Vehicle Detailing

[nnnnnate]

Have any of you guys gotten really into detailing? With my new-to-me truck and my wifes '22 Camry I figure I ought to figure out how to take good/better care of my vehicles. I've been doing a deep dive on youtube and whatnot and did a pretty good wash on both on Saturday. I did the wheels first, then foamed it, washed with a microfiber mitt and two buckets, one for rinse and one to reload. Then I sprayed on a detail spray to work as a drying agent and help keep spots off. Then I dried the whole thing with a big microfiber towel and dressed the tires. I went back afterwards and cleaned up the exterior glass and the interior doors while I was at it.

I still need to wax it and need to figure out what I want to use there. Probably a spray wax. The paint on both are really pretty good since they are both nice and new so I don't know that I need to polish or mess with the clearcoat. The truck has what I've learned is often called "rail rust", the little specs of metal that have embedded into the paint and then rusted. I hope to deal with that on Saturday.

How deep do you guys get into detailing?

 

[Stephen]

When I first got my Miata back in 2010, I dove in head long and learned that I hated it. I have a friend who has a side gig doing detailing, so I just paid him to do all my cars, and he does an AMAZING job. But, he's moved to Texas. Bastard. So now I have to learn to like detailing myself or pay full price somewhere.

 

[glockman]

I have always done pretty frequent deep cleans on all my vehicles. The amount and quality of products available now is amazing.
I'd use a clay bar to try and get the rail rust spots.
A couple things,
1. a good steamer makes a huge difference.
2. I haven't used anything from Chemical guys that I didn't love.
3. Waxing/buffing windows makes rain just fall off and it's awesome.

 

[DAA]

I don't get too deep into it. But tire shine is devil's spooge and looks like ass.

- DAA

 

[rholbrook]

I don't get too deep into it. But tire shine is devil's spooge and looks like ass.

- DAA

Armoral on interior stuff drives me nucking futs when people do that.

 

[N-Smooth]

Detailing sucks. I have a carwash pass so I wash once or twice a week and vacuum and wipe interior every couple weeks. I do that so I don't have to detail it.

Yes, I know the carwash scratches the piss out of my clear coat but it looks clean so I don't care. I'm not handwashing a truck that gets parked outside lol

EDIT: I also have a good track record of convincing my wife to treat the leather in my truck when she is doing her car. So that's good.

 

[DAA]

Armoral on interior stuff drives me nucking futs when people do that.

I used it on a couple vehicles with bench seats when I was a teenager. Nobody wore seat belts back then. My buddies knew to just hang on when taking a hard right. The girls just slid on over...

Lame strategy? Maybe. Maybe, sometimes, not...

- DAA

 

[Unimog]

A couple things,
1. a good steamer makes a huge difference.

Can you point us to something you consider good? My wife has a junky one that seems to break after a year of use.

 

[Kevin B.]

That tire dressing is a great way to turn your tires brown, IME.

 

[nnnnnate]

The buzz words I've been seeing online are "matte" and "oem look" in regards to tire and interior shine.

I ordered some stuff from Adams polishes then on Saturday I ran to AutoZone (too many people) and then oriellys and saw a lot of this crap is stocked there. I had bought a gallon of the Adams super foam soap and the detail spray and just smaller bottles of interior cleaner. I'll figure out what I like and then maybe get bigger containers later. I used more than 16 oz of the detail spray between the two cars but did probably put way more on than I needed.

We took my wife some dinner tonight since she was stuck at work for parent teacher conferences and as I drove up to her car in the lot I was noticing how freaking good it looked. It's been a few days now but was still shiny and pretty.

We both park in the garage at home and I know that helps a lot.

 

[Tonkaman]

My next door neighbor is a fanatic about detailing his trucks. He only buys supplies from The Detail Garage in Midvale.

 

[Hickey]

Simple Green on your tires and black plastic parts before the auto wash is a game changer. Doesn't make them shine, it just CLEANS them really well.

 

[glockman]

Can you point us to something you consider good? My wife has a junky one that seems to break after a year of use.

We have a Sargent steamer that we bought to sanitize things when my son had c-diff. It was spendy but it is 12 years old and works great. It will take the text right off your appliances😁 ask me how I know.

 

[DesertRam]

I firmly believe that washing my truck only serves to remove its protective layer and make it more prone to desert pinstriping.

 

[SoopaHick]

Reading spy/military thriller novels have taught me to not clean my truck so I can tell when the bad guys touch it.

 

[jeeper]

What’s the best way to remove window scratches? Is it possible? I assume these are from dirt being on the seal when opening the window 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[N-Smooth]

What’s the best way to remove window scratches? Is it possible? I assume these are from dirt being on the seal when opening the window 🤷🏼‍♂️

View attachment 152800

A hammer and your insurance company?

 

[UNSTUCK]

My boss just purchased a used Sprinter van to rent out, as a new side gig. Guess who will maintain it? Must be nice to be the boss!

This thing was/is in roughy shape. The outside is now WAY better. Took all day though.







That’s was just rubbing compound on the DA. I have a paintless dent remover coming on Tuesday to pull all the dings out then it will get a heavy wax. Then on to the inside. It’s worse….

 

[nnnnnate]

That 50/50 shot is real nice. Good work.

I got a my hot/cold hose bib installed today in the garage thats connected to soft water. I had a neighbor that's a plumber come help me make the crimps but had everything else basically sorted out.

It was a busy day including a trip to the dump for compost so I didn't have time to give the truck a wash. We'll see how the coming week goes.

 

[UNSTUCK]

I have a hose bib on the soft water side as well. It’s amazing how much that helps. If you can keep the vehicle out of the sun you can pretty much just leave it to air dry and you won’t get much for spots.