Detailing the exterior

Washing

Three basic rules about washing:

1. Do not wash and detail your car in the sun.
2. In extremely cold weather, do your washing and detailing indoors (preferably in a heated place).
3. Work only on a cool car (hand-test the car's surface temperature before you begin).

While car wash products will remove most oil and grease stains, road tar-which may smudge a car's lower parts-may need special effort and special products. Stubborn, dried tar and grease can be removed with special tar removers, but they also remove car wax. Specially formulated tar cleaners are available from most local automotive supply retailers.

Steps:

1. With hose's nozzle adjusted to medium spray, thoroughly wet car's finish, washing off loose grit, dirt, and pollutants.
2. Soak towels thoroughly in sudsy car wash solution. Use minimum application pressure. The sudsy solution acts as a lubricant between your wash cloth and the car's finish. The aim is to loosen surface dirt and pollutants, float them off the finish, and hold them in suspension within the solution. Floating them off prevents them from scratching the finish. Dunk the cloth frequently in your bucket of wash water to get rid of suspended, potentially abrasive particles. Work with a clean, sopping wet cloth, heavy with solution. While application in a circular motion is easier, and for most detailers more natural, a forward-backward motion is better because it does not leave circular swirl marks in the finish.
3. Some professional detailers wash the dirtiest parts -- wheels, wheel wells, and lower body area -- first. Others start at the roof, then move to the hood and the trunk lid, doing wheels and fender wells last.
4. Pay particular attention to hard-to-reach places: areas behind the bumpers, hood edges (you may have to raise the hood to reach them), wheel wells, wheel spokes, front and taillight assemblies.
5. Rinse well with a medium spray from the hose, flooding areas to float particles off.
6. Dry with clean, non-abrasive cotton cloths, preferably terry towels, or with a soft chamois or sponge.

Quick-dry tip: Drive around the block. Air and wind will get rid of excess rinse water, especially in hard to dry places as the radiator grills, vents, and emblems. But don't drive so far as to dry the finish. Some moisture must remain to prevent spotting during final towel-drying.

As you dry, be sure not to let any water droplets remain, because they'll leave spots in the finish. Don't neglect to dry bumpers, wheels, and chrome. If any dirt comes off on your drying cloth, you didn't wash the finish well enough.

Removing oxidation

If the finish is heavily oxidized, use a good cleaner; use a polish if the finish is only moderately or marginally oxidized. Whatever the product, make sure its label specifies it's to be used:

1. For your car's type of finish (conventional or clearcoat, or both) and...
2. For the way you want to apply it (manually or by buffing machine, or both).

There are many cleaners available for either conventional or clearcoat finishes. Read labels carefully to determine what is appropriate for your car's finish.

Polishes, cleaners, sealers, and glazes, when manually applied, are allowed to dry only up to the point of being "nearly dry"-then they are wiped and buffed. Allowing any of these products to dry completely before rubbing them off and buffing the finish risks the possibility of abrasive "chalking"; that is, the tiny particles of hard, dried product can, themselves, become abrasives.

Steps:

1. Apply cleaner or polish to a 1-foot-square area with a clean, non-abrasive, 100% cotton cloth. (Experienced detailers usually work on somewhat larger areas.)
2. Use the preferred back-and-forth motion if you can; use a circular motion if you must. Apply only enough cleaner or polish, and buff with only enough pressure, to remove oxidation. Stop frequently to observe results. When oxidation is removed from a conventional finish, the newly exposed color layer shows deep, original color; a clearcoat finish relieved of oxidation has renewed, see-through clarity. Guidelines for buffing conventional finishes and clearcoat finishes appear below:
   1. CONVENTIONAL FINISH Since you're working directly on pigmented paint, expect some color to come off on your rag. You are working to remove only the oxidized, dead paint, and to expose a fresh layer; when deep-toned, fresh paint shows, stop. You want to remove as little paint as possible. Removing more than necessary will only thin the pigment layer, not improve its color.
   2. CLEARCOAT FINISH To remove the oxidized top layer of clearcoat, follow the procedure given for conventional paint-but be aware that clearcoat can be tricky. Because you aren't working on color pigment, but rather on the finish's transparent protective paint, no color shows on your cloth. You must therefore stop more frequently to observe results. When the clarity of the clearcoat has been restored and the deep-toned color underlying the clearcoat shows through, stop. Further application of cleaner or polish will needlessly remove good clearcoat, reducing the clearcoat's protective thickness.

