An introduction to Detailing – Pt2. Exterior

Car detailing is more than a thorough wash and those working in the industry will forever be annoyed at being called a car valeter. In essence, Auto detailing is about restoring the exterior and interior of the vehicle back to a showroom condition, but also protecting the vehicle from the elements.

Earlier this month, we gave our tips on how to get the interior fresh and clean, check out the article here.

So, this time we are going to focus on the exterior…

The key difference with cleaning your car exterior and detailing it is more to do with the refinement of the paintwork. Over a period of time exposing your car to harsh elements, unsafe cleaning methods and general usage, your paintwork will suffer from swirl marks and paint fade. Swirl marks are very fine scratches to the clear coat/lacquer of your bodywork which become most obvious in direct sunlight. These are mostly created from unsafe cleaning methods, dragging fine bits of grit around a sponge or bush.

Paint fade is due to direct sunlight, reacting and oxidising the clear coat/lacquer layer of your vehicle, causing a haze effect to the clear coat.

Both issues can be resolved with machine polishing your car. This is where you take a very fine, abrasive polish on a suitable polishing tool and in simple terms, sand the clear coat down to a smooth finish, removing any blemishes. But be careful, too much polishing and you can go straight through the clear coat and burn the paint so we suggest you seek a professional to carry out this service.

However, that doesn’t stop us from getting the car looking amazing on our own drives and here’s how we’d go about it.

Step 1: Pre-Wash

Use a Snow Foam, Citrus wash or TFR to do a pre-wash on the vehicle. This is so we can try to remove as much dirt off the car before we even touch the surface, decreasing our chances of making swirl marks (very fine scratches) in our paint. For this, you can use a portable pressure washer to apply the product. You would leave this to dwell before removing the loosened sediment with a pressure washer.

Step 2: Wheels

These are most likely to be the dirtiest part of your car but you won’t regret giving them a little TLC! Using a separate bucket and specific wheel cleaning brushes, clean the wheel paying attention to the hard to reach areas. We suggest using a specific microfibre sponge to clean the larger surface areas of the wheels and rough sides of the tyres.

Step 3: Time to get cleaning

Always work from top to bottom when cleaning the car and with a soapy microfibre mitt. We prefer Microfibre as it’s safer for the bodywork than a sponge as any contaminants that are on the bodywork can be absorbed into the plush microfibres, whereas a sponge will drag it across the surface, potentially producing more fine scratches. Work on one panel or area at a time, rinsing as often as possible.

For extra care, detailers will use two buckets, one for rinsing off your microfiber pad/sponge and one for reapplying the fresh suds. For your microfibre, you could choose our fine microfibre mitt, or our 2 in 1 microfibre mitt.

Step 4: Decontamination

There are a number of contaminants that bond to our vehicle over time. The main culprits are tar and metal particles from brake pads & exhausts. When the car is thoroughly clean, and still wet, you can start with a specific tar removal product. Use a cheaper microfibre option like these Simply buffing cloths. They’re bound to get soiled quicker so a more affordable solution is best.

Secondly, after rinsing the car, apply a fallout remover. This should react with bonded contaminants and dissolve them from the car. Be sure to rinse thoroughly.

Finally, there’s a method called clay-barring which is exactly as it sounds. A specific type of clay can be rubbed across your bodywork and pick up and remaining contaminants bringing it back to smooth finish.

Decontaminating is truly is one of the best solutions for a simple ‘Do It Yourself’ option.

It is at this point we could go to machine polish the car.

Step 5: Rinse and Dry

We don’t want the car to dry naturally as water contaminants will evaporate and form water spots. Use a chamois leather or plush microfibre drying towel to dry it. Again, microfibre is always favoured just in case there are any contaminants still on the car.

Step 6: Wax on!

Adding a sealant or wax to the vehicle doesn’t just have aesthetic, glossy benefits but will also act as a repellent for water or sediment giving the car hydrophobic properties. Use a haze and waxing towel to remove wax haze and buff to a brilliant shine.

Step 7: Gloss Enhancer

Get yourself a good quality gloss enhancer/quick detailer to really give that paintwork a slick finish. A good quick detailer will always be useful for those quick washes when you're short for time. A heavy-duty microfibre towel will help remove and buff your vehicle to perfection.

Step 8: Glass Cleaning

Finally, clean the glass! Use a standard glass cleaner and quality cleaning cloth to ensure it’s totally clean and no streaks leftover.

And there you have it! Now you have a comfortable and clean interior and brilliantly buff exterior!

Click the links above to see the best products for the job, or continue to see our full vehicle cleaning range.