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Detailing is Subjective
Posted this on my blog today. Thought I'd share it here as well.
Many times I cruise the forums and I find all types of threads and posts by authors asking for the “right” way to go about different cleaning or polishing steps on their cars. In this sense, “right” would be inferred to mean “the method that would cause results that would need the least amount of future work.” For example, rubbing a towel full of grit on your car’s paint surface would create scratches and swirls that would require perhaps several hours of work, several tools, and several products to remediate. But this assumes that you want to remediate it. In reality, this may not always be the case and it may be an unrealistic desire.
One reason that it may not be the case is: Say you’re claying a car and you know that the aggressive clay that you are using is putting swirls into the paint. However, you are going to be buffing the paint out with a compound anyway so you don’t mind. In this example, you are doing something that may not be appropriate for other people but it’s appropriate for you due to the fact that you will be buffing out the swirls anyway.
Suppose you just washed your car and it rains all over it all day long. You’re now frustrated because the car doesn’t look exactly the way you did when you just finished waxing. Don’t be. That’s being unrealistic. Look at it this way: You know the weather changes and you have no control, so just forget about it. Plus, one of the core reasons for using wax is for protection. So really, the rain is simply exercising and taking full advantage of the product. Take joy from the rain beading up on the car!
A lot of people see show cars and wish their car looked like that ALL THE TIME. Well, here’s news: Your car would look like that ALL THE TIME IF it performed the function of a show car and sat indoors all day! You have to discover what you use your car for, how much time you have per week to spend on it, and what you want your car to look like. I’ll use myself as an example: I am obviously heavily into auto detailing and I really enjoy working on different finishes with different tools and products. I’m always on the look-out trying to protect my car’s finish and I’m always washing using the least-aggressive method. However, I don’t get pissed off when I see trace swirls and build-up on my car. Instead, I realize that this is normal for a daily driver and I do the best I can to maintain the car given my circumstances. Let’s face it: Cars can still look good even with a few swirls and paint issues. Every time I wash my car, my neighbors think I’m nuts and that it’s already clean. This is why I don’t freak if my car is somewhat dirty. The other reason is that I know that I have an extensive knowledge and hands-on practice detailing so I’m not worried about having trouble removing paint issues. In fact, since I enjoy detailing, I actually do enjoy removing defects anyway and actually want to do it on my own car every so often.
Clearly, what I just said about myself doesn’t apply to everyone else. Each person has their own preferences as to how they want their car to look and how much time they are willing to spend on it. This is why it becomes difficult to answer “what’s the right way?” questions. In fact, sometimes they even spark arguements and debates like when a person asks “What’s the best wax!?” The moral of the story is if you’re getting frustrated or irritated about how your car looks, you’re just stressing yourself for no reason and you need to drop it and realize that you need to make realistic goals for your life’s current situation. Of course it’s also up to you to sacrifice other things in your situation to dedicate time to detailing but again, that’s a personal choice.
That is why detailing is subjective. My next door neighbor is OK with her car coming out of the drive-thru car wash because it comes out shiny. If she’s OK with this, that works for her. That is her RIGHT WAY. The only way that it is not her right way is if she does it out of ignorance and would really be washing by hand carefully if she knew that the wash created swirls. But that’s simply not the way that everyone does it. Not everyone wants their car to look 100% perfect. Not everyone even wants it 40% clean. I mean, geeze, if people are willing to commit crimes, they’re definitely willing to trash their car! As such, as a detailing enthusiast, it is nice to enlighten those who don’t know, but of course those who aren’t into detailing as much as we are aren’t worse human beings. Detailing is subjective!
Many times I cruise the forums and I find all types of threads and posts by authors asking for the “right” way to go about different cleaning or polishing steps on their cars. In this sense, “right” would be inferred to mean “the method that would cause results that would need the least amount of future work.” For example, rubbing a towel full of grit on your car’s paint surface would create scratches and swirls that would require perhaps several hours of work, several tools, and several products to remediate. But this assumes that you want to remediate it. In reality, this may not always be the case and it may be an unrealistic desire.
One reason that it may not be the case is: Say you’re claying a car and you know that the aggressive clay that you are using is putting swirls into the paint. However, you are going to be buffing the paint out with a compound anyway so you don’t mind. In this example, you are doing something that may not be appropriate for other people but it’s appropriate for you due to the fact that you will be buffing out the swirls anyway.
Suppose you just washed your car and it rains all over it all day long. You’re now frustrated because the car doesn’t look exactly the way you did when you just finished waxing. Don’t be. That’s being unrealistic. Look at it this way: You know the weather changes and you have no control, so just forget about it. Plus, one of the core reasons for using wax is for protection. So really, the rain is simply exercising and taking full advantage of the product. Take joy from the rain beading up on the car!
A lot of people see show cars and wish their car looked like that ALL THE TIME. Well, here’s news: Your car would look like that ALL THE TIME IF it performed the function of a show car and sat indoors all day! You have to discover what you use your car for, how much time you have per week to spend on it, and what you want your car to look like. I’ll use myself as an example: I am obviously heavily into auto detailing and I really enjoy working on different finishes with different tools and products. I’m always on the look-out trying to protect my car’s finish and I’m always washing using the least-aggressive method. However, I don’t get pissed off when I see trace swirls and build-up on my car. Instead, I realize that this is normal for a daily driver and I do the best I can to maintain the car given my circumstances. Let’s face it: Cars can still look good even with a few swirls and paint issues. Every time I wash my car, my neighbors think I’m nuts and that it’s already clean. This is why I don’t freak if my car is somewhat dirty. The other reason is that I know that I have an extensive knowledge and hands-on practice detailing so I’m not worried about having trouble removing paint issues. In fact, since I enjoy detailing, I actually do enjoy removing defects anyway and actually want to do it on my own car every so often.
Clearly, what I just said about myself doesn’t apply to everyone else. Each person has their own preferences as to how they want their car to look and how much time they are willing to spend on it. This is why it becomes difficult to answer “what’s the right way?” questions. In fact, sometimes they even spark arguements and debates like when a person asks “What’s the best wax!?” The moral of the story is if you’re getting frustrated or irritated about how your car looks, you’re just stressing yourself for no reason and you need to drop it and realize that you need to make realistic goals for your life’s current situation. Of course it’s also up to you to sacrifice other things in your situation to dedicate time to detailing but again, that’s a personal choice.
That is why detailing is subjective. My next door neighbor is OK with her car coming out of the drive-thru car wash because it comes out shiny. If she’s OK with this, that works for her. That is her RIGHT WAY. The only way that it is not her right way is if she does it out of ignorance and would really be washing by hand carefully if she knew that the wash created swirls. But that’s simply not the way that everyone does it. Not everyone wants their car to look 100% perfect. Not everyone even wants it 40% clean. I mean, geeze, if people are willing to commit crimes, they’re definitely willing to trash their car! As such, as a detailing enthusiast, it is nice to enlighten those who don’t know, but of course those who aren’t into detailing as much as we are aren’t worse human beings. Detailing is subjective!
... I could actually still see the dirt on the lower door panels from a distance.
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