What to avoid doing

Don’t just use the nearest old T shirt, cloth and definitely not a scrubbing pad (the type used for pots and pans). Don’t have a go at the bird muck while it’s dry and baked on either. Don’t use strong cleaning detergents, such as washing-up liquid etc. Another thing to avoid doing is rubbing at the dried out bird muck with your finger to remove it. If you do use those things, you will end up putting swirls and light scratch marks into your paintwork, and using a detergent will take off any wax or polish that you’ve previously applied.

What to do

Do try and remove bird dirt within 48 hours of it landing on your car. After just 2 days, it can start to damage paintwork, as the acids in it are strong. We’ve seen cars that have had bird muck left on for two weeks, and the only way to get the paint back to normal again is to get either a paint correction process done or to have a panel resprayed. Yes, it really is that bad!

What will I need?

A pressure washer or a hosepipe with a sprayer nozzle, a decent wash mitt or sponge, a wax or detailer spray and a good microfibre cloth.

How to remove the bird muck safely

1. Rinse off as much of the bird dirt as you can with a pressure washer, hosepipe or bucket of clean water.



2. Soak a piece of kitchen roll or soft cloth with water.
3. Place the wet kitchen roll or cloth over the dried on bird muck. If it’s very baked on, try using warm water instead of cold on the roll or cloth.



4. Leave the wet roll or cloth to soak on the bodywork for a few minutes until the bird dirt has softened.



5. After the muck has softened sufficiently, use a good wash mitt or sponge and a bucket of water with some decent detergent-free car shampoo to remove the last of the bird muck. If it still wont shift, don’t scrub at it, but instead repeat steps 2 – 5 again.





6. Rinse off the suds fully with clean water.



7. Use a good soft microfibre cloth to dry the water off the paintwork.



8. Use some detailing spray or a wax over the area where the bird muck was to top your wax back up again, as the bird dirt may have eaten it away.



9. Stand back and admire how good the formerly muck-bombarded area now looks.

Once winter comes, your car will be bombarded with with all sorts of weather ranging from freezing heavy rain to snow. This, accompanied by a generous helping of salt (grit) on the road means your car’s bodywork, wheels, tyres, trim and glass is going to take a real hammering.
The salt they lay down is particularly nasty and so your vehicle needs a good amount of protection against it. Plus during winter-time, unless you’re lucky enough to have a large enough garage, it can be a real pain getting the right weather to prep your car properly.

How easy or fussy will it be to prep my vehicle?

Preparing the vehicle will include your normal car cleaning routine, except it’s more in-depth and more time will be needed.

How do I prep my car then?

Well, take a look at the list underneath. We’re sure it’ll be of use!

Wash

– Wash your car (see Car Shampoo reviews) as per usual, taking extra care in cleaning under the wheel arches.

Wax

- Use a really good wax on your paintwork (see Wax and Polish reviews). Make sure you apply at least 2 or 3 layers of wax and maybe even give the vehicle a coat of detailing product afterwards to back up the wax. An example of that is Dodo Juice’s Red Mist Detailer. Other companies also sell similar products.

Trim

- If your vehicle has plastic trim on the bodywork and under the wheel arches, give them a couple of good coats of exterior trim protectant (see Exterior Trim Product reviews) as this is almost like waxing or polishing  your plastics and it gives them a layer of protection against the elements.

Wheels

- Wash your wheels throughly (See How-To… Keep Your Wheels Looking Great) and remember to give your wheels a couple of coats of wax to keep that nasty road grit from damaging the finish on them.

Tyres

- Clean and coat your tyres with a protectant product (see How-To… Keep Your Tyres Looking Good).

Glass

- Clean your glass inside and out (see Glass Cleaners reviews). There’s nothing worse than getting glare from the low Sun through a dirty and streaky windscreen and frankly, it can be dangerous too. After cleaning your windows in and out use a mist protector on the insides and on the outsides use a rain shield type product. The rain shield acts like a wax on your windows and makes the rain flow off them freely, helping out massively in keeping your vision of the road ahead clear and it also helps when clearing your windows of ice and snow.

Top Tips

- As your car is almost guaranteed to get filthy in winter (if you live in a non-tropical environment that is), give your vehicle a good wash once a week, even if it’s raining, as the vehicle will still be clean afterwards anyway. Brave the weather and get your car washed!

