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How do professional car detailers get a car looking so good in such a short time? I mean, it's not uncommon to spend three or four hours cleaning your car and get a result a whole lot worse than a detailer achieves in less than an hour. We show you how they do it!
One of the tricks is the use of the right chemicals. If you're one of those that believes that any car detergent, interior cleaner and engine bay cleaner works pretty much as well as another, you're wrong, wrong, wrong! These particular chemicals are made by CarChem and they all work very well. Check your Yellow Pages for manufacturers of professional car cleaning supplies - they'll usually sell in quantities as small as 5 litres.
Another vital performance factor is the use of a high pressure water spray - or 'gurney' in detailer talk. Not only is it good for rinsing down the car, but the high pressure can be used to blast away dirt without scratching the surface underneath. Most coin-in-the-slot car wash places now have high pressure water sprays - they're worth paying the dollars to use.
The Interior
Yep, here's where you get a powerful vacuum cleaner going, complete with a narrow nozzle (so that the airflow speed is higher) and a clean paintbrush. Huh, what's this with the paintbrush? You'll see. Always vacuum the car before introducing any liquid cleaners inside, otherwise you'll just wipe dirt everywhere.
When vacuuming the carpet, rub the nozzle hard across the pile. This releases dirt trapped within the carpet that otherwise the nozzle would glide over. If the carpet is very dirty, sand and fine particles will keep springing out for minutes at a time.
So that's what the paintbrush is used for! The brush will dislodge dirt that's otherwise impossible to get at. Run the vacuum nozzle along behind the brush so that the dirt gets actually removed from the car - not just moved to another place in the car! Brush the air vents, radio fascia, electric power window switches - in fact any small intricate parts - with the soft bristles of the brush. Taking this approach can save heaps of time over trying to get the dust out with the corner of a rag.
The brush-and-vacuum technique works particularly well around the edges of mouldings, especially on the centre console where in some cars (but not your's of course!) food crumbs can accumulate.
Another place that you shouldn't overlook is around the seat adjustment controls. These get dirty really quickly because they're exposed to the outside air - and its dirt - whenever the doors are opened. Again use the dry brush and vacuum cleaner approach before spraying on any cleaning fluids.
In leather seats especially, grime and gunk can accumulate in the seams of the seats. Run the vacuum nozzle up and down these, making sure that the leather doesn't get marked by the nozzle.
With all of the loose dirt and dust removed, now's the time to introduce cleaning fluids. The one on the left - Rip Off - is for interior cleaning.
It contains 0.5 per cent alkaline salts, and works extremely well at removing grease and oil stains, and shoe leather marks from the lower parts of doortrims.
The cleaning chemical should be sprayed onto a soft rag and then wiped over the interior surfaces. Don't spray the stuff onto the surfaces that you want to clean - you'll get overspray onto the windows, and drips of liquid down inside radios and instruments. Methodically do each door trim in turn, then the inside of the A, B and C pillars. That way you don't miss bits.
The lower parts of door trims often get marks from shoes, put there as you get in and out. The good news is that these can almost always be removed with a good interior cleaner, soft rag and (if necessary) a nailbrush.
Don't forget those easily overlooked areas like the sides of the seats, lower part of the rear seat squab, front kick panels and sides of the centre console next to the front seats.
Don't worry about trying to clean the rubber mats with interior cleaning sprays. Instead pull them out and put them aside for the high pressure water spray. After they've been sprayed, chamois them off - this works better than anything else.
The Engine Bay
The first step is to get a really good degreasing cleaner and spray it all over the engine and engine bay bodywork. If you don't have a good quality spray, the next steps will just make a Godawful mess - the degreaser has to actually bite. Spray the inside of the bonnet while you're at it.
Once the degreaser has been given some time to work, use a high pressure water spray. This is where this type of spray really comes into its own - don't think that a spray nozzle on a normal garden hose is anywhere near as good - it isn't. Keep the spray away from engine management connectors, the throttle position sensor, the distributor, ignition coils and ignition leads. If you drive a car with electronic throttle control you might even want to cover the throttle with a plastic bag before cutting loose with the spray. Don't forget to squirt the inside of the bonnet if you've applied degreaser to that surface.
Wipe over the clean engine with a chamois. If you have two chamoises, use the older of the two for this job (and also for the door jambs a bit later on).
If you don't chamois the upper surfaces of the engine, there will be water marks left all over the rocker cover and radiator hoses when the water dries.
The Wheels
Once you've done the engine bay go straight onto the wheels, spraying them with the same degreaser/cleaner. If the brake dust build-up is really bad, rub the degreaser in through the dirt using a sponge or bristle brush.
Most degreasers are pretty harsh, so wear gloves while you're doing this. Oh yeah, and if the wheel is polished alloy without any clear protective coat, take great care or the cleaner will stain the metal.
Again, nothing beats a high pressure gurney for getting the loosened crud off.
Spending a few minutes directing the spray at the wheel surfaces - especially if it's an intricate design wheel - can save a heap of time over trying to do it by hand. If the wheel stays dirty, repeat the treatment - but note that really neglected wheels won't respond to anything but a full professional repolish.
So, simple and effective! Next week: the exterior and glass
Clean 'n' Mean Part 2
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