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DIY Car Detailing at Home

If you love your car – and let’s be honest, we all do at least a little – you want it to look its best and last a lifetime. Beyond changing your oil, maintaining tire pressure, and occasionally swapping out the air freshener, finish maintenance and detailing should be a regular part of your vehicle’s service routine. Car detailing is a task that is commonly hired out to professionals, and it’s hard to argue with the professional-quality results. But basic car detailing and cleaning is not an insurmountable task – in fact, in many cases it doesn’t even require any special tools. Knowing what products are available for your vehicle, and knowing how to use them, can help you get your car looking show-ready and keep it protected for years to come. In this feature on how to clean and detail a car inside and out, we’ll discuss the steps to take to wash and detail your vehicle in your own driveway, and how to properly complete each step to prevent damage and ensure success.


How to Clean Your Car’s Interior

Wiping down a car’s interior.

Keeping your vehicle’s interior clean will not only help it last longer and look better, but it will help it retain its value over time. The first step in detailing the inside of your vehicle is to clean out any trash or debris from your floorboards, seats, dash, or console. After any loose trash is picked up, you can thoroughly vacuum your floors, upholstery, and hard-to-reach areas.

Vacuuming your floorboards and seats helps remove any dust, dirt, or moisture that could eventually lead to stains and odors. After vacuuming, use a duster or interior detailing brush to clear off the dashboard, instrument panels, steering column, cupholders, or other surface areas of any dust that was stirred up when you vacuumed.

Use detailing wipes or spray cleaner with a detailing cloth or mitt to wipe down the surfaces after dusting. After cleaning off any hard surfaces, check your carpet and seats for stains, and use an automotive stain lifter or upholstery cleaner to remove them. If your seats are leather, use cleaner or wipes designed specifically for leather to condition and clean while also preventing cracking.

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Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner

Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner
Carpet and upholstery cleaner is designed to help lift dirt and grime to the surface, allowing you to remove any stains from your vehicles upholstery and restore color and appearance. These cleaners work well on fabric and vinyl upholstery, seat covers, carpets, and floor mats.
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Interior Protectant

Interior Protectant
Interior protectants and cleaners help clean dust, dirt, and grime from your vehicle’s interior surfaces, but can also help to prevent your interior plastics, vinyl, or upholstered surfaces from premature wear, cracking, discoloration, or fading. These sprays also help protect surfaces against UV damage, and should be part of a regular interior cleaning routine.
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Leather Cleaner and Conditioner

Leather Cleaner and Conditioner
Leather conditioners and cleaners come in both spray- and wipe-on variations, and can be used to protect and clean your vehicle’s leather seats or surfaces from stains and spills. Leather conditioners specifically often help to prevent the leather from drying out, cracking, or wearing prematurely by keeping it soft and supple longer, as well as protecting it against damage caused by UV rays.
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Interior Dusters or Brushes

Interior Duster or Brush
Detailing brushes come in a variety of sizes and types, and can help you clean and wipe off all of the hard-to-reach spots both inside and out of your vehicle. Detailing brushes are typically smaller and can be used to clean hard-to-reach areas, like in or around air vents, around shifters, and recesses of the console or dash.
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Towels

Towels
Microfiber towels allow you to wipe down surfaces to remove dust, dirt, and grime without harming your vehicle’s interior. These towels are soft and are safe to be used on plastic, vinyl, and rubber surfaces, as well as with an appropriate glass cleaner to clean your vehicle's windshield or side windows without scratching.
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How to Wash Your Car

This may seem like an obvious first step, but there is more to washing your car properly than you might expect. First, make sure you’ve got the right equipment for the job.


Car Wash Soap

Car Wash Soap

Many major detailing and appearance brands have their own line of automotive-specific car wash soap, and these soaps come in a variety of formulas to deliver the best possible clean and shine to your vehicle’s painted surfaces. It’s important to know what’s in your car wash soap though, because some types of automotive finishes may not be suited to every soap on the market. Car wash soap that is wax- and silicone-free is usually preferred if you’re planning to wax your car anyway, and soaps that do contain wax or silicone may not react well to matte-finished surfaces. These car wash soaps containing wax are also perfect for between-wax washes, because they restore some of the wax that may have worn off since the last time you waxed your vehicle. Above all, it’s important to keep in mind that household soaps are not intended for automotive finishes, and in some cases, can cause scratching or other damage that will require additional polishing to remove later.
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Car Wash Mitt and Cloth

