The purpose of this thread is to provide the steps necessary to thoroughly and properly clean your vehicle. Adhere to these steps and you will produce beautiful results through effort, patience, and adequate consistency.


In this thread:

- Overall Advice
- Step 1 - The Rinse
- Step 2 - The Dry off
- Step 3 - The Detail
- Step 4 - The Wheels
- Step 5 - Results



Overall Advice

My experience with Meguiars is what Im satisfied with and what I recommend to people. Of course, detailing, in and of itself, is specific to the detailer. Everyone has their trends, methods, product favorites, and styles that they use when they detail. Ive had nothing but superb performance with Meguiars myself, but you might be different. Try different products out and see what you like best

Following the steps below will produce results for your car. However, in my own experience, I have come across the situation where I need to remain consistent with my methods before the true results can be seen. What I mean is, stay patient. Your car wont go from neglect and abuse to show-room worthy after one rinse off and a quick detail. It takes numerous sessions of detailing to get it beautiful. But the most important thing I can say is that you MUST maintain your cars cleanliness and continue to do simple detail jobs in between major detail jobs. If youre serious about your car and want to make it dressed to impress for the masses and for your own sense of satisfaction, follow these steps.









Step 1. The Rinse



- Start with selecting the Rinse/Water option only. I highly recommend NOT using the soaps at car washes without inquiring to verify that the soaps are wax-safe. Some car washes will use harsh detergents and it will literally strip your wax and polish right off your ride. Using soap is necessary sometimes...but not always necessary. It just depends on how clean you keep your ride. Thanks to AZHitman for reminding me.






- Spray the washer for a few seconds to ensure only water is flowing through.





- Spray the washer so it mists all over the car.




- Spray the washer starting at the roof. Your goal is to wash the contaminants down with gravity. Starting from the highest point and going to the lowest is the best way to ensure all contaminants are washed away without being spread back up on the car.




- Spray down the front and read windows.







- Spray down the hood and trunk.







- Spray down the side windows.





- Spray down the side body panels.





- Spray down the lower side body panels.





- Spray down the wheels and wheel wells.






- Spray down the rear.

***Pending write-up. The following is how to Rinse, Dry, and Detail your car with pictures only. The write-up and supplemental information is coming soon.***



Step 2. The Dry-off




- Start drying off on the rear and front windows.







- Lift up on and drop the windshield wipers to get excess water from them. Then lift up on the wiper and dry off the run-off panel.







- Dry off the roof, A and C pillars.





- Dry off the hood and trunk.
- Prop your hood so the heat from the engine bay doesnt prematurely dry the water on your hood.







- Dry off the front fenders and front bumper.
- Be careful when you dry off any panel by the wheel wells. Left over contaminants could still get caught up in your drying towel. You might accidentally spread a rock or sand all over your paint.









- Dry off the side windows.
- Also wipe down the inside windows as well.






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- Dry off the upper side panels.







- Dry off the lower side panels.



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- Dry off the rear of the car.
- Start high and work your way down. Careful to avoid spreading rough contaminants on your paint.

**Dont mind the orange discoloration of my car here....the camera sucks.


Step 3. The Detail



- Using Meguiars Ultimate Quik Wax, start at the roof with your clean micro-fiber towel and spray one section at a time.








- Spray the front and rear windows.







- Spray the hood.
- Lift your hood so the engine heat doesnt prematurely dry the Quik Wax.





- Spray the front bumber.
- Ensure that your washing and drying process removed all contaminants.





- Spray the front fenders.
- Be careful around the wheel wells so your towel doesnt soak up and spread any rough contaminants.





- Spray the side windows.








- Spray the upper trunk.





- Spray the sides.





- Spray the rear end.

Step 4. The wheels.



- Spray Meguiars Quik Detailer on your rims.





- Wipe off with a micro-fiber towel.





- Spray the tires with Meguiars High Gloss Hot Shine Tire Spray





- This is the initial spray result.





