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How To Wash A Car & Detail It Too!

Want to know how to wash a car? Car washing is something that seems really easy, but it can be easy to harm your paint. I'll show you the best tips to keep your car looking great. 

Home Car Wash vs Detailing Company

There is a distinct difference between a car wash and a professional auto detailing company. Automotive detailing is to car cleaning what Picasso is to the kid next door who won the art prize at school.

Auto detailing means comprehensive and meticulous cleaning and protection of a car to showroom condition or better.
Time and expertise are required to take things to this level. There is a significant demand for automotive detailing. Car cleaning can be done at a dedicated site or offered as a mobile service. Depending on the range of services offered, relatively little machinery is required. Add it all up and it makes for a great business idea.

How To Wash A Car

Use plenty of warm water and good cleaning products.

High pressure cleaners can be used but it is advised not to exceed a pressure of 1500 psi for risk of damaging the paintwork.

Portable machines with a flow rate of 0.5 gallons per minute will suffice and ensure that not too much water is wasted.

Wash gently so as not to damage the paintwork, i.e. if the car is really dirty, rather wash the car twice with finesse than once with more power.

Remove all the soapy water with clean water, making sure that all the hard to reach areas get the proper attention. Failing to do so, will leave streaks as the soap dries.

Preferably wash the car in the shade. Aside from the fact that you don’t want to get skin cancer one week into your new job, it delivers a better result.

Wash windows along with the rest of the car, but do the wheels separately.

Drying the car is a very important step. Chamois can easily collect dirt and scratch the car. Microfibre cloths are recommended. They are synthetic and collect more moisture and provide a streak free finish.

You may need to give the windows some extra attention and use specialized products for the second round of cleaning and drying.

Washing the wheels is best done last as typically they are the dirtiest part of the car. This is due to the brake dust from the brake pads. Be sure not to use any cleaning products on the brake discs or pads that will hamper braking performance.

Different cleaning products are available for the various wheel finishes.

Wash the tires but do not worry about the tire tread and driving surface of the tire as this is pointless and may even hamper tire performance.

The engine must be washed with care. Firstly, cover the air intake and electrically sensitive areas such as the fuse box. Ensure that products used to remove grease and oil do not damage rubber or plastic. A steam cleaner delivers a great looking result but will lead to degradation of hoses and other parts therefore this is not advised. You will not use it if you really know how to wash a car

Rather use hot water with products such as WD40 and a trusty toothbrush to get those stubborn spots sorted out.

Do not work on a recently run motor as it will still be hot. You can easily injure yourself or damage the motor.

Water with baking soda will help clean the battery and battery cradle. Do NOT reuse the same rags for cleaning the battery on the rest of the car as they may pick up some battery acid.

Don’t forget the underside of the hood, detailing is in the details.

Waxing and Polishing

After you've learned how to wash a car you need to know how to wax and polish a car

Polish, cleaner and rubbing compound are all abrasive products. Polish is the least destructive of the three. Learn more about these products and when to use them. An orbital buffer is a helpful tool. A badly done auto detailing job will result in swirls.

Swirl removers are available should you need to correct someone else’s poor workmanship, hopefully not your own!

Wax after polishing to protect your hard work. Polishing will remove the wax.

Claying the car is a technique using a special clay and a lubricant to collect imperfections and small dirt particles. This service is normally charged for as an optional extra as it takes time and skill.

How To Detail A Car

After you've learned how to wash a car and how to polish a car it's time to learn how to clean the interior

Vacuum first, including areas which you going to clean with a wet product such as vinyl and glass. Use a brush attachment for areas that may scratch.

Remove the mats and clean them separately, outside the car. Make sure not to get dust onto the clean and shiny car! Do not use any slippery dressing on the mats for driver safety.

Depending on the level of detailing required, remove the seats, plastic trim and other loose items to get rid of any trapped dirt.

The jury is out on dressing vinyl and plastic parts of the car. You may want to avoid airbags and areas requiring good grip.

Use leather products for leather trim.

A Q-Tip can be used to get into those hard to reach nooks and crannies such as air vents.

Paint Touchups

I would recommend leaving paint touchups to the professionals or offering this as a service should you have permanent premises where you can control the environment sufficiently to work with wet paint. Just learn how to wash a car and go with that!
Several great products are on the market. Meguiar and Mothers both sell excellent individual products and comprehensive car cleaning kits. Turtle Wax is also a great brand.

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