Exhaustive Guide: Car Detailing Basics

[Dr MUDHAN]

@ j4jigar

Planning second detailing session for my car, last session was in September-2015.
This time I don't want to do CLAY.
I want to do polish only for cleaning paint, removal of scratches is not priority.
Please suggest me which polish to go for.
1. Poorboys Professional Polish ( non-abrasive, pure polish )
2. Poorboys Pro Polish 2 ( abrasive )
I am leaning towards ( Poorboys Pro Polish 2 ), since it will also remove some minor scratches. Please note polish application will be by hand.

You are an expert enthusiastic detailer, you know it well.

Only suggestion from my side which you can examine:

1. I would prefer to give a complete wash by a good car shampoo instead of ONR before detailing.

2. Poorboys Black Hole glaze itself is an excellent cleaner, polisher, hide minor imperfections, fills light swirl marks to leave a brilliant, glossy, slick show car shine to enhance gloss @ glaze. I feel there is no need for a polisher.

 

[Dr MUDHAN]

@bharatbharija

CARS vs BIRD DROPPINGS vs DAMAGES vs REMOVAL @ RESTORATION​

​

It is inevitable in our/car’s life but not so difficult to manage if you know some facts and steps.

1. Always have a good protective wax layer over your car paint surface which will prevent Stains , Etching & other annoying blemishes.
2. Act fast as early as possible to follow the steps suggested here.

Procedure: Spray & Soak – Wipe Softly – Repeat The Steps If Needed – Clean & Polish the Surface To Restore.

Steps : Depend upon the amount of dropping – discrete locations here and there are simple. If full over the car body, you need to give a wash and proceed. Do it in a shaded area. Avoid COLIN Glass cleaner on paint surface.

On discrete locations:
1. Spray ONR solutions (Optimum NO RINSE WASH & SHINE / PROKLEAR RAW (a VFM product) (without extra wax, if possible)
2. Put a tissue paper (plain, non-scented) and spray on with ONR, leave one minute
3. Spray again and remove softly the paper and the contents below it.
4. Repeat the procedures above if still some layer of droppings are there.
5. Spray ONR and clean the area with MF Cloth and dry.
6. Apply a polisher like AMWAY SG / Meguiars Ultimate Compound to restore the finish.
7. OVER!


Full over the car body:
1. Wash the car with water
2. Soak all the area with wetted MF cloth, leave it few minutes
3. Spray water over cloth , softly wipe
4. Repeat if needed.
5. Give a good shampoo wash
6. Spray ONR and clean the area with MF Cloth and dry.
7. Apply a polisher like AMWAY SG / Meguiars Ultimate Compound to restore the finish.
8. OVER

There are expensive / exclusive bird dropping removers in the market like Autoglym Bird Dropping Wipes, Poorboys Bird Sh#t Remover.

But to me, if you follow the above steps with patience and passion- that’s enough!


BONUS: UNDERSTAND SOME SCIENCE:

Depending on what the particular bird has had for its lunch the chemicals in the resultant muck can very quickly etch into and mark our cars’ paintwork.

Don’t miss to read my interesting article here about, why do birds like our cars?
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...-new-honda-city-white-albus-2.html#post326343

Also view these videos if you have time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUqdEOYk_9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjZTHrxA5HY

 

[joni_rajpura]

help me to protect my car from light scratches main thing is that scratches are only on hood and car is always covered with car cover

 

[CRACING]

help me to protect my car from light scratches main thing is that scratches are only on hood and car is always covered with car cover

image

How deep are they?

Do you feel them in nails? If so then repainting is the only way. Otherwise you can try scratch remover products like Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0, Swirl X, Mothers California Gold Scratch Remover or Poorboys SSR depending upon aggressiveness.

Note: above mentioned products are only for scratch repair so after that you have to continue with polish to restore the gloss. Finally Sealant and/or wax to protect.

