The following list of topics will provide basic information about various car detailing subjects. Our master list is a library of proven methods that we use every day in our shop. Our organized content of information will help you quickly learn about your specific interest and skip everything else.

How long does it take to detail a car?

The time it takes to detail a car depends on the amount of work needed to meet your goals. If your goal is a car wash and wax job, then 1 hour should do it. If your car paint needs to be polished, then it usually takes up to 8 hours. Some vehicles that need paint correction services can take as long as 24 hours of labor time to repair.

How to wash a car

How to wash a car is a great question because there are many different ways to do it. For the best car wash, use a high-quality wax stripping soap like clean slate sold by Chemical Guys. We prefer a fluffy brush head like this car wash brush we found on amazon.

We clean the car with soapy water and then use a clay bar to rub it. For more information, check out our article on how to wash a vehicle topic.

How to clean rims

Cleaning your car rims more than once is the key to making your rims super shiny. We suggest you have car rim cleaning kit to use with a strong cleaning product with water in a bucket.

Cleaning car rims is a wet and dirty job. We recommend wearing rubber gloves and waterproof protective clothing from wrist to ankles. Tape the gloves to your suit to prevent water from leaking into your sleeves.

When scrubbing, make sure to clean well behind the spokes and in the lug nut holes. Rinse them off and repeat until the rims are all clean. For more details on cleaning rims follow this link.

How to clean the engine bay

You must be aware of everything in an engine cradle that must stay dry. If you are unsure, then do your research until, you are sure. We only recommend this service for a car that has recently had a fluid leak repaired. Like an oil or transmission fluid leak or very dirty engine environments.

Fuse boxes can sometimes be ajar, and water can leak in. A rubber grommet at the steering column could be loose or dry rotted. The car alternator should never be saturated by water and things like that.

Assuming you have prepared the engine and its computer parts properly you can begin to wash things out with powerful degreasers and water. A Pressure washer will be amazing here.

How to clean car windows

Rubbing alcohol and two microfiber cloths is how to clean car windows. Be sure to install good ventilation while you spray the alcohol to mostly cover a 3×2 foot area. Fold the microfiber cloth into a square. Finally, in a circular motion, begin cleaning the windows with firm pressure. If the windows do not easily come clean, then be sure to visit our article explaining how to clean car glass properly.

How to clay bar a car

With a bar of clay and a slip solution like baby shampoo from Johnson & Johnson mixed with water. Wet the car panel completely and rub the clay bar back & forth on the painted surface to remove contaminants.

It’s that simple, it takes about 1-2 hours to rub a car properly. Begin on the hood and decklid, then proceed to other parts of the car. Move to our article about how to clay bar rub a car the right way.

How to remove bugs from car

Not all dead bugs on a front end of a car are the same. Some have fused into the paint itself & only a wet sanding or repainting can retore the panel. In most other cases a clay bar rub will remove most of their parts. You can further remove left over bug parts using paint thinner and a microfiber cloth. Visit our article on how to remove bugs from a car to learn more about the whole process.

Do not attempt this on single stage paint. Take care not to rub too much as to breakthrough the factory finish. If you still need to remove bugs from the car, then use a foam backed 3000 grit sandpaper. Wet sand the spots with the sandpaper & after that, polish the car for a shiny finish. Going too deep is bad!

How to remove tree sap from a car

How to remove tree sap from a car is a standard question in the car detailing business. We prefer using paint thinner on a microfiber cloth followed by a wet sanding & buff job or just a buff job.

It will depend on the type of damage to the clear coating itself. Sometimes it has crazed or cracked and other times it has not. Our more specific article on this topic will teach you all you need to know about how to get tree sap off a car without damaging the paint.

How to remove tar from a car

Removing tar from a car is almost always done by clay bar rubbing. Use Paint Thinner to remove tough tar after clay barring the affected area completely. If you are not comfortable with the paint thinner, then we suggest purchasing some sort of tar removal product & following the directions to be on the safe side. Visit our article to learn how to get tar off a car.

How to remove road paint from a car

Removing road paint from a car is a long and difficult task that could damage the clear coating at any point. To remove road paint from a car, you might have to get it repainted at a Bodyshop. Be sure to level up your knowledge by reading our detailed article on how to remove road paint from a car.

To avoid repainting a car, we found nothing works better than a solvent like Shopline JT501 made by PPG. Wear thick gloves and rub each spot with a folded microfiber towel until it melts or breaks free. To prevent a major issue, avoid forceful use of a tool. Use a gentle approach and concentrate on wiping across larger areas rather than finger banging it.

How to wet sand a car

There are only two methods available to wet sand a car. You can hand sand the painted surface or use a machine to assist in the wet sanding process. Each method has its pros and cons but using them properly ensures predictable and beautiful results. We wrote an article on how to wet sand a car to help you improve your knowledge.

Rock chip repair

When attempting to repair rock chips in a car you must have a few tools available depending on the need. You must expose and manage the entire rusted area if there is rust. Completely clean and dry the surface of moisture.

Apply your touch up paint and hope it looks good after it dries. Multi coats of touch up paint for a car is usually not recommended, but occasionally it’s best as in with the black color. This repair should holdup throughout the years of outdoor conditions. Level up your knowledge with our article on rock chip repair.

