Want to make your car look as shiny and fresh as the day you bought it? Professional exterior and interior car detailing services can work wonders, but how can you maintain that showroom finish at home? What do the professionals recommend for washing and detailing your car yourself?
Whether performing routine maintenance or prepping your car for resale, this step-by-step guide will help you clean and detail it like a pro.
Step 1: Gather Your Tools and Prep the Car
Most professional car detailers recommend washing your vehicle about once every two weeks. However, this frequency can vary depending on your needs, local climate, and storage conditions.
For example, if you drive near Charleston’s coast daily or don’t store your car in a garage, you may want to clean it more often. You can wash it less frequently if it is stored in a garage and only driven on the weekend.
No matter how often you clean your car, having the right supplies is important. Before your next wash, make sure you’re stocked up with everything you’ll need:
Automotive window cleaner
Buckets (three)
Car wash soap, acid-free or pH-neutral
Detailing brushes and crevice cleaning tools
Disinfecting wipes
Microfiber towels and cloths
Soft-bristled wheel brush
Spray bottle
Upholstery cleaners appropriate for your seat materials (e.g., fabric cleaner, leather conditioner, etc.)
Vacuum cleaner for cars
Step 2: Clean and Refresh the Interior
Even basic cleaning tasks can make a big difference in keeping your car looking great and feeling comfortable. Here’s how to revitalize your car’s interior:
Remove Junk. Start by removing any trash, clutter, or unwanted items from the interior cabin that can be cleared out by hand.
Clean the Floor Mats. Remove the floor mats from your car and thoroughly clean them. For rubber or plastic mats, shake them to remove loose debris, then wash them with water and car wash soap. Use a carpet or fabric upholstery cleaner for fabric mats, following the product’s instructions. After cleaning, set the mats flat in a well-ventilated area or on a tarp to air dry.
Vacuum and Dust the Interior. Use your car vacuum cleaner and thoroughly clean all carpets, seats, and floor space. Switch to soft-bristled detailing brushes for any small crevices a vacuum cleaner can’t reach, such as vents, cupholders, door panels, or between seats. Then, dust all surfaces with a microfiber cloth.
Disinfect the Dashboard. After vacuuming and dusting, use disinfecting wipes to clean your dashboard and console's plastic and rubber surfaces. For screens, such as the infotainment system or electronic gauge clusters, verify your disinfecting wipes are safe to use on screens and electronic devices. Brands suitable for phone and laptop screens are generally safe to use.
Remove Persistent Odors. If you smoke, your car’s interior may have a persistent tobacco odor. To neutralize it, lightly spray an odor-eliminator product designed for car interiors onto the headliner and AC inlet.
After spraying, close all windows, set the air conditioner to recirculate mode, and turn the fans to their highest setting. Step out of the car, close the doors, and let it run for about an hour. Depending on the product used, the tobacco smell may be replaced by a subtle scent similar to talc.
Step 3: Wash and Detail the Exterior
Regularly washing your car’s exterior is necessary to keep the paint looking shiny and spotless, even if it has recently received a professional detailing or ceramic coating service. Follow these tips to clean your car like a pro:
Prepare three buckets. Mobile car detailing specialists often use three buckets: two to clean the car’s painted surfaces for the two-bucket method and a third specifically for the wheels and tires. First, fill one bucket with clean water and car wash soap, then fill a second with just clean water. Set these two buckets aside and designate them as your “car” buckets. Then, fill a third bucket with water and car wash soap and designate it as your “wheels” bucket.
Start with the wheels. Your wheels and tires take the brunt of the road’s grime, collecting dirt, brake dust, and debris that can dull their shine and cause long-term damage. Cleaning them restores their appearance, helps protect their finish, and extends their lifespan—a win for your car’s look and performance! Begin by pre-washing the wheels with water to loosen dirt, mud, and debris. Then, use the cleaning solution from your designated “wheels” bucket and a soft-bristled wheel brush to scrub thoroughly, focusing on the outer and inner surfaces. Rinse with fresh water, and dry them with a microfiber towel for a polished, professional finish.
Wash the painted surfaces. Get your two “car” buckets and start by rinsing the car down with clean water to clean its surface of dirt, bug residue, and other loose contaminants. Then, begin washing all painted surfaces with the soapy water. Wash left-to-right on the side body panels and front-to-back on the hood, roof, rear, and bumpers. Work in small sections and always rinse with clean water to avoid swirl marks.
Clean the glass. Use a spray bottle to apply automotive window cleaner to the windows, windshield, and mirrors. For classic car detailing, pre-1980s vehicles may be equipped with older glass headlights. While they don’t go cloudy like modern headlights can, consider cleaning them with automotive window cleaner to remove dirt and grime and prevent them from scratching. When cleaning the side windows, don’t forget to pull them down partially to reveal and clean the top edges. They can accumulate more grime than the rest of the windows, giving them a dirty or cloudy appearance.
Get Your Car Professionally Detailed at Gloss Boss
While washing your car yourself doesn’t replace a car detailer’s services, pros use many of these techniques to enhance or preserve the quality of their work. Adopt these cleaning techniques and keep your vehicle showroom fresh until your next service with Gloss Boss.
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