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10 things you must know about detailing your car
There’s more to the perfect car wash than rinsing grime off your ride. Ammo NYC founder Larry Kosilla explains.
1. Never even touch your car without a lubricant such as water, spray wax, waterless wash, or soap. These lift contaminants from the surface, "so you won't grind soil into the paint and spend the rest of the day buffing out the scratches," Kosilla says.
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2. Try to be methodical and work in this order: wheels, paint, interior, and glass. Otherwise, you'll waste precious time fumbling around washing and rewashing. Doing the wheels first, before you wet the rest of the car, prevents water spots from forming on the paint. Wash the glass last in case you smudge the windows while cleaning the interior.
3. Designate one bucket and mitt for painted areas only, and keep another wash mitt in a separate bucket for the wheels. Dirty wheels often contain brake dust, which can scratch paint
4. Use a Grit Guard Insert in your bucket to keep soiled mitts clean and prevent them from picking up dirt that settles at the bottom.
5. Scrub wheels with Wheel Woolies. These brushes are engineered to quickly get into intricate spokes and lug-nut crevices.
6. On paint always use microfiber towels (not sponges), which are ideal for both washing and drying because of their ability to pick up and release dirt. "Microfiber has replaced the traditional chamois leather," Kosilla says. He uses a heavy 300- to 400-gsm (gram-per-square-meter) cloth, which is gentler on paint.
7. You can skip water altogether and clean your car with a waterless wash product. Apply it with a clean microfiber towel folded into quarters. "Use a scooping motion while applying the least amount of pressure necessary for the cloth to make contact and pick up the dirt," Kosilla says. This will require five to 10 towels and 10 to 20 ounces of waterless wash.
8. For waxing, apply a light-mist spray wax or a hydrophobic drying agent to the wet painted surfaces and wipe dry with a damp towel. "The microfiber towel will pick up any remaining dirt that was missed during the wash and apply a thin layer of protection during the drying process."
9. Shoot air into tight spots such as mirrors, taillights, and emblems with a portable vacuum blower. "The point is to release trapped water that will ultimately spill out as you drive away."
10. Use the vacuum's attachments to clean every gap, crevice, and air vent in your car's interior. Now, get cleaning!
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