Before you use any product on clear-coat finish, carefully read the product's label. Use no product unless its label specifies that it is safe to use on clearcoat. Old cloths from your household rag bag may be good enough for dusting the furniture, but not for cleaning and polishing your car's finish. Use only clean, soft, 100% cotton cloths, preferably pre-washed with a fabric softener. Anything else risks scratching your car's finish-especially clearcoat finish.

3. When a small area has been cleaned and buffed, move to an adjacent small area. Doing one small area at a time reduces the chances of the product thoroughly drying and abrasively "chalking." Typically, pro detailers clean and polish one-half of the hood at a time.
4. Work carefully around insignias, headlights, taillights, moldings, crevice areas, and the "opening" edges of doors and trunk-places where cleaner or polish, if allowed to dry thoroughly, will be tedious to remove.
5. Hand-buff to a high gloss.

Glazing/Sealing

Closely inspect the cleaned, oxidation-free finish and note where hairline scratches are most severe. Glaze and/or sealer fills in minute scratches and is buffed to a high shine. The finish's ultimate shine depends on the shine you buff into the glaze or sealer, not on the shine of its final wax protective coating. Glazes buff to a high luster; sealers generally do not buff to as high a luster, but they produce deeper-toned color.

If you use glaze, use a single-purpose product; if you choose to use a sealer, use a combination product, such as a glaze/sealer. Single-purpose sealers have other finish corrective uses not discussed in this book.

Steps:

1. Apply successively to small finish areas with a clean, non-abrasive 100% cotton cloth. (Some detailers prefer cheesecloth available at your local automotive parts retailer.)
2. Allow to semi-dry to a haze. Buff to a high gloss.
3. If you can't achieve a high gloss, reapply glaze or sealer/glaze and buff again.

Waxing
See Figures 8 and 9

Waxing after application of glaze or sealer is essential to protect the glaze from dissipation by sunlight and to achieve ultimate depth of color in conventional finishes and ultimate clarity in clearcoat finishes.

There are a few exceptions to this wax-after-glazing rule. Some glazes do not require wax protection; however, these glazes must be reapplied frequently-too frequently to suit most driveway detailers. Most glazes of this type are used to super-shine show cars or cars being entered in a concours competition (in which cars are judged on their excellence of appearance).

For a long-lasting wax service the best choice is Carnauba. The wax, derived from the Brazilian Carnauba palm, is nature's hardest wax, providing hard, long-lasting finish protection. Carnauba also has the highest melting point of any natural wax. It remains protective even at temperatures of 200°F (94°C). During summer's hottest days, in the hottest regions (as the Southwest), a black car left in the sun can reach such elevated temperatures.

Waxing is seldom a one-step operation. Far better to apply a thin coat of wax initially, then buff it, then apply a second thin coat. The first merely gets into the "pores" of the finish; the second fully overcoats the finish.

Choose a Carnauba paste wax over a Carnauba liquid wax. The paste contains a slightly greater percentage of Carnauba. Spray-on waxes contain considerably less Carnauba because the formula must be thinned to spray. With the paste, it is also easier to apply the wax in a very thin layer, which gives best results and which buffs easiest to a super shine. Two thin wax applications with buffing in between is usually the best approach for long-lasting results. Properly applied, Carnauba wax may continue to protect your finish, depending on climate and other conditions, for as long as 3-6 months-and sometimes longer. The hood and the roof-body areas that receive lots of sun-may need waxing more frequently.

