Ignorant on what/how to keeping car looking new, both inside and outside. Please help?

Fuego

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First off, I am assuming there are lot of opinions on the best product, so I am not really asking for product recommendations, though I won't say no.

I really want to keep my civic and my wife's new Pilot looking new for as long as possible. This will be especially hard for her car as we have 2 young boys.

All I have ever done in the past is to take my car to the local car wash and spend 4-5 dollars with the hose, cycling through the various selections (water, wash, wax). Never done anything for the inside other than cleaning the windows and vacuuming from time to time

I want to take things to the next level. What do I need to do to keep the outside looking shiny and fresh? Wash/Wax? Towel dry? Waterless washing? rain-x on windshield? sealant (what's this?)?

What's a good schedule/routine to get into to keeping things looking good, both in and out?

What about the inside? Specifically, we both have leather seats (first time for both of us) and I have no idea how to take care of it. The dealer tried to sell us PermaPlate, but we turned it down. He did mention something about ArmorAll drying out leather, which would cause it to crack faster. So, what do we use to both clean and protect it. Additionally, in the Texas weather, it gets ridiculously hot in the car, so anything that can protect the leather in that heat is good too.

As you can see, I don't have a good idea on even where to start. Any help and suggestions are very much appreciated. I figure this might be a "try it and see if you like it" to some of the products, but I need a starting point.
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Hondaguy2582

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Look into ceramic coating the paint/glass/exterior surfaces. Prep the car(polish any defects, then apply the coating). Protection will last up to a year assuming you wash your vehicle at least weekly. Invest in a foam cannon and electric pressure washer. Use a microfiber chenille mitt for actually applying the soap to the car's surface. For general washing use Blue Coral Wash and Wax for maintenance washes, and use Purple Power Boat and RV wash when it is time to polish and apply your ceramic coating. I always blow dry with an electric leaf blower and use Meguiars Xpress Spray wax as a final detail spray(works great on all surfaces).

If you do not want to do the ceramic coating route, I would look up Klasse All in One Polish followed by Collinite 845 liquid wax. Will give you a great shine and 6 month protection with minimal effort.

Interior wise, any good shop vac to vacuum dust/dirt. I would invest in a good steamer like Vapor Chief Or Dupray(do your research on Autopia, but I own the Vapor Chief 100 and it is fantastic for cleaning dash and carpets. Even a cheap steamer from harbor freight would get you started). That is the fastest way to clean your car without resorting to chemicals. Apply 303 protectant to all interior rubber and leather surfaces to maintain the UV protection. That way you don't have to worry about the seats getting super sticky or overly oily. And remember, a little goes a long way.

Rule of thumb: Clean exterior and interior at least once a week if you want to keep it in pristine condition. If its overly dirty(and you will know), then wash it asap!

Hope this helps! PM me if you have any questions!
 

civicdabest-foo

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My toolkit for the interior:

1. Feather duster to brush off dust
2. Optical cleaner fluid to clean the rear view mirror and the touring trim's infotainment unit and the instrument cluster's plexiglass
3. Artists brush to clean nook and crannies between trim pieces
4. Can of compressed air to blow out dust from hard to reach spots and blow stuff that gets stuck in the perforations of the leather seats.
5. High power vac for sucking out particles
6. Important: Microfiber towels. Using a regular towel to wipe some of the surfaces can cause their material to yield resulting in visible scratches. The soft polyurethane coating on the plastic trim that is to the left of the shifter, the infotainment unit, the plexiglass on the instrument cluster are all easily scratched with mild pressure from a rough cloth or rag.
7. Important: Distilled water for the cleaning.

I don't use any sprays for the leather or the soft surfaces. No need for them if you take care of them in the first place.
 

OMGSIIK

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Buy some paint protection film for door cups and the sills to help protect from scuffs and scratches. I also went ahead and applied the clear door edge guards.
 


Captaindicki

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To keep leather in good condition, I use baby oil or leather lotion. For the interior I use a lambs wool duster and an assortment of unused paint brushes to sweep out the tight spots, as well as a vacuum for the carpets. I car wash every 2 weeks as well
 

SivicX

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Hopefully I can help! I've enjoyed detailing for a number of years and while I am no professional I will share my workflow that has proven to keep my cars looking new year after year. Keep in mind that I have a keep it simple attitude to detailing and have been through all products from walmart quality to professional detailing quality. I dont believe the hype for many of the detailing products out there so thats I have decided to keep my workflow, and materials simple. My workflow is simple and basically has proven itself (to me) to prevent swirl marks and excessive contamination.

First thing I suggest is to never, I repeat never, go to an automatic car wash. Get out the buckets once a week and interior detailing stuff every 3-4 weeks.

Step 1(Dependent on build up) is to hose off any excessive dirt and grim that will wash away with a steady stream from a garden hose. This prevents you from unintentionally dragging all that crap across your paint. This will typically be the rear section of the car and back sides of wheel wells. Side skirts behind front wheels as well.