Car Wash Mitt or Cloth

This is another area where it’s best to shop for the best option for your vehicle – the car wash cloth. Car wash mitts and cloths are specifically designed with ultra-soft bristles that will not harm your car’s finish. Car wash cloths, mitts, sponges, and brushes are made from materials designed to safely remove contaminates from vehicle surfaces, while preventing scratches and swirls. It’s also important to keep your car wash cloth clean while washing your car, as any debris that gets trapped in the cloth could cause micro-scratches or swirls on the car’s paint surface. Household dishcloths and towels may seem soft, but by comparison, they are often significantly rougher than detailing microfiber towels and cloths designed for automotive finishes. Microfiber cloths are also acceptable to use for washing your car, and will also be necessary for later detailing steps.
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Chamois and Drying Cloth

Chamois or Drying Cloth

A chamois, or “shammy” towel, is a specially-engineered leather cloth designed for hand drying your vehicle to prevent water spots. Hand drying your car instead of letting it air-dry after washing is a great step in preventing water spots and preparing for the next detailing steps. There are drying cloths available in a variety of sizes and styles specifically designed for automotive detailing, drying, and buffing, so it’s important to shop for the best drying towels for your vehicle and level of detailing.
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How to Clean Tires and Wheels at Home

Tire shine and wheel cleaner can help make your car look its best.

Cleaning tires and wheels can make a big difference in a complete detail. Now that you’ve gathered your supplies, and of course, found a source of clean water, you can find a shady spot to work out of direct sunlight and you’re ready to start washing. It’s usually a good first step to spray down especially dirty areas, like the wheels and tires, wheel wells, and undercarriage to remove as much dirt as possible before proceeding. Wheels and tires are often especially dirty and the embedded contaminants, like brake dust, dirt, and rocks can leave debris in your wash mitt that will scratch your paint. It is usually a good idea to do a preliminary rinse on your tires and clean the wheels and rinse or pre-treat very dirty areas before washing the rest of the vehicle.

Cleaning the wheels and tires can be accomplished with car wash soap in some cases, but specialty wheel and tire cleaners can also help loosen and dissolve stuck-on contaminants like tar without heavy scrubbing, which could damage chrome or painted wheel surfaces. Many of these wheel cleaning products are designed to be sprayed on the wheel and tire and left for five or so minutes, and then can simply be rinsed off. You may also be interested in a specialty car wash hose nozzle, which can provide adequate pressure and coverage to quickly rinse off soap and chemicals. If you're not planning on washing the rest of the vehicle, you can dry the wheels and tires with a microfiber cloth to prevent water spots from forming. Again, do not use this cloth anywhere else on the car, and ensure it stays clean. If it appears noticeably dirty or if any debris comes loose and embeds in the cloth, grab a new one. You may want to use some chrome or aluminum polish on the wheels, and in some cases, may even want to coat your wheels to protect their surfaces against oxidation and brake dust.

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How to Wash Your Car at Home

Once you’ve got the wheels cleaned, you can begin to clean other areas using only the water pressure from your hose. You can first rinse the entire vehicle to remove any loose dirt or debris. Try to be sure that you’re hitting anywhere that could hold dirt, including panel gaps, door sills, and around trim or lighting.

The best approach to washing your vehicle is to use the two-bucket car wash method. You’ll want to have two car wash buckets, one with car wash soap and water mixed to the specifications on the packaging, and one with clean water. The soap bucket will be used to wet your mitt or cleaning cloth, and the clean water bucket will be used to rinse the mitt to remove any contaminants and ensure that trapped debris or dirt doesn’t end up back on the car or leave any scratches. Dip your wash mitt in the soap bucket, then simply wipe the panel to loosen any stuck debris or contaminants. Often, one or two swipes with the mitt will be enough to accomplish this. Don’t scrub any spots that are not coming clean easily, as that can rub or scratch the paint. After each pass, clean your mitt or cloth in the clean water bucket to remove any debris that may be trapped so it doesn’t scratch the paint on the next pass. If there are any areas of especially dense dirt, you may have to make several passes to loosen and remove it without scratching. Just make sure that you’re cleaning your mitt every time you go over the area.

Panel by panel, starting at the roof and working your way down, use your wash mitt to clean the area, and then rinse it to prevent soap from sitting on the surface. It’s usually a good idea to work from the front to the back of the vehicle as well, since the back panels of your vehicle are often the dirtiest. Once you’ve worked every panel of the vehicle and are satisfied with their cleanliness, you’re ready to move on to drying your car.

Using your chamois or microfiber cloth and minimal pressure, simply drag the cloth along the surface to dry it. This minimizes friction against the car’s paint finish and also allows water that is sitting on flat surfaces to be removed from the vehicle without soaking in the cloth. It will still be necessary to wring out the chamois or cloth frequently to prevent leaving water streaks behind. This can help prevent water spots and ensures a streak-free finish that is ready for the next detailing steps.

This is also a great opportunity to clean both the inside and outside of the glass on your vehicle. Learn more about how to properly clean and treat glass with our How-To Hub resources.


