand down here.. I alway see cars with HUGe swirl marks as if someone tried to detail their car witha buffer or PC and didnt know what they were doing...is that what that is from. Also...What do you think would be a just price ...for the works treatment (everything clean wash, polish, glaze, seal wax)...of detailing for the exterior only of a car?

[Dewey540i]

wow ok lots of stuff here... Sorry I must have missed your post earlier.
I am not an expert on Zymol, I know people love it or hate it. You mentioned temperature later in your post. That could be the haze problem. If you are doing your car in the evening or on a cold damp day the moisture in the air could cause problems. Yes 70 degrees would be ideal but you can push the limits with many products. I have been very pleased with the results on Silver cars with the following combo- 1Z paint polish, Vanilla Moose, EX-P, topped with Natty,s paste wax. Yes I do use a PC just about every time on my personal car. Remember I do customers cars also so I may use a rotary on those. I still usually finish with a PC to remove any swirls the rotary may have put in. In the combo above I would use the PC for the first 2 steps the put ex-p and Natty's on by hand. As far as where I learned... hmmm to long ago to remember but a PC is very easy to use as compared to a rotary that takes a bit more practice. Hope this helps, please feel free to PM me or ask me any other questions on here. Good luck! Superior Detail Supplies

[kaliimc]

Just want to say thanks to everyone who has posted their experiences in the Detailing Forum. I have been reading and learning from your posts for the past couple of months now. Well, I went out and bought a PC 7336 with Meguires pads, ignoring my friends who said I should just take my car to the detailer because they know what to do... Well they do know what to do but I have to make payments on this car!


Other products I have recently purchased:
Meguires Clay bar and quick detail package
1Z paint polish
ClearKote Vanilla Moose
Poorboys EX (not EX-P)
various Micro Fiber towels for buffing out the polish/glaze/wax

I will be giving away (or throwing away) my other waxes and polishes because I will not need them, eg: Zaino Cleaner Wax.

Here in Hawaii the dirt is sort of red, or almost a maroon color. The wind carries it from the old sugar cane and the current pineapple fiields. So when I clayed the car all this red dirt came off! This was immediately after a good thorough wash too. This step alone brought a more vivid, deeper color to my car.

I bought this car pre-owned and it came with a custom paint job -- swirls! They did not all come out on my first experience but they should go away after a couple more uses of the PC. If anyone has advice on this please let me know. Also there were "custom" scratch marks in the paint, they did not come out either but should diminish with later uses of the PC.

After applying the 1Z, Vanilla Moose, and EX (in that order) my car was new again! I am also amazed at the ease of use with all three of these products as well as the PC. What a difference! Not sure if my pictures posted correctly but I have posted a couple pictures in my photo gallery too.

Thanks again and Aloha,

Kaliimc

[Dewey540i]

Nice job!!! Nice car too! I also drive a 540. As far as advice for your swirls and scratches- perhaps Poorboys SSR2.5 or maybe a different pad. Cutting pad vs. a polishing pad. Looks great though!!!

[CMT]

Booya! Looks awesome!

I must have been stupid busy around December, because I totally missed this post and the questions asked earlier. I really am sorry about that.

[GotThrottle]

For detailing the interior, I find that a round horse hair brush works great for cleaning vents and cracks, etc. Then vaccuum it all out at the same time. I use the full Lexol leather package for cleaning and treating leather. Don't use anything too abrassive.

I like the 3M products for the exterior paint work. I used buffing compound followed by the required swirl remover, then protect it all with some hand-applied wax. I used an orbital variable buffer with a soft foam pad for the buffing. I also used the buffer to shine up the headlight covers using the Meguiar's cleaner and polish. I was speachless at how well that worked! Highly recommended. Don't bother trying it by hand, you will get nowhere. The headlights looked clear-as-glass when I was done, and this car has over 162,000 miles. In fact, they were so pitted/foggy before, I nearly replaced them.

Here's some photo's of the before, during, and after process:

It's a lot work, but well worth it in the end.

[mtechnik]

To GotThrolle: the last pic looks like u just brought it home from the factory!

Kaliimc : the 540's lookin classy...........

[GotThrottle]

Kaliimc: Love that 540i! Question: Is there a BMW dealer in Hawaii?

/curious.

Mtechnik: Thanks for the compliment, those photos were taken last summer. You should have seen how bad it looked when I bought it! Scratches, swirl marks, salt stains, everything. Next on my list is to find some 17" M Contour rims.

[kaliimc]

[quote=GotThrottle]Kaliimc: Love that 540i! Question: Is there a BMW dealer in Hawaii?

GotThrottle,
Unreal results on the car! Amazing! Hope I can get that good without tearing up my paint too much. Also the parking stall my car is in is my detailing area, no garage, maybe my next house will have one.

There are a couple of BMW dealership showrooms in Hawaii. One on Maui and of course the other is in Honolulu on Oahu. The dealership name for both is BMW of Honolulu, website is: http://www.bmwhawaii.com/. There are also a few shops in the Islands that are very good with European cars, again most of them will be on Oahu where the largest population is.

Dewey540i thanks for your detailed directions/product lineup on detailing.

I have just learned that there is a waiting list of cars that I need to detail... my wife likes the looks of my car so her VW is 1st on the list, next are all of her sisters' cars...