- If the weather permits, after washing your car use a protectant spray on your bodywork to keep the wax topped up.

Questions

Got any questions or queries? Just leave a comment at the bottom of the page and we’ll answer you as soon as possible.

Have you got a thought on this How-To? What How-To would you like to see on this site? Got any cleaning tips to share? Let us know in the comments box below.

Over time, if no protection is used, tyre walls will start to turn brown or discoloured, and we always say that the tyres are the final touch in making your car look cool.

Okay, so that’s more time that I need to spend on my car. How long will it take to do?

Including cleaning the tyres first, allow around 15 – 20 minutes.

How easy or fussy is it to do?

There’s no hardship at all, other than getting your hands a bit wet. Easy peasy.

What do I need to buy?

Buy the right product to suit your needs (see tyre product reviews). Ie. Do you want a wet look, or a classy ‘muted’ look? A couple of small kitchen sponges also come in handy to dab away any excess product.

How to apply tyre shine

1. Remove any excess muck from the tyres first with a pressure washer or hosepipe nozzle attachment. After this use a car wash product and a sponge to remove the rest. If dirt is ingrained into the tyre wall, use a scrubbing brush lightly to remove it.
2. Dry off your tyres naturally or use all cloth to mop off the worst of the water. Some tyre shine’s go onto wet tyres also, so check the bottle first. We recommend putting them onto a dry tyre wall though, as it can flick off on to the bodywork later.
3. Apply your tyre shine product. They come in many forms including pump action sprays, aerosols, foaming sprays and brush on liquids. Remember to not apply it too thickly, otherwise it’ll flick off. Note. Try to avoid getting tyre shine onto your brake disks as a lot of products contain high levels of silicone.
4. Leave the product to settle for 15 – 20 minutes and then dab any excess off with a kitchen sponge.
5. Wipe any excess product off your wheels. This will help stop brake dust clinging to the wheel.
6. Stand back and admire your handiwork.

Top Tip

- Some products may stain driveways so try to use a piece of newspaper at the base of the tyre to stop this happening.

Questions

Got any questions or queries? Just leave a comment at the bottom of the page and we’ll answer you as soon as possible.

Have you got a thought on this How-To? What How-To would you like to see on this site? Got any cleaning tips to share? Let us know in the comments box below.

Ingrained into the painwork of most cars, even new ones straight from the dealer sometimes, are dirt and contaminates from the air and road. Over time these build up in your paintwork and will make it feel rough, even after it’s been waxed. Clay bars take out those imperfections and the paint will then feel like polished glass. Smooth, in other words.

How often do I need to use a clay bar on my car?

It depends how much milage you do and what milage it is (ie. Motorway, B roads etc). The best thing to do is to keep checking your paintwork, say every couple of weeks, for any of that feeling you had before you clayed it originally. If it’s still as slippery as polished glass, don’t bother.

Are there any drawbacks?

Some slight negatives are that, as the clay bar takes the ingrained dirt out of the paintwork, scratches already there will be more noticeable. It can also slightly dull paintwork if the paint isn’t in too good a condition. If your car’s paint is good though, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

How easy is it to clay a car?

It’s a very simple and easy job, although it can be time consuming if your planning to clay the entire vehicle in one go. Plan about two and a half hours for an entire average sized car.

What do I need to buy?

Various manufacturers sell clay bars (check our Clay Products reviews for some), but you can just Google the words and you should find a seller. You will also need to buy Clay Lube. This is a slightly oily liquid that helps the clay slide about well.

How to clay your car

1. Wash your car throughly. It doesn’t matter if it’s still wet when it comes to claying as the water will help the clay bar along anyway.
2. Tear off a section of clay about 5 cm x 5 cm (2 inches x 2 inches). Mould and warm the clay in your hands until it is soft.
3. Spray a good amount of clay lube onto your bodywork and clay bar and try to work within an area of about 20 cm x 20 cm (8 inches x 8 inches) at a time. Always keep the area really well lubricated.
4. Rub the clay up and down (or side to side) the paintwork. Don’t put any pressure on the clay, just enough to keep it from sliding out from under your fingers. Golden rule: if you drop your clay throw it away! Note. As you use the clay you will hear a slight ‘rasping’ sound as the clay does its job and picks up the contaminates, this is normal. If the noise becomes a scratching sound, immediately stop and check your clay bar for any larger pieces of dirt. If this is the case throw the piece of clay away.
5. After each 20 cm x 20 cm area you cover, check your clay bar for dirt. It should look like dark lines within the clay bar, and also minute pieces of dirt. If there are lines in the clay, simply re-mould the clay again in your hands and carry on. Once the clay is obviously very dirty, throw it away an use a new piece. (Click picture for a detailed image).
6. Once you’ve finished claying your car, give it another good wash and also dry it this time.
7. If you feel that you can use your clay again next time, wrap it in cling film and put it in a plastic container to keep it from crumbling.
8. Give your car one or two coats of good quality wax to protect the paint and bring that lustre back again.
9. Sit back and admire all your hard work.

