Just washing your car won't get the super shine and smoothness that is needed to preserve your paint. A smart auto enthusiast knows there are many steps involved when cleaning your automotive. In this article I am going to give a summary of the right steps when detailing your car.

#1 Pre-Wash
The first thing I do when I am cleaning my car is pre wash the car. The pre washes purpose is to get everything off the paint to prepare it for the clay bar. When you are washing the car it's also a good idea to get under the hood and degrease the engine if needed. Once you are finished washing it spray the soap off and don't dry it.

#2 Clay Bar
Smart auto enthusiastsclay bar. Next while the cars is still wet get a detailing clay bar and rub it back in forth not circles just doing sections of the car at a time. If needed use a spray bottle with a tiny bit of soap for lubrication. The clay bar will remove many imperfections, rail dust, and stuck on dirt leaving your paint very smooth.

#3 Final Wash
This is your final wash, make sure to spray the side view mirrors and get the door jams. After you are done washing dry it off immediately and open all doors, trunk, and hood and dry off all the door jams. If you forget to get the door jams water is liable to leak out later and ruin your perfect finish with water spots.

#4 Preparation for Wax
When the car is completely dry I like to go over the car top to bottom with a very strong tar remover. I try and make sure there is no bits of tar, paint, bugs or dirt that was missed earlier. The reason for this is because if you are using a motorized buffer it's really easy to get something caught in the pad that could easily make a devastating scratch that would ruin the finish of the car.

#5 Waxing
I don't want to plug a certain kind of wax but there are many good ones out there. Personally I use just Mothers, I find for the price it's hard to beat. Application of the wax can be done by hand or buffing machine. Buffing machines have the ability to remove scratches and bring up a higher shine than hand waxing but it takes more of a skill level for the average auto enthusiast.

#6 Clean up
After waxing it's very important to remove ALL of the wax on the auto. If you forget to remove wax it will harden and look terrible. I like to take a very clean towel and go over the whole car, making sure to open all the doors to get the jams. Get all the areas where the wax likes to hide. After I'm done I like to go over it one more time with a liquid quick wax in a spray bottle to give it one last coat and making sure to get all the remaining wax removed.