Steps:

1. Apply successively to small areas of the finish (best: areas of about 1 square foot) with a damp 100% cotton cloth. A terry cloth towel that has been laundered in fabric softener is the best applicator.
2. With back-forth motion (or circular motion, if you must), apply a thin, even layer of wax.
3. Buff with a clean terry cloth towel. Repeat until the finish is completely waxed and buffed to a brilliant shine.

Cleanup
See Figure 10

Wherever cleaner or wax has hardened in crevices (on door edges and the like), remove it with a cotton swab or a used, soft-bristled toothbrush. Also recommended: a soft paintbrush, its bristles trimmed to about a 2-inch (50mm) length, which can get into the smallest places- such as insignias and where molding meets the body's sheet metal.

A good chrome polish renews and shines most chrome. Once chrome has been cleaned and shined, apply the same Carnauba wax used on the finish. Waxing a car's chrome is as important as waxing its finish. Wax preserves chrome's brilliance and prevents rusting. Most chrome is cleaned and polished with a dual-purpose chrome cleaner/polish. Where chrome is pitted or rusting, a two-step chemical cleaning treatment often works best. Chrome-plated plastics-as grilles and trim on some late models frequently are-are best cleaned and protected by products specially designed for chromed plastics.

Clean and polish body chrome-chromed molding and stripping-before glazing the finish (just after you apply cleaner or polish) to prevent chrome cleaner from streaking the glaze. When you wax the finish, wax body chrome, too. Non-body chromed parts, like bumpers, can be cleaned, polished, and waxed later.

Steps:

1. With a soft cloth, apply chrome cleaner/polish to a small area of chrome. Let it dry, then rub and buff with a clean cloth.
2. Inspect the cleaned area. Remove any road tar with tar remover. If there are pits or scratches in the chrome, soak a toothbrush in cleaner and scour them clean. Rusty places may require two or three applications of cleaner and gentle use of steel wool (00 or 000).
3. Be careful not to get chrome cleaner on the finish, or in the crevices of chromed fittings (for example, headlight and taillight assemblies). Most chrome polish, once dry, is hard to remove from crevices, rubber, and plastic components (such as taillight lenses). Removing the cleaner from unwanted places is time-consuming and tedious, even using a clean toothbrush or cotton swab. Shorten the cleanup time by nor getting the cleaner where you don't want it.
4. When the chrome is clean and shined, wax it.

Detailing vinyl bumpers and other exterior vinyl parts

Vinyl or plastic bumpers, after washing, should be cleaned with a vinyl cleaner/polish. Clean black vinyl or rubber bumpers with any good vinyl cleaner. There are products available that are specially designed for cleaning and restoring black vinyl and rubber bumpers and trim.

Do not attempt to wax vinyl bumpers or other components unless they are non-textured and painted. Should wax get on textured or non-painted surface, clean the surface with soap and water, scrubbing with a soft brush. Wax removing solvents are also available to remove stubborn residue.

Detailing wheels and tires

Wheels and tires are "show parts." In detailing wheels, especially, consult your owner's manual for any special manufacturer's instructions. Clear-coated or painted wheels can be scratched or permanently damaged by abrasive cleaners or polishes. Wheels made of magnesium ("Mag") or aluminum clean and shine best and safest with special products. It works best to detail one wheel at a time and to detail the tire/whitewall areas first

Detailing tires

Steps:

1. Clean whitewalls with a whitewall cleaner or with wetted household steel wool and soap pads (or with both). Black curb scuffs are often difficult to erase. First apply a whitewall cleaner; then, if necessary, use the steel wool and soap pads. Rinse, and observe your progress. Repeat the process as needed.
2. If your whitewalls are splotched with scuff-caused intrusions of black or white into adjacent tire areas, touch out the intrusion places with touch-up paint.
3. When the touch-up is thoroughly dry, use a tire brush and an all-purpose cleaner to clean the tire to the tread line.
4. Let the tire dry.
5. Apply a protectant to all visible black tire areas. Protectant brings out and renews the tire's deep black color. Most protectants work best when you leave them on for several hours (or, even better, overnight) before wiping off any residue. Never paint a tire's rubber, except for small area "touch outs" (step #2, above).