- Wipe down excess with a dirty towel.

Great writeup, but pressurized water alone will NOT remove dirt / oil / grease / road funk from your car.

You've gotta use some sort of surfectant (preferably one that's wax-friendly) to lift / disperse the contaminants.

Drying a car that's only been RINSED is a sure way to introduce microscratches, contaminate your drying media, and smear adhered crap all over your car.

AZhitman wrote:Great writeup, but pressurized water alone will NOT remove dirt / oil / grease / road funk from your car.

You've gotta use some sort of surfectant (preferably one that's wax-friendly) to lift / disperse the contaminants.

Drying a car that's only been RINSED is a sure way to introduce microscratches, contaminate your drying media, and smear adhered crap all over your car.

Youre absolutely correct. I'll include that in my write-up. I never have to use any kind of wash or soap and Ive been complacent with my write-ups lol. Thanks again.

Edited!!

This is well organized. Nice work.
I am at odds on a couple of things
I agree that soap will strip wax
but if you don't take the wax off
and keep adding more on top of it without the benefit of soap to clean or strip the off the old wax, How is that going to look after a few washings?
Most people don't dry their cars in the stalls.
They pull them out into the sun to dry them, because there are normally people waiting to get in.
The first thing I dry is the paint in order to prevent water spotting.
The last point is that toward the end you flipped it and tuned it into a commercial for Meguiars products.

Not all soaps will strip wax.

And Meguiar's makes some good product, but there are others that are FAR better for the same (sometimes less) money.

Ive never had an issue with wax layers effecting anything adversely. Ive thrown on 6 coats since May. But to answer your question...if I ever decide to "strip" the wax off, I use Meguiars Ultimate Compound. It sanitizes the car's exterior of any existing layers of wax while touching up swirlies and slight scratches.

And in regards to drying the car, Ive personally hated it when the sun dries the water on the paint. It leaves little water spots and they can be tough to remove, especially when there are hundreds of them. If its possible to dry in the shade, then thats what I do. Usually the car wash stalls never have people waiting..but thats just in my experience.

Shizane2002 wrote: And in regards to drying the car, Ive personally hated it when the sun dries the water on the paint. It leaves little water spots and they can be tough to remove, especially when there are hundreds of them. If its possible to dry in the shade, then thats what I do. Usually the car wash stalls never have people waiting..but thats just in my experience.

Lucky guy.

Are rain spots a problem?
How difficult are they to remove?

AZhitman wrote:Not all soaps will strip wax.

That is true of car wax brand soaps.
When ever I have to use soap I don't monk around with car wash soap. I use straight up dishwashing liquid to cut any contaminants from the paint.
Car wash brand soaps are generally designed to be compatible with the corresponding brand of wax and are wax safe, at least for that brand.
However soap can be harsh on paint so it is very rare that I will use anything other than clear water to clean my paint.

so from your 2 tutorials.. because you have a wax and a detail one.
do you do both when washing your car. what i mean is you rinse dry do the UC then the 2,0. and THEN the quik wax, or do you only do 1 of the tutorials?
k ty!

nice pics but no reason to even include the words WASH in the title since its a quick rinse and detail your doing, not really a wash. you must have washed the car more efficiently a day before this to not have dirt on the lower body panels and wiping that , even with a microfiber towel could bring scratches and swirls into the paint.

I'd recommend trying the two bucket wash method, one filled with soapy wax friendly water and the other clean rinse water for your microfiber wash mitt
wet car well, wash from top down using lots of suds and rinsing mitt frequently
when complete, dry using your choice of drying tools (California water blade followed with a chamois or microfiber towel)
then proceed to either use a cleaner wax or cleaner sealant (dependant on paint condition) followed but a top coat of sealer or wax your choice with many to chose from.

then use your detailer mist if required to touch up or help remove any reside you discover

happy detailing