How to Prevent Water Spots on a Car

Water spots on the hood of a car can contain minerals and dry to a film.

Water spots are a problem that many at-home detailers encounter when washing their own vehicles. Water spots are water droplets that dry on the paint finish, leaving behind visible spots or streaks. Water spots are caused by minerals being left behind as the water evaporates. These minerals are likely to be present in the water you use to wash your vehicle, and these mineral deposits collect and dry in the droplets of water left behind after washing. Mineral deposits can also etch the paint if not removed immediately after washing, which can result in paint damage. The best way to prevent water spots is to dry your car completely and remove any beaded water on its surface. Waxing your vehicle is one of the best ways to help water bead and allow any water droplets to be wiped off the surface more easily. You can also use a water filter to try to minimize the mineral content of the water, but many of us do not have access to this type of filter and may not want to take on the expense of maintaining one just for at-home car washes.

The main things that you can do to prevent water spots besides hand-drying your car after it is washed are to use free-flowing water when you rinse the vehicle after a wash, and to ensure that you are not detailing your vehicle in direct sunlight. Finding a cool, shaded spot to do all of your detailing, or doing as much as possible inside a garage, can help reduce the risk of the water beads drying before you have a chance to dry the vehicle. Rinsing with free-flowing water rather than a spray nozzle on your hose can also help blow away more water and mineral contaminants and reduce the risk of water spotting. Once your car is thoroughly washed and has been dried off spot-free, or even if you see a few small water spots, you can move on to the next step.

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How to Clay Bar a Car at Home

Clay bars are made of a specialized synthetic detailing resin that is designed to pull and trap contaminants that may be embedded in your car’s clear coat and restore a smooth finish prior to polishing or waxing. Clay barring is an often-overlooked component of detailing your vehicle at home, and can be somewhat time-consuming, but it is a step every professional detail shop will take prior to polishing or waxing a vehicle. Neglecting the clay bar at this step can leave embedded contaminants to be waxed into the finish, or could allow the contaminants to break free after waxing and leave pits in the wax layer where the finish will not be protected.

Contaminants that are removed by a clay bar include water spots, brake dust, metal dust, pollution residue, and road grit. Even if you’ve washed your car, these embedded contaminants are often left in the clear coat and could break free during drying or waxing, leading to scratches in your vehicle’s finish. Many detailers use a smooth plastic bag over their hands and slide along the panel with their fingertips. This can help identify bumps and invisible contaminants that need to be addressed using a clay bar. If you feel noticeable friction on the surface of the plastic bag, or if you can feel uneven or raised spots as you slide your fingers across the panel, additional attention should be given to that section using your clay bar. Once the bag slides easily and the surface feels smooth to your fingertips, the vehicle is ready for the next steps.


How to Use a Clay Bar

There are two parts to clay barring your vehicle: the clay bar itself, and specialty clay bar lubricant. Clay bar lubricant is designed to allow the bar to slide across your vehicle’s finish without sticking or scratching the paint. You may also want to keep a clean microfiber cloth on hand to remove any extra lubricant or lubricant residue during this process.

To use your clay bar, work in an area of roughly two by two feet, and spray your clay bar lubricant over the area. Use as much of the clay bar as is needed to knead into an oval shape that roughly covers the ends of your fingers and store the rest of the clay bar where it won’t dry out. Spray lubricant on your clay as well, and then wipe over the surface, applying minimal pressure. Continue spraying clay bar lubricant as needed in any dry spots until you’ve decontaminated the entire area in which you are working, and if your clay bar starts to look dirty, knead and fold it to expose a clean clay surface before continuing. Once you’re satisfied with your clay barring of that area or panel, you can use the plastic bag trick again to determine if any more surface preparation is needed. If the panel is smooth to the touch, you can move on to polishing or waxing, but if it still seems rough, repeat the steps as needed until it is smoothed out.


How to Polish Your Car at Home

Use an applicator pad to properly polish and remove scratches and swirls from automotive finishes.

Buffing and polishing is a step that not many people think to take on at home, since in many cases buffing extremely scratched or worn areas is much easier with an orbital polishing tool. Since many DIY detailers won't have a random orbital or rotary polisher, we will instead focus on hand polishing. Hand polishing is a great option for removing minor imperfections like light scratches and swirls and restoring a relatively smooth panel back to a high-gloss shine.

