Most people won’t go the extra mile when cleaning their car. If you want to enjoy a showroom shine, you’ve got to spend time detailing your car.

When you have a love affair with your car, you want to enjoy the look and clean that makes your car shine and stand out. This doesn’t come with one single wash and wax but with time and effort. Here are some great ways to make sure your car stands out, turns heads, and looks its best whenever you’re out on the road.

How well do you know your car?

Before you can make your car look its best, you’ve got to understand the condition of the different parts of the car that you’ll care for during the process. These tips assume you already know the basics of washing and waxing your car. Let’s get started:

What’s the condition of your paint?

The paint job is the first impression your car offers to the world. If your paint looks great, many people will start to look at other parts to see how well you’ve cared for this vehicle. Walk around the car and see if there are any bug stains, water spots, and tar spots that are issues in your paint. How does your paint feel to your hand. If it’s rough or has small surface bumps, you’ll need to buy more products to give it that clear, glass-like shine once again.

Two of the items most commonly used by car detailing professionals to ensure paint looks its best are detailer spray and a clay bar. These two items remove contaminations that can cause problems in your paint.

Once the paint is clean, check for imperfections

Now that you’ve used the clay bar and detailing spray, you’ll want to check our paint once again. If you see swirl marks or water spots, you need to take care of these problems before applying wax. Typically, all you need is a good orbital polishing machine and a good polish.

What happens if you find some surface scratches? If you find scratches that don’t go through to the primer or metal, you can fix these with a scratch remover polish. Most scuffs and scratches can be polished out in as little as five minutes.
Once you’ve completed this process, you’re ready to wax the car and should enjoy a high gloss finish.

How often should you deep clean your car?

The deep cleaning process using a clay bar and polish should only be done twice a year. Waxing should be done four times a year. If you stick to this schedule and avoid areas with lots of dirt and grime, your car will continue to look its best.

Next, clean those tires and wheels

Spending a little time cleaning your tires and wheels during each wash can pay off in many ways. Your tires and wheels are the finishing touches to your car’s exterior and show that you’ve spent time detailing your car the right way. You’ll also see any issues with these items when you spend at least 15 minutes cleaning each wheel. Use a brush and quality wheel cleaner for the cleaning process, and then spray the tires with a tire shine that makes them stand out and look great.

Finally, get that inside looking great

Part of your exterior cleaning is the outside of the windows, but the inside needs your attention as well. Use a quality window cleaner to get your windows clean. Doing this first helps bring dirt from the top down. Just like cleaning your home, this is the best way to clean your car’s interior.

Spend time cleaning off any dirt, food debris, or stains you find in your car.

Evaluate the interior like you did the exterior. Does your car smell bag? If so, find the source of the smell and fix this problem. Wipe down all surfaces and finish with a good vacuuming of the mats, carpets, and seats.

Hint: small brushes are great for getting into the spaces where your hands and tools don’t fit. You’ll be surprised how many year-old French fries you’ll find between the seat and the console.

Apply protectants to the interior surfaces

The final step in the car detailing process is to apply protectants to the vinyl and leather surfaces of your car. Don’t go overboard; too much of these products can be too much, but the right amount makes your dashboard and leather surfaces look amazing.

Finally, drive your car around and show it off. You’ve worked hard to make your car look amazing, and everyone should see it.