When it comes to keeping your car looking good, there are an endless number of different tips and tricks you should know. In this article I’ve written out 50 of the most useful tips I rely on when detailing my own cars or a friend’s. Take some time to read through them and educate yourself on the best practices for aesthetic automotive maintenance!
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1. Work out of direct sunlight.
Heat from direct sunlight can make washing or detailing your car outside difficult. The sun’s heat causes water to evaporate more quickly, resulting in water spots. The sun’s heat also causes products to evaporate more quickly, making it so they can’t dwell on the surface as long before drying into a stubborn residue.
Heat is also bad for polishing, as it raises surface temperature even further beyond the high heat already caused by machine polishing. This increases the risk of serious paint damage. If you ever need to wash or detail a car outside, be sure you’re doing it out of direct sunlight as much as possible. Work early in the morning or late in the afternoon, or use a shade such as a tree or tarp.
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2. Let your car cool down before you detail.
Heat from your car’s engine can also make washing and detailing difficult. The heat from the engine will also cause water, soap and other detailing chemicals to evaporate more quickly. With this in mind, it’s best to let your car sit and cool off after you’re done driving before you start washing.
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3. Wear protective equipment.
There’s a saying in the auto detailing industry — “If it’s on your skin, it’s in your body”. The idea being that our skin is a porous barrier, so if a substance gets on your skin, there’s a good chance it will enter your body.
For this reason, you should always wear protective gloves while detailing. It’s also good to wear protective eyewear whenever using a blower, as blowers can kick up rocks and other particles into your eyes.
4. Wear non-slip shoes.
Washing a car means spilling sudsy water saturated with slippery soap all over the ground. This creates a slipping hazard, especially if you don’t have a textured, high-grip floor. I like to recommend wearing some form of non-slip safety shoe while washing a car so you don’t slip and fall on any soapy water pooling on the floor.
5. Don’t use a California Duster.
A California Duster is a brand of dust mop that is used to dry wipe dust off cars to avoid washing. DO NOT use a California Duster on your car’s paint. Wiping dry, unlubricated paint with any material will inflict scratches due to the sheer friction between the material and the paint. Always use a detail spray for removing dust to provide your microfiber towel with the appropriate lubrication for wiping.
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6. Wash from the top down.
Washing from the top down ensures all the grimy soap and water drips down to the ground via the force of gravity. This makes it so the sections you’ve already cleaned don’t get re-contaminated — all the grime is flowing downwards onto the still-dirty parts of the car instead of getting on the sections you’ve already washed.
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7. Pre-rinse and pre-foam.
Before you break out your wash mitts, do a contact-free rinse-foam-rinse first. Pre-rinsing and pre-foaming helps loosen and remove contamination without touching the paint, reducing the chance for micro-scratches (“wash marks”) from your wash mitt. By the time your wash mitt touches the paint, a good deal of the contamination should already be washed away.
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8. Use uncontaminated wash mitts & towels.
The number one cause of scratches on automotive paint is contaminated wash mitts and towels. When you drag a dirty wash mitt or towel across a car’s paint, embedded contaminant particles scratch the paint in the motion that the towel or mitt was moved, creating scratch patterns called “swirls”. The best way to avoid this is to always clean your wash mitts and towels after use and to always inspect them for embedded particles before using them again.
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9. Use a rinse bucket with Grit Guard.
A Grit Guard is a special type of liner for rinse buckets that traps contamination from your wash mitt at the bottom of the bucket so it can’t be re-introduced onto your wash mitt while rinsing. Grit Guards go a long ways towards avoiding scratches as they reduce the chance of embedded grime abrading the paint as you wash. As long as you keep your wash mitts clean and you use a Grit Guard, you shouldn’t have to worry about wash mark scratches on your paint.
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10. Fold your towels into fourths to maximize towel surface area.
When using a microfiber towel to wipe away contamination, whether it’s for spot cleaning or a waterless wash, fold the towel into fourths first. That way, once one side of your towel is saturated with contamination, you can flip the towel over to a new, uncontaminated side. This ensures your towel can absorb contaminants for longer while also ensuring contaminant particles aren’t scratching the paint as you wipe.
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11. Rinse thoroughly with gentle water flow to avoid water spots.
When doing your final rinse after washing the car, use a gentle water flow to ensure the water sheets off without leaving water beads or droplets behind. This will greatly reduce the chance of water spotting.
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12. Keep your towels and wash mitts in an enclosed area.
Once you’ve cleaned your towels and wash mitts following your wash, store the newly-cleaned towels and mitts in an enclosed area. This will prevent contamination in the air from settling on your clean mitts and towels.
