Detailing Check list

[MrWolf710]

I've worked on a few cars now it seems there is always some little thing I forget to do.

I work on setting up and configuring and troubleshooting PCs all day long. I use check lists to make sure I don't forget anything. I like my work to be as good as it can be and for it to be consistent.

I'd love to hear from some of you more experienced detailing guys about what you would put on a list for a straight up detail. No special case. Just a regular car with decent paint. What steps would you follow and in what order?

And I know the 5 step system. I'm talking about doing the interior, the tires, everything. What order would you do it in?

[grover]

I'll take a stab at this question, but by no means am I any expert.

- Clean out interior and vacuum
- Clean windows with NXT glass cleaner and MF
- Wipe down interior with Quick Interior Detailer and MF
- Spray Febreeze or Meguiars Odor Eliminator on seats and carpet
- Close up the car
- Wash the car and clean the wheels/tires
- Dry with water magnet
- Apply tire dressing
- Open doors / trunk and get excess water and dirt out of jambs with MF and Quik Detailer
- Pack up supplies and put away
- Wipe tires down with terrycloth to reduce sling

That's just the routine washes. On full detail days add:
- Clay
- Cleaner
- Polish
- Wax

I'm not a pro or even as diligent as a lot of people on this board but this system works for me. This way I know what step comes next and don't forget anything.

[huckinfinm35]

I think this is a great question and look forward to some replies from the more seasoned "pros..."

Mike Phillips, any thoughts?

[SiriusRIMZ]

I have an extremly long work document I made for a friend of mine giving full detail directions.

I'll finish typing it later and post it up. be warned, it does not skip any step.

[DavidL]

Originally posted by SiriusRIMZ
I have an extremly long work document I made for a friend of mine giving full detail directions.

I'll finish typing it later and post it up. be warned, it does not skip any step.

[SiriusRIMZ]

Its been taking me forever to finish typing it, but this is what I have so far...

I like to start with the inside of a Car. I figure If I wait until after I wash it, I'm liable to track in suds or dampness.

Step 1: Interior
Seats A Big factor in cleaning seats is the materials. For Cloth Seats, I like to vacuum the seats, seat cracks and under the seats, and then apply Gold Class Vinyl and Rubber Protectant to any rubber or plastic parts of the seats. I then look for spot stains. If I don’t find any, I'll go on to using Odor Eliminator. If I find that I have some stains on my seats, I will normally take out my seats to wash them. Now you cant do this with a client’s car, but I highly suggest you learn to do it with your own if all possible. My seat is not automatically adjustable, but Automatic seats are not too difficult to remove, just be careful where you get the water. For cleaning spots, I use APC. I have it mixed it, but the dilution rate slips my mind at the moment. I use an All Surface Interior Brush to help work in my APC. Once I’m satisfied with my results I break out a wet/dry Vacuum and **** up all the water I can out of the seats, then I’ll place them outside and preferably somewhere sunny. Once I’m finished with the seats, I’ll spray odor eliminator followed by a dryer sheet, under the seat.

For Leather seats, I still vacuum the seats, and use Gold Class Vinyl and Rubber Protectant on the plastic parts, but do not get this on the leather. I then use the two-step Leather and Gold Class Rich Leather Aloe Cleaner on the seats. I’ve heard APC also works great on leather. I use a soft brush, or a micro fiber to help work in the cleaner. Be gentle, but be shy about putting some pressure into cleaning leather. I always like the term, put a little “English” on it. Then I use Gold Class Rich Leather Aloe Cleaner, to add some protection to the seats.

Floors and Headliner
Its pretty simple here. I break out the Vacuum and go at it. I have a couple different tips so I can wedge it into tight corners and crevices. I tend to look for stains and spots as I go. If your stain free, Its as simple as vacuum the entire car, odor eliminator and dryer sheets and go. I never find it this easy though. Again, I like to use APC to clean cloth, and carpet is no different. Spray it on, scrub it in, vacuum it out. Don’t forget to vacuum places like under the seats, behind the rear passenger’s heads where the speakers are normally located, and in the door creases. It helps if you can have the doors open to help the carpet dry. I don’t like applying the Odor Eliminator until the carpet is dry, or as close to dry as I can get it. Just a suggestion when vacuuming, try and vacuum in a pattern, its difficult to explain, but do one vacuum stroke forward, and the other in reverse, doing a slight overlap. It looks neater and adds to the style of the detail I suppose.

Don’t forget about the headliner! I use the same procedure on it as I would carpet. Be careful with headliners, they bend a break easily. When you’re done cleaning/ vacuuming the headliner, sprits odor eliminator and go.

