What Is Included in a Full Car Detail?

Many customers aren’t aware of everything included in a full car detail. When you want your car …

Written by: Matthew Mangino

Auto Detailing

Many customers aren’t aware of everything included in a full car detail. When you want your car to look its best inside and out, the best car detailers give special attention to your auto needs. This special attention is provided with a full car detail.

A full car detail is a 360-degree service of cleaning, restoration, and finishing of your car’s exterior and interior. This article covers all the techniques and steps of a full car detail at Glosswerxs.

Let’s take a look at the areas and processes that go into a full car detail…

  1. Exterior Detailing
  2. Interior Detailing
  3. How To Choose the Full Car Detailer for You

Exterior Detail

Wheel Wells

The first place we start cleaning is the wheel and wheel well, since they are usually the dirtiest.

Removing the wheels is an option, which gives easier access to areas such as suspension and brake calipers. We spray degreaser into the wheel wells and break up any dirt by scrubbing with a brush. We then use the pressure washer to blast away any dirt.

Wheels

Next is the wheels – after rinsing off any surface dirt or grime, we apply degreaser and along with a wheel brush and detail brush we clean all the hard-to-reach areas.

If an area has caked-on grime, we use MAG wheel cleaner to dissolve any dirt or grease then wash it off with the pressure washer.

The tires are also degreased and scrubbed down with a brush to remove any previous tire shine or dirt. 

Car Body and Windows

The next step is cleaning the body of the vehicle. We rinse the car to remove all the loose dirt to prevent scratching the surface when we then perform the two-bucket wash.

After rinsing we foam the car, which lifts all the dirt and grease from the paint. The foam is then rinsed off after a couple of minutes from top to bottom.

We then perform the two-bucket followed by the door jambs. Regular car washing can’t reach these areas and can collect a lot of dirt. We use a soapy solution with a small detail brush to agitate any dirt then along with the rest of the car it is rinsed down. 

The car is ready for its final decontamination stage. We apply Iron X to the car which lifts all iron deposits and other contaminants from the paint which is then washed off.

Next up is the clay bar treatment. In conjunction with a lubricator, the clay bar removes all the contaminants embedded in the pores of the clear. This leaves the car smoother than when you picked it up from the dealership. It is highly recommended after this treatment to consider receiving a ceramic coat which can fill in those pores and leave a microscopic layer of protectant over the clear that lasts a lot longer than traditional wax.

After the clay bar treatment, the car is rinsed down for the final time before being dried with hot air and drying towels. If you don’t opt for the ceramic coating, we still apply a layer of wax all over the paint surface which is then buffed off with microfiber cloths.

The windows are then cleaned.

UV Protection

All plastics and tires are dressed with a plastic and rubber protectant, which rejuvenates and protects from UV rays preventing fading in the future.

Interior

The interior part of the full detail requires some special techniques and tools to revive the condition of leather, carpets, and plastics.

Vacuum

We first remove all the matts and any trash or large debris from around the interior. We run a quick vacuum to pick up loose dirt or crumbs. Then we use compressed air and a combination of a long wand and tornado to lift anything from in carpets and blow out all the hard-to-reach places to the front of the interior, such as in between the seats as well as under.

Once everything has been blown forward, we then perform a more thorough vacuum.

Stain Removal

At this point we check for any stains in the seats, floor mats and carpets which are pre soaked with a fabric cleaner. We then use a soft bristle drill brush to agitate the stains followed up by extracting the residue with an extractor.

All the fabrics are then shampooed and extracted to remove any light dirt hiding within.

Afterwards we have a couple fans facing inside the cabin to really dry out those seats. If there are any rubber floor mats, those are degreased and scrubbed to lift any dirt, then power washed and blown dry with hot air before going back in your car.

We then use a combination of steam and scent free all-purpose cleaner to clean all the plastics and vinyl, and with a small detail brush clean door pocket, cup holders and other areas a microfiber can’t reach.

Deodorization

Next is deodorizing the cabin. We close all the doors and spray an odor eliminator in the cabin and let sit till the fog disperses. The inside windows are then cleaned from any smudges or build up, and the carpets and floor mats are scented with new car smell and striped to leave clean, even lines.

Finally, we dress the plastics and vinyl with a UV protectant to prevent cracking and fading from the summer sun.

Final Evaluation

The vehicle has one last walk around to check for anything we might have missed and is delivered right back to the customer. 

How To Choose the Full Car Detailer For You

This completes the Full detail. Your car will have never looked as good as it will after leaving it in our hands. Whether it’s a weekend driver or a daily driver that hasn’t been a clean for a long time, an expert car detailer can pay for itself.

Maintain your car’s investment with Glosswerxs

At Glosswerxs, we strive for the best results and outstanding customer satisfaction. We will have your car in showroom-like condition in no time.

Give us a call at (630) 803-5657 and see why car owners in St. Charles and the northern Illinois area rely on us for their ceramic coating project.

For faster service, book your full car detail now.