Handy Car Detailing Tips
Posted on November 25, 2011 | Customize Car Detailing.
Are you starved for tips and tricks regarding car detailing? You can now rest easy. This article has lots of stuff on the matter worth knowing. Pay attention and heed each titbit carefully. Below is some information you might find extremely useful.
If you’ve got a freshly painted or repainted car, inquire with the guy who did the paint job about the lifespan of the wax applied on the car. Newly applied coats must be cured initially to allow for the dissipation of solvents, which is part of the detailing process. Accidentally applying wax when the paint isn’t “cured” yet will cause the wax to interfere with the whole dissipation process. New cars don’t have this issue to deal with since car owners can opt not to wait for the waxing to be performed because paint on newly purchased cars is cured within the car manufacturer’s factory ovens.
When cleaning the car’s interior or exterior glass, use vertical motions to wipe the outside and horizontal ones for the inside. Using such motions makes cleaning more effective. In this way, it’s easier to determine which side is streaked or has signs of it.
For inspecting the car finish, consider using a photographer’s loupe. They’re capable of magnifying setups of glass so they are at the distance provided on the surface or top. This affords a deeper insight into the paint job that was done, allowing you to note more closely what isn’t ordinarily seen.
Upon seeing bird droppings, deal with them immediately. Their contents are harmful to car paint. This also explains the importance of waxing the car as it protects the car from such damage. Remember: car detailing is always priority number one.
What about washing windshield wipers? Use the sponge’s mitt part that’s reserved for applying stuff that’s harsh on surfaces. If you applied dressing treatments to the windshields, they would last a bit longer. It’s good to wipe off excess treatment residue to avoid it drying on the surface. Take care of windshield wipers upon detailing. After all, they’re a huge help during the snow and rain so it’s good to maintain them in tiptop order.
For the antenna’s mast, stick with graphite oil. A graphite coating makes elevating and lowering more efficient, minus any blockages. This in turn improves the reliability of the electric unit. Do this so the car antenna is easy to manipulate.
Application of spray products should be done on a piece of cloth instead of on the surface undergoing treatment. Smudges from useless spray parts are prevented by doing this. You also avoid spraying adjacent areas that could become an added concern and contribute to your workload. See to it that the cloth used is soft and gentle enough that scratches remain unnoticeable.
With well-detailed cars, license plate frames, bumper stickers, decals and other distracting items are discouraged. Such things only take away from the vehicle’s overall features. They also give the appearance of a car that doesn’t have good detailing work – and who wants that? The bottom line: take care of your car and it will deliver performance that will stay great for years.
The Best Way to Personalize Your Car Interior
Posted on November 21, 2011 | Customize Car Detailing.
The downside of the standardization of car interiors is that the your average car interior is very boring, whilst the wind tunnel has already made the outside of most cars look alike as well. Compare this to 50, 40, 30 or even 20 years ago, when you could easily find a car with a red, brown or green interior. Admittedly, the cars themselves looked more outrageous 50 years ago as well.
With mass produced items dominating our lives, it is no wonder that consumers are looking for something to make their mark and personalize the items they use. You can make a statement about your personality by showing the world your style. This explains the popularity of skins for smart phones and laptops
As was to be expected, marketeers at the big automotive firms are aware of this trend and in the past 10 years, we have seen an increase of cars that stand out from the crowd, such as the Volkswagen Beetle, the Mini Cooper, the Fiat 500 and more recently the Kia Soul. With the introduction of these vehicles also came the return of the decal.
Where 30 years ago you could see loads of cars like the Ford Capri, the Opel / Vauxhall Manta and the Volkswagen Golf with striping down the sides and all accessory shops selling striping kits for people to stick on their vehicles, this bit of the market had all but disappeared in recent years. But the new millennium saw a return of the decal, now mainly on the roof and bonnet of the car.
However, with all the emphasis on personalizing the exterior of the car, the interior of most new cars is still fairly bland. You have to put a flower in the Beetle’s vase to get a little bit of colour in the interior.
The interior of a car is slightly more difficult to personalize. One can get the seats, steering wheel and gear lever gaiter or even the total interior redone in leather by a trim shop, but that is a very costly affair. A cheaper alternative and one that seems to be very popular is to add accessories to a car. This can be in the shape of an air freshener or furry dice hanging off the rear view mirror, or having a nodding dog (or as we recently spotted, a nodding Elvis) on the parcel shelf.
One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to introduce a bit more colour into your car, is to have a set of bespoke car mats made. These can be made from colourful carpet or finished with colourful accents, such as leatherette binding and embroidered motifs. And mats will protect the rest of your interior as well.