Instrument Panel and Dashboard
This is the most difficult part for me to do. Depending on the car, it can be hard to clean in all the little crevices and cracks in the dash. Vacuum what you can, for the rest, I recommend using cans of compresses air in combination with the Slide-Lock brush to dust and clean where towels cannot reach. For the not electronic portions of the dash, I use NXT Tech Protect. Spray it on a micro fiber, then apply it to the dash. I have recently started to use Even Coat Applicators for long dashes when applying the Tech Protect, its more comforting to the hand. For electronic parts, I’ll use Tech protect, but I always use a nappy cloth, seems to work the best for me. For clear interior plastics I use #17, if its bad, I break out the Plastix. For doors, I again use Tech Protect.

Windows and misc.
For windows, NXT Glass Cleaner, hands down, no contest. Microfiber+NXT= Streak Free Windows. For A-pillars, and other pillars, I use Tech Protect. For Weather-stripping, I like the Gold Class Vinyl and Rubber Protectant. For Aftermarket Interior products (Speaker grilles, Decks, shifters, floor mats, kick panels) I use tech Protectant, but its best to ask the owner first about the items. If you have any clear-coated surfaces, take some Quick Detailer to them, and if your ambitious, some NXT Tech Wax.

I likely forgot something, but I’ll eventually add it later.

Step 2: Engine Bay
Engine Detailing
Be careful when detailing your engine, there are thing that cant take much water. I use saran wrap to cover my alternator, and battery terminals, along with fuse and relay boxes. The key here is Water+Electricity=Bad. I start by getting the engine of the car warm, not fully hot, or normal conditions hot, but 100 F is plenty. I use a mist function on my hose to wet the engine bay, notice I said wet, not soak. I then use Simple Green, Super Degreaser and Safety Degreaser should work as well if not better. I dilute my Simple Green to 3 parts water, 1 part simple green. Spray over entire engine bay, let it soak in. This is were you can take one of two routes. A, the safe route, or B, the route I use…

A. Use a small brush to stir up the simple green if more cleaning power is needed in certain areas. Once the desired clean is achieved, rinse the engine bay.

B. Break out the power washer. Be careful. There are vital connection in the engine bay that sometimes can be damaged by a powerwasher. That being said, I use my powerwasher quite often. I have a suds function which I use in conjunction with rinsing off the simple green I sprayed in the engine bay. I find I get a better clean with the power wash with much less effort.

After your engine bay is cleaned, dry all the exposed plastics, or, better yet, get a can of compressed air to help root out water in cracks. If you have any stainless steel or billet aluminum parts in your engine, break out the NXT Metal Polysh. I have just started to use Hyper dressing on my engine bay, and I LOVE it. It really makes a a difference when dressing up plastics. Use what ever rubber or plastic dressing you prefer. Before you finished with your engine bay, use some QD and clean the part of the front quarterpanels that are covered by the hood on the edge of the engine bay, these places never get cleaned. Remove the saran wrap and close your hood, your done.

Step 3: Exterior
By now your probably pretty exhausted. Take a break and cool off. When you ready, get two buckets, a sponge and your favorite washing devices! I use Gold Class Car wash, seeing as I have semi-soft water, plus I got a ton of it. Fill one bucket up with sudsy water and the other with just water. I use a versa-angle body brush, I like its ability to help wash the top of taller trucks (the long handle). I’ve never been a fan of using a wash mit or sponge on my paint, I feel like I’m dragging dirt across my paint. Ok, now that I’m done preaching lets start.

Tires
I like to start here right after the engine bay since I still have my power washer out. I spray some simple green (or degreaser, pick you favorite) in the wheel well and some soapy water on the wheel and tire. I powerwash all the wells and tires, and then rinse the dirt down my drive way. At this point is where I use my sponge. I get my sponge soapy and wash my tires to remove any grime or any remaining dressing. Then I’ll apply some NXT Tire Cleaner and walk away. I leave the wheels and wheel wells undressed until the end, they are still going to get wet later.

Vinyl Cladding and Trim
This is the last hurrah for the power washer in my sequence. I use my aux soap intake here, it works very well. I don’t rinse or spray anything on the cladding, just start with the water powered soap. So this is the easiest step in my wash. The water doesn’t stick to the cladding so its squeaky clean after one pass with soap, and one high powered rinse. Once the entire car is dry, I’ll use Gold Class Vinyl and Rubber Protectant to make it have a nice satin finish.

Windows
I’ll start by using some Quik Detailer on the windows, I only am trying to remove surface dust from the windows. Next I’ll clay the windows until they are smooth as, well glass. Once I’m satisfied. I’ll wash the windows along with the rest of the jeep. Once I’ve dried the windows, I’ll use NXT Glass Cleaner along with a Duo-Fiber Microfiber towel to clean the windows. I’ve yet to find a better window cleaner. Also to make sure to get the very top edges of the window, where the weather stripping meets the glass, often times this is overlooked and never cleaned. The only product that I wish Meguiar’s doesn’t make, that I am forced to use an alternate brand is Rain-X. I only use Rain-X once every 4 or 6 months, also don’t forget to coat the wipers with Rain-X for optimal results.

