Recommended Detail products

[Russell]

Use synthetic polish not a carnuaba wax. BTW, The heat of the wheels will melt waxes. It is my undersatnding that Wheel Wax is better than ordinary wax, but not as good as the synthetic polishes in terms of durability and heat issues.

Keeping the wheels polished will keep your wheels cleaner and easier to wash. I try to treat painted wheesl like any painted surface on the car.

[SchnellE34]

Ok thanks. I was also concerned about ruining the finish with those types of cleaners. I will have to put some wax on them next time.

[calmloki]

Re: microfiber cloths - I've been very happy with the twenty pack from Costco at $10. Mostly use them for washing. Soft, fairly thick, absorbs water like mad, grabs dirt well. At 50 cents/cloth I feel just fine using them for finest to grubbiest projects as they get more use.

[ericcamaro]

Porter cable is the best tool money can buy. I have the Random orbitol and the High speed rotary they just came out with. both perform fenominally. To get out sap and stuff use the clay bar, then cut with a light-medium compound and finish up with your favorite wax. btw the cosco microfiber deal is outa this world thats the only place I buy mine, Great quality and less than a buck a pop, you cant beat it.

[s_ribbens]

I completely agree. PC is the best you can buy and not even more expensive than it's competition really. I'm a fan of the circular buffers but they do take a bit more expertise to not mess up your car (should NOT be read as them being difficult to use, just have to pay a bit more attention).

[s_ribbens]

It's funny how when detailing comes up we tend to go straight to paint work. I had intended to talk about interior detailing but completely forgot! Lets get some feedback on that aspect as well here.

Shine/Protectant (vinyl):
-303 aerospace protectant is supposed to be the best of the best.
-PoorBoy's offers a low-shine product for those that don't like being blinded by the glare off of their dash.
-I really can't complain with the Meguires products. Their standard product is a great moderate to low gloss product with a nice leather smell; NXT is a very high-gloss that lasts a tremendously long time but has a fruity smell which I'm not terribly partial too.

Leather:
-Leatherique is the best of the best. Pristine Clean and their conditioner is the best you can buy.

Carpet:
-The "spot" cleaning products you can pick up just about anywhere are good to catch those accidents before they have completely set in to the carpet.

There are also some good cleaning products that you can get through bulk detail product distributers. I spent $20-25 on a gallon of something called Citrus Clean a while back and haven't even made a dent in it even though I detail a significant amount. It did wonders on my filthy 5'er. Just be sure to properly dilute products like that if you venture into that area and be sure to know what you are buying. Some of them may end up being too strong for interior items.

[ericcamaro]

I use lexol leather care products and will put them up to the test against leatherique any day of the week. Actually they are pretty much equal, I use top of the lines Leather and Vinyl cleaner, you can mix it in different concentrates depending on what your using it on and how tough the stain is. If you use it straight you can get ink out of leather, sometime will also take the dye out too, so gotta be real careful. Lexol also makes a great vinyl product called Vinylex wich I use on the inside and outside of my vehicle but am not too happy with using it on the outside. It seems to streak up after it rains and looks pretty bad. BUt if it doesnt rain it looks good for months. It seems to protect the dash really well and it is water based so It wont evaporate and end up on your windshield. Anyone know of a good solvent based vinyl/rubber product to use on exterior trim? one thats legal in CA???

[pgrindstaff]

This may be slightly off topic but what better place to ask than a topic discussing cleaning products.

My car has had two previous owners, at least one of which smoked. The smell is actually very faint now but needs to go away more. I figure I need to shampoo the carpets, clean the leather really well, and scrub any other plastic pieces, etc. I have leather cleaner/conditioner but should I use something a little stronger to initially get it clean? As for the plastic, around the seats and such, how should I clean this, soapy water and an old toothbrush?

I have considered bringing my car somewhere to get detailed but I think I should try my hand at cleaning my car before I fork over ~$150+ for someone to detail it. I kind of feel like Jerry when his car is valley parked.

Thanks for your input

[onewhippedpuppy]

This may be slightly off topic but what better place to ask than a topic discussing cleaning products.

My car has had two previous owners, at least one of which smoked. The smell is actually very faint now but needs to go away more. I figure I need to shampoo the carpets, clean the leather really well, and scrub any other plastic pieces, etc. I have leather cleaner/conditioner but should I use something a little stronger to initially get it clean? As for the plastic, around the seats and such, how should I clean this, soapy water and an old toothbrush?

I have considered bringing my car somewhere to get detailed but I think I should try my hand at cleaning my car before I fork over ~$150+ for someone to detail it. I kind of feel like Jerry when his car is valley parked.

Thanks for your input

We bought an A4 several years ago that had been smoked in, the odor had faded but there was a film on everything. Most of the fabric we cleaned with spot shot sprayed on a rag, with lots of scrubbing. Plastic parts got a liberal scrubbing with Vinylex until the film was gone. In the end, you couldn't tell it had ever been smoked in.

Spot Shot is an amazing carpet cleaner, best I've ever used. Vinylex gives a nice low gloss shine, everything else I've ever used is too much. Leatherique blows away the Lexol leather products, I tried the Leatherique after the Lexol and the seats ended up looking new on my 951. Invisible Glass from Wal Mart works well on glass, Einzett Gummi Pfledge from Pelican works well on the weatherstrips. One other trick I like, on fabric that tends to hold in dirt and dust, a lint roller works great. It's a must on the alcantra-like material on my wife's 4Runner seats.

[s_ribbens]

Just give everything a good scrubbing. As commented above, there is just a film of crap that is causing the lingering smell. If you don't have a lot of detail products lying around try using Woolite and water. It's a very gentle detergent and I've used it before. I'm never impressed with what the average (not all, but the vast majority I've seen) $150 detail comes out as. I'm heading up a detail department for a local BMW tuning shop that opens next week and we'll be charging $150 for just an exterior detail. But, customers are going to have nothing but the best products used on their cars so they actually look better than new and stay that way for a long time. Do your homework before picking a place. Go to the shop and see if you can walk around and perhaps see the guys mid-detail to see how they do.