How To Clean and Detail Your Vehicle

Keeping your car or truck in good mechanical and cosmetic condition is key to its longevity and resale value. Regular maintenance like oil changes and ensuring brakes and other components are in excellent shape keep things running under the hood. In addition, regular detailing boosts curb appeal and helps prevent mechanical issues like corrosion of undercarriage components. All in all, detailing gives your car that showroom look by giving it a thorough clean. If you’re in the El Monte, California, area, Longo Toyota has a few tips on how to detail your vehicle, inside and out.

What Areas of Your Vehicle Need Cleaning?

Image by wuestenigel licensed under CC BY 2.0

Detailing helps improve curb appeal, making your car or truck look better by removing accumulations of dirt and grime and applying protective waxes. While curb appeal is important, detailing also helps maintain less visible areas. Cleaning harder-to-see areas like vents and under the trunk lid helps remove dirt and grime, leading to fewer issues. Detailing is also an excellent time to spot problems like dings in the paint that can harbor rust or cracked door gaskets that lead to leaks. A good detailing job should give your car or truck the showroom feel and that new-car smell.

What Tools Do You Need to Detail Your Vehicle?

A complete professional detailing job can cost hundreds of dollars and take specialized tools for cleaning, waxing, fixing paint damage, and applying protective coatings. While most people don’t have the specialized tools or skills for such a detailing, there are ways to clean and protect your vehicle from the comfort of your driveway. Be sure to invest in high-quality products for reliable results.

While you may already have several of the following helpful tools, below is a list to get you started on a quality home detailing project. Remember that these supplies will last a long time once you add them to your collection:

• Two buckets, preferably two to five gallons, for soapy and clean water.
• Car wash soap formulated for automotive finishes.
• Cleaning tools, such as a soft microfiber mitt for washing as well as various soft and firm brushes to remove dirt and dust in tight spaces.
• Wheel cleaners for removing brake dust and road grime from rims and hubcaps, plus tire or whitewall tire cleaner.
• Glass cleaners, such as home window cleaners or specialty products.
• A clay bar, a synthetic plastic putty, and detailing spray for pulling embedded dirt and contaminants from paint, glass, plastic lenses, and wheels.
• Wax for protecting paint and shine and a foam pad applicator.
• At least three microfiber towels to clean and dry without causing abrasion.
• Interior cleaning and protective products for fabric, carpet, vinyl, and leather.
• A vacuum with attachments, such as a household vacuum or a shop vac.

What Are the Steps for Outside Detailing?

Detailing the exterior of your car or truck involves more than hosing it off with water and a little soap. The in-depth exterior detailing process shouldn’t begin until the vehicle is out of direct sunlight and the surface is cool. Sunlight and heat can dry out surfaces, leaving stains or interfering with detailing products. Open the doors, tailgates, and trunk lids while washing to clear debris like leaves and dirt from the jambs and carefully wash without getting soapy water inside. Inspect paint, trim, and other components for damage.

Please note that microfiber mitts have replaced sponges as the preferred way to wash with a soft touch. Also, detailing the exterior of your car can be different in El Monte, California, than it is for areas of the country that have to worry about snow and road salt.

There are a few key steps to exterior detailing:

• Remove loose dirt and contaminants by pre-rinsing your car to prevent scratching or damage to the surfaces.
• Starting from the top and doing one section at a time, wash your car with one bucket of soapy water and one bucket of clean water using a wash mitt, frequently rinsing to remove contaminants.
• Rinse each section of the car when washing is done, removing soap residue before it dries.
• Thoroughly dry the car with a microfiber towel.
• If needed, use a clay bar to remove contaminants after lubricating the surface with detailing spray, drying with a microfiber towel when the surface is smooth and clean. Consider treating the plastic trim before applying wax.
• Wax the car, completing one section at a time by applying with a foam applicator, buffing with circular motions, and removing excess with a microfiber towel.
• Wash wheels one at a time, following instructions on the wheel-cleaning products since they often contain strong cleaning chemicals.

What Are the Steps for Inside Detailing?

Interior detailing will help keep trim pieces, upholstery, carpeting, and other areas in good shape. Weather, kids, pets, and daily life can leave behind messes, some of which are hard to find and clean. There are a few basic steps to an interior detailing job that will make your car or truck feel like new:

• Clean interior panels, vents, and other components with detailing spray or ammonia-free glass cleaner. Brushes and a microfiber towel can help clean tight spaces like vents and dirty areas like armrests.
• Use a leather cleaner or upholstery cleaner on the seats.
• Vacuum the carpet and clean the floor mats, scrubbing excessive dirt to loosen it and treating stain spots. A carpet steamer or foaming spray cleaner may be needed, but let the carpet dry before putting the floor mats back.
• Clean the windows inside and out with a glass cleaner, rolling down windows to get any hidden dirt.
• Complete the finishing touches like spraying deodorizer and applying protectant to plastic and vinyl surfaces to combat fading in the sun.

For more information on maintaining your vehicle, reach out to the knowledgeable team at Longo Toyota in El Monte, California. Our service department would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding detailing the interior or exterior of your vehicle as well as regular vehicle maintenance such as oil changes or brake pads. Call our service center directly at 626-539-2126 to schedule an appointment. Service hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and until 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Tags: Car Maintenance, Car Tips, Detailing, Tips
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