Auto Detailing How-To's

Facts, Tips and Tricks from Industry Leading Experts

Welcome to AutoDetail's online knowledge-base of car care how-to's. This is your personal detailing instruction manual covering all car care topics: polishing, waxing, washing, cleaning wheels and tires, convertible top care, and more. Print it out, bookmark it… treat it like your own detailing handbook. You’ll find tips and techniques here that are currently used by detailing professionals and enthusiasts to create automotive masterpieces. Borrow from their knowledge and turn your own vehicle into a work of art.

These detailing how-to’s are written from the combined experiences of the AutoDetail.org staff as well as tips provided by customers, professional detailers, and industry leaders in car care. We constantly update our how to guides to provide you with the latest tips and products as we learn about them. Follow the links throughout these guides to learn more about the products recommended and to add them to your own detailing arsenal.

Check back often because we’re always updating our detailing guides and adding new features.

Our goal is to provide you with the best information and products for your vehicle all in one place, here at AutoDetail.org.

 

Download & View Our Car Care Handbooks
Download & View Our Car Care Handbooks

Handbooks are available for: Pinnacle Natural Brilliance, XMT Series, Wolfgang Concours Series, DP, and Diamondite. Learn what makes Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion different from a finishing polish. Read the history behind the development of Wolfgang. Everything is at your fingertips! All books can be downloaded for free right from the links below. Save them to your desktop or print them out for quick reference.

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Interior Cleaning and Conditioning

Interior Cleaning and Conditioning

Other people may admire the outside your vehicle, but you see the inside every time you drive. Depending on how you use your vehicle, the interior may need even more TLC than the paint! This guide will take you through the basics of interior care. After all, it’s what’s on the inside that counts!

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Leather Care

Leather Care

Other people may admire the outside your vehicle, but you see the inside every time you drive. Depending on how you use your vehicle, the interior may need even more TLC than the paint! This guide will take you through the basics of interior care. After all, it’s what’s on the inside that counts!

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Washing & Drying Techniques
Washing & Drying Techniques

Most of the swirl marks that disfigure your vehicle are likely caused by poor washing technique. Thorough weekly washes and careful hand-drying can be the best care you can give your vehicle. Improper techniques will cause unsightly swirls and scratches in the paint requiring compounding or polishing at the very least. You can eliminate these problems and save yourself extra work by following a few simple tips when washing and drying your vehicle.

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Circular / Rotary Polishing Guide

Circular / Rotary Polishing Guide

This simple step-by-step guide will explain how to use your circular polisher to remove paint imperfections and rapidly improve the quality of your finish. Keep in mind, circular polishers are recommended only for professional detailers or experienced hobbyists due the increased risk of PAINT BURN. If you are inexperienced with machine polishing, start with a dual action polisher and become familiar with the process. Once you become comfortable, graduate to the circular polisher.

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Dual Action Orbital Polishing Guide

Dual Action Orbital Polishing Guide

Learn how to remove swirls and scratches, polish away oxidation, and apply wax using your Porter Cable 7424 or Ultimate Detailing Machine. These guides explain proper techniques and suggest what swirl removers, polishes, waxes, and sealants will give you the very best results. The techniques described on these pages will get you started on your way to smooth, shiny paint, regardless of the age of your vehicle.

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Proper Care of Trim & Molding

Proper Care of Trim & Molding

In recent years, black plastic trim has become popular among auto manufacturers – think of the Nissan X Terra, the Hummer H2, and the Jeep Wrangler. All these vehicles have two things in common: #1 they have black molding either over the wheels or on the front, or both; #2 they’re rugged, off-roading vehicles that incur more abuse than your average sedan. For these two reasons, you have to apply protectant to these pieces. If you don’t, they’ll turn gray faster than you can say “low resale value”.

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Correctly Detailing Wheels & Tires

Correctly Detailing Wheels & Tires

If you allow brake dust to sit on your wheels for a prolonged period of time, it can eat into the coating (if there is one) and pit the metal. Brake dust is made of an adhesive and carbon fibers that come off the brake pad and tiny metal shavings from the rotor. The intense heat and friction generated by the wheels makes this mixture highly corrosive. Because you probably drive every day, more brake dust is constantly being made. Frequent cleaning is the only way to keep your wheels safe.