13. Don’t use a sponge to wash.
Only use soft wash media like synthetic wool or chenille-weave wash mitts while washing a car. Don’t use rough, abrasive tools like sponges — this can scratch the paint very easily.
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14. Use distilled/de-ionized water.
Water spots are caused by mineral content in tap water that forms a stain when water droplets on the vehicle evaporate. The liquid evaporates into the air leaving behind the solid minerals. The best way to avoid this is to use water without mineral content.
You can remove mineral content from water by distilling or de-ionizing the water using a filtration system or purchasing distilled water. This might be a bit much for the average DIYer, but if you’re persnickety about water spots and you wash your car frequently it’s a good investment to make.
15. Wash every couple weeks.
There is such a thing as washing your car too often. Remember, washing the car an abrasive process — you’re rubbing a wash mitt all over the paint to loosen the contamination. That abrasion inflicts small micro scratches, also known as wash marks. If you’re washing your car twice a month using soft, clean mitts, you won’t see very many micro scratches. But washing more than that, like twice a week, will cause the micro scratches accumulate into heavy swirls.
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16. Use a waterless wash when on-the-go or in an enclosed space or if you can’t use water.
A two-bucket wash with soap and water isn’t always possible. Whether you’re on the road, in a tiny garage or under water restriction, sometimes you need a waterless alternative. Enter the waterless wash. This innovation in car care washes the paint with nothing more than a spray solution and a microfiber towel. That being said, it’s not great for every situation. For example, if you’re dealing with heavy contamination a waterless wash may not be enough to properly loosen the grime.
17. Use soft microfiber towels.
Microfiber towels are one of the safest media for touching a vehicle’s paint, but only if they’re high quality, plush and soft. Rough, low quality towels with a harsh nap can easily inflict scratches as they rub against the surface.
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18. Use the blot and pull method with microfiber towels while drying to avoid scratches.
If you have a particularly absorbent towel like the Rag Company’s Gauntlet towels, you can use this trick to avoid scratches while drying: lie the towel flat on a panel to blot (absorb) the water underneath, then slowly pull the towel towards you to wick the water away from the surface. This should leave the paint totally dry with minimal abrasion.
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19. Dry with a blower.
The ultimate way to dry a car with zero scratches? Don’t touch the paint at all — just blow the water off! Many professionals and enthusiasts use electric leaf blowers to blast water off the paint after rinsing. It’s a great way to avoid scratches and let’s be honest: it’s a lot of fun.
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20. Get before and after photos.
It’s hard to impress someone with the results you got detailing your car if they can’t see what the car looked like before. Take before AND after photos while you’re detailing the car to truly capture the transformation and wow your friends or customers.
21. Don’t rub towels too hard against the paint.
Like we mentioned earlier, scratches are caused by abrasion, and rubbing your paint with a towel is a form of abrasion. The harder you rub, the heavier the abrasion—and therefore the heavier the scratches. Be gentle when you use microfiber towels to avoid scratches.
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22. Spray wheel cleaners from the bottom up.
When you spray a wheel cleaner on the face of a wheel, the solution starts dripping down. This can cause drip marks to appear if you spray from the top down. Spraying from the bottom up makes the solution cling to the wheel better so drip marks don’t form.
23. Do an extra wipe on the tire dressing.
This has two benefits. First, doing an extra wipe down after applying your tire dressing/conditioner will remove any excess product that could sling onto the paint as you drive. Second, wiping more will reduce the shine on the tire, giving you more of a matte, factory-original look.
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24. Use wheel woolies to get in the spokes.
Wheel Woolies are a useful wheel cleaning accessory by Braun Brush Co. These sticks with wool brushes affixed to them are the perfect way to get inside complicated wheel features or spokes so you can get all the nooks and crannies clean.
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25. Apply a ceramic coating to your wheels.
Wheels, being the closest part of your vehicle to the road, accumulate the most contamination from the road. One of the hardest contaminants to remove from wheels is brake dust—iron particles from your brakes that bond to the wheel face and can only be removed with harsh solutions like acids.
Ceramic coatings, especially those designed to hold up under high heat, are the perfect way to resist brake dust so it doesn’t bond to the wheel. Get those wheels protected with a ceramic coating and the brake dust will wash right off!
26. Wipe interior and exterior glass in different directions to catch streaks.
One of the most frustrating things about cleaning a car’s windows is getting a streak-free appearance. When you’re cleaning both inside and outside windows, it can be incredibly difficult to tell whether the streak is on the interior or exterior glass. To make things easier, wipe vertically on the inside and side-to-side on the outside. Then you’ll know exactly where the streak is based on what direction it runs in.
