A Comprehensive Guide to Car Exterior Care

Know the differences between car cleaning and detailing? The two are used interchangeably but have come to mean different things. Cleaning and washing remove built-up dirt inside and out, while detailing goes deeper (it’s in the word) and gets to nooks and crannies, as well as providing that new car look we’ve all come to love. Needless to say, detailing is more involved, both in terms of the products used, how much time and effort it takes, and the end results. You can clean your car on a daily basis, but thorough detailing is often done a few times a year.

The benefits speak for themselves. By using the right car exterior care products, you’ll get a near-new car sheen and an additional layer of protection that not only complements the good looks but also helps with longevity. A range of products are also available for bringing back the condition of the interior, dealing with different materials in the seats, dashboard and trim.

While a pro-clean may get you the best results, this might not always be the best option. One hindering factor is the high prices professional detailers charge; the other is scheduling the work to suit individual needs. That’s why many people prefer throwing in some elbow grease and detailing their cars at home.

Getting Your Gear Together

The first step to detailing the car exterior is getting all your gear in one place. A good place to start is investing in a decent pressure washer, as this will be more effective with stubborn dirt and grime and significantly speed up the whole process, more so than using a regular hose. Plus, this can be used for other household chores, such as washing down the driveway where the car is parked, so it pays off for itself in no time. Washers also need compatible lances when spraying foam.

Since exterior detailing is done in stages, dealing with different parts in each one, specially formulated products are used in each stage. Here’s a categorised list of what you’d need for a thorough cleaning:

General Washing, Rinsing and Drying Supplies

• Microfibre cloths and drying towels – stock up on cloths for general washing duties and bigger drying towels
• Mitts – replace older sponges, fit snugly over the hand and prevent swirl marks
• Buckets – one for washing, another for rinsing
• Pre-wash solution – breaks down ingrained surface dust and grime
• Car shampoo – deals with most remaining contaminants

Dealing With Stubborn Stuff

• Bug, glue and tar remover – to protect the paintwork
• Iron fallout remover- to get rid of embedded dust particles from brake pads
• Clay bars and clay mitts – smoothing out rough spots in the paintwork
• Limescale and water spot remover -deal with uncleansed water stains
• Bird dropping remover – gets rid of hardened or baked birdlime that can ruin paint and cause corrosion

• Polishing and Waxing

• Scratch removers
• General/all-in-one polishes/glazes
• Fillers
• Ceramic waxes
• Sealants

Polish and wax are applied in small amounts, usually with a dry microfibre wash cloth, and the paintwork is brought to a smooth sheen with a buffing pad.

Cleaning Particular Car Parts

Exterior car care products dealing with specific car parts do a better job than general-purpose cleaners. Here, look for wheel cleaners, tyre cleaners and dressing, glass cleaners and polishes, trim restorers to deal with stains and dirt in rubber, vinyl and plastic parts, supplies that restore plastics in headlight covers, and items that tend to rust and stone chip damage. Additionally, brushes in different shapes and sizes and with soft, medium or hard bristles help clean hard-to-reach places.

How to Clean the Exterior

To get the car squeaky clean, the car exterior care products above are applied in a set order. All exterior cleaning starts with the dirtiest parts, and this is the wheels. These are presoaked and dealt with wheel cleaner to break up ingrained grime, with brushes or mitts helping in tighter spots. Here you’ll also need a separate bucket.

Follow up with the next stage which involves pre-cleaning and pre-soaking. A good presoak solution or film remover from a trusted brand is left to soak for a few minutes and then rinsed out with the pressure washer. Snow foam is then added to the lance, and sprayed from bottom to top until the whole vehicle is covered. Remove the lance, and rinse in the same way.

Next, you need some elbow mix thrown in. Use two separate buckets, one filled with car shampoo and water, and apply the solution using mitts and going from the top to the bottom. Rinse the shampoo after a few minutes. For harder stains and encrusted grime, get the appropriate brush ready. If you’re dealing with particular contaminants, such as birdlime or tar spots, now is the time to get rid of them.

Drying can be done by hand using a drying cloth and keeping to one part of the car at a time. Pro detailers though use special electric blowers to speed things up and get air out of tighter spaces, like the wheels. With the car dry, time to tend to the paintwork with polish and wax. To resolve any dilemmas, polishing comes first. Scratch removers do as they say on the lid, and are composed of abrasive materials to deal with scratch and swirl marks. Alternatively, use less abrasive general-purpose polish where there’s no evident staining or surface damage. This should bring back a gloss finish to the paintwork, and with added UV protection, prevent fading from sun exposure. Add wax to bring out more colour, keep the paintwork damage-free from various chemicals and prevent water beading on top.

If you think you’re done, grab a beer, there’s a bit more work left. Use car glass cleaner for the windows, mirrors and windscreen, and add some sealant to repel water. You can finish off by applying a layer of tyre cleaner to remove minor damage and dressing for protection.

How Often to Detail Your Car

Detailing with the right car care supplies can easily be done from the comfort of your home. Depending on how dirty the car is, this can take a couple of hours to the better part of a day, so plan ahead. Comprehensive detailing (including polishing and waxing) is recommended at least twice a year, but washing and cleaning can be carried out whenever there’s a need. What’s to remember is to choose the right weather, with no expected rain or blistering sunshine, have all your supplies stacked and ready, and use products that bring the best out of your vehicle.