Sometimes you want to get your hands dirty to give your a car a personal touch when it comes to detailing your own car. There are so many steps that could go wrong or you think maybe it’s the right way to do it.
Here are some secrets that most professional car detailing centres practice to produce a great show-quality result. You can easily pick up these methods and habits for yourselves.
1. Use Two Buckets to Wash
If you have been using only one bucket to wash your car, you are doing it all wrong. Imagine all that dirt from your car collected in the bucket and you put it back on the car. You are scratching the body paint without realising it.
Detailers know that the two-bucket method is the best way to get your car’s exterior clean. Rinse your cloth or mitt in the clean water before dipping it in the soapy water. By doing that, you are removing chunky dirt from the cloth and keep the soapy water from contamination.
Tips: Use a Grit Guard for both buckets. It’s a tray that helps sediment settle to the bottom of your wash bucket, instead of getting stirred up in the water and recollected on your wash mitt.
2. Join the Microfiber Revolution
Microfiber cloths are great investment when it comes to cleaning and dusting your car inside and out. It’s very effective due to the synthetic material made up of tiny strands. These strands are made of fibers such as, nylon, polyester, Kevlar and are extremely durable making them ideal for car detailing uses.
The microfiber cloths capture and remove dirt and dust into their fibers which many other natural and synthetic fabrics don’t. Use different color cloths and towels for each specific task for greater efficiency, lower friction and scratching. This will also help you a great lot for easier washing, rinsing and drying.
Tip: Remove any labels and stitching before you use your towels to avoid scratching. You get what you pay for even when it comes to microfiber cloths, so invest a little for a decent quality ones.
3. Use a Clay Bar System
If you are new to the clay bar system, it’s the best method to remove surface contaminants from paint. Professionals have been using clay for years and the consumer versions have been introduced to the market for awhile now.
A good clay bar system comes with a spray lubricant, 80 – 100 grams clay bar and a towel. The clay effectively remove bonded environmental contaminants collected over the years of driving with removing the paint thickness.
Tip: To prolong the life of your car’s polish and wax treatment, the clay bar smoothen the surface for that purpose.
4. Dry Your Glass in Two Directions
When you dry your glass in two directions you are actually making your life much easier. Wipe the interior glass horizontally and exterior vertically, this way you can quickly spot the streak. You’ll enjoy a crystal clear glass without struggling in and out of the vehicle chasing that streak.
5. Invest in a Dual Action Polisher
You can achieve professional result by spending a little bit more on the right equipment. If you are the kind of owner that takes car beauty highly, it is recommended to buy a dual action polisher.
Perfect for leveling out areas of abrasion and removing layers of old wax, the perfect blend of both tools will easily handle any polishing work you throw at it.
Tip: Make sure you don’t get the polisher with forced rotation if you are inexperienced with polishing because it will actually do more harm than good.
6. Use a Buffer to Apply Product, a Towel to Remove
Don’t be confused and mistaken the function of a buffer. It defeats the purpose of waxing if you remove wax and polish with the buffer. A buffer can leave an uneven finish and swirls in your clear coat.
Apply wax with the power buffer and remove it with a soft dry cloth. The wax is to prevent the tool from burning or damaging the paint layer that will end up with a thin and even coat of wax.
7. Make Static Electricity Your Friend
Your carpet is really efficient in trapping dust and dirt making it very difficult to remove when it comes to vacuuming. You could be running the vacuum over the carpet over and over again but the dirt is still stucked there.
Use static electricity to your advantage by drawing the bits out of the fibers for easy removal by vacuum. You can do this using a latex glove and gently rubbing your hand across the surface.
Tip: Agitate those annoying dirt using a stiff nylon brush but be careful not to damage the upholstery.
Too lazy to do the car detailing your self? No worries. Let’s check out the popular car detailing centres in Klang Valley and get the helps from the experts.
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