 

[joni_rajpura]

is there any way to stop increasing these kind of scratches

 

[VISHNUCARCRAZY]

Can somebody mention on how to clean interiors?

 

[Dr MUDHAN]

​

MAKE CLEAN YOUR CAR'S INTERIOR​

Car’s interior means, cleaning of:

Seat Covers
Steering covers (especially leather wrapped)
Dash board
Glass interior
Car roof
Car side panels
Carpet
Foot mats
Cleaning the decorative grooves, console panels, Crevices, Surface Grain, AC Grills and food & other stains etc.,

Keep the following ready:

Vacuum cleaner
Sponge
Soft brush
Ear buds
Isopropyl Alcohol / AMWAY SG
Specific cleaning solutions
Enough MF towels / Microfiber Cloth

The major materials inside our car are plastic fiber panels, fabric roof / door side panels, foot mat rubber, carpet and the seat cover (Fabric Cloth /Neoprene or polychloroprene /Art Leather/Leather what we have put in.

There are many types and brands of interior cleaning products. Depending on the material you are cleaning, you may need several products.

All the products had a warning to first "try it in an inconspicuous place" to see it was compatible with your car.

Regular and periodical cleaning:

Take out the foot mats and completely vacuum clean the interior.
Use the right cleaner for a specific material – Plastic/ Glass/ Fabric / Art Leather/ Leather
Keep the doors open for a while daily
Keep a good car perfume

For leather areas like seat cover/steering wheel cover, REFER this: http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...guide-car-detailing-basics-16.html#post501232

For areas of fabric/art leather REFER this: http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...guide-car-detailing-basics-15.html#post500316

For plastic surfaces, use Carpro PERL

Dirt can hide in between the leather grain. Use a soft bristle tooth brush in a slow, circular direction.
AC Vents, some crevices can't be cleaned easily with a cloth. Ear buds, small soft flat brush will be handy for these spots.
Do not use anything on HU LCD panel except dedicated MF Cloth, if needed little moistened.
Wipe the dirty area ( by sponge ) until clean. Do not scrub too hard.

Carpets if soft, handle softly with special foam cleaner, carpet cleaner has a handy built in scrubber. It works well to get non-greasy stains out of carpet. Carpet brush helps to brush out embedded dirt and vacuum clean again. Stubborn spots, Scrub the dirtiest spots with a plastic bristle brush. Avoid Grease and road tar getting into our car by way of our shoes.

Rubber mats need extra scrubbing with RIN soap and cloth wash brush.

Carpro PERL is good in general on all surfaces, AMWAY SG is a good stain remover, even a simple good car shampoo will do good on all surfaces except leather.


Special Cleaning :

If your family/ children often make the interior unclean or if you take your pet often better seek a professional cleaning periodically like 3M interior cleaning/ germ cleaning services.


Take Care - Most car interiors are made with a robust material, but it's best to be safe than sorry, so handle with care!

You'll be amazed at how much better the car looks when you clean all the detail spots.

I guess that's why they call it detailing.

.

 

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Many Mother's detailing products are available at amazon.in at very very good prices. Am getting greedy to buy the ones which are very good.

Which products are worth buying from Mother's?

Also 303 many products also available at amazon.in

 

[jazzyb5454]

Now, chemical guys products are also available on amazon but quite expensive.

 

[CRACING]

Many Mother's detailing products are available at amazon.in at very very good prices. Am getting greedy to buy the ones which are very good.

Which products are worth buying from Mother's?

I have used Mother's Pure Polish and Synthetic Wax. Application is easy but results are not so impressing. May be these look better on white color and mine is gray car. Another problem is white spots of polish and/or wax becomes visible after several washes and we need to buff them to remove them (Won't go easily though).

So I do not recommend above said products. Haven't tried their other products but they might be good.

Other products I use are Meguiar's Black Wax and Auto Finesse Tripple and I'm very satisfied with them.

Paytm is providing 20% discount on car care products so I have bought Meguiar's Ultimate Polish and Meguiar's Yellow Wax M26. Expecting these to give better results. Especially when used with polishing machine that I have.

