Getting Started with Car and Boat Detailing

Car and Boat Detailing: Tips and Tricks to Getting Started

Have you considered getting your car or boat detailed lately? There are many auto-body shops that offer both interior and exterior detailing services for cars and boats. Keeping your baby it top shape is a good investment, but it also really makes you feel good, right?

However, there are still many car and boat owners who don’t quite understand why car and boat detailing takes longer than a regular wash. The truth is that detailing is more, well, “detailed” than a regular wash. Luckily, you can detail your car and boat at home easily with the right products and a little background. Here are some tips to get you started in DIY car and boat detailing. But first, a little background.

What is Car and Boat Detailing?

First, let’s understand the different between running a car through the car was and our question of what is auto detailing?

Some people will use the terms “wash” and “detail” interchangeably. While there are major similarities between the two terms, car and boat detailing is more involved than just washing the interior and exterior.

Once clean has been achieved, the detailer uses specialized products to actually enhance the aesthetic appeal and protect the look from future dirt. As a bonus, it’s easier to KEEP clean, too!

Interchangeable Skills

The best part of learning about “auto” detailing is that most of the techniques, tools, and products can be used to detail your boat. Generally, each one has a windshield and other glass, painted surfaces, chrome and other metal, carpet… well, you get the idea.

Learn once, use often!

Whether it’s a 4-wheeled cruiser or the floating version, keeping your “ride” in top condition is easy to learn. It only takes a bit of time and effort once you know the basics. Then, like the game of chess, you can start to master it each time you play!

How to Detail a Car or Boat at Home

Before you start detailing your car or boat at home, make sure you have the right detailing products as well as some home tools that may come in handy. Some of the basics include:

• At least one bucket. Use a second one to rinse the grit out your mitt before placing it back into the soapy bucket.
• Wash Mitt. Sponges and wash cloths are simply too abrasive to the paint.
• Water hose. Be environmentally smart: use a shut-off nozzle.
• Towels. To avoid water spots, use the proper towels – don’t just let things air dry.
• Soap. Choose a brand that is polite to the environment, your paint, and your budget.
• Chrome Polish. Look for automotive and marine-friendly products.

These are the basics, but the list can be quite extensive. The advice here is to start with the basics and add more treatments, products, and tools as your familiarity grows. You’ll quickly move into carpet cleaning, water spot removal, leather treatment, and much, much more!

Why Detailing is Better

Many of you see the list above and say, “Hey! I use those products already to wash my car and boat, but I’m not a detailer.”

Very good point.

The difference between a wash and a detail is in the “details.” A home car wash might include a very good cleaning of all exterior surfaces. Your work starts to make the jump to “detail” when you open the doors and clean all the door jambs.

Then, when you have the doors open, you might roll the windows down about 4 inches to clean the edges that recess into the weatherstripping when closed. That grimy, sticky film builds up over time and looks pretty bad with the window partly down.

Get the idea? It’s the extra details that sets things apart. It’s not hard, but it does take a different way to look at your work.

Plan Ahead

If you are setting out to detail your car or boat for the first time, you might want to set some time aside for the activity since you are not sure how long it will take you. A full detail might take just a few hours for a something that is just a couple of years old and has recently been washed and vacuumed. For older cars and boats however, it might take you an entire day to carry out that first full detail that has not been washed or vacuumed for some years.

Remember, it gets easier each time: you’re more familiar with the surfaces you’re detailing, and you’re starting out with the car or boat in better shape.

Why Should I Detail my Car at Home?

There is always the temptation of paying a detailer to detail your car or boat for you as opposed to doing it for yourself. However, detailing your car and boat at home has many benefits. For starters, it saves you money since you will be providing the labor. (And a little exercise never really hurts!)

On the issue of supplies, you get to save money since you will only be buying the supplies you need, without the detailer’s markup. It also saves you time in the long run when you detail your car at home since it is easier to maintain a clean car. Finally, your car’s and boat’s life is extended as detailing is more than just making it look great.

Maybe Start with a Professional

OK, so you like the idea of expanding your car and boat care skills and want to move from “wash” to “detail” in your vehicle care. Great! But you’re not quite sure you want to start with a car or boat that hasn’t had much in the line of “detailing” in the past. It may be a tough project on which to cut your teeth.

Fair enough.

Maybe you’re asking yourself if you need the services of car or boat detailer. Why not? Whether you take your car or boat to them for that first treatment, or you find a mobile detailer nearby, there’s no reason why you couldn’t have them do the heavy lifting first.

Let them get things in top shape, and then allow you to exercise your newly found car and boat detailing skills.

Contributed by:

Sean Dorris
Leading Mobile Detailing

Sean Dorris has been detailing cars, boats, and RVs for the past ten years in the Los Angeles area and wants to share his knowledge and experience with others.

El Segundo, CA
Phone: 310.321.8639
‬Email: leadingdetailing@icloud.com
Website: leadingdetailing.com