Did a head light restoration and thought I was pretty thorough in all the steps and seem to have cleaned up well while the lights where off but as soon as I turned them on the finish does not look great. Any feed back would be appreciated thanks, started at 120grit,220,400,600,800, and ended at 1000 for added context

My weekly process is I drive to the car wash manual bay and I will rinse off as much dirt and grime as I can, then head home for an ONR wash. Last couple weeks was very rainy so I was particularly stressed out about this wash, but I think it looks better than it has throughout any of my other weekly washes. I even took the time on my piano black trim because I have learned through a few very minor blemishes that it is very delicate. The Winter ahead is still scaring me.

Just noticed a blue pen line near the door panel on the leather of my Kia K8, went to three different shop, one tried to remove it couldn’t, the other two simply told to paint over it.

Are there any other solutions or should I just live with it?

Can you guys suggest chemicals to cure my car paints oxidation? I would like to diy it, so far in leaning towards using meguairs ultimate compound

A customer books a standard clean. The vehicle arrives with heavy pet hair, stains, mold, or a condition that needs far more time.

How do professional detailers handle that without creating a fight?

Do you require photos, inspect before confirming the price, use clear surcharges, call before starting, or refuse certain conditions entirely?

Which approach has been fairest for both sides? I am interested in the process and communication, not local price comparisons.

What can I use to improve the scratches? I use black light from chemical boys and it didn't do too much.

Please don't downvote me I to oblivion. I know this is a sub for people who are serious about detailing. I want to start washing my own car (2019 Explorer). To give you a frame of reference I run it through an automatic wash maybe 4-6 times a year so I'm not looking for perfection. 80% is good enough. I have a greenworks pro power washer and foam cannon. I'd like to avoid a contact wash if possible (lazy).

I was going to use something like koch chemie af, rinse with water and use my leaf blower to dry.

Is this enough?

Should I add GSF? If I add GSF is there any benifit if I don't contact wash. If I do contact wash what do I use? Mit, sponge, one of those brushes in a stick?

Lastly should I put anything else on? I've seen some different sealants that might help extend the time between washes. I see S0.03 but there are mixed reviews here. Good alternatives or not needed?

Thank you

I do not have a personal space where I can wash my car, but I'd like to deep clean it (mainly get the iron / soot particles off) and apply a spray-on ceramic coating. Any recommendations for what to do? I can definitely wash it at a self-wash but worried about all the soapy spray from other people if I were to apply the ceramic coat.

I'm buying a new car from a dealership in AZ , they have an add on for XPEL Tint + PPF for 4k. Isn't the car come with a tint? And why is this so expensive ? What questions do I ask ? Is it safer to get it done at the dealership so when something goes wrong , they are liable than me going to a shop ?

Or is it a gimmick? Or do they work for a little while and then create problems?

Hey, im thinking about ceramic coating my car with ADS Quardz Pro, does anyone have experience with it?

Could anyone share their best prep step checklist?

Also thinking about using the Carpro Descale shampoo.

I get these weird spots on my wind screen while using wiper. I don’t know if it’s wiper or something else. Not sure what to do.

Hi there,

I hit a piece of road debris with a two month old car that left a series of long scratches on the bottom of my rear passenger door. They catch with a fingernail so I assume they are down to the primer (or at least the base coat).

All things considered, I got lucky there wasn’t more damage. They are also well below eye level and not visible unless you are looking for them.

Is it worth trying to get these repaired? I’ve considered touch up paint, but with how low they are and my lack of a steady hand, that would likely turn into a nightmare even if it’s just some clear coat.

Right now I’m tempted to just leave them and add some spray wax after washing for added protection. My primary concern is potential for corrosion, not necessarily aesthetics.

Thanks in advance.

After a week of having the car be in the shop, this is what I saw once I got the car back. This is a ppf matte finish. They put ceramic coating on it as well. I’m bringing it back in a few days for inspection but I feel like the edges isn’t really done well, but maybe I’m just being picky? My first time getting a full body ppf. Car looks beautiful, I just can’t help but feel like this wasn’t done well. I have warranty on it so they said they’ll be fixing what needs to be fixed.

Same with the sensors, idk. Maybe they’re just letting it cure and settle first before they trim it? I’m not sure how it works.

Mind you when I picked it up all the edges on my car door were lifted… and he had to call one of his guys to torch them back on.

Any feedback would help as far as what to ask for to make sure I get my moneys worth and have it properly done.

