2010 Audi S4 Midnight Blue Polish

The owner of this S4 takes pretty good care of it, and has the advantage of a heated garage with softened water.  Despite being able to hand wash this car in the winter, it had still accumulated a fair amount of defects from daily use.  It also had a substantial amount of polish or wax residue on the clearbra edge.  Because this is a daily driver, the owner opted for an intensive polish of the exterior to remove the majority of the defects and increase the clarity and gloss of the paint.  This was followed by a silica based spray sealant that will last 4-6 months. 

Process

• Wheels and tires cleaned with Meguiar's DUB wheel cleaner and Megs D108 
• Prefoamed with CG citrus wash + Gloss and Bilt hamber Surfex HD
• Hand wash with CG citrus wash daily
• Polish residue was removed PPF edges with APC, IPA, soft brushes and towels
• Mechanically decontaminated with traditional clay bar
• Paint was polished with HD Polish+ on a 21mm DA with rupes yellow pads
• Tight areas were corrected with HD Polish+ on a flex 3401 with LC white hybrid pads
• Paint was protected with Carpro Reload
• Tires were dressed with carpro PERL
• Trim and wheels protected with carpro hydro2
• Exhaust cleaned with pinnacle exhaust cleaner and brightener

Interior Cleaning of some Toyotas

We firmly believe that regardless of what you drive or how much you want to spend on a detail, high quality work should be accessible; as such, we offer an introductory level of service that provides a high quality result and remains competitive with production quality shops.  The average consumer will be very happy with the results of an introductory detail and in a well maintained vehicle the introductory service may be all that's needed to make the car look spectacular, and with a small add-on like stain treatment, the results can be like new.  

The owners of these two vehicles just love their cars and want them clean.  They don't need every scratch and swirl removed.  They spend their time inside of the car and they want it to look and feel nice.  

Both vehicles arrived with light to moderate soiling, some isolated fabric stains and a minor build up of debris.  The Corolla also had an incident in the trunk with a pumpkin that sat too long. 

Corolla Process:

• Fabrics were dry brushed and vacuumed
• Floor mats were pre-treated, agitate and extracted
• Trunk was treated with an enzyme cleaner for the pumpkin incident and then treated with an encapsulating deodorizer
• Fabrc stains were treated with steam
• Hard surfaces were wiped down with a mild surfactant cleaner & protectant
• Grime collecting hard surfaces were cleaned with steam
• Glass was cleaned with distilled water and isopropyl alcohol
• Jambs were cleaned with an all purpose cleaner, agitated and steamed

4Runner Process:

• Fabrics were dry brushed and vacuumed
• Rubber Floor mats were pre-treated with all purpose cleaner, agitate and rinsed
• Fabrc stains were treated with steam
• Hard surfaces were wiped down with a mild surfactant cleaner & protectant
• Grime collecting hard surfaces were cleaned with steam
• Glass was cleaned with distilled water and isopropyl alcohol
• Jambs were cleaned with an all purpose cleaner, agitated and steamed

Volvo S60 Intensive Polish

I kind of have a reoccurring theme of S4 and intensive polish.  So let's shake thing up a bit with a Volvo, but we can't shake them up too much, so it's still an intensive polish.  Most of the cars I work on are daily drivers and while I will certainly make paint nearly perfect, doing so removes a lot of paint.  Getting 95%+ defects off a factory finish is pretty much a one time thing.  After that, an owner needs to maintain the vehicle such that only polishing is required as any future compounding risks thinning the clearcoat to unsafe levels.  Since the majority of defects reside in the upper 5 or so microns of paint, an intensive polish is able to make a huge improvement in the finish while allowing for many future corrections.  This volvo is a perfect example of this concept.

This car was purchased out of state without being seen in person.  There were several areas that had been hit with a rotary polisher and not finished down properly, leaving holograms.  There were also a ton of washed induced swirls, likely from a brush car wash.  