Polishing requires the use of abrasive polishing compounds to “cut” and smooth the clear coat or paint, and it’s important to consider the type of paint you’re polishing when choosing the appropriate compound. There are compounds available for three types of paint: hard, intermediate, and soft. Since it can be relatively difficult to determine the hardness of the paint on your vehicle at home, it's recommended to start with the lowest abrasive grade and only move to more aggressive compounds if you do not get satisfactory results. Modern clear coat finishes are generally only 1.5-2 mils thick, so care must be taken to avoid removing any more material than necessary. It may require some additional effort on your part, but this can significantly reduce the risk of paint damage. Consumer-grade polishing products are designed for safe use on any paint hardness, so this is less of a concern when choosing the right polishing chemicals for home use.

Once you have picked the right polish for the job, use a foam or microfiber polish applicator pad and about a tablespoon of polish and work the product into the paint. Don’t push hard on the pad or use your fingertips, but instead flatten your fingers to spread out the contact area across the pad. Working in small sections in a circular motion, polish until a thin film develops on the surface of the panel. Once you’ve completed this step, use a microfiber cloth to buff the film from the panel before it dries to a haze, then move on to the next section of the vehicle. Once the entire vehicle has been polished to your satisfaction, you should be ready to move on to the final step: waxing.

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How to Wax Your Car at Home

Buffing after waxing removes excess product and haze to reveal a deep, lustrous shine.

Waxing your vehicle is typically the final step in the detailing process, and wax can help protect the freshly-polished surface of the vehicle against debris, contaminants, and UV rays to keep it looking better even longer. Regular waxing can also reduce how often the vehicle needs to be polished, helping you save time in your detailing routine. There are a few different types of wax products and ways to wax your vehicle, and we’ll discuss these options and procedures below. This is a general guide, so as always, be sure to read the instructions on the wax product you choose to determine the appropriate application procedure to wax your car by hand.

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Spray Wax

Spray Wax

The major benefit of spray wax is that it can be applied very easily, though its results may not last as long as other, more labor-intensive wax products. Spray wax can be sprayed on each panel or section of the car and worked in by hand using a dampened microfiber cloth. Once the product has been worked into the panel, simply flip the microfiber towel over and buff. Some spray waxes are even engineered with a no-buff design and can simply be sprayed on the vehicle and allowed to dry, or can be sprayed onto the wet surface of the vehicle right after a wash. Check out our video on how to apply ceramic spray wax to see this process demonstrated.
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Liquid Wax

Liquid Wax

Liquid wax requires more effort to apply than spray wax, but typically provides longer-lasting protection. Since the process will be generally the same for both liquid and paste waxes, we’ll cover the process to apply both of these products in the next section.
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Paste Wax

Paste Wax

Paste wax is considerably more labor-intensive to apply than both spray and liquid waxes, but the results often last longer and offer better protection and appearance between details. To apply liquid or paste wax, use a damp foam applicator pad with a small amount of wax and apply to a small area of the vehicle, buffing in circles until the area is covered in product. You can reapply as needed to ensure complete coverage, and then wipe the film off with a microfiber towel. You will want to be very thorough when removing leftover wax, and ensure that you check the panel from various angles to be certain you’ve removed all of the remaining product to prevent a haze from forming on the panel. Continue this on every panel of the vehicle until all of the finished surfaces have been waxed, and then stand back and admire all of your hard work.
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How to Shine Tires

Tire shine, also called tire dressing, is the final step in making your wheels and tires look brand new. There are a few varieties of tire shine available, but typically the differences come down to whether they are solvent- or water-based. Water-based tire shine is typically less likely to damage surfaces and is overall safer for use on all vehicles, but a little research into your vehicle’s wheel construction and finish may help you make the best decision.

Read the instructions on the tire shine product you’ve purchased to ensure you know the necessary steps, and if it is solvent-based, wear disposable gloves to protect your hands. Some tire shines may simply be sprayed on and allowed to dry, while others will include a specific applicator for use with the product. If your tire shine requires an applicator, typically the application process is very simple and may only require you to moisten the applicator with product and wipe it over the sidewall of the tire. Tire shine should never be used on the tread of the tire, as it will not only quickly wear off, but can also cause slick spots and result in a loss of control. The tire shine will need to sit for the amount of time recommended on the packaging to soak into the tire. In some cases, you will need to wipe off the excess tire shine with a sponge or clean cloth. This can help prevent an oily buildup that will attract dirt and brake dust, and will keep your tires looking great even longer.


How to Keep Your Car Looking Its Best

Detailing your car at home not only saves money over time, but can also keep your vehicle looking its best at all times. Between full details, it’s still a good idea to regularly wash your vehicle to remove any dirt or debris, and you can also use an instant spray detailer for touch-ups as needed. Check out the other resources in our How-To Hub, including how to clean your car interior and exterior. It’s important to not let contaminants, such as bird droppings, to sit on the surface of your paint, as the droppings can bond with the surface and require polishing to completely restore the finish. You can pick up all the tools and appearance chemicals you need to keep your vehicle looking its best at O’Reilly Auto Parts.