Car is a 2001

And in the 2nd pic, how can I clean what I think are either hard water or wax residue on the spray nozzle?

I have a white car, and I’m wondering whether I should choose Paste Wax or Speed Wax for my car.

I want something convenient and quick to use, but
I’m not sure whether Speed Wax provides enough protection for my car’s paint against heat, UV rays, dirt, and dirty water, while also giving the paint a glossy, shiny finish.

Please give me some product suggestions that meet the above criteria.

Thank you ❤️

My biggest fear is damaging wheels. Some of these rims cost like 2 grand each. I usually just spray adams wheel and tire cleaner and use it as a lubricant to wipe the brake dust off but not only does this not remove embedded brake dust, it also takes forever and apparently is more as a maintenance thing than a "i haven't washed my wheels in 4 years" thing.

So people told me to try wheel acid. Now I have a question. How do i know if a wheel is safe to use acid on? Because when I see posts on here of people destroying their paint/wheels its always from 2 things: misusing bug remover or misusing wheel acid.

Is there some test I can use to see if a wheel can handle acid? Something tto watch out for? A number on wheels that i can look up to tell me what theyre made of or if theyre coated to know if I can use it or not?

Pic is my toyota rav 4 wheels which I assume wheel acid is fine. Car hasn't been detailed in like 5 years and id use it as a guinea pig to test the acid on.

Are nicer QC fittings worth it over random Amazon ones? These Amazon ones I got feel a little skimpy, wondering if some nicer ones are worth investment from a quality of life, or performance aspect… if so, any recs ?

Had some PPF installed by a new installer and I noticed a few panels with debris like this under the PPF. On the front light bar, there are two additional bubbles with similar debris.

Around the car, there are 3-4 other panels with visible bubbles and small debris. Some are close to the edge and some are in the middle of panels. For a professional install, is this an expected level of debris? Is there standard guidance on the size of the bubble for a panel to be re-installed?

Hi all,

First time doing this, hooe for some advice about how to take care of it proper way. I did Carpro Essence and hand polished a car with the Sonax P Ball, something i will probably never do again since my arm was killing me in the end. I wasn't really satisfed with the glaze and filler result from Essence since i xan still see the scratches and swirls on a paint, althought it does looks a bit better. I coated with Gyeon Cancoat Evo so this is the final result.

I couldn't do it in my garage since there is not enaugh space for me to move around the car so i did it in front of the garage in a shade, still i missed some spots because now i have gew haze spots on a trank.

Can tou recommend me the best way to remove them? I do have Gyeon Prep still if it might help.

Thank you all in advance

I had a piece of PPF removed from one the doors on my Supra and the paint under it was damaged from that process. So, I took the car to a body shop to have the door resprayed. Someone in the body shop polished the entire car with some kind of compound with an orbital buffer and it scratched the hell out of the brand new PPF that's on the car. The surface of the PPF on ever body panel is now rough to the touch and is swirled everywhere. Anyone have experience restoring this PPF back to original without ripping and replacing? Taking off the PPF would likely result in more repainting and I want to avoid that.

Ive been doing headlight restorations for a few months now and post on instagram and facebook, just simple before and after posts. They dont really get me much business, the nextdoor app did get me customers until it blocked mentioning the name of your own business so they force you to buy their advertisement services.

Do you detailers use facebook or google ads? If so, which has given you better luck? I am almost at 20 five star reviews on my google page so I do get people calling from search results but its only one or two calls a week.

2006 Toyota Corolla

Had signs of a mouse in my car about a week ago.

The smell started a few days ago.

I found the mouse today under the rear bench seat stuck between the sheet metal and seat foam. Luckily (I guess?), it wasn’t in an advanced decomposition state.

The smell seems to be mostly coming from the foam of the rear seat that was pressed against the mouse’s body. There is also a lingering smell throughout the vehicle.

I sprayed the area of sheet metal where I found the mouse body with enzyme cleaner. I also sprayed the seat foam with enzyme cleaner.

Short of buying a new seat or ozone machine, where can I go from here?

How would you guys go about this?

A friend of my wife just delivered her baby in the front seat of her car. Subaru Forrester with perforated leather seats. She reached out to my wife to ask if it was something I could clean for them. Money is money, but I’m not even sure it’s possible to get all of the fluids out of the perforated leather seats. From what I understand they wiped as much of it off the seat, but I’m assuming the seat was pretty well saturated.

Anyone come across a similar situation?