A Day In The Life Of AABA Detailing
Car detailing, or auto detailing is a term that is used allot nowadays and it can have different meanings to different People. For example, in America the term detailing usually refers to most kinds of car cleaning, whereas in the U.K the term ‘car valeting’ is more predominantly used to des
Generally, the correct definition for the term car detailing is to meticulously clean, polish and protect all parts of a vehicle from top to bottom, inside and out, using specialist tools and products that would not normally be used by your typical car cleaner. It does not however, include paintwork and body repairs although sometimes light cosmetic restorative work will be undertaken, for example stone chip touch ups and clear coat wet sanding, depending on the condition of the vehicle and the detailer in question.
The main area and aim of car detailing is to fully enhance and restore the vehicles paintwork by eliminating light scratches and swirl marks that have been inflicted over time and that reflect the light in such a way that they give an unsightly cob webbing effect on the surface of the paint or clear coat.
Before this is undertaken though, the exterior has to be thoroughly washed and cleaned in order to remove as much dirt and as many contaminants as possible. The first step of the exterior detailing process is usually to foam the vehicle completely and allow it to soak, this helps to soften up any dirt and lift it off from the surface prior to pre rinsing. Whilst soaking, a soft bristled detailing brush may be used to agitate areas like the window rubbers, plastic grills, trim details and badges. The foam, along with the loosened dirt and grime is then thoroughly rinsed off.
Before washing the paintwork, wheels and wheel wells/arches are usually cleaned as these tend to be the dirtiest and most contaminated parts of a vehicle. Specialist brushes and wheel cleaning products are used to remove grime and baked on brake dust from all areas of the wheels and wells/arches including suspension components, brake calipers, around lug nuts and even from the wheel rears.
After the wheels and arches have been thoroughly cleaned, the paintwork can then be washed from top to bottom using plush wash mitts instead of sponges and soft micro fiber towels instead of chamois leathers in conjunction with the two bucket technique and grit guards, which all help to prevent any damage (in the form of light scratches and swirl marks) from being inflicted. The complete wash process including the wheels and arches can take anywhere up to two hours to complete, depending on the size and condition of the vehicle.
After washing, paintwork is clayed using a specialist automotive clay bar and lubricant which gently removes any bonded surface contaminants that washing alone cannot remove. This is an important step in the car detailing process as these contaminants can hinder the polishing process and prevent a top quality finish from being achieved.
Before washing the paintwork, wheels and wheel wells/arches are usually cleaned as these tend to be the dirtiest and most contaminated parts of a vehicle. Specialist brushes and wheel cleaning products are used to remove grime and baked on brake dust from all areas of the wheels and wells/arches including suspension components, brake calipers, around lug nuts and even from the wheel rears.
After the wheels and arches have been thoroughly cleaned, the paintwork can then be washed from top to bottom using plush wash mitts instead of sponges and soft micro fiber towels instead of chamois leathers in conjunction with the two bucket technique and grit guards, which all help to prevent any damage (in the form of light scratches and swirl marks) from being inflicted. The complete wash process including the wheels and arches can take anywhere up to two hours to complete, depending on the size and condition of the vehicle.
After washing, paintwork is clayed using a specialist automotive clay bar and lubricant which gently removes any bonded surface contaminants that washing alone cannot remove. This is an important step in the car detailing process as these contaminants can hinder the polishing process and prevent a top quality finish from being achieved.
Once the paintwork has been sufficiently polished, enhanced and protected, the other exterior parts are then dealt with. Windows and glass are also polished and protected, as are any metal and chrome parts. Rubbers, plastics and vinyls are revived and dressed to help bring them back to life and protect them from the elements. The wheels and even the brake calipers may also be polished and waxed using designated products which further enhance and protect them and give a level of detail beyond that of a normal vehicle clean.
The engine bay area is also always properly cleaned, polished, dressed and protected during the car detailing process, using a range of cleaning products and brushes, but it varies from person to person at which part in the process it is undertaken. Some prefer to tackle it first before the rest of the car, while others may clean it after the exterior has been detailed, before moving onto the interior.
An interior detail comprises of all upholstery being vacuumed and thoroughly shampooed to remove any contaminants and stains, while also brightening and freshening it up. Headlining is cleaned, leather is thoroughly scrubbed to remove any dirt from deep in the grain and is then conditioned and protected. Plastics, vinyl and trim are cleaned and dressed using appropriate products to revive and protect them from the sun, then the interior glass is also cleaned and polished to give a crystal clear, smear free finish.
The interior detailing process is also very involved and time consuming as every area including even the smallest vent and switch are properly dealt with using a wide variety of brushes, swabs and micro fiber towels to remove the smallest dust particles from the tightest of areas.
