After the winter months, our vehicles become very dirty and the warmer months are the perfect time to bring your exterior surfaces back to life. In this video, I highlighted some quick shots from my larger detail process, I started with a thorough cleaning to remove built-up grime and moved to a light polish that restores clarity and gloss. The goal here is not heavy correction, but a quick refresh to the finish.
I start with the Bilt Hamber Touch-less and the Koch Chemie Gentle Snow Foam with the IK e Foam Pro 2. The Touch-less allows me to remove a great deal of contamination without ever touching the paint. Just foam up with the e Foam Pro 2 unit, let it dwell onto the paint and rinse away. After this, I use the Gentle Snow Foam and perform a hand wash, working panel by panel (from top down). This helps remove any left over contamination, especially on high traffic areas like around wheel wells, lower door panels, etc. During this process I target the paint, glass and trim areas, moving to the wheels and tires after.
I had some Koch Chemie Magic Wheel Cleaner left, which made quick work of any light iron deposits and brake dust on the rim surface.
Once the surfaces were clean and dry, I moved into polishing. I already had a layer of EXO on the surface that was on its last legs, so the paint was already in good shape. I used the Liquid Elements Centriforce Polishing Pad and the Machine Polish Ultra Finish to perform a light polishing step to refresh the paint surface. The Gtechniq Panel Wipe was used to remove any polishing oils left on the surface and prep the area for the next step.
To lock everything in, I finish things off with Gtechniq CSL topped with EXO for that slick, high gloss look and long lasting protection. This was applied to all painted areas, the wheels, and any hard, plastic trim pieces. For any rubber, textured plastic tires, the Gtechniq T1 was my choice.
Overall this process was fairly easy, but simple in terms of the products used and steps needed to not only refresh the exterior, but leave it protected for the coming months. Below, you will find a full list of the products used, along with the video that shares some shots from this process.
Products Used:
- IK e Foam Pro 2
- Bilt Hamber Touch-Less
- Koch Chemie Gentle Snow Foam Xmas (Gfx)
- DIY Detail Cotton Candy Dream Wash Mitt
- The Rag Company The Liquid8r M22 Green
- Koch Chemie Magic Wheel Cleaner (Mwc)
- Griot’s Garage G9 Random Orbital Polisher
- Liquid Elements Centriforce Polishing Pad Green
- Liquid Elements Machine Polish Ultra Finish
- Gtechniq PW Panel Wipe
- Gtechniq EXO & Crystal Serum Light Box Kit
- Gtechniq MF1 ZeroR Microfibre Buff Cloth
- Gtechniq T1 Durable Tyre Gel
- Gtechniq G6 Perfect Glass