First things first you need to have good products. They do not have to be super fancy products, as most people think they have to it just isn't required. Do you know to clean your car? This may seem as a stupid question, however people do not realize how to clean a vehicle properly. Again detailing a vehicle is an art, a part of you reflects in it. Lets make a list real quick on what you need to clean your vehicle and the products that I recommend using.
OK How To Detail Your Vehicle,
Soap to wash the vehicle, for this you can use pretty well anything you want from your basic dish soap to products from; ICE, Turtle Wax, Meguiar's, or any product that you trust to wash your vehicle with. Washing the vehicle, you will need to use a soft mitt or horse hair brush to wash with, and if you do not have a pressure washer get your self at least a pressure nozzle to help with washing. This helps to penetrate hard stuck on grime and grease and mud, and saves you a lot of time as well.
Drying materials: I recommend using a soft terry cloth towels if that is the way you want to dry, I personally recommend using a combination of two things, 1 use a leather chamois, and my personal favorite the California Silicone Blade. The California Silicone Blade, is a 12" blade made of silicone that forms to the body of the vehicle and just drags the water right off the vehicle. I must say its pretty cool, I get quite a few comments on it. Vacuum, no one is better than the other when you are using a shop vac. Make sure you get all the tools that go with it, because it will help I promise, just make sure you have a wet dry vac, to help with shampooing.
Shampoo, There are so many products you can use to shampoo with, I have used a multitude of shampoos and I like Simoniz products for that the most and I personally recommend it. I like to just take a bucket of water and your pressure washer or pressure nozzle and spray down the floors good, vacuum it up, then use the shampoo with a brush. Lightly rub in the shampoo with brush and seats if they are not leather of course, they lightly spray down floors and seats, and vacuum it up. Make sure to leave the windows down, for ventilation and to dry quicker.
Windows. Here you want to use anything that doesn't have ammonia to be safe. Windex is a popular amongst car owners to use, as long as you don't have anything that is to strong you will be ok to use most any product. The key thing in remember to wash your hands thoroughly, to get off all the oils on your hands and use a clean cloth for each window.
Tires and Rims. My personal favorite for Tires is Armor All the new line, as for Rims I prefer Blue Magic for most chrome rims, if they are not chrome then no worries. Also use a tire cleaner like bleach white to clean the grime of the tires well and of course to clean the white walls or letters. A good simple degreaser like purple lightning is a good way to clean your rims before shining them.
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Leather Care. Flat out I use no other than Meguiar's, hands down. I like to get the all in one product, it cleans very, very well.
Wax. Well this is a tough one, some people are set on Turtle Wax, or NuFinish, or other products, so for this I say research it first, and go with your gut. I like to use Meguiar's as well for a wax product.
Engine Cleaning. I strongly recommend having someone do this unless you know how to. You can cause serious damage to your engine if not done properly. However if you are going to attempt to do it yourself, the best and most common way is to spray simple green on the engine and drive it around for about 15-20 minutes then pressure wash it off. These are some ways on How To Detail Your Vehicle.
