Detailing

I have taken immaculate car of this car and personally detailed it on a regular schedule since the day I brought it home. The car is garaged at night and if it can't be garaged I would keep it covered.

The car is waxed every 3 months and has been detailed every 6 months. This car is literally in new condition. You can park it next to my new one and you'd be hard pressed to guess which one was 2 years old. The leather has been conditioned every 6 months and is in new condition.

The car has been through a commercial car wash no more than 4 times in it's history. Whenever I would take it to the dealer I always asked them not to wash it. Why? Because the dealer and commercial car washes will not wash the car with the same attention to detail I have. 

The car was washed weekly, more frequently if required, with a boars hair brush. Why use this type of brush? This brush is probably the safest way to clean surface grime from your car's exterior. Boar hair is the only natural hair that can keep its shape without falling limp when soaked with water. Other "horse hair" brushes are stiffened with nylon which, like polyester, can scratch your surface. Manufacturing this brush is very time consuming. First you have to catch and shave a boar! Then each hair is hand collected, lined up with the split ends out and placed by hand into the hard plastic block. The ends are then flagged (splitting the ends again) to make them even softer. Just a quick shake in water will free the dirt, letting it drop to the bottom of your bucket. 

Here's a picture of the board I use to keep track of what service/detail needs to be done and when.

I also use a spilt bucket. One side of the bucket contains car washing soap, the other side contained rinse water. After each panel was washed with the brush I would rinse the brush in the rinse water before putting it in to the soap water. This way not dirt or contaminants would get in to the soapy water. Just another step to ensure the finish to the car was not damaged.

Every 3 months the car received a coat of wax. This was applied with a Bosch DA multispeed polisher. Why use this tool? Bosch makes some of the best hand tools available. The speed could be adjusted and would never fluctuate so I am assured a consistent finish. A DA polisher does not leave swirl marks or damage the paint. Therefore I was able to get the quality of a hand wax job with the consistency of a machine.

Every 6 months the car was washed with Dawn (to remove old wax), polished and rewaxed

Once a year the car was washed with Dawn, clayed (read about claying here), cleaned with a cleaner polish, polished and waxed.

For me, buying a black car was a labor of love. Cleaning the car was rewarding, relaxing and therapeutic. Nothing beats a freshly detailed and waxed black car!