Process

• Wheels and tires cleaned with Meguiar's DUB wheel cleaner and Megs D108 
• Prefoamed with CG citrus wash + Gloss and Bilt hamber Surfex HD
• Hand wash with CG citrus wash daily
• Mechanically decontaminated with traditional clay bar
• Paint was polished with Meguiars M205 on a 21mm DA with rupes yellow pads
• Tight areas were corrected with M205 on a flex 3401 with LC orange hybrid pads
• Paint was protected with Carpro Reload
• Tires were dressed with Carpro PERL
• Trim and wheels protected with Carpro hydro2
• Exhaust cleaned with pinnacle exhaust cleaner and brightener

2011 Audi S4 Meteor Gray Intensive Polish

The owner of this car actually has a cleaning business of his own, so he understands the effort that goes into properly cleaning and enhancing the exterior of a car.  I did some quick math, and this particular car has around 180 square feet of paint to work on, that about the same square footage as a medium size bedroom.  I spend 8 hours working on the exterior of this car.  That may seem like a lot, but let's look closer and compare to that bedroom.  I washed and decontaminated the paint and thoroughly cleaned the wheels, that's pretty similar to dusting, vacuuming and taking care of a few spots on the furniture.  I also cleaned the windows and dressed the trim, that's pretty similar to cleaning the bedroom windows and any wood trim.  Finally, I polished and sealed the paint, the best thing we can compare this to in a bedroom is sanding and refinishing wood floors.  Now forget about the product and tool cost and just think about the labor involved to do that to a bedroom, now consider the cost of that amount of work.  The owner has no issue paying for this to be done right, because he understands the amount of effort required to get the results he wants.  

Process

• Wheels and tires cleaned with Meguiar's DUB wheel cleaner and Megs D108 
• Prefoamed with CG citrus wash + Gloss and Bilt hamber Surfex HD
• Hand wash with CG citrus wash daily
• Polish residue was removed PPF edges with APC, IPA, soft brushes and towels
• Mechanically decontaminated with traditional clay bar
• Paint was polished with HD Polish+ on a 21mm DA with rupes yellow pads
• Tight areas were corrected with HD Polish+ on a flex 3401 with LC white hybrid pads
• Paint was protected with Carpro Reload
• Tires were dressed with carpro PERL
• Trim and wheels protected with carpro hydro2
• Exhaust cleaned with pinnacle exhaust cleaner and brightener
• Interior vacuumed
• Floor mats cleaned and extracted
• Salt stains on carpets removed via hot water extraction
• 3-step leather treatment process
• Interior hard surfaces cleaned and protected
• Engine bay cleaned and dressed

Tips for Decontamination

Decontamination is often overlooked by the average person.  Those that are familiar with detailing clay probably spend an hour claying their car when necessary.  There are newer clay alternative products on the market that make this task much faster and easier.  

Consider a clay towel (speedy prep towel) or a pad for a DA polisher.  There are also blocks that can be purchased.  These products last for 5-25 cars and if dropped, can be washed off and reused. They can also reduce your claying time to 15 minutes.  The disadvantage to these products is that they are much more aggresive and if used incorrectly, will result in marring the paint.  It's important to recognize this situation and make adjustments as necessary.  

• Place a sandwich bag over your hand and run your fingertips over the paint to feel for contamination and determine if claying is necessary.
• After a wash, don't dry your car if you plan to clay, this is a wasted step.  Just over concentrate your clay lubricant a little to compensate for the extra water on the panel.
• Only use a small portion of your clay at a time.  50-80 grams is plenty.  A 200 gram bar should yield at least 2-3 portions of clay.
• If you drop your clay, throw it out.  Debris in the clay can scratch your paint.
• Use relatively slow motions and light pressure.  Moving very fast and using a lot of force is going to change the effort from gently shearing to aggressively grinding.
• Check the clay bar often and reshape as necessary.  Depending on the condition of the vehicle, that may be once every panel or once every square foot.
• Use plenty of clay lubricant as this reduces the risk of marring.
• Use a dedicated clay lubricant.  These are designed to remain slippery even as they start to dry.  Soaps have a very sharp cut-off from being slippery to sticky as they dry.
• Work relatively small areas and dry them immediately to ensure suspended contaminants don't have the opportunity to resettle on the paint.

