welcome back everybody to stauffer garage and today we're going to discuss the top
detailing mistakes that i have witnessed in the past with friends with family with
people that i've watched clean cars and also mistakes that i have made until i learn the
proper way to do things which is part of this whole detailing journey and why i want to share
this video with you guys so you can improve your detailing game and make sure you're washing your
car and cleaning it properly now the first mistake i want to talk about today is washing your car
in direct sunlight and the reason why that is a bad thing to do is one when you first
spray your car with water that water is going to dry which is going to create water spots
it's not going to get rid of any of that dirt because it's going to re-dry back to that surface
and then when you wash your car with soap and you put that soap on the surface to lift that dirt up
off the paint to rinse it off that soap will now dry back onto the paint creating the same problem
that you had in the first place like i mentioned earlier the water spot issue water spots can etch
into your paint they can cause a bigger issue than you can imagine you know with hard water
especially it's just something you want to avoid so after you drive your car for a while if your
car is hot and warmed up let your car sit let it cool down before you wash your car and if you can
wash your car in the afternoon after the sun has started to set in the sky behind your
house or in the shade at least lower in the sky like four o'clock typically is like not a bad
time to do it or early in the morning when the sun is just starting to come up and you have a little
bit of time like an hour to get the car washed before it gets super hot and the sun gets high
in the sky so that is the first mistake that i typically see is make sure you wash your car
out of direct sunlight and when the car is not hot now the next mistake that i want to talk about is
how to wash your car properly from the top of the car to the bottom one of the biggest things
that you don't want to do is start at the bottom of your car start at the bumper start at the lip
of the side skirt of your car or the bumper where all that exhaust and dirt gets caked on the car
you always want to start washing your car from the top to the bottom and then from the top to
the bottom you want to make sure you do the front and rear last and the main reason why is like i
mentioned you have all of that dirt all of that road grime debris bugs everything else and as you
get lower in the car you're going to have more and more of that dirt on your car if you ever notice
when you wash your car your roof is least dirty part of your car typically or the top of your
trunk or the top of your hood those are always the least dirty portions of your vehicle so by
doing those first you're not transferring any of that lower dirt onto your sponge and running
the risk of taking that dirt on your sponge and carrying it to the top of the car where you never
had that issue in the first place now one other mistake i typically see and that you want to avoid
is you want to make sure you do not wash your car in circular motions or against the airflow across
your vehicle now let me explain now when you're driving down the road and you're going through the
air the air is coming over your front bumper over the roof of the car and over the trunk and over
the top or across the sides like this if you wash your car up and down or in circular motions any of
the dirt or dust that goes across your car's paint when you're going is going in the direction across
your car now if you wash it this way now you're creating additional scratches in the opposite
direction so now you're creating more scratches now if you wash your car in the same direction
you're less likely to induce further scratching that is going to be more visible whereas if
you wash in the direction of airflow across your vehicle you minimize that risk now you can always
run the risk of scratching your car when you wash it but if you can minimize the different
directions it does help make it less visible and that is what is causing those swirl marks that's
what they're called swirl marks is when you see that swirling type effect of scratches on a car's
paint and the sad part is a lot of new cars that come from a dealership they run it through that
car wash and they get them brand new which that's always a big no-no so do not use drive-through car
washes and always wash your car in the direction of airflow across your vehicle the next mistake
is washing your wheels and tires last you want to do that first and the main reason why you want to
do it first is one wheels and tires are always a pain in the butt brake dust when it gets caked on
there and hardened from getting hot it's really hard to get off so if you get that out of the way
first one it's easier to get it done with instead of saving it for last for that reason but two when
you clean the wheels and tires there's a lot more dirt and grime and brake dust on those and when
you fling you know your your brushes around and you you're cleaning them after you wash your car's
paint you run the risk of spraying all of that dirt back onto the paint that you just washed
so if you do the dirtiest portion of the car first which is the tires that's in contact with the road
do those first to minimize that over spray or over spreading of that dirt if you will onto
the paint after you clean it now another mistake that i see is not cleaning your wheels and tires
properly typically what i see is people just clean the outside face clean the outside face
