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Dishwashing liquid is the go-to choice for most DIYers. But it shouldn’t be. Dishwashing detergent is simply too harsh. It sucks important oils out of your car’s finish and can actually shorten the life of your paint. A car detailer will use car wash soap for professional car detailing, like Meguiar’s Gold Class Car Wash.
Sponges capture and hold dirt and grit in their large pores. You can wring it out, but the grit will stay put. Once grit is embedded, you may as well wash your car with sandpaper. A car detailer will use a microfiber car wash mitt because the grit falls out when you rinse.
Use one bucket for clean, soapy water and one for rinse water. After each wipe, dunk your dirty wash mitt in the rinse water bucket and swirl it around to dislodge the dirt and grit. Then dunk it in the soapy water and pick up where you left off. Dump the dirty rinse water and refill with clean water before you move to the other side of the car. That’ll keep the soapy water clean. We love this set of two collapsible buckets as they’re easy to store between car washes.
Chamois soak up water, but they don’t pick up any grit that’s left after rinsing. Instead, they just grind those particles into your paint. A microfiber towel, on the other hand, collects the particles. Use the microfiber towel in clean water to remove the grit. Then wring and keep drying.
This step is what separates the DIYers from professional car detailers. Polishing increases the shine, but it doesn’t remove scratches. However, if you remove the scratches first with a scratch removal kit and then polish, you’ll get even more shine.
A car detailer wouldn’t be caught dead without a dual-action polisher. Don’t confuse this incredible tool with a high-speed buffer! Buffers run at much higher speeds and can burn the paint right off your car if you stay in one place too long or press too hard. Polishers are different. They run at lower speeds and oscillate as they rotate. Any DIYer can get the hang of polishing in just a few minutes. Polishing before waxing makes a huge difference, so your investment really pays off.
One more polishing tip from professional detailers—apply the polish to the machine’s pad. Then wipe the pad across your paint. That’ll prevent all the polish from flinging off the pad as soon as you hit the trigger.
Old style paste waxes look great on antique cars. But they don’t produce the same “wet look” as modern synthetic wax, and they don’t last as long. When car dealers sell paint sealant, they’re really just applying a high-quality synthetic wax, which is something you can do yourself for a fraction of the price. Apply synthetic wax in small sections using a wax applicator sponge.
Wipe off the wax haze using circular motions and a microfiber towel. As the towel loads with wax, refold it to a cleaner section. Use a second towel when the first one is fully loaded.
Use a small detailer’s brush and shop vacuum to remove dust and dirt from all the nooks and crannies on your dash and console. It’s a tool of the trade in the world of professional car detailing. Hold the shop vacuum wand near your brush to suck up all the crud as you work your way down to the floor.
Automotive carpet and car mats don’t like to let go of dirt. If you just vacuum it, you’ll leave plenty behind. To remove more dirt, detailers use a stiff brush and scrub the carpet as they vacuum. You’ll see the dirt particles bounce to the surface so you can suck them up with your shop vacuum.
Silicone dashboard protectant sprays leave a slick film on your dash that actually attracts more dust, so you’ll have to clean it more often. Plus, a shiny dash reflects into your windshield. That reflection and glare can reduce your vision, especially at night. That’s why professional detailers use non-silicone matte finish protectants. They still look great, and they reduce glare.
You probably wiped off any door seal lubricants when you cleaned the door. Detailers make it a point to re-treat the seals with silicone spray. Spray some on a rag and wipe it around the entire door seal. The silicone prevents the seal from sticking in summer and in winter.
If you cleaned the inside of your windows before you cleaned the dash and applied vinyl protectant, you’ll just have to clean them again. That’s why detailers save glass cleaning until the very end. Cleaning the windows at this point removes all cleaning and vinyl treatment overspray and leaves you with sparkling clean windows. A tool kit can help you reach every nook and cranny of your dash.
It often depends on where you go, but it’s important to remember that professional car detailers are just that: specialized professionals who use a range of expert equipment, like pressure washers, steam cleaners, waxes, sealants, leather conditioners and more to clean and detail the interior and exterior of a vehicle.
Again, it depends on where you go and what service you get, but you can expect to pay anywhere from the low to high hundreds. Other factors that impact price include the size, make and condition of your car.
Waxing your car may help prevent damage from sun rays, which can impact the color or look of the car’s paint. Waxing is typically a single step within the detailing process, though it’s not a necessary one.
That’s up to personal preference. If you drive a lot and put wear and tear on your car, you may want to go every 3 to 4 months, but less frequent drivers can go as little as two times a year.
Here at Family Handyman, we pride ourselves on knowing a thing or two about getting things done around the house — the right way. We take the time to test out and review hundreds of products, whether it be appliances, cleaners or handy little gadgets, to make your everyday life easier. In this case, we wanted to find some of the best car detailing essentials to save you some extra cash.
Rick Muscoplat is the author of this article. Rick has written tons of other great articles for Family Handyman, like DIY car solutions and snow blower FYIs. Additional reporting was contributed by Melissa Lee, Content Updates Editor.