How to fix rust on a car

Fixing car rust is difficult and it can come back without you noticing until it’s too late. Rust is a chemical reaction that is happening to the metal due to environmental conditions. This means that if you change the environment then it’s safe to assume that the reaction will also change. Level up your knowledge and learn about how to remove rust from metal and stop it from getting worse. We briefly discuss the finish repair and paint as well.

How to use touch up paint pen

Using a touch up paint pen can be frustrating. We recommend holding the car touch up pen with the point facing downwards. Press the felt tip onto a hard surface to let the pen top absorb the paint material from above.

Continue plunging the tip until it fully coats with paint. Wipe off any larger blobs & apply with precision. Each spot should take 1-3 seconds to apply. To ensure the touch up paint integrity, remove any rust prior to application.

How to buff out scratches on a car

How to remove scratches from a car? If we assume that the scratch has not broken the clear coating, then the best method is using a buffer machine. Use wet sanding, rubbing compounds and micro compounds to smooth the scratch and hopefully reach the bottom of scratch in the process. Avoid a breakthrough event and level up your knowledge at our article about how to buff scratches out of a car.

If the scratch has broken the painted surface, then it’s probable that touch up paint is the next logic step. If touch up won’t work, then it’s going to be a car repainting service for the car.

How to wax a car

There are two ways to applying wax to a car. The first way is by hand using applicator pads and microfiber clothes. The second way is by using a buffer machine to melt wax and sealants onto the car’s clear coating.

We do not agree that a car wash wax will protect your car from pollution damage. We recommend a carnauba wax product for a longer lasting & more durable protection.

Ceramic coating near me

How to clean cloth car seats

To clean cloth car seats, you will need to accept that the entire cloth seat will need to be shampooed and dirt extracted from the material itself and often more than once. This means that the car seat must be evenly wet and evenly extracted from coast to coast. This means that small stain removal attempts typically end with a larger water ring stain then you started with. This service cost approximately 600$ in our shop for a once around all of the seats and twice on the driver’s seat.

How to clean leather car seats

There is a little trick to cleaning leather car seats and it’s all about how you use it and not so much the leather cleaning product that you are using. The trick is in your patients.

The first wipe should be done firmly and evenly with an applicator. Intentionally leave extra leather cleaning product on the surface so it glistens. This will soften funk and make it easier to remove on the second pass. So, you should wait 5-10 minutes before completing the second pass.

Never use a single finger to focus the contact point for deeper cleaning. This will often remove dye from the leather itself. Always use firm and even pressure over a wide area, even if it’s slow progress.

Car carpet cleaning near me

Vacuuming a car carpet will only get you so far. Blow compressed air in cracks while vacuuming to make the carpet look great. To clean the carpet effectively, you need a powerful machine. This machine can be a tornado device with compressed air or a car carpet extractor.

For rotten milk between the seats a car seat would need to be removed. Spray bottle carpet cleaners are very effective at early detection clean ups, but anything left to fester will need carpet extraction methods.

Car detailing tools

If you are thinking about becoming a car detailer, then you will need basic car detailing tools to start. Obviously, you will need a car polishing machine, but what kind of machine? These questions get more complicated to answer as you look deeper into buffer machines and their purposes. Like what is the difference between a short throw and long throw feature?

What we can simply say is that you can learn online, learn through experience, invest in better tools, and continue to seek better quality results all the time. Give yourself time to mature and grow into a professional car detailer and don’t be better than everyone else. It’s snobby, just be the best you can be.

What is a paint correction service

Paint correction methods gradually remove the factory clear coat layer by layer. If not done correctly, the paint’s leveling could be inconsistent, and the next time the car is buffed, it could cause a breakthrough incident with the slightest contact. In other words, car paint repair is a specialty task.

Paint correction services are essential for any car scratch repair and most pollution-related damages such as tree sap on a car. Therefore, it’s important to understand this subject to effectively search for paint correction near me.

Mobile detailing near me

There is a large and growing market interest in mobile detailing businesses. If you can find a mobile detailing company, then this can be a very effective way to clean your vehicle on a monthly basis for an affordable price.

Learn about the mobile detailing business before letting them work on your vehicle. It’s important to be informed. We also encourage you to inspect the car before and after each service. It is common for new scratches to be visible after a wax stripping car wash, they are often not detectable under specific wax or silicone products, despite already existing.

How much does car detailing cost

In our car detailing shop, we have decided to offer only full car detail services. A typical car like a sedan 2019 Honda Accord will run 600$ (This will not include interior conditioning treatments, but it does include car interior cleaning and glass). A 2019 Chevy Suburban will run somewhere between 1000-1500$ determined by the goals of the customer.

Finding car detailing near me

Finding car detailing nearby is easy with a Google search, but the list of companies is not ranked. In fact, many small businesses pay monthly to get a better listing spot for their company on Google. Some users think it is a reflection of success and it is not. As you explore a website, you form an initial impression and compare it to other websites you visit. You can always follow this link to our car detailing company page to use for a comparison during your own research.