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27. Use a matte finish leather conditioner or dressing.
A lot of leather dressings/conditioners leave a greasy shine. Maybe this looked good in the 1980s, but in the modern era it’s déclassé. To get a more luxury look updated for the 2020s, use a leather conditioner that leaves a matte finish. You’ll get more of a factory fresh look that will impress anyone who enters your vehicle.
28. Use a flat weave towel for glass to avoid streaks.
Microfiber towels with high nap cause streaks because they leave behind lint that clings to the window and moisture when oversaturated with water or cleaning solution. Using a microfiber towel with a flat weave will allow you to wipe the window clean with zero streaks from lint or re-deposited moisture.
29. Don’t use APC.
All-Purpose Cleaner, also called “APC”, is a popular solution for cleaning hard interior surfaces. Many APCs, however, leave a greasy appearance that attracts dust and can even damage more sensitive surfaces like leather. I recommend using surface-specific cleaners that don’t leave residue and won’t harm or alter the appearance of the surface they’re applied to.
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30. Use a plastic baggie to test for contamination.
Embedded contamination in the paint is almost impossible to feel with your bare hand. How do you know if a car’s paint is contaminated? Try sliding a plastic sandwich baggy over your hand, then feel the paint. You’ll suddenly feel a rough, bumpy texture. The plastic interface magnifies the touch sensation, allowing you to feel even the most minuscule contaminant particles.
31. Don’t use a clay bar unless you plan to polish.
Clay bars remove contamination through abrasion, meaning they grate against the paint to loosen and remove contaminant particles. This process also inflicts scratches in the paint. That’s why you never want to stop after a clay bar treatment — always follow by machine polishing to remove whatever scratches were sustained during decontamination. If you want to decontaminate the paint without polishing, I recommend using a chemical decontaminant instead to avoid scratches.
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32. Have a strong source of light to inspect paint.
While your paint may seem clear as day under normal garage lighting, there’s a lot you can’t see without a seriously powerful light source. Once you illuminate the paint with a strong inspection light, work light or even the sun, you’ll start to see swirls, scratches and water spots you couldn’t see before. This will help you know what kind of defects you’re dealing with and what steps you should take to remove them so you’re not flying blind as you detail the car.
33. Don’t polish more than once a year.
Polishing is an abrasive procedure that literally removes paint from your vehicle until it is level with whatever defect you’re trying to eliminate. The problem here is that modern factory clear coat is incredibly thin — so thin that polishing more than once a year could seriously risk clear coat failure. Once the clear coat fails the layers of paint and the body metal underneath will oxidize, causing rust and blotchy white spots to appear. Preserve your clear coat by polishing the paint as little as possible.
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34. Use 12 AWG power extension cords for polishers.
Underpowered extension cords risks damaging the electronic components in your polisher. Light gauge, thin wire cords simply cannot supply the throughput of electricity as fast or efficiently as heavier, 12 AWG (American Wire Gauge) extension cords.
35. Use a gear-driven polisher to get rotary action with DA safety.
Rotary polishers work faster and more efficiently than free-spinning dual-action (DA) polishers, which are popular with beginners. However, their constant spinning motion makes them harder to control. If you hold a rotary polisher in one spot too long, you risk burning the paint. In contrast, free-spinning DAs stop spinning when you apply too much pressure, which helps prevent damage but also makes them less efficient since they can stop polishing too easily. Gear-driven polishers offer the best of both worlds. They maintain constant rotation like a rotary while using a dual-action orbit to prevent overheating, making them both powerful and safe.
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36. Use a metal spur to clean wool pads.
Wool pads are great if you need to cut through heavy defects fast, which is why they’re favored by experienced detailers and body shop professionals. These wool pads, however, do collect a lot of spent product and paint material in their fibers. If you don’t clean the fibers before moving to the next panel the pad will be less effective and you can risk inflicting horrific micro-marring into the paint. I like to use a metal spur in-between panels to clean the fibers, holding the spur against the pad as I turn on the polisher and spin the pad at a high speed. This pulls all the gunk out of the pad, cleaning it so you can use it on the next panel with zero concern.
37. Mask sensitive areas.
Whenever you’re using a product with potential for overspray or sling — spray products, polishes, etc — it’s important to mask off any sensitive areas with tape so the product doesn’t stick on the surface. When you’re dealing with substances that can be difficult to remove like wax, ceramic coatings or polish this is essential to avoiding extra work or even damage to these surfaces.
38. Use an AIO polish.
If you’re looking for shine and protection FAST, look no further than the “AIO” or “All-In-One” polish. An AIO polish removes defects and protects the paint all in one step. There are wax-based AIOs and ceramic AIOs, but they all work in a single step — hence the term “All-In-One”. While it may not be the best choice for heavily marred paint in desperate need of correction, it’s the perfect solution for light wash marks or water spots.
