Why Car Detailing Is More Than Just For Appearance
The truth lies behind health, professionalism, and car value
What You Need To Know
Being a passionate car owner, nothing is too much for your car. If you’re a car enthusiast or you just got your first car, you might want to consider detailing your car. You might have some misconceptions about car detailing. There is a lot more to detailing a car than just wiping and vacuuming the seats and dashboard. When it comes to detailing a car each car detailer has their own car detailing process. We’re going over what a car detail includes and why you might want to consider detailing your car. So let’s get right into it.
Car detailing is the act of performing a set of actions that will help keep your car maintained and protected. This keeps your car safe from a variety of hazards for the exterior and interior. The goal is to remove any blemishes or smudges within the interior. For the exterior making sure to polish wax or coat the surface of the vehicle to maintain a beautiful shine. Whether the blemishes are visible or not, detailers will find a way to clean them.
Detailing Broken Down
The car detailing process involves two main areas, interior and exterior. We will dive into what area a care detail will cover. There is a lot of consideration when it comes to a detailer’s approach towards maintaining the longevity of your vehicle. Detailers take extreme care and specific steps toward extending the lifespan of your vehicle. Your detailer should provide extensive knowledge about proper techniques and tools or products that will best be for your car.
Interior
The interior detailing of the car involves deep cleaning of the entire inside cabin. Your detailer will use a variety of cleaning tools like steam cleaners, vacuums, deep brushes and more! Your detailer will vacuum all surfaces including the seats, carpets, and even inside your trunk. After that, the carpet or fabric materials will receive a brush and scrub to remove any stains, deep stuck-on dirt, or grime. This is when the removal of fungus or mould would occur as well. Finally a wipe down of all surfaces, including inner windows, door panels, the steering wheel and dashboard. The car interior is just as important as the exterior, (you spend most of your time inside the car anyway) even though we love it when the exterior looks exceptionally clean.
Exterior
When it comes to the exterior of a car this involves not only cleaning but restoring the original condition of the car’s exterior features including the finish, tires, windows, and any other exterior components. The type of detailing products and techniques used will be based on the vehicle’s car paint condition and the type of finish. The exterior detail starts with a car wash, followed by a high powered exterior wash with soap. When dry we rub the vehicle with a clay bar to remove any stains or watermarks. Afterwards, the vehicle’s exterior will receive a final polish. Polishing occurs with an orbital polisher and a detailer’s recommended polishing compound. Finally, your vehicle gets a sealant or ceramic coat. This helps protect, maintain and keep the coat of your vehicle safe.
If you’re interested in learning more about ceramic coating be sure to check out our article: Ceramic Coating – The Best Choice For Any Car Lover.
Depending on the package there may include tire dressing and tire shine in certain car detailing service packages.
Why consider car detailing?
Don’t stay stuck on the fence about getting a car detail. Your car will eventually depreciate (I know it’s sad). There are so many benefits to getting a car detail. Trust us, it will help your car last much longer. Here are more reasons to detail your car.
Health
Germs are all around us and especially in our cars they can seriously affect the air quality in your vehicle if you are not careful. Your car houses millions if not billions of germs and allergens that can cause you to get sick or possibly worse. An average Canadian can spend up to 1 hour, every day on the road. That is a lot of time for you and any germs to come in contact so be aware of how clean the quality of the air you are breathing is. Your car also carries things other than you; your kids, your pets, food & drinks. These things (aka “your beautiful children”), are unfortunately host to a plethora of germs, bringing many opportunities for germs to appear and spread in your car.
Be honest with yourself and think of the last time you TRULY cleaned your car. We’re not talking about picking up all the garbage and wiping the seats, we mean cleaning everything from the dashboard, cup holders, car floors, glove compartments, change holder, handles, etc. It’s a lot to clean and we aren’t shaming you for it, just know that not deep cleaning your car regularly may lead to unknown health issues. Whenever you turn the fan on in your car, you are breathing in the air from the ventilation system of your car. Lastly, be aware that the air coming from the vent may have a wide array of germs, dust, mould and emissions from your vehicle. All these things are reasons why it is extremely crucial to detail your car to prevent these issues before they become too serious.
Sick Car Syndrome, which usually occurs in toddlers and small children can be seriously harmful if left unnoticed or untreated. Keep your eye open for the symptoms in your car. Consider that your car vent could be dirty and seriously take your car to check it out or get it cleaned.
Sick Car Syndrome can cause:
- Nose, throat and eye irritations
- A stuffy nose or sinus issues
- Having headaches or migraines
- Feeling fatigued or lethargic after or during your ride
- If you have asthma already it can increase the likeliness of asthma attacks
Professionalism
When it comes to your car, it’s more than your tool for transportation, it’s your status symbol. It’s how you want others to see. Detailing your car helps people see you as a professional that takes care of themself and their car as well. People don’t just look at one thing to make a decision or judgement about you. They take in as much as they can to make an assumption. This is why the first impression of your car can make a huge difference.
People will immediately respect you and understand that you mean business when you detail your car. Imagine yourself pulling up to a job interview with a dirty car. Realistically an employer might not care that the exterior isn’t that clean. Comparatively, if they see the inside of your car and it’s dirty, that may leave a terrible impression. Ask yourself WHO wants to get in your car? Consider how your car looks to others, if that’s important to you then you might want to detail your car.
Car value
Your car will, unfortunately, depreciate over time, but this doesn’t mean you can’t increase the value of your car. So your plan is to try to sell or trade in your vehicle. Depending on the detail package it will dictate the value increase of your car. A person looking to buy a car from you, if they know what they’re doing should pop the hood to make sure the engine, motors and all else under the hood is free of grease, oil or grime. It helps sell and increase your vehicle’s value when a buyer sees a clean exterior, interior and engine. If you are looking to sell your vehicle, consider detailing your car to get the most value out of your car before selling/trading it.
Professional car detailing is no joke and we take it seriously here at PAD. Whether you need regular car detailing, paint correction, a steam cleaning + exterior polish custom package or anything in-between we have the expertise and passion to handle any need your car has. Talk to one of our detailing specialists today at PAD by contacting us here. We look forward to setting you on your journey to attaining your dream car today.