DIY Car Detailing Tips & Advice

Car lovers often think the same about the surface of their car as the skin on their face. Take great care of your car surface to keep it looking great as your vehicle ages.

Today, it's easier than ever to take care of your vehicles surface. Techniques developed by professional car detailers have been passed onto car lovers. Vehicle paint has had vast improvements from the days of lacquer covered with carnauba paste wax. Auto paint is now far more durable and shines longer than ever. Its fine to get rid of your old cans of rubbing compound, your leather chamois and piles of newsprint for buffing. You can replace them with items like blocks of paint-cleaning clay, microfiber cloths, aloe leather healer, and chemical paint cleaners.

If you're considering some DIY detailing, please be cautious. Pro car detailers use the best machinery that they have practiced with. Be careful when operating similar machinery so that you do not damage your vehicle. Seek a professional car detailer if you are unsure what you are doing.  This article will help you to detail your vehicle. When you detail your vehicle, start with the unpainted surfaces first.

Be sure to get a professional to help you when your paint has a scratch that goes down to the metal. A professional will help you by sanding it and filling the scratch with paint using a tiny pinstriping brush. A good car detailer can blend this type of fix with surrounding paint, but that takes great experience.

Begin with Compressed Air and Stiff Scrub Brushes on Your Carpets

Car enthusiasts own many of the cars F1 Car Detailing work on. When detailing your vehicle, the first step is to fire up the air compressor and blow dirt from the nooks and crannies of your car's floor onto the middle of the carpet, where you can easily vacuum up the dirt. Stiff brushes will help you to loosen dirt from the carpets and upholstery. If your vehicle has leather seats, use a conditioner with aloe.

Clean Ducts to Keep the New Car Smell

Use a small compressor to blow dust and dirt out of heating and air-conditioning vents. Be sure to aim the high-pressure air at the walls of the ducts behind the vent grilles, where dust and dirt stick and cause musty smells.

Do Not Use Acid Based Tire Cleaners

A professional car detailer will use specially mixed acid solutions to clean dirty tires and to strip residue from new tires, as well as to get stubborn brake dust off wheels. However, if you are going to DIY car detailer your vehicle, don’t use an acid based cleaner. Acid-based cleaners can potentially cause bare alloy wheels to oxidize and pit. Additionally, they can damage wheels painted with color or clear coatings.  Wheels and tires should be cleaned prior to cleaning and protecting your vehicles paint.

If you are after great mobile car detailing Melbourne, car detailing or car detailing Melbourne, then be sure to get in touch with F1 Car Detailing on 1300 132 750. 

Car Detailing Clip 29 April 14

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Car Detailing - Red Hot Truck

Car Detailing Melbourne

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Melbourne Car Detailing FAQs

Are There Any Auto Detailing Chemicals that I Should Keep Away from?

There are a lot of detailing chemicals out there today and most of them take excellent care of your car. The reason for this is that they are made specifically for your car so they will not do damage to it. However, detailing chemicals to keep away from are ammonia-based glass cleaners since they could leave marks on your windows and windscreen. Moreover, avoid laundry detergents also since they are too harsh for your car's finish. A lot of detailers will still use kerosene to remove asphalt and other stubborn substances so you should avoid them as well. These are some of the detailing chemicals that you should stay away from when car detailing your vehicle.

What are the Best Products to use for Engine Compartment Detailing?

There are a big variety of products that you can use for engine compartment detailing. A popular product is an engine degreaser. This is certainly one of the best products that you can use to clean your engine. Generally, This is the first step when detailing the engine since it removes stubborn dirt and grime. You may also choose to use rubber and vinyl protectors to coat and protect the rubber hoses in your engine. If your engine contains chrome, you should also use chrome polishes to bring back their shine. These are some of the best and highly recommended products for engine compartment detailing.

Can a Water-Free Car Wash Get My Car Just as Clean?

