How to detail your car exterior propely

Is your car tired and dirty? Why not try hese detailing tips so that your paint will pop after you have performed this stepts on your car. But sometimes, those aggressive water at the car wash always slam against your paint and it does not dry properly as well. So, if you do not want these scratches and swirl marks on your paint, then, the best and safest way is to handwash it at home.

1. Start with the wheels

Your wheels are tired and dirty after you have been driving on the road for a long time. So, start with the wheels first because they take less time than cleaning the entire car body. Just spray some wheel cleaner on the wheels to loosen the brake dust and then, let it sit for a while. Then, get a bucket of soapy water and use a tire brush to scrub the tire. After scrubbing the tire. take the rim detailing brush, dip it into the soapy water to get it foamy and clean the inside of the wheel. Then, use another rim brush to scrub the face of the wheel. After that, use a locknut brush to clean the locknuts.

2. Rinse the car down

Before you rinse your car with a hose or a pressure washer, you should see if the pressure washer or a hose has the right pressure for washing your car. So, if you are using a hose, put your hand in front of it and make sure that the water does not hurt your hand and if you are using a pressure washer, make sure that you set then nozzle to wide so that it does not damaged the car's paint and stay at least a foot away from your car when spraying it.

3. foam gun/ foam cannon

Next, use the foam cannon to spray on the car to lubricate the surface. After you have applied the soap from the foam cannon, let it sit for a while before you handwash the car. If you do not have a pressure washer, you can use foam gun that can attach to a hose to keep up with the other car enthusaists.

4. Handwash

After foaming the car, it is time to handwash the car. Before you handwash the car, rinse out two buckets before use and fill one bucket with soapy water and the other with clean water. The bucket with soapy water is for cleaning the car while the bucket with clean water is to clean the wash mit if it is dirty. Get a wash mit as they are good for cleaning cars because they have those fingery things which does not scratch the paint. It is best to start from the top of the car and work your way down because the top of the car is usually not as dirty as the bottom of the car. You would also not like to go in a circular motion as swirl scratches are easier to see than straight scratches. So, if you start at the bottom of the car, it will trap dirt and potentially scratch the top of your car. If you drop your wash mit on the ground, do not pick it up because it will pick up all kinds of rocks and debri from the ground which is something that can scratch your paint.

5. Rinse off the soap

Now that you have handwashed your car, it is time to rinse off the car soap. Just take your hose or pressure washer and rinse the car off. Make sure that no soap is left after rinsing the car off because it will leave water spots on your car.

6. Dry the car

After rinsing all the soap off, it is time to dry the car. You could use a leaf blower, compressed air and a microfiber towel to dry your car. The correct way to dry a car is to rinse a microfiber towel, wring it out and use a car drying product to push some water away from the car. After you have used the microfiber towel, use compressed air or a leaf blower to blow off the remaining water droplets left on the car. You can also use compressed air or a leaf blower to blow the remaining water left in the grill or other hard to reach parts.

7. Clay bar

After you have dried the car, it is time to clay the car. You can also do this when the car is wet. All you need to do is to take some soapy water or detailing spray to spray it on the paint to lubricate the clay bar when it glides over your paint so that it can remove the contaminants that are stuck under your car's paint. Do not clay the car in a circular motion as that could lead to getting swirl marks on your paint. You would know when you are done when the clay bar no longer sticks to the paint. After you are done claying the car, buff it off with a microfiber towel to remove the oils in the detailing spray or the soapy water to not leave water spots. It is best to clay bar your car every year.

8.Polish

After you have clayed the car. It is time to polish the car. Polishing a car will take a thin layer of your car's clear coat as it is a micro abbrasive while wax will add a layer of protection to the paint. This is one time that you would want to go in a circular motion because you want to polish off all the swirl marks and swirl marks are in circle. Do not polish your car as a routine because it can remove your clear coat.

9. Wax

Now that you have polished your car, it is time to add a layer of protection to your car. Wax is want of the best ways to protect your car. On YouTube, you see people applying wax in a circular motion but that way of applying wax is wrong. The best way to apply wax to a car is to do it in straight lines because if you apply wax in a circular motion, you would see swirl marks on your paint once you take the wax off with a microfiber towel. So, the right way of applying wax to your car's paint is to get some wax on your applicator pad, put it on your car's paint and lastly, buff it off with a microfiber towel when it dries to a haze.

10. Tire shine

Want that wet look on your tires, why not use tire shine. In the photo above, that is the before and after shots of tire shine. I recommend Jet Black tire shine to your tires because it lasts for a year for a layer that you have applied to your car.

Best products for keeping your car clean from day to day:

Detailing spray: