What Is Car Detailing?

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Car detailing, or auto detailing is a term that is used allot nowadays and it can have different meanings to different People. For example, in America the term detailing usually refers to most kinds of car cleaning, whereas in the U.K the term 'car valeting' is more predominantly used to describe most car cleaning activities, with the term detailing must have car detailing products fairly recently being adopted to describe a more thorough clean.

Generally, the correct definition for the term car detailing is to meticulously clean, polish and protect all parts of a vehicle from top to bottom, inside and out, using specialist tools and products that would not usually be used by your typical car cleaner. It does not however, include paintwork and body repairs although sometimes light cosmetic restorative work will be untertaken, for example stone chip touch ups and clear coat wet sanding, depending on the condition of the vehicle and the detailer in question.

The main area and aim of car detailing is to fully enhance and restore the vehicles paintwork by eliminating light scratches and swirl marks that have been inflicted over time and that reflect the light in such a way that they give an unsightly cob webbing effect on the surface of the paint or clear coat. Before this is undertaken though, the exterior has to be thoroughly washed and cleaned in order to remove as much dirt and as many contaminants as possible.

The first step of the exterior detailing process is usually to foam the vehicle completely and allow it to soak, this helps to soften up any dirt and lift it off from the surface prior to pre rinsing. Whilst soaking, a soft bristled detailing brush may be used to agitate areas like the window rubbers, plastic grills, trim details and badges. The foam, along with the loosened dirt and grime is then thoroughly rinsed off.

Before washing the paintwork, wheels and wheel wells/arches are usually cleaned as these tend to be the dirtiest and most contaminated parts of a vehicle. Specialist brushes and wheel cleaning products are used to remove grime and baked on brake dust from all areas of the wheels and wells/arches including suspension components, brake calipers, around lug nuts and even from the wheel rears.