How To Properly Wash Your Car

One of our most asked questions here in our Sturgis, SD mobile detailing business is “how do I detail my car?” It’s actually simpler than you might think! Most detailers overcomplicate stuff as simple as the car wash process and while there are certain techniques we use, it’s really pretty straightforward! Here’s the 8 step process we use to detail a car:

Step 1. Start by cleaning your wheel wells, tires, and wheels.

Step 2. Next, continue with a pre-rinse. This step will knock off all the loose dirt and debris and make less work on the contact wash.

Step 3. Foam down your car. If you don’t have a foam cannon already, we highly suggest picking one up as this will greatly reduce the time involved in washing your car! The basic purpose of a foam cannon is to encapsulate dirt and pull it off the surface.

Step 4. Rinse the foam off along with all the dirt that it picks up.

Step 5. Contact wash. After rinsing off the foam, you can start washing your car with a wash mitt (preferably microfiber). We recommend rinsing off the panels as you go to avoid water spotting.

Step 6. Rinse the soapy water off the car.

Step 7. Dry the car. You can do this with a drying towel or if your car has a ceramic coating you can use a leaf blower to remove the water.

Step 8. Finally after drying, we recommend applying some sort of protection (we like spray ceramic coatings) on all your paint, glass, trim, and wheels. This will not only look good as soon as you apply it but it will also keep that “just detailed” look for longer. Then apply a tire dressing to the tires and you're done!

After you're done detailing your car or truck you can enjoy the shiny, smooth finish that is simply unmatched for weeks rather than days! If you have any questions at all about all things auto detailing please feel free to call us anytime!