What is Car Detailing: Definition, Purpose, and Why You Need It

What Does a Car Detailing Include?

When people ask what auto detailing includes, most of the steps involved are pretty much the same. The standard treatment is to clean every inch of the vehicle, both exterior and interior. But, every car detailer has its own approach.

Detailing requires a multi-step process. The interior and exterior clean-up of a car have their own steps.

Exterior

The first thing folks notice about the vehicle is exterior. That’s why detailers spend much of their time and attention to a car’s body, ensuring it looks its best.

Restoring its gloss through a paint job is a common focus since the car surface loses its shine with the time. Grease, blemishes, dirt  – they all disappear during the exterior process – with the help of detergents and degreasers – to ensure a vehicle looks entirely clean.

Exterior process:

• Wash and Dry – Exterior detailing begins with a high-powered wash, followed by in-depth handwashing with a mild soap, and finally drying;
• Clay – The next phase is clay work, where the car detailer utilizes a clay bar to eliminate any traces of overspray (watermarks, soap scum), and other particles the wash couldn’t remove;
• Polish – It’s typical for a car to lose some of its shine, so restoring its original paint coating helps;
• Seal – Finally, the exterior operation ends with the application of sealant, to give the vehicle a glossy shine. Some detailers go farther, by applying wax to the surface.

Interior

Detailers invest much time in cleaning the inside of a vehicle, sometimes even more than the outside. It’s easy for dust and dirt to collect inside a car over time, especially if you don’t grab the time to clean the interior with a vacuum or brush.

With a combination of steam cleaners, vacuums, and brushes, a detailing professional can give your vehicle a deep clean that you can’t do by yourself.

Interior process:
Vacuuming – The first operation of car interior detailing starts with the vacuum. All areas of the vehicle receive a cleaning, including the trunk and glove compartment;

• Brushing/scrubbing/shampooing – The carpet upholstery and mats receive a detailed scrubbing and brushing. The aim is to eliminate the blemishes and stains that a regular wash can’t lift;
• Wiping/Re-vacuuming – The next stage is cleaning of particular surfaces, such as the dashboard, door panels, and windows. The detailer wipes these surfaces down with a cleaning agent, which gives a new shine to the vehicle’s interior;
• Deodorizing – At the end of the process, the detailer will spray the inside of the car to ensure it has a pleasing odor, as a finishing touch. These sprays often come in various scents.

Benefits

A full car detailing will bring your vehicle to its prime condition. You can then do mini details to keep your vehicle looking as good as new.

Appearance – It typically includes interior and exterior cleaning, paint correction, odor elimination, glass treatment, dent repair, polishing, and waxing. The process improves the appearance of the vehicle by eliminating surface imperfections, enhancing its color, and providing a clean, new look.

Protection –  Great advance of auto detailing is the added protection against the various weather factors. When a wax coat is regularly applied to the exterior painted surface, it protects the finish from contamination and rust (oxidation).

Attention to detail – Since detailing is an incredibly thorough operation, you can expect the detailer to carefully assess every crack of your car to suggest customized options. You won’t get this type of personalized service at a car wash.

Eliminates junk – It also involves cleaning your engine, elimination of gunk caused by dirt and oil accumulation. It can trap heat, which isn’t good for the health of the vehicle and can shorten its lifespan.

Increases vehicle’s resale value – Since this process restores your car’s look, you’ll have an easier time selling it at a favorable price. No one wants a vehicle that looks and smells old, with obvious scratches and an interior filled with grime and dirt. A shiny, spot-free car will gain you more potential buyers.

Improves comfort and safety – Clean and fresh interior brings a more comfortable ride. It also enhances safety. Mirrors and windows are treated for better driving visibility, wheels are cleaned and checked to increase driving performance, and headlights are polished to boost brightness.

How to Choose a Car Detailing Service?

When you want to use detailing service, you can take the advice of former customers, or you can review them online and see if your selection is Better Business Bureau (BBB) certified.

Everyone will have different needs when utilizing an auto detailing service. You’ll want to know if they have different packages and whether they have adequate facilities.

Here’re some aspects to explore when picking a right service.

