Everyone likes the feeling of turning heads with a freshly detailed car, but having your vehicle regularly detailed by a professional can be time consuming and expensive. If you’ve ever wanted to keep your car looking its best, but have been intimidated by the idea of detailing it yourself, there is good news.
With advancements in technology and the increasing availability of high quality car care, it’s now easier than ever to get a professional auto detailing look without leaving your garage. There are some basic rules you’ll want to know and a few key supplies to have before you get started.
Always Wash in Straight Lines
One of the most important rules when washing your car, whether you intend to detail it or not, is that you want to stick to smooth and consistent straight lines. First wet the panel of the car, then apply suds to your microfibre towel or scrubmit and begin washing in gentle, consistent lines from top to bottom.
The reason the technique is so important here is that you want to avoid leaving swirl marks or scratching your car’s paint. If you press too firmly, or make a circular motion, you form an edge of dirt on the towel that grinds the debris into your paint. Using a gentle, linear washing motion will lift the dirt off of the surface and not leave behind ugly scuff marks.
Make Sure You Have the Right Tools
A big part of getting a professional auto detailing look at home is having the right tools for the job. The most important things you need to have are a set of good quality microfiber shop towels and a good set of buckets fit with dirt traps. The towels are a necessity because you need to be able to wipe, wash, and dry your car without scratching the finish. The dirt traps similarly prevent the dirt in your rinse bucket from clinging to your towel and damaging the car.
In addition to that, you’ll find that you will probably want different kinds of brushes, scrubbers and towels depending on what part of the car you’re detailing. As an example, when scrubbing your wheels, you may need one towel to lift off the brake dust, one brush to scrub the tire wall, and a final cloth to polish the rim. The good news is that all of these tools can be found at your local auto parts store and none of them are especially expensive.
What Products Do You Want to Use?
A major key to getting a professional auto detailing look at home is deciding on the right products to apply to your car. What kind of automotive shampoo are you going to use? Are you going to apply sealant or wax? What products should you use on your tires?
The options in the car detailing aisle can seem a little intimidating, but the growing popularity of at home car detailing has led to a wealth of information being available online. If you want to know the best way to detail a particular part of your car, the easiest thing to do is find a tutorial online and simply follow along.
Detailing at Home Made Easy
It’s true that automotive detailing is a very difficult skill to master, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t easily achieve a professional look at home. Advancement in technologies now means that you buy the same products and chemicals that were previously only for industry use.
With the right tools, techniques, and just a little time spent researching, you can have your car looking its very best, all the time.