of the tire and call it a day for me personally that is not enough because what can happen is on
the inside of those spokes you get a lot of build up and that's why i have flexible brushes to reach
in there clean the backsides clean the inside of that wheel barrel clean that brake caliper
all of those different things to make sure that that dirt and grime doesn't get built up because
i don't know if you've ever checked your wheelbarrows but typically on a used car
that doesn't get that kind of you know service or that kind of attention that inside barrel will get
lots of dots of brake dust buildup and dirt that gets caked in there and when it gets
hot in there from your brake disc and your brake caliper stop in your car
that stuff starts getting solidified and caked on there to the point where it is really really hard
to get off and if you've ever done this before and ever clean the wheel barrel on a used car
you know exactly what i'm talking about that stuff is super hard to get off sometimes and sometimes
you have to take the whole wheel off the car to even get enough room to get a drill brush or you
know chipping it off with some sort of you know hard object or hard knife or something make sure
you have the proper tools for cleaning your wheels and the other big thing is if you have polished
rims or a face that is a very scratch prone surface do not use a drill brush do not use a hard
bristle brush do not use anything that is metal of a handle or anything like that the brush that
i use is very soft bristled plus it is a plastic head on it so that way if you do knock it into
the you know the face of the rim you're not going to scratch it or chip it or anything like that so
when it comes to you know cleaning your wheels make sure you have the proper tools and the proper
products to make sure you get that brake dust broken down and cleaned up properly now the other
mistake that i see and you guys have seen it in my videos after i do a disaster detail and when i did
my tool cleanup video my vacuum gets absolutely filthy it gets disgusting and if you clean your
car and you use it over and over again you need to make sure that you regularly empty out your vacuum
make sure your filter is clean make sure you rinse out your hose make sure you clean and take
care of your tools and that's a broad statement for all the tools you use but i'm specifically
talking about your vacuum here because what can happen over time is one it can get moldy it can
get smelly if you suck up any liquids as that filter gets clogged you get less suction power
it gets less effective at removing dirt from your car make sure you clean out your tools make sure
you take care of all of your equipment that you use for your detailing if you have watched my
videos and if you haven't you need to go check out all of the disaster deep cleans that i've done in
the past because you will be blown away with the type of stuff i find in my videos but the biggest
suggestion that i've always talked about in mine is removing the seats from your car and the main
reason why i say that is not to remove your seats if you don't need to but make sure you clean
underneath your seats you will be amazed at the type of stuff i personally find but even on a used
car that's in good condition the amount of crap that you can find underneath the seat because when
you're driving between the center console and the seat you'll have stuff that falls between there
when you're getting it out on the other side just stuff gets accumulated underneath your
seat without you even knowing and that is a big portion of the car that if you keep clean it's
just an added little benefit that you definitely need to make sure because that's where food or
other things will get stuck underneath there and you'll be wondering where the smell is coming from
that's a good spot to look always make sure when you're vacuuming your car you get the tiny hose
attachment this one does a great job at getting into those tight spots between your center console
but also underneath your seats so lift your seat up as high as it can move it forward and back
tilt it every which direction so that way you have as much room underneath there as possible
to get all of those crumbs and all of that dirt and that leads into the next mistake which is
drying your car with just a regular old microfiber towel one of the biggest things i can suggest
is picking up a drying towel from you know your favorite store or from foxclean.com i have a whole
batch on order right now that is hopefully going to be here in the next month or so but my drying
towels that i like to use and you'll see here in these shots they're super large they're very heavy
and when you drop them on the car you literally just have to slide them across the paint surface
and it will soak up all of that water that one towel can literally dry the entire outside surface
of a car and it makes it so much easier just to have one towel to use for that specific task
and make sure you don't let it hit the ground make sure you don't use it on your wheels and tires
but if you just use it on the outside paint that towel then can be hung up to dry
or lightly washed to be used for the next detail but my biggest suggestion is make sure you have a
drying towel specifically just for drying your car now the next mistake i see and that i talk about
in my videos regularly is that vacuuming is like the 80 20 principle 20 of the effort by vacuuming
gives you eighty percent of eighty percent of the results for a clean car just by vacuuming
regularly on a weekly basis even will make your car look amazing make it look like new just by