• Features – Depending on the features that you require in the vehicle detailing, you should look around for those detailers that can cater to your needs. If you’re searching for a simple car wash and detailing, you might consider focusing more on a service that has more modest offerings.
• Pricing – Many times, these services will have a specials day. Some will choose a slow day in the week or give a discount for old costumers. If this kind of benefit is in your schedule, you can sometimes save up to 20%. Some services reward loyal customers with discounts, coupons, and specials like periodic fluid checks or oil changes.
• Reviews – Go online and check out reviews of car detailing services in your area. People will put their opinion online regardless of whether their comments are positive or negative, due to the anonymity of the Internet. With the worldwide web readily available, it’s easy to get the recommendations you need in order to learn which solution will work best for your requirements.
• Affiliations – Many services become affiliated with companies that certify the responsibility and reliability of businesses. Organizations like the BBB are trustworthy sources of information on auto detailing companies. Reputable ones will join BBB to advertise and validate their services.

What Supplies do You Need for Auto Detailing?

Cleaning and restoring your vehicle to its showroom quality can be successful to some point but not like professional touch. Best tools and supplies are quite expensive but some basic thing you can do in your garage. Simple project requires the following supplies and the basic understanding of how to use them.

Towels and sponges

These accessories are two of the most vital tools you’ll need to start with. Its absorbent properties make it perfect for working the lather onto the car’s surface.

For the more delicate car surfaces, towels, especially the microfiber ones, can provide a much better solution to all-around cleaning. Not only are towels great for washing a car, but they’re also beneficial for drying.

Leather cloths

Experienced detailers only use real chamois leather in their applications for many reasons. This car wash product is made from a natural material that provides optimum absorbency.

It often has super-absorbent properties and can quickly dry any surface. Using real chamois can save the surface integrity of the car.

Because the surface of the chamois is softer and smoother than conventional car cleaning items, you can expect no swirl mark or light scratches on the vehicle. Don’t forget that they’re expensive and can lose their advantages over time.

Professional cleaning products

Choosing the best car detailing solution typically involves picking from many professional cleaning solutions to help you efficiently clean every cranny and nook of the vehicle.

These can include soaps, car wash equipment, shampoos, car polish, car wax, sealants, and more. The secret to choosing the right one is in looking at the elements that are included in the cleaning solutions.

Brushes for the exterior and interior

There’re cases when dirt and grime have clearly built up into one sticky mess that regular cleaning simply can’t remove.

Even if you employ the high-quality equipment complete with a solution that is designed to dissolve the chemical bonds of this gooey mess, you’ll still need a sturdy brush to get rid of stubborn dirt.

Professional detailers use a variety of brushes, depending on what they would like to accomplish.

For the interior car detailing where the surfaces are usually more delicate, proper interior scrub brushes can do an excellent job.

There’re also brushes that provide a more precise cleaning and applying of finishing materials into smaller, more delicate surfaces of the vehicle.

Wax and sealant

Every detailer, professional or entry-level, must have a good car wax and sealant in his detailing supplies. It’s because these two products are what many can consider to be the finishing touches to a long process of cleaning and restoring the showroom quality of any vehicle.

Best car wax is one that not only offers exceptional shine and gloss – it also protects the surface from UV radiation, dust particles, dirt, bird droppings, and other debris that may chip away at the clear coat of the car’s paintwork.

Vacuum cleaner 

You can clean a vehicle the old-fashioned way wherein you’re going to bend over and try to scrub as much of the dirt that’s remained on the floor.

But there will always be situations when you simply can’t remove everything. This is where a good vacuum cleaner comes in the game. It’s one of those detailing tools that you simply can’t do without.

There’re many types of vacuum cleaners that you can be used in cleaning car’s interior. Still, there’re certain features that you simply can’t do without. For instance, a powerful suction is considered to be imperative.

While portable, cordless cleaners provide the versatility in their application, the power of their suction isn’t sufficient enough to lift up the dirt and debris trapped in between the fibers of the car’s floor mat or carpet. You need a vacuum cleaner that can pull out even the most stubborn dirt from any crevice.

Secondly, the vehicle’s interior usually comes with a lot of uneven, tight spaces. So, you’ll need a vacuum cleaner with different attachments to reach these spaces and surfaces.

These adds should be natural extensions of the vacuum and shouldn’t interfere with its suction capabilities. For example, most vacuum cleaners have a telescoping nozzle complete with brush attachment at the tip. It enables you to eliminate stubborn dirt in hard-to-reach areas of your vehicle.

The existence of appropriate filters in the vacuum cleaner is critical since you don’t want allergens and other harmful substances get recirculated into your car’s cabin. Also, your vacuum cleaner should have a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter fully built-in.