2010 Audi S4 Intensive Polish

This particular car is owned by an enthusiast that does take very good care of it.  It serves as an example of several principles within the maintenance of a vehicles appearance.  

For starters, it's Audi's Phantom Black Pearl.  It's often said that Black is not a color, it's a full time job.  This is because black will show every defect.  The pearl/metallic in the paint will aid in masking some of the minor imperfections, but nearly all will be visible when sun or intense direct light is shown on the paint. 

The next point is that cleaning a car often keeps it cleaner for longer.  This sounds very odd, but stick with me.  Contaminants need time to bond to the paint.  Once they bond to the paint, a normal wash will not remove them.  If they are removed regularly, they do not have time to bond, which means your car will be cleaner when it's washed.  Bonded contaminants also become a magnet for more contaminants.  It's not easy for something to bond to your paint, but it's much easier for it to bond to another contaminant.  In this way, a dirty car will continue to get dirty faster, it's a downward spiral. The owner washes the car on a weekly basis and it shows.  There were only a few areas that required clay to remove bonded contaminants, specifically behind the wheel and at the rear of the vehicle, these are common places to find this due to the amount of road film they are exposed to.  It's also common to find them on horizontal surfaces where contaminants settle throughout the day.  In this case, the horizontal panels were nearly bare of bonded contaminants and that can be directly attributed to frequent washing. 

Finally, even a well maintained daily driver will accumulate defects over time.  The owner of this vehicle practices techniques to minimize contact with the paint and thereby reduce defects related to washing.  However, this vehicle lives in the real world and as you'll see from the photos, even when meticulously cared for, it did accumulate defects, in this case, over the course of a year.

Process

• Wheels and tires cleaned with Meguiar's DUB wheel cleaner and Megs D108 
• Prefoamed with CG citrus wash + Gloss and Bilt hamber Surfex HD
• Hand wash with CG citrus wash daily
• Polish residue was removed PPF edges with APC, IPA, soft brushes and towels
• Mechanically decontaminated with traditional clay bar
• Paint was polished with HD Polish+ on a 21mm DA with rupes yellow pads
• Tight areas were corrected with HD Polish+ on a flex 3401 with LC white hybrid pads
• Paint was protected with Carpro Reload
• Tires were dressed with carpro PERL
• Trim and wheels protected with carpro hydro2
• Exhaust cleaned with pinnacle exhaust cleaner and brightener

Chemical Decontamination

When we use the term chemical decontamination we are generally referring to the use of a chemical to remove a contaminant from the car.  As the name suggests, we are using chemistry rather than mechanical abrasion to remove the contaminant, though, the use of a towel may introduce some mechanical forces.  We often choose this method because it minimizing contact with the paint, reducing the chance of scratches and marring.  It can also dissolve certain contaminants, making it safer to wipe away. 

When undertaking chemical decontamination it's important to identify the type of contaminant and choose the appropriate chemistry to remove it.  Most OTC products have done the work for us by labeling there product as a bug remover, tar remover or water spot remover.  But a key piece of this is understanding the chemistry at work, because if you have chosen poorly, you might as well have gone straight to a mechanical abrasion.  Below are the basic guidelines for choosing a chemical cleaner

Alkaline prodcuts (All Purpose Cleaner) - Organics - soiling, bugs, birdbombs

Acidic Products - Inorganics - Metals, fallout, mineral deposits

Solvent Products - Petrochemicals - Tar, grease, tire dressing sling

It is always best to address any contamination immediately as it will be easier to remove and reduce the risk of damaging the surface.  Always try a mild cleaner first, such as a quick detailer, before trying a stronger cleaner

