The most important thing you can do to protect your car’s clearcoat finish as well as maintain that just detailed look with a deep, wet shine is to regularly wash and wax the exterior paint.  Before we dive into how to wax your car, my own personal teaching style is to not simply teach people how to do a task but to also teach them why to do it in such a way.  Let’s begin! There are two basic categories of waxes.  Cleaner waxes Non-cleaning waxes 1: Cleaner waxes Cleaner waxes also called AIOs, which means, All-in-One, are waxes that...

A waterless car wash is a spray-on product that enables you to clean your car pretty much anywhere without the need for a traditional water hose and bucket.  A quality waterless car wash like 3D Waterless Car Wash is formulated to break down, loosen, and emulsify surface dirt, road grime, traffic film and other contaminants while also lubricating the surface to prevent swirls and scratches during wipe-off.  The key to getting great results with a waterless car wash is using lots of clean, dry microfiber towels. What’s the difference between a waterless car wash, a spray detailer and a spray...

Question: Which shines the longest, a paste wax or a liquid wax? Answer:  If you choose a quality brand of wax, the shine will last about the same time no matter what form the wax comes in. The more important question is how long will the wax last?  And the answer to how long any wax will last comes down to how well was the paint surface prepared to accept the wax?  Just like getting a custom paint job for your car, the final results always depend on the prep work performed before applying the wax.  If you’re working on...

A waterless car wash is a spray-on product that enables you to clean your car pretty much anywhere without the need for a traditional water hose and bucket.  A quality waterless car wash like 3D Waterless Car Wash is formulated to break down, loosen, and emulsify surface dirt, road grime, traffic film and other contaminants while also lubricating the surface to prevent swirls and scratches during wipe-off.  The key to getting great results with a waterless car wash is using lots of clean, dry microfiber towels. What’s the difference between a waterless car wash, a spray detailer and a spray...

The most common question about waxing your car goes like this, How often should I wax my car? The answer depends on two things.  1: How do you use your car? 2: How do you wash your car?   Let me address both of these variables in two segments. 1: How do you use your car? What this means is, what kind of environment is your car exposed to? Do you drive your car back and forth to work Monday through Friday?  Or do you work from home? Or are you retired and no longer driving your car back and forth...

4 types of water stain spots There are different types of water spots when it comes to water spot stains and etching on car paint and car glass.  These include,  Type I Water Spots – Mineral deposits on the paint surface. Type II Water Spots – Imprint etching in the paint. Type III Water Spots – Crater etchings in the paint. Type IV Water Spots – Whitish discoloration stains on and in the paint. Type I water spots are simply called hard water spot stains.  This means that there were dissolved minerals in the water and after the water evaporated,...

I’ve been detailing cars since the late 1970s.  I am the only detailer in our industry that has had 2 TV shows, authored 5 car detailing books and 1 boat detailing book.  Have written over 1000 articles on the topic of car and boat detailing and have taught and documented more car and boat detailing classes than any other detailing class instructor on planet Earth.  So, for what it’s worth, below are my favorite and must have car detailing tools.  Tools for detailing the exterior of your vehicle The FLEX XC 3401 VRG aka the BEAST - All brawl, zero...

Everyone Loves Crystal Clear Streak Free Glass One of the most annoying things about cleaning glass is how to clean the glass without leaving any streaks?  Glass streaks have to be the number one problem people, including professional car detailers struggle with when cleaning glass.  The way to not get streaks when cleaning windows is actually really simple.  The answer is so simple, once you read my two tips below where I explain the best way to clean windows without leaving streaks or smears, it will all make perfect sense.  What is a streak? A streak on glass is simply...

I’ve been detailing cars for over 30 years.  That’s a long time and I’ve seen a lot of products come and go and I’ve also seen a lot of products endure the test of time.  With the introduction of the Internet and the World Wide Web, we all have access to the latest and greatest products around the world.   The downside of the Internet is there are just as many mediocre products as there are truly great products and sometimes the only way to separate the good from the bad is to either purchase and use the product yourself or...

Exterior Auto Trim Modern cars use a lot of exterior plastic trim and cladding as part of the aesthetics and design.  Before the 1980s, car manufacturers used primarily chrome for trim accents, but the expense of using chrome compared to plastic became excessive and thus one of the reasons car manufactures switched over to plastic trim.  Another reason car manufactures switched over from chrome to plastic is because plastic weighs less than chromed metal components. The problem with exterior plastic trim Unlike plastic trim and other parts used for the interior of the car, including the passenger areas, the trunk...