The best way to take care of the finer details like, car stains paint chip, car wax and cleaning leather seats

Car interior

Research proves that body oils on interior surfaces can cause significant life-shortening damage to your car via body oil emission.

Perspiration can be harmful

A customer who jumps into their vehicle during the warmer weather wearing very little can cause serious damage to the interior surfaces of their car, truck or van.

The pH in perspiration is highly acidic and can damage a vehicles interior surface coatings, including:

• Leather steering wheel covers

• Shift knobs

• Door panels

• Arm rests

Remind your customers, often, of the potential for damage. This should motivate more frequent cleaning to safeguard high-risk areas.

Inform Your Customers

Your customers will appreciate understanding the full need for quick, convenient interior care. Once this is understood, inform them of the non-basics in car care.

You can assemble a package of after-care services. This will identify and then meet the unique needs of your customers. Offer this as a value-added price.

Vinyl Interior Detailing

A heat-weld method of vinyl interior work will yield the best results. This is a unique vinyl fusion process that re-grains or re-textures the repaired area. This process is so effective that it produces practically invisible results.

In order to achieve the desired heat-weld method in interior work, the detailer must first master the technique of color matching. Interested detailers can learn of this process using color matching guides and training videos. As far as detailing goes, this skill is a valuable one to have!

Stain Cleaning

Removing stains is a big part of car detailing.

Common and troublesome stains on the interior, carpet and seats, include:

• oil

• grease

• butter

• vegetable oil

• margarine

• cosmetics

• blood

Always use a neutral soap or neutral products with a pH of 7. You will avoid a chemical reaction with this soap.

Your best choice in cleaning solutions for these types of stains are solvent based and so should be used with great care.

Begin to clean the stains by scraping all excess and then reduce the stain to as small an area as possible. Try a plastic razor blade for this purpose. They work well. Next, gently dab your solvent cleaner onto the stain without ripping and it should start to come up. If there is no form of discoloration from this process then you can now wipe away gently.

Too complete, use a foam type upholstery cleaner and wipe. Finish with warm water on a rag and your stain will be cleaned.

Paint Chip Protection

Paint chips are a very common problem for car owners and they will pop up with little to no warning. A simple paint touch-up is not a permanent solution. Even a few power washings can remove the paint!

If you want to believe that an auto bra solves the problem, you're mistaken. Vibration will cause the bra to rub the surface. Dust will get under the bra and scratch the paint. UV radiation then fades the exposed paint, although not the paint under the bra. This becomes a mess!

Cover the vehicle's vulnerable areas with a clear, chip resistant tape. The tape stays in place until it is removed and it is transparent so the paint ages evenly. There is no problem with dust.

The door edges commonly become chipped. Use door edge molding strips for good protection

Your business will grow as you gain expert industry knowledge. In order for the detailer to gain confidence from customers, they must be able to educate the consumer.

Leather Detailing

Leather is durable and lasts but it also shows wear. Cars with leather interiors need detailing on a regular basis to look half-decent.

American leather comes with a durable vinyl coating and refinishes and re-colors well. Seats that look like a detailed road map do well to be restored and this increases the resale value of a car by several hundreds of Rands.

How to Detail Leather:

• Thoroughly clean all leather panels to be restored. Use a water based and alcohol cleaner for best results.

• Sand out all cracks using 320 or 400 grit sandpaper, as far down as to bare leather if necessary.

• Once you have achieved your level of surface smoothness, seal all of the cracks and sanded areas using a water-based leather sealer or primer. Be diligent in this process, as if the leather is not sealed adequately it will absorb moistness and then stiffen.

You can re-color or re-coat water based leather using vinyl paint. The result is highly flexible. This process is not to be mistaken for dyeing.

• Your last step is the clincher and seals the deal! Finish with a clear coat (non-aerosol.) The gloss can be adjusted with a duller or gloss reducer additive.

Using this method a well-trained detailer will produce an exceptional result that is durable and pleasing to the eye.

Keep in mind that this is not the same process used for a crack and peel job.

Color Matching Detailing

The number one rated, top color in automobiles is gray. Here is how to match the color gray.

Begin with the lightest color of the pigment structure.

• White, then yellow (90% of time it is yellow,) then black.

It is common for a detailer to select a small amount of red or orange between the yellow and black. This helps to dirty up the mix. The eye matches best!

Detailers can hone their skills practicing. They will go to an upholstery warehouse and request an auto vinyl sample book or pick up scraps used at an auto trim shop. They have all of the colors to work with and can take their time learning until they get it just right.

Detailers will also visit car-wrecking yards and purchase car parts such as a seat, console, headrest, or a door panel. They then set up a workshop and get busy. By the time they are done they are well skilled in this area of color matching. Practical experience is a good teacher in this case!

For practical reasons it is a good idea to work on both colors and repairs. Do some good damage to your practice piece and then work to repair and re-color it.

When the detailer feels they are comfortable with this process they can move next to doing work on a willing friends car.

Even after receiving expert instruction a detailer is smart to continue practicing until they feel entirely skilled in these specialized areas.

The best and most qualified car detailing shops can go to great expense in providing superior franchised equipment, however, unless they can also provide the best and experienced detailers to operate the equipment, using the proper technique, they can very well find themselves without any customers. The bottom line will always be in customer satisfaction and quality of service.

You cant have one without the other.

Sealant or Glaze Application

You will need:

• 2 or 3 microfiber towels

• 2 applicator pads

• a sealer or glaze product

• (optional) orbital buffer.

1) Using a cotton terry applicator, apply the sealer/glaze evenly onto the vehicle surface. Use circular motions. Start with a 2 x 2 section.

2) Once your sealer/glaze has dried to a haze, buff off with a microfiber towel or a clean terry towel.

Follow this procedure until you have applied the sealer/glaze on the entire vehicle surface. An orbital buffer works well to speed up the job.

You can now wax the vehicle.

Wax is available in three forms:

• Liquid

• Paste

• Spray

iquid wax smoothes on easily, although the durability is not as good as with the paste products.

Carnauba is a natural material taken from the leaves of Brazilian palm trees. A wax with a high Carnauba content works well.

Using Carnauba Wax:

You will need:

• 2 or 3 microfiber towels

• 2 applicator pads

• Carnauba wax

• (optional) orbital buffer

1) With a round terry wax pad, apply even coat of wax on the vehicle surface. Work in circular motions. Begin with a 2 x 2 section.

Dont be heavy with your wax application because you will end up having to remove an excess amount of wax residue.

2) Using a microfiber towel or a clean cotton terry towel, remove all residue. An orbital buffer will work well, too.

Remember to remove all wax residue from the various creases and edges.

Use a soft bristled toothbrush to remove wax residue from all fixed items such as the radio antennas.

Use special care, as being too aggressive will result in scratches.