The general practice of car detailing is undertaken to ensure that the vehicle is kept in as good condition as possible during ownership. Once a full detail has been undertaken, mini details or maintenance cleans can be performed on a regular basis which will not be as involved as a full detail yet will help to give all parts of the vehicle that ‘just detailed’ look.
Car detailing helps to retain much of a vehicles original value and it can also add a considerable amount to the value of older more neglected or abused vehicles that have never seen that level of care.
Overall, car detailing is the process of thoroughly cleaning, enhancing, restoring and protecting all parts of a vehicle, in order to keep it looking its very best and retain much of its value and a detail differs from your average car clean because of the levels of involvement, the time spent, the tools & products used and the quality of results that are achieved by the end of the process.
AABA Detailing is a Mobile Car Detailing company which covers all suburbs around Perth.
Each day we go somewhere different and detail a different car, no two cars are ever the same.
Each customer's idea of a clean or dirty can vary from job to job; some cars take two hours to detail, but others can take up to five hours.
We mainly detail cars for the general public, but we also detail company cars and cars which have been repaired at smash repair centres.
1st November
Today we detailed this Discovery which had spent a month in the Kimberly’s .
There was red dirt in all the door seals, air vents, wheel arches, side treads and engine bay.
We sprayed a strong degreaser over all the areas where there was red dirt on the wheels we used an acid based solution then hit the whole car with our high pressure cleaner.
Red dirt can be very hard to remove and on some cars such as mine vehicles it can be virtually impossible to remove it all.
But as you can see with this vehicle we had good success in removing the red dirt.
We then cleaned the interior with a weaker solution of degreaser once this was done we then polished the car , cleaned the windows , dressed the tyres and trims and applied leather conditioner to the seats.
The whole job took just over 5 hours.
2nd November
This classic Chevrolet was detailed so the onwer could use it as a wedding car. The interior was in excellent condition so it was obviously well looked after, the paint work on these type of cars is different from modern day car's so they need a bit more work to get them up to a nice shine and all the chrome parts need polishing regular or they take on a more perished look. These cars are quite big so the job took nearly 4 hours to complete.
3rd November
Believe it or not the owner of this Land Rover Defender likes to do a lot of 4wdriving and he had just come back from a camping trip north of Perth. The interior of the vehicle was full of sand and the outside was covered in salt stains probably caused by driving along a beach and picking up spray from the ocean. The vehicle was given a full detail the interior was made easier as there are no carpets and the exterior was given a good polish one to make sure there was no water marks left by the ocean spray and secondly to help protect it for future trips. The whole job took about 4 hours.
4 thNovember
Today I detailed a VW Amarok which had been 4wdriving the owner followed a friend down a bush track against his better judgement and it left his vehicle with bush scratches down both sides and with it being grey in colour they stood out quite prominently. It was a realy nice day but unfortunately I had no cover from the sun which wasnt ideal but the job turned out ok and the whole job took about two and half hours.
5th November
I did my first of the new model Ford Mustang today it was the V8 model, bright yellow in colour with black leather interior. It's a shame the owner didnt look after it better because the exterior was pretty dirty. The main reason I was detailing it was because it had been involved in a high speed crash and it had just been repaired at the smash repair center. The owner must have been drinking a can of coke at the time of the crash as it was splashed all over the dash and seats. Luckily for the owner I managed to get it all off and when I had finished the full detail the car was looking in showroom condition.
7 thNovember
Today I did a Swedish car for a little old Swedish lady. She has a Volvo S60 silver in colour which is in immaculate condition. Because she is a bit frail she gets me to polish the car for her and I polish it with some of my glare sealant, the shine is amazing, if only I could work out how to load the photos to some of these detailing jobs for you to see then it would be happy days all round. Anyway I spent about two hours detailing the Volvo and seeing as I was only doing the exterior the customer was very pleased.
15 th November
Today i did a blue BMW its the second time in 6 months ive done this car and you can see it on my home page. The owner seems quite fussy about her car and she sends it to her local smash repair center to be polished. Each time i give the car a machine polish to remove any small scratches then i apply a coat of my Glare-Plus sealant. The paint work comes up with a great finish.
1 st December
This morning i detailed an Audi S80, it was dark blue in colour and in pretty good condition for its age i guess it spends alot of time under cover or in the garage.Even though it didnt really need it i still went over the car with my machine polisher just to remove any small scratches plus it does make the paint work that bit more slicker when i apply a coat of my Glare paint sealant. It took me nearly 3 hours to polish the car but the final result was great.
5thJanuary
Today I drove up to GinGin and did a paint protection on a Nissan 350z, very nice car pewter grey in colour with black leather seats. I was lucky the owner had a big shed so i could do the car in that which helped to keep some of the flies away at least. It was a very warm day but I managed to put 3 coats of the glare paint protection on and some leather conditioner on the seats. The car catches a lot of flies on the front bumper so the slickness of the paint protection would help to remove them when it comes to washing the car again. The car was gleaming when it was finished.
