The Detailing Process

Many people want to know exactly what work is going to be carried out on their car and what makes car detailing so different from a quick wash and polish.  With every car I work on I follow a 24 step detailing process on the exterior and a 5 step process on the interior.  This takes around 8 hours to complete.

Exterior:

  1. High pressure rinse.
  2. Wheels cleaned using an acid free gel, and natural, metal free brushes.
  3. Tyres cleaned using a citrus based degreaser.
  4. Wheel arches cleaned using a citrus based degreaser.
  5. High pressure rinse.
  6. Lower half of vehicle treated with a citrus based degreaser to remove road tar, bugs and caked on road grime.
  7. High pressure rinse.
  8. Vehicle covered with Snowfoam via foam lance, removing stubborn dirt and road grime before any contact is made with the vehicle to reduce the risk of inflicting damage.
  9. Snowfoam allowed to dwell for 8-10 minutes.
  10. Badges, panel gaps, window rubbers, grilles etc. cleaned with natural horsehair brushes and a citrus based degreaser.
  11. Door shuts cleaned using a citrus based degreaser.
  12. High pressure rinse.
  13. 2 bucket method wash, using lambswool wash mitts and a pH neutral shampoo.
  14. High pressure rinse.
  15. Quick detailer spray applied to aid drying.
  16. Dried using microfiber towels.  These thick, super soft and absorbent towels help to ensure a perfect streak free finish, with no watermarks or smears.
  17. Vehicle paintwork treated with a Paintwork Decontamination process more commonly known as ‘Claying.   This removes microscopic contaminants from the paintwork, helping to ensure that it is 100% clean and ready for Paintwork Correction.
  18. Vehicle paintwork treated with a single stage Paintwork Correction process which will enhance the paintwork by removing light swirl marks and scratches from the finish, and try to achieve a better than factory finish to the paintwork.
  19. Vehicle paintwork then treated with a pre-wax cleanser, this helps to ensure the paintwork is perfectly clean.  This also assists the wax bonding process to achieve maximum protection from the wax.
  20. Vehicle paintwork waxed using a high quality carnuaba wax. Helps to ensure that the finish achieved by paintwork correction is protected, as well as adding the finishing touch to the appearance of the vehicle.
  21. Glass cleaned using a glass cleaner and a sheeting agent applied, this helps to prevent ice sticking to the vehicles glass, as well as sheeting water away to give maximum visibility when driving in wet weather.
  22. Dressing applied to tyres, wheel arches and plastics.
  23. Window rubbers dressed using a non-silicone gel.
  24. Final paintwork wipe over and final inspection before handover.

    25. Bonnet Shot

Interior:

  1. Excess rubbish removed from floor, doorpockets, storage compartments, glovebox and boot.
  2. Dashboard and plastics cleaned using an all-purpose cleaner, and dressed to a natural finish with a non-silicone dressing.
  3. Seats, mats, carpets including under seats, crevices, boot and glovebox etc. are hoovered.
  4. Glass cleaned using a glass cleaner, and a sheeting agent applied, this helps to prevent the inside of the glass fogging, improving visibility and road safety.
  5. New air freshener installed, removing unwanted odours and leaving a pleasant, yet not overwhelming scent.