Exterior Paint
Ok, here’s the big one. Begin with the two bucket method. Use your favorite soap, and being filling the buckets. I use warm water in both buckets, I found it loosens dirt the best, but really you can get just as good results with colder water. I start on top and work my way down my Jeep. I don’t find that I need much effort to loosen dirt with the body brush. Gently wave the brush across the surface and rinse. I use a plain hose with no attachment on the end for rinsing. I leave less water on the surface. Wash the A-B, and if you have em… C pillars, be mindful of any soap that gets in creases or crevices. Next wash the hood, trunk, doors and finally the grille and bumpers. Rinse again. If you going to be washing after claying later you can stop here, otherwise I like to do another quick pass to make sure I got the entire Jeep.

At this point we encounter a fork in the road. Evaluate the paint finish. How does it fell? Is it silky smooth, it is pretty smooth with some bumps, or is it rough to the touch? I clay every time I wash my Jeep, if its new contamination or existing that I missed last time I clayed, it cant hurt. You don’t have to clay, but your final results will look better if you take some time to slow down and clay. I use Quik Clay, but look forward to using the new Smooth Surface clay. I use Quik detailer as my lube. Claying is pretty straight forward, I’m not going to go into detail about how to clay, check out Mike’s article if you don’t know how to clay. Once you finished, if you already didn’t wash for a 2nd time then do so, otherwise its time to move on.

Now that your paint is smooth and prepped, were ready to polish. Before we start, tape off your car! Again, lets evaluate the paint. If your paint is absolutely flawless (highly uncommon), then you can go to a pure polish. Otherwise, if you finish is lightly swirled, then pull out your G100 and some #80, or a variety of other products with less cutting power. I like #80 because it’s a very easy polish to use with a G100. I’ve only been using a G100 for a very short time by its almost “fun” to apply the speed glaze. If you need more cutting power, you can slowly move up to #83, then only if you really need some powerful cutting power, move up to #84, and in extreme cases #85. The most I’ve ever used is #83. I’ve found that #83 will remove most swirls from my paint. Some harder paints may require more. Personally, I’d rather do two passes of #83 than step up to #84. If you do use #83 or stronger, then you’ll need to step down to something less mild to clear up any had the more powerful compound used. After I have polished up my Jeep, I’ll either go the extra step and apply some Hand Polish with a #8006 pad.

Horray, the hardest part is over, and now its time to have fun. Now I have a choice of differ waxes that I can use as a LSP. I have a couple combo’s that I like to use from time to time. My winter combo is #21 applied with the G100, then topped with a thin coat of #16. My summer application would be two layers of NXT, or some #21, I save the #16 for when I’ve going to be expecting some harsh rains. I’ve tried applying NXT paste and #16 with the g100, but I didn’t like using so much, or it seem like a good deal of wax to me. So I often will apply Liquid wax with the G100, and pastes by hand, all with regular applicator pads.

Now I start to dress other parts of the car. I’ll start with the headlights. I’ll start with some #17, then go to #10 to remove any scratches. I find that I can remove some scratches from my headlamps using first a wool pad on a rotary with #10 to clean and sort of ‘compound’ the headlamp using the cutting power of the wool. Then I’ll use my G100 with #10 to really add a nice polish to my headlamps. I’ve also been making some custom plexi-glass covers to prevent scratches and pitting, but that’s a different write-up.

For the grille, I’ll use some QD, the if its metal, metal polysh. I then will move on to the wheel wells. I switch products from time to time. I like Insane Shine on the wheel well, then other days its Hot Shine, then Hyper Dressing. All have a different sort of shine and durability. Insane shine and Hot Shine have a great sheen yet attract dust. Hyper dressing attracts slightly less dust, so I prefer it. I then will use a metal polishing ball with NXT Polysh on the wheels along with the safe wheel spoke. I rarely clay my wheels, unless its been a off-roading sort of mood. When your finished use a applicator pad and apply some #21, #16, or NXT. Finally dress the tires with NXT, Hot Shine, or Hyper Dressing and step away. Do a final sweep and touch up anything that you missed. I’ve only dressed the undercarriage once, and it was pretty useless for me. If you like me to write up something else, feel free to ask.


Ok, Done!

[SiriusRIMZ]

Just a Note, I'm not a professional, this is just what I prefer to do, I'm sure other have more detailed check lists.

[MrWolf710]

Wow, that's an awesome post. Thanks for the good advice everyone.

[SiriusRIMZ]

I forgot to mention the door jams! Dont forget to QD the door jams and dress the hoses with hyperdressing, looks fantastic, and clients dont expect it!