getting all that dirt and debris that kind of gets in your car and cleaning out all that trash
is a great thing to do on a regular basis and it's something that is typically missed and just
kind of gets put off to the wayside vacuuming on my opinion only takes 10 minutes 15 minutes tops
to get done so have a friend have you know your spouse or your kids help you just get it done real
quickly and getting your kids involved with that process helps make sure that they learn the tips
and advice that you're learning as well and making sure that they have good habits as they get older
and when they get to driving age which is scary to be honest because as a dad i don't even want to
think about my kids driving at this point but just having your car vacuum is one of the biggest tips
that i can recommend with keeping your car clean and detailed on a regular basis now related to the
tool thing take care of your brushes this includes your wheel brushes and your tire brushes your
detailing brushes any brush that you use inside your car your drill brushes for instance take care
of those products take care of those items now for what i do is i take my detailing brushes and i sit
them in a thing of all-purpose cleaner dilute it and just let it sit in there for you know an hour
and then i agitate them inside there and then just rinse them off with water it's real quick and easy
but like i mentioned taking care of your tools ensures that your next detail you are ready for
plus you're not taking any of that old dirt from a previous clean and bringing it into another clean
afterwards so make sure you're always taking care of your tools is kind of the main point here now
another mistake and i have been guilty of it myself i will admit it happens sometimes when
you get lost in the whole process of cleaning your car and that is why it is a good reason to have a
step-by-step process written down on paper so that way you can follow it as you go to make sure you
don't miss any of these steps in the direction and within the process that you're supposed to follow
now the next mistake i see is when it comes to using microfiber towels microfiber towels if you
use them safe for your wheels and tires you don't want to use that same towel for the next detail
even after it's washed for polishing your paint or buffing off a wax and the reason why is that towel
that you just use on your wheels and tires no matter how hard you try to clean it you still run
the potential of taking that sand and dirt from that dirtier portion of the oil and bring it onto
a part of your cart that you really do not want to use it for so for me personally i have different
types of microfiber towels different colors that i use for different portions of the vehicle and
then even if i use the same towels that i use on the outside of the car for the inside
i dedicate towels for each portion of the car so i have my towels for buffing and polishing
and for waxing for that fine detailing portion of it i have interior towels i have those grimy
towels that i can use that are maybe my older ones that are starting to get a little bit degraded
i use those for those dirty super nasty things that if they do become too dirty i can just chuck
them because they're already at end of life and then i have drying towels which are larger thicker
towels that i only use for that sort of thing or i have a drying towel just for the wheels and rims
after the car has been washed so make sure when you're detailing your car you have towels
allocated for certain categories and as you kind of get more into the detailing game
you'll kind of get more towels and accumulate more products and that's kind of the best way
that i can suggest that you do your detailing journey is start with a few things and slowly
start building up over time until you have this huge arsenal of stuff arsenal of stuff that you
can use for certain portions of your vehicle now the next mistake that i see is not using a
dedicated car glass cleaner like this this is from stoner's invisible glass and the main reason why
you want to use a dedicated cleaner for your car is this one is ammonia free so like windex or you
know other glass cleaners that you use in your home they have ammonia in them and that ammonia
will rip up your plastic if you have overspray onto your plastic panels it will degrade rubber it
will also tear up your tint so you do not want to use an ammonia product on the inside of your car
period especially not in your glass because one it will leave streaks which will make it hard to see
at nighttime or in the day if you have streaks on your inside of your windows but an interior glass
like this i've used the same product for over 20 years this stuff kicks butt now if you enjoyed
today's video go and hit that subscribe button down below and also i want everybody to comment
their top detailing tip or mistake they've done and how to prevent it down below in the comments
so that way we can all increase our detailing knowledge for me personally i always learn new
stuff about detailing i'm always researching new things and for you guys i'm sure you guys agree
that you learn new stuff on this channel and if we all collaborate down in the comments and
give those tips and suggestions it's only helping everybody out so go ahead and leave those comments
down below and if you like this type of video as well on this channel give this video a thumbs up
that way i can know that you guys want to see more of this type of content because i can give
you tons more detailing tips and mistakes on everything that i've personally made and that
i've learned that i can share with you and on that note i will see you guys this saturday bye guys