What is detailing?

Detailing is the thorough cleansing and preparation of every surface to the highest standard paying individual attention to the smallest detail of your car.

Only high quality specific automotive products are used to ensure maximum durability and show winning finishes. A professionaly detailed car will be easy to maintain and provide a level of protection way beyond that available normally.

As an Authorised Swissvax Detailer my clients can be assured that I have been subjected to the highest scrutiny for the quality of my work and knowledge of the correct method of cleaning all surfaces from the vintage to the rare and from the priceles to the outright desireable.

Below is an example of an Enhancement Detail:

The car in question is an Overfinch spec Range Rover Sport in black. The owner has the car regularly cleaned at a local hand car wash. This treatment is aimed at thoroughly cleaning the car before a single stage machine polish to remove light swirls and scratches from the paintwork and enhance the exterior finish with a durable protection coat of wax.

This treatment will take 10+ hours and includes what is known as a "Safe Wash Routine". This is the bread and butter of the detailer and is a multi-stage wash process designed to totally minimise the possibility of wash damage caused by poor washing technique, the biggest cause of dull and scratched paintwork.

The car is inspected on arrival.

The defects in the paint are visible even at this stage. You can clearly see the swirls and water etching affecting the paint.

Tailpipes are showing signs of corrosion.

The first job is the engine bay and bonnet interior. These are degreased and rinsed before being allowed to dry prior to dressing.

A clean engine bay, this will be dressed later.

Next all door and boot shuts are degreased and rinsed.

Particular attention is paid to the filler cap.

Next, wheels and arches. Alloy wheels are completely cleaned through the spokes to the backs with a selection of soft brushes whilst the entire inner wheel arch area is thoroughly degreased and rinsed. This includes the brake calipers. Ceramic brakes are treated with specific cleaners so as not to cause damage.

The exterior is power rinsed before a citrus pre-wash degreaser is sprayed across the lower panels and areas of high contamination. This is left to dwell before another rinse removing any loose dirt.

Following this stage the car is treated to a thick foam blanket which is designed to drag dirt from the car. This is another phase to ensure that when you come to physically touch the car during the wash phase as much contamination has been removed as possible thus reducing the chance of damage.

Whilst this is working a selection of soft brushes are used to agitate those hard to reach areas such as panel gaps, badges, window seals and door mirrors.

Following another rinse it is time to wash the car. The only safe way to do this, and certainly the only option that comes close to considering itself "No Scratch" regardless of what garage forecourts tell you is the "two bucket method".

This method employs two buckets each fitted with a grit filter. One bucket contains clean rinse water the other a pH Neutral shampoo. Only a soft lambswool mit is used to touch the car. Washing from top to bottom the mit is loaded in the shampoo and is rinsed in the rinse bucket after each panel. This stops any particles of grit being transferred back to your car causing scratches.

Washing is always done in straight lines never in cirlces.

You can cleary see the dirty water in the rinse bucket after only one car and after numerous pre-wash stages. Imaginge this bucket after 50 cars on a hand car wash site.

You can clearly see the particles of grit which would have been transferred back to your car.

Once washed the lower panels and arches are cleaned of any tar deposits before a final rinse with pure filtered water

Next the car is dried using soft microfibre towels and warm air.

The car at this stage is washed but not still technically clean. This next phase is to remove those bonded contaminants such as brake dust, industrial pollution and bird lime and bugs that feel rough to the touch.

This is done using an automotive clay compound that is gently applied to the paintwork leaving a smooth contaminant free finish.

Clay before:

Clay after:

The embedded contamination can be clearly seen on the clay after only a small area of the bonnet.

After this stage we can finally inspect the paintwork properly under various lighting conditions.

In this image of the rear quarter panel you can see the circular swirl patterns caused by poor washing tehnique and dirty water but more importantly you can see a series of parallel lines running horizontally across the panel. These are caused by the use of those drying hydralips that trap dirt and then drag it across the panel causing these classic scratches.

The polishing stage is next. Before this any sensitive areas of trim are taped up to rotect them.

The detailers armoury

To create the best light conditions the grey torch is capable of providing pure light to duplicate natural sunlight.

After polishing stage 1 you can see in this 50/50 on the left the light swirls are gone but the deeper hydralip scratches are still very visable. The right is untouched as comparison.

Getting there

Much better

Once the car is completely polished it is time to pay attention to the finer details.

All rubber trims are treated with a rubber seal feed to prevent cracking and provide protection from UV light.

Before

After

Before

After

Engine and bonnet slam panel dressed

The interior is a collection of many different surfaces each requiring individual cleaning.

Interior before:

To effectively clean into the finer gaps in the interior such as controls and air vents a cleaning solution is forced in under compressed air.

Alcantara seat facings are cleaned with a bespoke cleaning fluid

Wood surfaces are waxed by hand

Automotive leather is painted and only between 1% and 5% porous therefore conditioners are unable to penetrate the leather, they sit on the surface and are polished off as you sit on them.

Leather needs to be cleaned with a gentle foam cleaner before being sealed to prevent cracking and aid future cleaning. I am also able to gently remove dye transfer from Jeans or newspapers on pale leathers and recolour worn patches.

Alloy wheels are waxed with a high temperature resistant wax to aid future cleaning and prevent the build up of dirt and brake dust.

Following cleaning of the glass the final protection stage is carried out.

This client opted for a wax product specially designed for 4x4 vehicles with a blend of natural Carnuaba waxes and plant extracts fortfied with PTFE to help prevent dirt sticking.

The finished car

Tailpipes are polished and sealed to prevent future corrosion