Detailing wheels

Steps:

1. Rewash wheels. Then apply an all-purpose cleaner, as for tires, above. Wheels and their wheel wells are often the dirtiest parts of your car (other than a non-detailed engine compartment). Wheels pick up road tar, grease, and black brake dust.
2. With a soft cloth apply a good wheel cleaner. You can use one of the specialty wheel cleaners designed for the type of wheels you have (Mag, aluminum, or painted), or you can use one of the cleaners that work safely and efficiently on most kinds of wheels.
3. Whatever cleaner you use, use it gently. Wheels are surprisingly scratchable, especially if clear-coated. If your wheels are clear-coated, use only wheel cleaners specified for clearcoat. Work the cleaner into wheel recesses using a toothbrush or cotton swab.
4. Spoked wheels and wheels with intricate designs take some extra doing-generally with a toothbrush, swabs, and a non-abrasive cloth soaked in cleaner or soap suds. And, yes, your fingers, too, which can reach into places many cleaning aids can't (many car enthusiasts even detail the back of the wheel). It's a labor-intensive service, but the good news is that once done right, spoked, finned, and other designer wheels are easier to clean the next time around.
5. Rinse with a hose or bucket(s) of water and let dry.
6. Wax with the same wax you used on the finish.

Detailing exterior glass: windows, mirrors and windshield

Dirty windows make a detailed car look. . . well, undetailed. Besides, they obscure your vision. Although you washed the windows and windshield when you washed the car, they probably need close-up detailing to rid them of bugs, decals (they're "no-no's" on a well-detailed car), and the last vestige of grime. Many car care product makers make good glass cleaners. Also, household glass-cleaning products work well, as does a simple mix of ammonia and water (8 ounces of household ammonia to 2 gallons of water).

Use extreme care in handling and working with inflammable products (as petroleum-based engine cleaners, spray-on products (which can be harmful if sprayed or blown into your face or eyes). and products that are potentially harmful if inhaled (such as ammonia or ammonia-based products).

If your car's windows and windshield are glass, any glass cleaner is safe to use. However, if they are plastic, you should use a plastic cleaner formulated for plastic convertible windows.

Steps:

1. With a soft cloth, an applicator, a squeegee, or a squirt bottle, wet no more than half the windshield.
2. Rub dry, giving special attention where it's seldom given: windshield (and window) corners and edges.
3. If bugs or road tar remains, remove with gentle use of very fine steel wool (00 or 000).
4. Reapply window cleaner. Again rub dry.
5. Inspect in sunlight. Some streaking will probably remain. Detailing aims to clean glass totally. If that is your aim, too, repeat the cleaning cycle until the glass is spotless.

Detailing's details

Here's a quick checklist of detailing's details:

• Antennas. Use a good chrome cleaner. Polish, then wax. If antennas are clear-coated, treat as clearcoat finish.
• Gas fill port and cap. They were spotless when you bought the car; detail them to showroom condition.
• Chromed tailpipes. Use 00 or 000 steel wool to rid them of rust; then use chrome polish. Tailpipe heat makes waxing a waste of time.
• Plastic taillight and headlight lenses. An all-purpose cleaner and soft-bristled toothbrush (an old toothbrush, not a new one) routes grime and road film from crevices without scratching scratch-prone lenses. After cleaning, apply a plastic polish.
• Radiator grille. If your car has an exposed one, go over it grille piece by grille piece, topside as well as bottom, with an all-purpose cleaner. If chromed, follow with chrome polish. Finally, apply wax. Leave no recess undetailed.
• Windshield/rear window wipers. Choose a cleaner appropriate to the finish or material and give wiper arms a thorough cleaning; then wax. While protectant is used on other car rubber, it should not be used on wiper blades because it will affect their wiping efficiency.

Your car's initial bumper-to-bumper detailing, described here step-by-step, admittedly takes time, effort, and energy. But the upkeep-keeping it detailed-is relatively easy. And, if detailing is done regularly -- perhaps three to four times a year -- it requires relatively little time. Some things get easier once done right; detailing is one of them.

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