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Polishing Metal

Polishing Metal

Here are our top tips and techniques to polish metal, including chrome, aluminum, and stainless steel, to a mirror-bright shine. We’ve included some of the best metal polish and metal cleaner recommendations, all tested and approved by our staff. There’s nothing like the gleam of just-polished metal and we’ll tell you how to get it.

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Glass Cleaning Facts & Tips

Glass Cleaning Facts & Tips

Cleaning automotive glass is tricky, but well worth doing. Clean, clear glass looks beautiful next to clean, waxed paint. Crystal clear glass will give you optimum visibility when driving. That’s a significant life-safety factor we ignore at our peril. Just a few extra minutes detailing your windows will add a sparkling touch to your vehicle’s finish and just might save your life!

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How To Care for Your Convertible Top

How To Care for Your Convertible Top

Convertibles are a real pleasure to own, especially if you take care of them. Some people are hesitant to buy a convertible because they believe the top will require extraordinary upkeep, but with the appropriate timely care it’s just not the case. Here are a few products and tips that we have found that will allow you to enjoy your convertible with just a minimal of maintenance.

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How to Use Auto Detailing Clay

How To Use Auto Detailing Clay

If you’re new to auto detailing clay, you might be thinking, “What can auto detailing clay possibly have to do with car care?” We’ve heard it all before. The short answer is that auto detailing clay removes from the paint what washing cannot. For the long answer, read on!

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Carnauba Car Wax vs. Paint Sealants

Carnauba Car wax VS. Paint Sealants

You have two basic choices when it comes to paint protection: carnauba wax or synthetic paint sealant. Here you’ll find information on each so you can choose the paint protection that’s right for you.

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Car Wax & Paint Sealant Application Techniques

Car Wax & Paint Sealant Application Techniques

After you’ve chosen a car wax, you’ve got a couple of application options. You can apply it by hand or with a polisher. Even paste car waxes can be applied with a polisher. Here are some tips to give you the best results from your wax.

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Klasse Application Guide

Klasse Application Guide

Klasse USA products have been some of the best products in the car care industry since 1979. Klasse can be found in the garages of car enthusiasts and collectors across the country and around the world. Now that you’ve read about what Klasse products can do, here are some tips on how to best use Klasse All in one and Klasse Sealant Glaze.

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How To Care for Microfiber

How To Care For Microfiber

Microfiber towels and tools have particular care requirements due to their unusual cleaning properties and composition. As you probably know, microfiber is excellent for dusting and scrubbing because of the static-charged, woven fibers. The combination of polyamide and polyester is incredibly strong and soft, and microfiber towels absorb 7 times their weight in moisture!

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Headlight Lens Restoration Guide

Headlight Lens Restoration Guide

Cloudy, scratched headlight lens covers are a safety hazard as well as a blemish on your vehicle. This condition occurs because the plastic is overexposed to UV light. The cloudiness starts at the exterior surface of the lens cover and spreads inward. In intense sun climates, this damage can be apparent within a couple of years of purchasing a new car.

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Engine Detailing

Engine Detailing

Next to your paint, your engine is one of the most expensive parts of your car. It may even be the reason you bought the car to begin with. You just had to have that big block muscle car or that turbo charged power wagon. You spend thousands of dollars over the course of your vehicle’s life servicing the fluids, maintaining the paint and interior, replacing the tires, and everything else involved with car ownership. After years of ownership and tens of thousands of miles behind the wheel, what does your engine look like now?

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Winterizing Your Car's Exterior

Winterizing Your Car's Exterior

Providing additional protection for your vehicle in the wintertime is vital to maintaining the paint especially, but also the wheels and glass. Snow and ice, and the scraping it takes to remove them, can be as rough on your vehicle as they are on you. This article will walk you through a few products and procedures that will give your vehicle just what it needs to weather the winter storm.

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