Always follow the manufacturer's directions.  Never let these chemicals dry on the surface.  If you want to extend the dwell time, apply the product to a towel and place the towel over the affected area, this will help loosen any stubborn deposits

2016 Mercedes C63s Polish and Protection

The owner of this car is in real estate and as he put it, 'you can't show up to a million dollar listing with the car in it's current state.'  The owner has a busy schedule and doesn't always have time to take ownership of the wash process.  Moreover, when a client calls, he's got to be at the listing with a shiny car in short order and that means stopping for a less than ideal car wash.  While the car only has a few thousand miles on it, the brush car washes have inflicted quite a bit of damage on to the paint.  Knowing that this trend may continue, and that the owner believe this car is meant to be driven rather than just admired, we opted for a paint correction that would enhance the finish while still leaving plenty of paint for future corrections.  

Process

• Wheels and tires cleaned with Meguiar's DUB wheel cleaner and Megs D108 
• Prefoamed with CG citrus wash + Gloss and Bilt hamber Surfex HD
• Hand wash with CG citrus wash daily
• Polish residue was removed PPF edges with APC, IPA, soft brushes and towels
• Mechanically decontaminated with traditional clay bar
• Paint was polished with Meguairs M205 on a 21mm DA with rupes yellow pads
• Tight areas were corrected with M205 on a flex 3401 with LC white hybrid pads
• Vehicle was debadged including additional polishing to remove any ghosting
• Paint was protected with Blackfire Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection
• Dress dressed with carpro PERL
• Trim and wheels protected with carpro hydro2
• Exhaust cleaned with pinnacle exhaust cleaner and brightener

2005 Ford GT Polish, Engine and Seats

This 2005 Ford GT has 11,000 miles on it.  It is currently kept by it's second owner.  This vehicle makes it out for a few nice days a year and is subsequently wiped down, dried and covered until the next time it is driven.  This is the first time during the ownership that the car has gotten a traditional wash.  The car also recently came back from a trip to Detroit where is was serviced.  As a result, the engine bay was a bit dirty.  After 10 years, the leather needed a little attention and the exterior had accumulated some swirls and scratches.  The goal of this work was to refine the paint, removing the majority of the fine swirls and marring.

Process

• Wheels and tires cleaned with Meguiar's DUB wheel cleaner and Megs D108 
• Prefoamed with CG citrus wash + Gloss and Bilt hamber Surfex HD
• Hand wash with Carpro Reset
• Mechanically decontaminated with traditional clay bar and ONR as Lube
• Paint was polished and sealed with Carpro Essence on a Flex 3401 with Carpro Gloss pad and Flex PE-8 Kompakt with Flex green pad.
• Paint was further protected with TAC systems Quartz Max Silica spray sealant
• Trim and exhaust was protected with Pearl Nano Topcoat ceramic coating
• Wheels were polished with Carpro Essence and protected with Pearl Nano Topcoat
• Engine Was cleaned with Steam
• Seats recieved a 2 step process with Leather Masters Stong Cleaner and Protection Cream

2010 Audi S4 All-in-One correction

This car received a more intensive polishing in the fall and was well cared for over the winter.  However, the owner wanted to improve the current condition for the summer.  There were primarily light wash induced marring and swirls and the owner chose to address these will an all-in-one protect that would remove the majority of the shallow defects and bring back the gloss that had degraded over the harsh winter.  

Process

• Wheels and tires cleaned with Meguiar's DUB wheel cleaner and Megs D108 
• Prefoamed with CG citrus wash + Gloss and Bilt hamber Surfex HD
• Hand wash with CG citrus wash daily
• Mechanically decontaminated with traditional clay bar
• Paint was polished and sealed with HD speed on a 21mm DA with rupes yellow pads
• Dress dressed with carpro PERL
• Trim and wheels protected with carpro hydro2
• Exhaust cleaned with pinnacle exhaust cleaner and brightener