7thFebruary
Thought id better catch up on my blog I still havnt worked out how to get the photos up of the cars ive detailed which is frustrating. So today I detailed two black ford rangers which belong to a new company who do work for insurance companies in the building industry. Ive actually done their private cars for them in the past and one of the guys as an old classic which he uses to raise money for charity doing the variety car runs. The previous week Id been in hospital with pneumonia so doing these two black ford rangers on a 35 degree day with no shade was pretty hard going but they turned out well in the end.
10thMarch
Today I was up in Mundaring on another hot day machine polishing a black holden senator.The car had just been bought and to be fair was in great condition but the owner wanted a few spider web lines removing from the paint work before he went overseas. I was working on the car for about three and a half hours and its a pity I can't work out how to load the photo because it looked pretty hot when I had finished.
3rdApril
Today I detailed a 1968 Ford Mustang - wow. It had been covered up in the garage and the owner wanted it detailed before putting it on a truck and sending it to Queensland. I love Mustangs not sure if its because of the car it self or the name or the the movie bullet with Steve McQueen. Either way, if I had the room I'd be tempted to buy the new version. It was pewter in colour with chrome wheels and a black vinyl roof. Not sure if it was totally original but either way it still looked great for nearly fifty years old.
8thMay
This week I was in East Perth at an apartment block, I don't usually go to theses type of places but this one as a wash bay so its no to bad. The first day I did two lexus which ive been doing for a few years now and the second day I did two audi's for a new customer. One of the audi's was a midnight blue RS5, id never done one of these models before quite flash and a bit of a vroom vroom. Nice leather interior with auto transmission.
24thJune
Today I did a car for my oldest customer, he just picked up a brand new Mazda 3, gun metal grey in colour with black leather seats. His wife wanted me to put a paint protection on it so I used Camui chrome chain 3, its from Japan and its a crystal glass coating which gives a mirror like finish and helps the water to sheet off during future washes. First you wash the car with a snow wash then carefully dry it preferably with a hand blower so not to leave any marks or light scratches. Then using a product called Z2 on a very soft polishing pad you machine polish the entire car. Then you go over the car with a solution called eraser to remove any polish or oils that maybe on the paint work. Now we can apply the Camui chrome chain doing a small area at a time in an up and down left to right motion. Waiting about 15 minutes or until you see a rainbow colour before wiping the excess off with a soft micro fibre cloth. Now the car needs to be kept under cover for 24 hours to let the glass coating cure then you can spray on Y8 which adds to the coating and gives the paint work that little extra water sheeting. Infact Y8 should be applied every 6 months just to help the car stay looking new.
5thJuly
When it rains its handy to have an under cover area and today I had the use of a small factory unit to do a paint protection on a black Toyota Hilux. Now black cars can be a pain in the butt because it doesn't matter how much you try to be careful its still very easy to leave marks on the paint work and because they just stand out more on black cars and for this reason black cars take longer to do. Now black cars can be a pain to do and can be high maintenance but they really look good when they are done, they give off a mirror finish like no other. So today I applied the Camui chrome chain 3 again , I followed the same process as I did with the Mazda 3 in June but instead of taking me 6 hours to do this one took 8 and when I get around to loading the photos you will see for yourself how good it looked but if you cant wait that long you can find my photos on my AABA Detailing facebook page or my AABA Detailing Instagram account.
6thAugust
This week I detailed a VW Tiguan , metallic grey in colour with black leather seats. The car was based in Burns Beach and I had been to the address before to detail 3 other cars. The car itself was not that old so it was in pretty good condition but it still looked really good when I finished and the customer was really happy.
7thSeptember
Today I did a dark blue Ford Mustang for a panel shop I sometimes go to. The weather was terrible which made it a bit tricky but I managed to get it done. Again the interior was black leather and it came up really good, the exterior had been given a paint protection somewhere else but I would have liked to put my Camui chrome chain on instead so just to finish the car off I went over the exterior with my Carpro Reload just to give it that extra lush finish.
23rdOctober
Today I went to the works department of Wanneroo to do one of their company vehicles. Its where they service all the work trucks. I was doing a Ford Ranger which hadn't been polished in a while so I had to do some paint correction using my machine polisher with some Camui ZO on a wool pad. If you go to my Instagram page you will be able to see the before and after shots to see the difference.
15thNovember
This week I went up to Quinns Rocks to do a Renault Megane. Its a lovely looking car deep metallic yellow colour with black spoke wheels and nice leather interior. I got some really nice photos which are on my facebook and Instagram page. Black wheels always look good when they are polished and i topped up the paint work with some Carpro Reload (scored a $20 tip for my troubles ).