If you’re a car enthusiast, you probably treat your vehicle to a thorough valet every once in a while, but the cost of regular detailing can really add up over time. With the right combination of products, valeting your car at home can be more cost efficient than getting it done professionally, and achieve results which are just as spectacular – plus, you’ll enjoy the added satisfaction of knowing you got those results yourself.
To help you get started, we’ve put together a simple guide on how to valet your car at home, including some handy tips and product recommendations.
Interior Cleaning
While cleaning the interior of your car might not be quite as rewarding as polishing the bonnet to a shine, it’s sure to improve your driving experience. Here’s our step-by-step guide to a spotless car cabin.
Clear Out Your Car
Get rid of the coffee cups, crisp packets and any other debris rattling around, as well as any maps or cables which might get in the way while you’re cleaning. If your car has floor mats in the front or back seats, you should also take these out.
Vacuum The Interior
Once you’ve de-cluttered, it’s time to vacuum. Getting your hoover out from the house can be a logistical challenge, so if you can’t manage this, why not invest in a handheld vacuum cleaner? Hoover your car seats thoroughly – getting right into the creases – and pay extra attention to the carpets under the seats where dirt gathers.
Clean The Floor Mats
If you have carpet floor mats, beat out and hoover them before you put them back in. If you have rubber or vinyl floor mats, use a dedicated rubber car mat cleaner with a brush to get the dirt out of the grooves and restore the shine.
Dust Down The Surfaces
Next up, it’s dusting. To take things to the next level, you could apply a specialist dashboard cleaner first, before using a rag or duster to wipe down all the hard surfaces in the car, from your gearbox to the radio, dashboard and car doors.
Clean The Windows
Once the dusting is done, you can focus on the glass. With a glass cleaner and a cloth, gently buff the dirt off the inside of your car’s windows, as well as the windscreen, until they shine. Be sure to check your cloth or rag for any debris that could scratch your glass first.
Sanitise and Air Out
To really get that new car smell, you might also want to air out your vehicle after you’ve cleaned it, by leaving the doors open for a little while. Bad smells can often be caused by bacteria lurking in your air conditioning vents, so you could also look into an air con cleaner, which would blast away any mustiness.
Exterior Cleaning
There’s an abundance of advice out there when it comes to valeting the exterior of your car, and even more products to choose from. That’s why we’ve broken down our fool proof steps to a DIY valet in numbered list below:
Apply Snow Foam
Contrary to popular belief – the first step when washing your car isn’t a standard rinse. Apply a generous amount of snow foam all over your vehicle, then sit back and watch the magic happen. Snow foam will swiftly lift any dried on dirt and grit from the surface of your car – then you can rinse it off.
Shampoo The Exterior
After this, choose a car shampoo and mix it with the correct proportion of water in a bucket (check the label to find the recommended ratio). This will create a slippy liquid which allows you to smoothly sponge down your car, getting rid of any remaining marks, but also making it easier to rinse afterwards.
Finish With A Wax
Your
car should now be clean as a whistle, but if you want to go one step further,
you can finish by using a car wax. Apply your product
of choice to the surface of your paintwork, and – with a damp microfiber towel
– rub the wax into the body of the car. You can buff off the excess using the
other clean side of the microfiber towel for maximum shine.
If you’re short on time, you could opt for a more low maintenance product, like
a pour on shine
concentrate,
which doesn’t require any buffing, and can be left to dry on its own after
application.
Clean The Wheels
Don’t forget your wheels! When you’re valeting your car at home, alloys and tyres are often overlooked, but there’s plenty of products out there to make detailing your wheels a breeze. Once you’ve cleaned your tyres, you can pick up a tyre shine spray and apply generously with a bristle brush, before wiping off the excess.
Interested in reading more about car cleaning? Take a look at our article on the Top 10 Car Care Products for some brilliant, affordable product recommendations.