I figure this will serve as a good time to reminder to take care of your car seeing Spring is here. After all, April is car care month. I do a full two day detail about twice a year which takes me anywhere from 7 to 12 hours of work depending on how I've kept the car. What is the difference between washing/cleaning the car and detailing one? Exactly as the name suggests - attention to detail. Here I've listed what I do and what I use, but there are many methods and products out there. autopia.org is a good resource if you find yourself interested in the art of detailing.
This is what I've done in this order.
Clean the tires - I use Westley's Bleach White. This stuff is pretty harsh, so follow the directions and warning on the bottle.
Clean the rims with car wash soap - I use Meguires Gold Class
Wash the car - Dawns Dish Soap (this is to strip the wax), normally I'd use a car wash soap
Dry the car - careful on what towels you use, many and especially a dirty towel will scratch the paint
Clay Bar - Meguires Quick Detailer with Sonus Fine Detailing clay, many retailer sells kits now
Mask all trim. I do this step to avoid hassle later after polishing.
PC dual action buffer with 1Z Paint Polish
Quick Detail to remove polish dust - Meguires Quick Detailer
Sealent - Klasse High Gloss Sealant Glaze, this stuff is pretty cool. It's basically an acrylic sealant that lasts several months and give the car a very high gloss shine
Wax - P21S, one of the best carnuba waxes for the price.
Remove masking tape.
Clean trim - everything unpainted plastic and flat black. I use Mr Clean Magic Eraser.
Light Quick detail again - usually the previous step causes a gross mess on the freshly waxed paint
Trim Dressing - Black WOW, you can substitute with Mothers Back to Black since it's a hard to find product
Windows - Invisible Glass
Clear plastic (headlights, tail lights, center caps- BBS) - Plexus Plastic Polish
Tire Dressing - Armor All Tire Gel
I didn't mention a few things since it's up to your disgression, but I did do other things like remove the molding around the rear quarter panel, clean off the mud in it, and soak it in 303 Aerospace Protectant. I also removed my hoodscoop and treated the very faded 'fangs' with Forever Black.
Here are some of the photos. I didn't take many. Here's about ten and a half hours of work. Keep in mind my car is daily driven in city and interstate, endures all of winter, and it's wonderful salt.
in this photo, you can see all the damage my front end has endured.
Linear Mode
