I've tried emailing you, but it keeps getting returned. I typed up a detailing guideline for my Dad a few weeks back and sent him a kit full of goodies after I clayed his Porsche for him in July. Thought you might want to add it to the site somewhere.

Auto Detailing tips by Kevin

1. Washing the car.Start by soaking the car for a few minutes to rinse off loose debris and get the car nice and wet. Fill bucket with soapy water using only Car Wash soap (NO DISH SOAP!!!). Wash the car from top to bottom with a soft sponge or mitt *never use the same sponge or mitt on wheels or exhaust. After washing the entire car, rinse thoroughly. Next wash the wheels with it’s own brush or sponge, something that is designated for wheels/exhaust ONLY. Rinse wheels.

2. Drying the car.This is where the real time is spent. Start off by toweling the upper body panels first, then proceed to the sides using micro fiber towels, or 100% cotton terry cloth. You can use a Wax-as-you-dry product if you like. I tend to do a quick drying of the top and sides (I use a Cali. Dusters squeege thing to get most water off quickly, then go to the towels), then follow with a thorough drying and finish with a final go around to buff the surface and make sure there are no remaining water spots. Now it’s time to pop the hood, trunk, gas flap, and doors. Wipe the rain gutters with another towel that is only used on these areas and the wheels. After wiping all visible water drops from these areas, move on to the wheels and finish at the exhaust tips.

3. Wax or Detail spray.Wax as the can or bottle recommends, some brands suggest using circular motions, others suggest back and forth motions. Detail spray can be used after washing and drying for extra gloss and for quick touch up during the week. Spray a 2 square foot area and wipe with a micro fiber cloth, turn to a dry portion to make sure you get it all. It can safely be used on glass and headlight / taillight plastic.

4. Tires.I use Eagle One tire swipes and various brands of product to apply a light amount of tire dressing. These are curved like the side wall of a tire, and keep your hands clean. Store in an open plastic bag, don’t seal it.

5. Interior.Wipe dash, etc. with a slightly damp cloth, I usually use a micro fiber towel that’s lightly damp, but not wet from drying the car. For the leather, I condition it once a month with any leather conditioner and a scrap of terry cloth towel. I only put low gloss shine on dash etc. once a year or so. Old tooth brushes can be used for getting dust in cracks, air vents etc. (they can also be used to remove wax on the exterior seams/rubber trim, logos and around letters on light housings).

6. Enjoy your clean, scratch free, shinny car!

• for scratch removal in clear coat paint, Meguiars ScratchX works great using Diminishing Micro Abrasives (the abrasives actually break down to nothing as you work the product) and on platic, Meguiars PlastX works great (restoring old yellowed plastic, polishing light scratches on the Lexan headlights, etc).• micro fiber towel care: machine wash, use no fabric softners, hang dry is prefered, but machine dry is ok however, do not use softner/static sheets.• I recommend Meguiars.

Clay-Bar quick guide:Wash car as normal or with dish detergent to strip the surface clean (this is up to you, personally, I don't ever use dish detergent, nor do other "pro" detailers I know), then procede with clay-bar's instructions. Basically, use any name brand quick detial spray as the surface lubricant, and work about a foot square at a time. Spray car then spray bar with detail spray, slide clay-bar back and forth untill bar glides with no friction (you'll know, trust me!), then move on. Generally clay-baring is only needed on upper facing surfaces. I use a microfiber towel to wipe down as I go. After claying car, the surface is stripped, cleaned and prepared, now you must wax entire car.

How often should you clay? You should clay your car according to the environment the car stays in, ie: if you work near a cement plant, and the car gets dusted every day, you need to do it more often than if you park in a garage at home and at work. I clay my car about once every 6 months, but I keep so on top of it, that it makes a difference and that's all it needs.

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I think it's a pretty decent write up and could probably help guide some people in proper show-n-shine maintenance. I recently attended a Detailing clinic at Meguiars in Irvine, basically I knew and did 98% of what they taught, but I did learn some tricks. I wrote this guide before I did the class and thought to myself how pleased I was that I already did most of what they taught.
Modified by Falkdesigns at 9:09 AM 9/14/2005

one small thing on your list. if you are going to be starting from scratch and using the clay bar, better to use Dawn dishwashing detergent to remove all the old wax or products before using the clay bar. this way the paint will be totally clean of all old stuff. after the new wax is applied, that is when you should NOT use dishwashing soap, only a good quality car wash soap when it's dirty.

That's true, but as you see, I didn't go into claying the car, just washing. This is more of a weekly detailing guide. I guess I could add a claying guide....

Nice work Kevin. We'll see about getting this into an article.

Thanks.

good write up. learned a few things

Thanks guys.

Greg, did you ever see this, or are you just ignoring me

Falkdesigns wrote:Greg, did you ever see this, or are you just ignoring me

I suspect that the work preparing for and going to NOPI has kept him busy ...

Z

Nice work KF!

No, not ignoring you, been slammed with other stuff - that's a great writeup!

Mind if I add a bit to it? It's damn near perfect as it is, but us old-school guys have a few tricks as well...

No, not at all, feel free. As I said, I just wrote it up for my Dad, but after I finished, I thought "that's pretty good, I should share it".

I thought maybe I pissed you off with something I said somewhere, I know we have our differences of opinion .

Falkdesigns wrote:I thought maybe I pissed you off with something I said somewhere, I know we have our differences of opinion .

LOL, how often have you seen him get pissed off at me? Exactly. No way in hell you'd ever piss him off

Seriously though, that's an excellent write-up. Fortunately my Q45 stays covered up most of the time so I only have to wax it ~2 times a year. The rest of the time I just spray it off and dry. I've never tried claying it before. Is there a really noticable difference? If so could you provide a before/after shot?

Falkdesigns wrote:I thought maybe I pissed you off with something I said somewhere, I know we have our differences of opinion .

Nah, I worked in the mental health field for a decade - I've heard all kinds of crazy stuff.

Thanks Kev!

Cool, glad to hear it *wipes sweat from brow*.

PMQ, you won't see the difference from clay as much as feel it. My Q's surface is literally smooth as glass. When you clay it you feel the bar pulling grit from the surface and it goes from rough to smooooooth. It will help you get deeper gloss though. If you do clay, polish, wax, that's the deepest gloss you can get.

I think with the age of his Q and the buildup of cheap product that's probably on the paint (protecting nothing but the acid rain fallout and bird droppings), he'll notice a HUGE difference.

Not a slam, just an observation based on 20 years of using clay on paint. Good stuff.

Falkdesigns wrote:PMQ, you won't see the difference from clay as much as feel it. My Q's surface is literally smooth as glass. When you clay it you feel the bar pulling grit from the surface and it goes from rough to smooooooth. It will help you get deeper gloss though. If you do clay, polish, wax, that's the deepest gloss you can get.

Absolutely agreed! Claying a car has the most awesome results.

Z

So I take it I'm not the only one that washes his car once or twice a week and hates it when it rains? I was pretty surprised too, I do everything you mentioned, even the squeege to the top of the car followed by a towel.