How to Detail Your Car Yourself

Owning a car will require a lot of care and work on your part, especially if you want to be able to maintain and capture that nice showroom shine on your car. Detailing your car is not as easy as simply slapping on a coat of wax on your car and hoping for the best. There are more to car detailing than that, fortunately for you, there are certain steps that you can do be able to not only detail your own car, but do it well. Just follow these simple hints so you can maintain your car’s showroom shine.

Wash Your Car

The very first thing that you need to do before you attempt to apply anything on your car is to wash your car well. It is very important that you do this first in order to remove all the dirt and tiny particles that could have a negative effect on your car’s detailing and paint job once you are done with it. Make sure that you use a car wash detergent that is proven and tested to be of good quality, and is formulated to fit your specific need.

Inspect Your Car

Once you are done giving your car a good wash, it is now time for you to start scrutinizing your car’s surface. This is where you will be able to locate and distinguish any possible damage that your car may have, such as scratches and chips on the paint. If you were able to find them, make sure that you mark them so you can fix them later. Simple touchup paint can actually do miracles on your car’s paintjob. Simply purchase some from your local auto supply store or dealership. Just make sure that you choose a color that matches the paintjob of your car.

Choose Your Wax

Once you are done with the minor touchups on your car’s paintjob, it is now time to start thinking about what type of wax you should use on your car. There are actually a lot of different types of car wax to choose from, depending on what you need. If your car has a heavily oxidized finish, then you may need to purchase a number of different waxes, which should include one that has a buffing compound. If your car has a slight oxidation finish, then a cleaner wax is the wax for you. The carnauba paste wax is actually one of the best types of waxes that you can use as this will help you give your car a showroom shine and look.

Buff Your Car

Once you are done applying the wax on your car’s surface, it is now time to start buffing the finish. However, buffing, like choosing your car’s wax, will require you to do some more thinking since there are different buffing operations that you can do, depending on how you want to buff your car’s finish. If you want to achieve a polished finish, then you need to buff the surface with slight pressure required and at slow speeds, while a heavy oxidized finish would require you to buff the finish with more pressure and at higher speeds. Once you are done buffing the car, let it dry.