Step 1/2 is wheels and tires. I use Meguiers Non-Acid Wheel and Tire cleaner cut to 10/1 in spray bottle. Wet the tires and wheels and spray entire thing. Get a scrub brush and work/agitate all the brake dust and dirt from the tires. When this is complete hose entire tire/wheel off the reapply cleaner to wheel only. Agitate with a soft brush or wheel woolie to loosen brake dust/contaminates. Hose off wheel then towel dry with a quaity microfiber. Complete all 4 wheels before moving on...You dont want to leave this step until after you wash the car, you could just move the dirt on to your clean paint.

Step 3 I then wash my car using Optimum Wash and Wax using the two bucket method. I work one panel at a time and dry as I go. One bucket clean water with grit guard and the other bucket of the Optimum/water mix. I swear by this stuff as it traps the dirt in polymer so your not scratching/swirling your paint work. Visit AutoGeek.com to view this product. Wash entire car this way.

Step 4 Open doors and detail the sills/jambs with the wash solution and make sure you dry this section really good as it can trap moister more then other pars of the car.

Step 5 Finish any drying you may have missed using a microfiber towel. Open the trunk and get all the water that was trapped in seals/spoiler/whatever. Open the hood and dry around the edge and seal. Drying should be done at this point.

Step 6. Spot detail any small areas your may have missed such as inside fuel panel, door jambs, rubber trim etc.. For this step I use Meguiers Ultimate Quik Detailer in spray form. One or two quick sprays will trap dirt and allow you to safely wipe away. You can also clay or your paintwork during this time to remove above surface contaminants. If your unfamiliar with this step I highly suggest researching this further and/or watching a few youtube videos. Keep in mind that claying will strip away most waxes. I typically do a quick clay to paint once every two months to keep paint smooth and a much deeper clay 1x a year.

Step 7. Dress tires and wheels. For this step you need to double check to make sure tires are completely dry before applying tire dressing. I use Optimum Tire Gel to dress the tires. Using a foam tire applicator just drizzle a bead of gel on the pad and that should be enough to complete one tire. Wipe away any excess after 30 minutes. Doing this will prevent sling and getting your nice clean car covered in tire gel. Trust me, it happens and it sucks. Also use a clean mircrofiber towel and quik detailer to the wheels to add the final shine and remove any water spots that may have formed.

Step 8. Depending on last time you clay/wax/sealed this could be the next step If so you should clay bar the entire vehicle. Take your time and get everything, its well worth it. After claying I tyipcally apply Meguiers Ultimate Liquid Wax by hand going one panel at a time. Allowing to haze for 5 minutes before hand buffing off with a clean microfiber. Although this isnt a traditional caranuba wax, it holds up for several months and looks awesome.

Step 9. If its not waxing and claying time I tyipcally apply Meguiers Ultimate Quick Wax Spray for maintenance between official waxes. Spraying one panel at a time and wiping away is all thats needed.

This covers my exterior workflow which is pretty basic. There is so much more to detailing then I wrote here such as engine bay, interior, undercarriage etc and the rabbit hole is very deep. I found autogeek.com to be a huge benefit when learning to detail cars better. Not only are they an online store but they also have a tone of how to's with videos and such. I probably missed some things but I hope this gets you started!
 

vmaxr35

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I professionally detailed for a long time and #1 thing besides all mentioned above is quality microfiber towels (look at theragcompany.com) and quality products and chemicals. Anything over the counter is consumer grade and not ment to last long or have the same effects. Phil at detailersdimain has some amazing products. I personally like most of the Nanolex Germany items. Their glass coating is awesome along with paint coatings for protection. Everyone wants to protect their investment and keep it looking great, don’t skip on quality items to do so. A little research and what was already mentioned, clay/decontaminate your vehicle. Trying to wax, seal, coat over contaminates will never yield the same look and will not protect for a fraction of the time. Another great product is hydrosilex for coating the vehicle super easy to use and works well. Hope it helps!
 

SoCalCivicSI

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If you want good products but don't want to spend a ton of money for waxes or sealers ect....use any McGUIRES or MOTHERS products, reasonably priced and perform well I've found.
 

Rickmeister 48

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First off , if your car is black, none of anything mentioned above will last longer than ten minutes. I know,lol
But now that I got lunar silver, as mentioned above , claying, then using a good was twice a year, all I have to use is some mguires waterless wash and wax with the microfiber towels about once a week and I'm pretty good to go. Little more work for the wheels depending on the weather. Lucas speed wax also works really well I've found it helps to keep junk from sticking to the paint.
Those car washes like you use, they usually don't clean anything other than clumps of mud or dirt for me. And the spot free rinse is a joke.
Like the guys said, two bucket method with a mitt, then dry with a waffle weave towel and you should be all set.
 

civicdabest-foo

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Whatever you do don't let tap water dry out on the car. Mineral residue like that is hard to take off later. Don't detail under the sun. Do it inside where water and solutions cannot possibly dry out on the paint and glass and plastic.
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