Water hoses

A lot of people don’t consider the omnipresent water hose as a pivotal piece of gear. For them, it’s nothing more than a long tube that conveys water from the faucet, and that’s it. But, in the hands of a skilled car detailer water hose can be an exceptional tool for cleaning the various surfaces of the car.

Applying pressurized streams of water, these can effectively blast dirt and the debris of the car’s surface. It facilitates the removal of these particles that can get in a way to a more efficient auto detailing.

Car polisher

It’ll improve the aesthetic appearance of any vehicle. You can buff wax or polish using the conventional manual method. Still, you can never be sure about the consistency of the pressure applied into each hand movement.

If the pressure isn’t consistent, then you’ll have sections in your car that look less clean than the rest. A car polisher can help you apply supplies such as car polish and car wax evenly and consistently throughout the vehicle.

In choosing a car polishing machine, it’s crucial to look at the variable speed settings. It’s critical to understand that some auto detailing solutions need to be applied and buffed at a much slower rate than other ones.

Pad washer

The integrity and functionality of the polishing and buffing pads are dependent on how you take care of pads. This is where a pad washer helps. It resembles an ordinary water bucket but integrated with specific features that allow you to clean, wash, and dry the polishing and buffing pads.

Washer helps maintain the structure of these products, so you get to use them a lot longer. It easily translates to savings from having to purchase buffing and polishing pads every now and then.

Air blower

If you give your car a perfect wash, it’s infeasible that some of the water will be creeping into tight areas and crevices that are drying towels simply can’t reach. That’s the reason why you need air blower.

Its compressed air pushes beads of water out, to remove any trace of moisture. This preventing the buildup of the mold and also allows you to remove debris and dirt from electronic contact points where you simply can’t use water.

How Much Does a Car Detailing Cost?

Car detailing prices vary depending upon several factors. Car size is a significant determinant, as is the type of package you choose. Basic packages for smaller vehicles are less expensive, and additional costs may be added for upgraded services.

Many services can be involved in car detailing, and you have several options and packages from which to choose. Variance in price will be primarily based on the detail, service, and reputation of the business. You should expect to pay more for high-quality service.

• Basic service may include wax, wash, interior polish/vacuuming, window wash, and mirror/trim/tire cleaning. You can expect to spend $60 to $90 for an average-sized vehicle and $70 to $125 for a van or SUV;
• An upgraded package typically consists of much more attention to detail. Upgrades usually cost $150 and up for regular-sized cars and $175 and up for larger vans and trucks;
• Additional services may include the use of a higher quality cleaning product, specialized equipment, or special care for bikes or RVs. A superior wax is about $50 and up. Carpet shampoo or steam cleaning of the interior cost $75 or more, and cleaning of leather upholstery averages around $50.

How Much Does a Car Detailing Take?

It can last as little as 60 minutes and as much as a full day, relying on the condition of your vehicle and the type of detailer you choose. The fastest detail services are mobile detailers who bring all of their tools to your office or home.

They can complete a quick detailing in about an hour, but a more demanding job including drying carpets and wax needs a few hours.

If you take your car to a car wash or detail shop, you can expect a turnaround time of a few hours.

As many detail shops are hired by dealerships to clean used vehicles, then you’ll need to schedule an appointment for your car. A detail shop may have multiple detailers who clean your vehicle as a team.

The excellent detail work can be done by car dealerships but expect the dealership to require an entire business day to finish detailing.

If the dealership keeps the vehicle for a prolonged time, check if they offer a loaner car to get you back on the road while your car is being detailed.

Mobile Car Detailing

It’s a professional car detailing service that brings the vehicle wash to you. It has become more popular over the years as many people have increasingly hectic lives and use this service for a little more money, for a lot of time saved.

Here’re the advantages of mobile auto detailing:

• Time – A professional can visit your home or workplace at a convenient time. You won’t need to drive your vehicle to the auto detailing shop and to wait while it’s being cleaned. A professional comes at the scheduled time and complete the task;
• Customized service – A variety of packages are offered, and you can also get special services tailored to your needs. You can opt for washing/polishing of the exterior, vacuuming/cleaning of the interiors, full interior detailing, dent and scratch removal, and more;
• Personalized service – Professionals strive to provide personalized service that makes their customers happy. A mobile professional has the skill, equipment, and appropriate cleaning materials to offer it.