Top Tip

Dirt and contaminates also build up in you car’s windscreen, but a clay bar can also be used on glass, just take the same steps as you would when clay barring your paintwork. Once you’ve clayed the windscreen, use a glass cleaner and perhaps a ‘rain away’ type product to add that finishing touch.

Questions

Got any questions or queries? Just leave a comment at the bottom of the page and we’ll answer you as soon as possible.

Have you got a thought on this How-To? What How-To would you like to see on this site? Got any cleaning tips to share? Let us know in the comments box below.

This is how your rims could end up if not looked after

Stop right there! Put down that hosepipe ‘cleaning’ brush and step away from the vehicle. You’re about to get a lesson in how to properly clean your vehicle’s wheels. No more household dish detergent will be used and don’t even think about using that nasty brush which scratches the finish on your rims. It’s easy to keep your wheels looking their best and we’re going to show you how to do it in a nice and easy step by step guide. To keep your wheels in top condition there’s a couple of Must Do’s first of all.

Firstly, (and this is hugely important) you must choose the right wheel cleaner for your rims

Some cleaning products aren’t suitable for certain alloys such as polished or split-rims. If you get the wrong one, you can cause some serious damage to the finish on your wheels. After you’ve gone over them with a wheel cleaner, it’s good to also use a wash ‘n’ wax shampoo.

Secondly, you must regularly wash and protect your wheels

If you do a lot of motorway milage, or if it’s winter-time, we recommend cleaning your wheels every few days or so. Once brake dust and road grime gets onto your wheels, if left it can eat into the finish on them. Cleaning them this regularly will hopefully keep this from happening. If you’re buying a car new, it’s advisable straight away, if possible, to remove your car’s wheels, give them a good clean on the inner and outer sides, and then use a protectant wax on them too. You can buy wax specifically for wheels but if you can’t get hold of this then just use a ‘normal’ bodywork wax. Waxing them means a couple of good things. One is that once waxed, wheels are far easier to clean as the dirt will glide straight off. The second good thing is that all that nasty brake dust and road grime will have a far harder time eating into you wheels. You don’t need to wax your wheels every time you wash them

How do I remove stains and ingrained dirt that are already on my wheels?

These can be difficult to remove and it’s not always possible. There are more powerful acidic cleaners that can clean deeply, but they can also potentially damage your wheels. One example is that if your paint or lacquer has bubbled even slightly, an acidic cleaner can get underneath this and cause more damage. There are also naturally strong (non-acidic) wheel cleaners that will do nearly as good a job and are far less likely to damage your rims.

What do I need to buy?

If you haven’t got a pressure sprayer, then just use a hosepipe nozzle, like the one in the photos. You’ll need the right wheel cleaner for your rims (see wheel cleaner reviews), and a decent soft wheel brush plus a rim wax, or alternatively a car wax, to protect them after your done cleaning them.

How to clean your wheels

1. Rinse off any excess or thick dirt.
2. Make sure that you have the right cleaner for your wheels. If you’re unsure about a product, contact the manufacturer and ask them in person.
3. Use a soft-haired specialised wheel brush to agitate the wheel cleaner. Never use a so-called ‘car-wash brush’. These are bad for your wheels and your car’s paintwork too as they can badly scratch surfaces.
4. After this, rinse your wheels off with clean water.
5. Go over your wheels again with some wash ‘n’ wax shampoo and once again rinse off the suds.
6. Finally, dry off your rims with a soft cloth (microfibre) and use a rim wax. If this is not available use some ‘normal’ bodywork wax.
7. The final result. Keep looking after your wheels and they’ll stay in this condition.