 

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Droom.in is offering various detailing and other services at an offer price of Rs. 99. Yes you read it right.

India

I just booked mine at Rs. 99, serviced from Elite Car Care which includes:

Service Includes
Washing And Cleaning Of Foot Mats
Tyre Arches Cleaning
Underbody Wash
Engine Hot Water Wash And Dressing
Car Perfume Spray
Spraying Chemical On The Wind-Shield To Make It Scratchless
Complete Dry Cleaning Of A Interior Including Seats (Carpet/Leather), Roof, Mats And Boot
Complete Vacuuming Of Cars Incl. Seats And Boot
Pre Washing Of Car
Foam Cleaning Of Exterior
Washing And Cleaning Of Door Frames
Side Doors Cleaning And Polishing
Body Liquid Polishing And Waxing
Dash Board Cleaning And Polishing
Tyre And Alloy Polishing
Scratch Proof Windshield Spray

 

[j4jigar]

One query for to keep car clean during rain.
I have applied Poorboys EX-P and Collinite 845 on top of it.
Currently I wash car once in week with ONR, two bucket method.

My query is after car is washed, if I take out in rain and return home,
whatever rain droplets remains on car body, once they dry two things happens.
1. Car looks dirty
2. Due to dried droplets, next washing become a task.

How we can avoid it, my idea is to remove excess water after car is taken out in rain ?

I only want to wash car once in a week.

 

[CRACING]

One query for to keep car clean during rain.
I have applied Poorboys EX-P and Collinite 845 on top of it.
Currently I wash car once in week with ONR, two bucket method.

My query is after car is washed, if I take out in rain and return home,
whatever rain droplets remains on car body, once they dry two things happens.
1. Car looks dirty
2. Due to dried droplets, next washing become a task.

How we can avoid it, my idea is to remove excess water after car is taken out in rain ?

I only want to wash car once in a week.

Depends upon how you care the paint surface. I have seen people drying their cars after it has got wet in rain but I didn't felt good.

Unsafe to safest methods as follows:

1. Remove excess water (with MF cloths) once you are back home but if the car is dirty then its not a good idea. You'll be wiping the dirt over paint surface. I don't take chance even if the car looks clean. Instead will go for next safe methods.

2. Use sprayer filled clean water and spray over the surface. This will lift light dirt and then wipe and dry using MF cloths.

3. Use sprayer filled Rinseless concentrate and spray over the surface. This will lift mild dirt and then wipe and dry using MF cloths.

4. For heavy dirt, use pressure washer, shampoo and MF cloths/mitts.

 

[KK_HakunaMatata]

.

NOTABLE EXAMPLE: 1. Pinnacle Leather and Vinyl Cleaner 2. Wolfgang Leather Care Cleaner

NOTABLE EXAMPLE: 1. Pinnacle Leather Conditioner 2. Wolfgang Leather Care Conditioner

NOTABLE EXAMPLE: 1. Pinnacle Leather Cleaner & Conditioner 2. Meguiar's G7214 Gold Class Leather Cleaner & Conditioner

Avoid using Inexpensive brands as they leave a greasy finish.

.

Hello Doc,

Hope you are doing great so as your ever shining ALBUS .

I wanted to buy a Leather Cleaner and/or Conditioner. Before that, I have Autofresh APC available, can this be used instead of Leather Cleaner so that I can only buy a Conditioner.

Further, any inputs on Armorall Leather Care Gel. I guess this is cleaner cum conditioner but my doubt arises why this is gel when all the other products are not gel products.

Armor All 10961US Leather Care Gel (532 ml): Amazon.in: Car & Motorbike

I own a 2006 Corolla.

Regards,
KK

 

[Suryaputhra]

@KK_HakunaMatata, I am using Armorall Leather Care Gel, it is good, cleaning abilities and protecting abilities are very good.

-suryaputhra