XPEL Paint Protection installation car wash

Detailing Thousand Oaks

We often get asked about our process for detailing a vehicle that is wrapped in PPF, coated with ceramic or just the general way to properly wash a vehicle. Here at American Wrap Co in Newbury Park CA we are always more than willing to help our customers have the best possible understanding on Automotive detailing.

We don’t look at this as just a car wash. We consider it the art of vehicle detailing. The steps were going to describe in this write up will cover a routine maintenance wash for any vehicle.

To begin the wash we always recommend using a pressure washer held about 1 foot away from the vehicle’s surface. Rinse the vehicle from the top down. This is important to keep all contaminants running down towards the ground. Be sure to thoroughly rinse, really focus on getting the surface as clean as possible during the rinse process.

We then use a two bucket method to soap the vehicle. Our soap of choice is Shine Supply Shine Soap. For ceramic coated vehicles Shine Supply Shift Soap is our Go to! We then foam cannon the entire vehicle. Then using a Microfiber Madness wash mitt we scrub from the top down. After a 4sq foot section, we rinse the mitt in our rinse bucket, followed by a dunk into the clean soap bucket. Continue scrubbing, rinsing and dunking in the soap bucket.

Once the vehicle is totally scrubbed you can then give it one last thorough rinse with your pressure washer. Please note that depending on how dirty the wheels are you should clean them before starting on the paint to avoid water sitting on the paint unnecessarily long potentially causing water spots. We will have a separate blog on wheel care! Once you’ve completely rinsed off all the soap its time to dry!

Dry the vehicle with some sort of microfiber drying towel. Again start from the top and work your way down. It is preferable to not do this in direct sunlight. If you are in direct sunlight be sure to move quickly to avoid water spots. Once the majority of the water is off the car we use a compressed air blower and blast out all the nooks and crevices of the vehicle as well as the door jams.

Lastly, the windows are cleaned with Shine Supply Sunshine and we wipe the vehicle down with fresh towels and a product like Ride Shine, Clutch Silica, or Throttle. Various detail sprays with specific applications. Ride shine is great for raw paint, Clutch is a great rejuvenation to ceramic coating, and throttle is amazing on paint protection film or clear bra!

I hope this was educational. Please stay tuned for more! Thank you for reading and good luck detailing!

Tyler

American Wrap Co Thousand Oaks CA

For all your automotive detailing needs in thousand oaks please give us a call at 661-878-5587

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Tyler O'Hara

Owner/Founder at American Wrap Company

Ever since I was a young boy in elementary school I have dreamt of working on cars. My mom still has a folder of sketches that were takin away from me because I was drawing cars during class. I have always had a deep passion for cars, trucks, motorcycles and any thing fast! When I’m not working I love to escape from the city with my dogs and go camping, fishing, surfing, dirt biking and anything else outdoors and away from the city! I was born and raised in Thousand Oaks California and have lived in Ventura County most of my life. I was raised by a middle class blue collar family and was taught to have strong values. I have a very high level of respect, honesty, integrity, kindness to all people and compassion.

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