You might think that a trip through the car wash and the occasional vacuuming in your garage is enough to keep your vehicle squeaky clean, but there’s a lot more you can do. If you’ve just bought a brand new car and want to keep that fresh-off-the-lot feeling, or if you have an older car that you think could use some TLC, a thorough detailing treatment is the way to go. Never had your car detailed before? Have some questions? No worries. We’ve worked with Central Avenue Chrysler to give you a breakdown of what happens when you bring in your vehicle to be detailed.
1. All-over wash
First things first, your vehicle will get a full exterior wash. This will be more extensive than your average drive-through car wash, and emphasize removing dirt and mud as well as cleaning your wheels. The wheels are often the dirtiest part of the car, due in part to the many small nooks and crannies where dirt and mud can build up. In a detailing treatment, special tools and brushes are used to make sure even the hardest-to-reach crevices get a thorough cleaning.
2. Paint protection and touch up
After the detailer has washed the exterior of your car, they’ll check your paint for imperfections like fading or scratches. With special tools and touchup paint, they may fix any blemishes on your vehicle’s surface. After that, a layer of wax will be added to protect your paint, and then buffed to give it a just-like-new shine.
3. Exterior details
In order to ensure that your vehicle’s exterior is completely clean, the last step is to clean the “details.” Small exterior details such as the rubber and plastic around doors and windows, door handles, chrome trim and more can be cleaned with special cleaners, tools and conditioners. Overtime, these treatments can keep plastic and rubber from wearing out, fading, or cracking, as they often do when they’re not maintained.
4. Interior
Now that the outside of your car is done, the detailer will do much of the same to the interior. Vacuuming is the floors and seats is typical, and cloth upholstery may be shampooed. Leather will be treated and conditioned. Just as they did on the outside, the small rubber and plastic details will be cleaned as well. Finally, they will clean the interior glass, which will make a big difference for overall visibility. Once this is all done, your vehicle will be feeling clean as the day you bought it, inside and out.
If you’ve got a hot date tonight and need your car looking fresh, or got splashed by a truck on the highway and just need a quick clean, the car wash is still a great bet. For a real deep clean that will keep your vehicle in good shape overtime, though, regular detailing treatments are the way to go. Try to get your car detailed once or twice a year, and you’ll be amazed the difference you’ll see.
