If you can detail the car yourself, great. But, after 30 years in this business, a professional detail makes all the difference, especially with today's 'picky' customers...
Save some money and do it yourself! There is really no secrets to it. Take an hour on a nice day. Start by cleaning the outside of the car. Several products are available if you have some pesky bug or tar spots that are hard to clean. There is really no need to use soap, water and a good sponge should take care of most dirt and grime on the car and wheels. Finish it off with a microfiber chamois. Use a spray tire cleaner to really finish it off nice. Next vacuum the inside and trunk. Take out the floor mats and do them seperately. Use a natural finish spray cleaner and paper towels to wipe it off of all the vinyl and plastic interior parts. It is always nice to go around the door frames with a glass cleaner so when you open the door the door sills and frames are nice and inviting. Clean the inside of the windows, rear view mirror and courtesy mirrors and any clear plastic pieces such as the instrument panel gauges with an ammonia free glass cleaner. They make some excellent carpet/upholstery cleaner if there are any stains on the carpet or cloth surfaces. You can use alchohol or a stronger solvent (lacquer thinner) on really bad stains or problems such as chewing gum or grease. But make sure you test a small area to make sure it doesn't take the color out of the material. Usually the cleaning products will give you a nice clean smell in the car also. Now it is time to take a nice cruise and enjoy your nice, clean car!
All very good points! Detailing is meditative, it’s great exercise with lots of bending, reaching, squatting, stretching. However, having a competent, experienced detailer work on your vehicle for 4 hours is the equivalent to a DIY’er spending 10-12 hours on a vehicle and frankly the results are beyond comparison. Experienced detailers have the advantage of “been there done that” many times over. The consumer grade detergents you buy at big box stores are okay for DIY because they are very safe to use, and if misused they generally will not cause damage. Professional detergents if misused will absolutely cause harm to your vehicle and person because of the very concentrated nature of the chemicals. An example of this is consumer grade “Bug and Tar” remover. It does nearly nothing in removing bugs or tar from the exterior surfaces. The DIY owner struggles with removing the bugs or tar by using scrub brushes and lots of agitation yielding poor results and causing scratches and swirling in the paint. Professional bug and tar remover literally melts bugs away. Tar is softened with very little agitation causing no paint damage. Not even mentioning the amount of time and effort is a fraction of the DIY products. The cost is much different as well! Consumer grade bug and tar remover $12-13. Professional bug and tar remover starts at $30.
Most professionals seem to prefer outsourcing, it's not worth your time and professionals just have more experience and do the job quickly. They have all the systems, products and tools - its not worth buying all that vs time.
Depends on the season and the age of the vehicle and what it’s used for. That said, many do not believe I’m driving a 2002 Ford Explorer that has over 150k miles on it’s original engine. The after market step bars were the first to start showing signs of wear.
Do it myself. Would love someone who could come to my business to do a thorough job for me. As a florist I feel like I clean out my car more than the average person!
As we have several vehicles in our fleet, we make it the responsibility of the senior team members to maintain their own vehicles.By instilling a pride in the appearance of their vehicles they tend to take better overall care of them.
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Answers (1-10)
If you can detail the car yourself, great. But, after 30 years in this business, a professional detail makes all the difference, especially with today's 'picky' customers...
Save some money and do it yourself! There is really no secrets to it. Take an hour on a nice day. Start by cleaning the outside of the car. Several products are available if you have some pesky bug or tar spots that are hard to clean. There is really no need to use soap, water and a good sponge should take care of most dirt and grime on the car and wheels. Finish it off with a microfiber chamois. Use a spray tire cleaner to really finish it off nice. Next vacuum the inside and trunk. Take out the floor mats and do them seperately. Use a natural finish spray cleaner and paper towels to wipe it off of all the vinyl and plastic interior parts. It is always nice to go around the door frames with a glass cleaner so when you open the door the door sills and frames are nice and inviting. Clean the inside of the windows, rear view mirror and courtesy mirrors and any clear plastic pieces such as the instrument panel gauges with an ammonia free glass cleaner. They make some excellent carpet/upholstery cleaner if there are any stains on the carpet or cloth surfaces. You can use alchohol or a stronger solvent (lacquer thinner) on really bad stains or problems such as chewing gum or grease. But make sure you test a small area to make sure it doesn't take the color out of the material. Usually the cleaning products will give you a nice clean smell in the car also. Now it is time to take a nice cruise and enjoy your nice, clean car!
All very good points! Detailing is meditative, it’s great exercise with lots of bending, reaching, squatting, stretching.
However, having a competent, experienced detailer work on your vehicle for 4 hours is the equivalent to a DIY’er spending 10-12 hours on a vehicle and frankly the results are beyond comparison.
Experienced detailers have the advantage of “been there done that” many times over.
The consumer grade detergents you buy at big box stores are okay for DIY because they are very safe to use, and if misused they generally will not cause damage.
Professional detergents if misused will absolutely cause harm to your vehicle and person because of the very concentrated nature of the chemicals.
An example of this is consumer grade “Bug and Tar” remover. It does nearly nothing in removing bugs or tar from the exterior surfaces. The DIY owner struggles with removing the bugs or tar by using scrub brushes and lots of agitation yielding poor results and causing scratches and swirling in the paint.
Professional bug and tar remover literally melts bugs away. Tar is softened with very little agitation causing no paint damage. Not even mentioning the amount of time and effort is a fraction of the DIY products.
The cost is much different as well! Consumer grade bug and tar remover $12-13. Professional bug and tar remover starts at $30.
Most professionals seem to prefer outsourcing, it's not worth your time and professionals just have more experience and do the job quickly. They have all the systems, products and tools - its not worth buying all that vs time.
I am fortunate to know someone to does a great job when I take my auto to them.
Most of the time I detail myself because it’s a great stress reliever😊😊😊
Depends on the season and the age of the vehicle and what it’s used for. That said, many do not believe I’m driving a 2002 Ford Explorer that has over 150k miles on it’s original engine. The after market step bars were the first to start showing signs of wear.
Do it myself. Would love someone who could come to my business to do a thorough job for me. As a florist I feel like I clean out my car more than the average person!
Erica
My husband does our vehicles. It is calming for him.
As we have several vehicles in our fleet, we make it the responsibility of the senior team members to maintain their own vehicles.By instilling a pride in the appearance of their vehicles they tend to take better overall care of them.