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39. Protect paint with a ceramic coating.
In the past people applied carnauba wax to their paint to protect it. The wax would repel water, add slickness and make the paint easier to clean. The problem with waxes is that they are organic and break down in months, even weeks. The best way to protect your paint now is a ceramic coating.
Ceramic coatings are like the high-tech evolution of wax. They form a durable, invisible nano-barrier over the paint that lasts for years, not weeks. In addition to repelling water and making the paint easier to clean, ceramic coatings also add more UV protection to the clear coat and resist etching from acidic stains like bird droppings or insect remains. When properly maintained, a ceramic coating will protect your vehicle’s paint for years instead of mere months.
40. Crosshatch when applying ceramic coatings.
It’s important to get full coverage when applying a ceramic coating to a vehicle’s paint. If you don’t completely cover the paint with the ceramic coating, you risk unsightly high spots and premature coating failure. To ensure full coverage, use an over-lapping crosshatch technique when applying. First apply in horizontal lines, overlapping slightly. Then repeat with vertical lines. This pattern will make achieving total coverage easy.
41. Don’t cap and re-use professional ceramic coatings.
Many pro-style ceramic coatings begin to cure inside the bottle when exposed to air. For this reason, it’s not always a good idea to cap and re-use these types of ceramic coatings. Check the manufacturer instructions first before you store for future use.
42. Apply ceramic coating maintenance quarterly.
Ceramic coatings require periodic maintenance in order to remain durable. One way to practice regular maintenance is to apply a ceramic booster spray once every few months. Ceramic booster sprays help reinforce the coating with additional ceramic material. This helps reinvigorate the water repellent beading effect.
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43. Clean bird droppings and bug guts ASAP.
Certain contaminants like bird droppings and insect remains will bond with the paint if left to sit. This can make them very difficult to remove. If let to sit for an extended period of time, especially in the hot sun, they can become acidic and dissolve part of the clear coat, resulting in an etch mark crater. Once this happens you will need to polish the paint to level the etch.
44. Allow for dwell time.
When you apply a spot cleaning product to the paint to remove a specific contaminant, let the product dwell on the surface before wiping away. Many cleaning solutions require time to break down and loosen the contaminant from the paint. If you wipe away to quickly, you may not remove the contaminant fully. Give the product time to work before you wipe!
45. Be careful where you park.
Not all parking spots are created equal. Common hazards for parked vehicles include sap from nearby trees, water spots from nearby sprinklers, rail dust from nearby train tracks and headlight oxidation from the sun. Try to avoid these hazards as much as possible, and if you can, store your car in an enclosed, climate controlled space.
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46. Don’t use a car cover.
Car covers are great at keeping dust from settling on vehicles in storage but they can easily cause paint damage of their own. If moisture is trapped under the cover, it can cause difficult-to-remove water spots on the paint. They can also scratch the paint if you’re not careful while removing them.
47. Don’t use fabric softener on your towels, mitts, pads & applicators.
Fabric softener can clog the fibers on your towels, mitts, pads and applicators. Clogged fibers make it harder for the material to absorb liquid and can even scratch the paint. Use detergent free of fabric softener when washing your accessories.
48. Keep your chemicals in a cool, dry place.
The best way to ensure your detailing chemicals last the full advertised shelf life is to store them in a cool, dry place. If they get too hot or too cold the product’s effectiveness may be compromised. Moisture is also a factor when it comes to product longevity — you want to be careful no moisture seeps into the chemical as water can destabilize the formulation.
49. Protect your headlights.
Clouded, oxidized headlights are a common sight on the road. This is the result of longterm exposure to the sun’s UV rays. Even though modern factory headlights come with a UV-resistant clear coat, this thin layer of protection breaks down very easily. To ensure your headlights stay crystal clear, apply a ceramic coating for headlights to provide extra UV protection.
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50. Take a detailing class.
There’s only so much you can can learn about car detailing from a blog article or YouTube video. Sometimes it’s best to dive in and get hands-on with an experienced professional who can teach you how to wash, decontaminate, polish and protect a vehicle properly. There are a lot of different classes out there from great instructors, but we like to recommend Dr. Beasley’s Future of Detailing school, specifically the classes taught by Mike Phillips. Of course, we might be a little biased…
And there you have it — 50 detailing tips! This list is by no means exhaustive, and there’s a lot we didn’t cover. If you have tips we didn’t include, be sure to leave them in the comments below! We may just add them to our next detailing tips article.
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