In short, Yes! A no water car wash can also get your car just as clean when compared to a car wash that uses water. This type of car wash uses special products and cleaners that are sprayed onto the surface of your vehicle. These products are specifically designed to remove dirt, dust and other stubborn substances that have fallen on to your paint job. However, in using this type of car wash, it is important that you know how to use it. You cannot just ahead to spray and wipe. There are specific steps and procedures that must be followed in order to effectively clean the car and avoid damaging the paint. A no water car wash is an effective and easy way to clean your car but the right method needs to be adhered to.

Will Automated Car Wash Systems Cause Damage to My Car?

It actually depends on which one of the automated car wash systems that you choose to use. There are some automated car washes that can damage your paint job because too little water is used or the brushes that clean your car have a lot of dirt stuck to them. It is definitely recommended to use those pressurized car washes that just use water and soap with no contact at all, meaning nothing lands on your car's surface except soap and water. Actually, if you think about it, there will always be the risk of damage whether you clean your car manually or go through an automated car wash because it all depends on the manner and the way of how your car is cleaned.

Does the Type of Soap Significantly Matter When Detailing Your Car?

Detailing your car begins with the correct cleaning agents to use in removing the stubborn dirt and grime. Therefore, it is safe to say that the type of soap that you use does play a roll. It should be effective enough to thoroughly clean the dirt but soft enough so that it does not to damage your paint job. As an example, using powdered detergent is definitely not recommended because, although it can remove the dirt, it will leave white streaks on your paint when washed off and the granules in the soap will scratch the surface of your car.

If you are after great mobile car detailing Melbourne, car detailing or car detailing Melbourne, then be sure to get in touch with F1 Car Detailing on 1300 132 750.

Car Detailing Video 18 March

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Car Detailing

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DIY Car Detailing Advice

Car detailing is a skill that you can master over time. If you love your car, then read these tips to “do-it-yourself” car detail your vehicle. Be sure you take great care of your car by regularly giving it a quality detail.

Utilise polish to smooth out the paint

The reason car detailers use polish is to smooth the surface of the paint, which will make the paint shine and help your car look newer. Some polishes available for sale contain wax, which also protects the paint, but the wax will not smooth the paint itself. When you polish your cars paint, if you know how, you can use an oscillating polishing machine. The professional detailer use a rotating polishing machine, which works faster but will harm the paint if not used in the right way. If you are not a professional detailer, oscillating buffers are easier to use and more forgiving.

To measure results, a professional car detailer will hold a ruler perpendicular to the surface of the car and see how far its reflection stretches. The higher the number they can view on the ruler, the glossier the paint and better the finish.

Wax protects paint

New vehicles have a clear coat when they leave the factory, but that coat wears off over time and leaves the paint to fight the elements itself. That is where wax will help the paint. Wax is sacrificial and will wear off the cars surface over the course of a few months. However, in that time it will absorb stains and small scratches before those hazards make it through to the paint. The older generation prefers paste wax, while the younger generation prefers liquid wax. The choice is simply up to you as both products do the job equally as well. Finally, professional car detailers usually use two coats of wax; the purpose of the second coat is to cover areas that the first coat may have potentially missed. Do not waste your  precious time by applying additional coats for added protection. They do not adhere and will be wiped off when the car gets a buff.

 Wax according to the season changes

In between paint cleanings and applying wax, you will notice you have picked up stains and scratches. Using liquid spray wax that can touch up stains and scratches between waxings is a fantastic idea but this is not a substitute for a real wax coating. Because there is no definitive way to tell when wax has worn thin or worn off, it is recommended that you stick to a regular schedule. Give your car a wax job every change in season if the vehicle spends a lot of time in the outdoors.

There is a famous trick for telling when your car needs a wax, toss a terry towel at the car and seeing if it will slide off.

If you are after great mobile car detailing Melbourne, car detailing or car detailing Melbourne, then be sure to get in touch with F1 Car Detailing on 1300 132 750.