Top Tip

It’s not necessary to use a wheel cleaning product on your rims every time, and if your wheels are already pre-waxed or regularly cleaned, just use a wash ‘n’ wax shampoo along with a good sponge or wash mitt instead. Specialised rim wax will last a fair few washes also, so there’s no need to wax them every time (unless you’re anal about cleaning your car, that is).

A Final Word

All this cleaning may seem fussy and over the top, but you can save yourself a load of money on not having to get your wheels refurbished or even replaced. Take a look at the two photos above if you’re not convinced yet. A clean set of rims on a car always finish off the look. Well, you wouldn’t wear a pair of mucky wellington boots with a suit would you.

Questions

Got any questions or queries? Just leave a comment at the bottom of the page and we’ll answer you as soon as possible.

Have you got a thought on this How-To? What How-To would you like to see on this site? Got any cleaning tips to share? Let us know in the comments box below.

The Training Begins

Remember the last time you saw a supercar on a dealer forecourt? The depth of shine on them is usually so deep that you feel you could dive in and swim about in the colour.

It’s something even more than a ‘factory fresh’ look, so how on earth do they get them looking that good? I had an invitation to go on a detailing training course run by some of the best in the business, and was about to find out.

North East Detailing have joined forces with Parc Fermé, one of the most respected and experienced detailing companies in the world, to provide one of their new premier detailing schools. I was told that training would be given using the very best techniques and products available in a ‘relaxed and friendly atmosphere’.

Having seen a few concours-winning cars at shows before, and experienced the level of care and attention they receive pre-show, I wanted to know just how it was achieved.

Snow Foam: A different method of washing a car

Hence, I found myself bound for Country Durham, the home of North East Detailing, to receive my training.

Having been ill, I’d missed half of the first day of the course and I naturally thought that I’d have to spend an extra day doing the course another time.

It wasn’t to be the case however. When I arrived for the afternoon session, dishevelled and tired from my bout of sickness, I expected to be immediately set onto the training as quickly as possible, so that I could catch up quickly. Again, this wasn’t the case and instead I was warmly welcomed by David, the director of North East Detailing and Craig, the director of Parc Fermé and they were both genuinely concerned for my welfare.

Craig would be the one taking me through the course, and after I’d sat down and been given a coffee, we chatted casually for a while about the background of Parc Fermé and the world of detailing, but I was also asked about my background and what I wanted to get out of the 3 days that I would be there. So the course had already proved it was taken in a relaxed atmosphere.

There was no rushing me around, and skipping parts to catch up either. We took it at a steady pace, and as I was still feeling pretty bad, Craig took that into consideration and made sure that I took the knowledge in fully, at my own speed. What I got from chatting was that these guys are seriously anal and thorough in what they do with a customers car.

To give you an idea of the difference between getting a car cleaned for a small amount of money by one of the many ‘valeters’ out there and it being detailed professionally, here’s few things that set the detailers apart.

These guys will go as far as taking the leather bound service manual out of the car in question, and use leather cleaner and feeder on it, so it keeps the leather looking original but also now protected. Another example is of them taking out one of those old roll-up tool kits you have in classic cars, cleaning and polishing every tool in it, again cleaning and feeding the leather and as a final touch, tying the leather laces up into a nice bow, like a present.

One final example of finishing touches is of a case I heard about where one of Parc Ferme’s detailers was tidying up the boot of a car and came across all the customers ties thrown into the boot randomly. Instead of taking them out, tidying up and just placing them back in, they were individually rolled up and placed in a row neatly. What you have to understand about detailers is that to them, the world of cars and detailing is a real passion and love, and they have genuine pride in what they do. A customers car is not just another job and the passion and love for it all go hand in hand.

In this article I won’t go into detail (no pun intended) about the training as I can’t do the course full justice by just writing it down. It’s necessary that you are there for that.

Onto the first part of the course now, which is classroom based. For my three days on the course I had chosen the subjects that I was about to tackle, as these interested me the most. I was first taught in theory how to wash a car properly, clean and detail an engine bay, and how to go about paint correction. They all involved advice on what equipment and products are best for which process.

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It’s not a case of, ‘we recommend this product because we supply it’. Instead they encourage you to use what you are comfortable with or already know, only offering advice from their wealth of experience

After finishing the theory side, It was onto the actual washing of the engine bay and then the bodywork. The engine bay is washed first as it usually causes dirt to be splattered onto the rest of the bodywork, plus you arn’t leaning onto a wet panel if the body is washed last, preventing your clothes from becoming soaked through.

The car was then driven into the detailing bay and left to dry. We then started on the first stage of the paint correction process – clay bar treatment. Using some soft detailing clay and lube, the clay is gently rubbed onto the paintwork, picking up contaminates which could be anything from tar or birds mess to carbon monoxide deposits. The ‘claying’ itself seems unnatural, as it sounds like it is scratching the paint when being used. Of course, it could potentially do that if not used properly.

The Three Stages of Paint Correction

After fully drying it out, the engine was detailed, turning it back to having a nice factory-fresh ’satin’ finish to it. The next step was to tape up and cover all plastic, rubber and glass, ready for the paint correction process.

So ended the first day. It had been a fairly packed day and I was looking forward to the next part of the course.

Day two

Firstly, most importantly, coffee. A must-have for those of us that aren’t morning people. After my brain had been kicked out of bed, grumpy and complaining, and had a good dose of caffeine it was time for more theory.

This time we would learn about thepaint correction process and how to use the right tools and products. This was a bit of a worrier for me, as I’d seen what can happen when the rotary tool is used in the wrong way. Burns and heavy swirls can occur easily, and if you takeyour eye off the job for even a moment, it’s good-bye Ferrari paint, hello £20,000 bill for the respray. However, I shouldn’t have been worried, as the teaching is so professional and well explained. You really do get help every step of the way through this whole course, and if you really are worried, just ask for advice and it’s there. It gives you a huge confidence boost when you are taught in this manner.

No more swirls after the paint correction is completed.

After the three stage compound process, the paintwork on the car was renewed and reinvigorated, and all previous swirl marks (which can be from not washing a car correctly, or from going to a car wash) and light scratches had gone.

Once we had finished this, the day was at an end.

Final Day

We got straight on with the car, removing all the tape and coverings from the plastic, rubber and glass. It wastime to give all the those bits of the car a good clean and shine. When we had done this, which was quite time consuming, we moved onto the wheels and the lips of the wheel arches. We had already used a clay bar on these on the first day of the course and they were now ready for waxing. The tires walls were also treated with special non-greasy tyre shine.

The interior of the car was also cleaned meticulously, and no part of the trim was left untouched.

We then were taught about how to clean and feed the leather, to keep it supple. You see some cars where the leather seats have cracked over time from anything from wear and tear to the suns heat or spilled food and drink on them. The cracking can be prevented if the leather is regularly cleansed and treated properly, hence making your car worth more when it comes to re-sale time.

After doing this, the cars main panels were given a final wax using a quick detailer product.

The final stage was being taught how to really go that step further than usual in finding the bits that needed taking care of, using a soft detailing brush with quick detailer product. These are the places people don’t usually bother looking closely at. A couple of examples of this can be taking off the fuel cap and cleaning and detailing the cap and area around it and then leaving the cap with the manufacturers symbol the right way up or brushing around the digits, wording and edges of the vehicles badges, or cleaning behind removable panels in the boot of the car.

When the car was finished, there is a quick written test to make sure that you have taken all the information in and know how to apply that knowledge in the real world. It’s not a hard test, and if you have listened there shouldn’t be a problem.

All in all, the course was hugely informative, well put across and easy to take in thanks to the excellent way you are taught.

There are more parts to the course and mine was just the parts that I wanted to learn, but you may want to consider learning more if you are going to do this professionally.

Whatever reason you have, you may want to become a part of the detailing world by opening up your own detailing kingdom, or you have a car worth more than most peoples houses or just because you’re plain-old interested in how it’s done, doing this course means you have just been trained to the very highest standards in the world.

It doesn’t stop there though. If after the course you are still not sure of something, or want advice on how to set up detailing professionally yourself, Parc Fermé will be more than happy to help out.

Courses are available throughout the UK and the Algarve, in Portugal. People from around the world are being trained using the courses and they are becoming booked up quickly.

If you would like to book a course, contact Parc Fermé or North East Detailing, and why not try a few of the ‘pro’ cleaning products out for yourself in sample size here.

Need a high quality car detailer in the John O’ Groats area of Scotland? Then contact Roy of Ecosse Auto Detailing.

All photos taken with a Nikon D90 DSLR

Scratches and Swirls Now Paint Corrected

The Final Result - Inside the Detailing Bay