Car Cleaning Products: Top 10 Detailing Products To Take On Tour

With the right collection of the world’s best detailing products and accessories from here at Auto Finesse, it’s relatively easy to keep your pride and joy looking fresh when you’re detailing at home. But, then again, we’re not always at home, are we? So, what car cleaning and detailing products should be with you when you’re out and about?

Now, it has to be said that, here at AF, we spend most of the year on tour at various events all around the world. And, let’s face it, have you ever seen any of our cars dirty? Even when they’re out on track? Of course you haven’t. Whether you’re gearing up for a car show, a weekend road trip, family outing or cruising across continental Europe we know exactly what you need to keep in your Detailers Kit Bag, Deluxe Holdall or Wash Box Buddy to keep your car pristine along the way.

So, in no particular order – and aside from a few accessories that always come in handy like an Aqua Deluxe Drying Towel and plenty of Microfibre Work Cloths - is our top 10 cleaning products and accessories you should always have with you on tour, and why…

Finale Quick Detailer

At just about every car show around the world you’ll find detailing enthusiasts using Finale Quick Detailer to clean away the travel grime and perfect the look of their cars… and there’s good reason for that. When we say “always finish with Finale” we mean it. The versatility of Finale is what makes it ideal for light cleaning and finishing on the go.

This advanced water-based formula not only lifts, lubricates and encapsulates light dust and grime, along with fingerprints and greasy films, allowing you to safely wipe them away with your microfibre cloth. But this T1 Grade Brazilian carnauba wax-enriched solution also leaves behind a warm glow for a show-worthy finish and great hydrophobic performance.

Quick and easy to apply, with just a spritz and a wipe, our maraschino cherry scented-quick detailer is extremely forgiving and can be used on all surfaces including paintwork, vinyl wraps, wheels, glass and plastic trim making Finale the ultimate detailers finishing spray.

But wait, there’s more. By adding Finale to a Detailing Bucket of clean water, this product also creates a high-lube cleaning solution that be used to perform the ultimate safe show car wash. Ideal in those situations when water and time is limited. To see how it’s done check out our article – How To Perform An Indoor Wash And Show Car Detail.

Crystal Glass Cleaner

Our unique blend of mild distilled solvents is designed to effortlessly melt through dust, grime, sticky residues, bugs and greasy fingerprints on all vehicle glass, inside and out. Making Crystal Glass Cleaner not just a must-have finisher for your detailing kit, but a product that should be stashed away in your car at all times.

First and foremost, Crystal restores vision by cleaning away contamination for a streak and smear-free finish. It’s not only the best glass cleaner for a finishing up your detail, perfecting any kind of windows or mirrors (including plastic motorsport windows and tinted windows) but Crystal is also ideal for interim cleaning between details, helping to keep you safe on the road. In other words, Crystal and our Superior Waffle Microfibre Cloth - which is designed specifically to catch loosened debris for scratch-free cleaning on glass surfaces - is a powerful combination that’s ideal for regular safe glass cleaning. Just think of all that bug splatter on your road trip - Crystal is the solution!

Rapid Rinse-less Wash

This next-generation detailing product is not just ideal for safe cleaning on the go – it’s designed solely for this purpose. Ideal for showgoers, road trippers and even if you just don’t have the facility for a pressure washer at home, Rapid Rinse-less Wash is ultimate solution for detailers on the go.

Again, Rapid is extremely versatile. It cleans by safely breaking away, lubricating and surrounding potentially harmful grime in its own solution, allowing it to be wiped away without scratching surfaces. The advanced anti-abrasion proprieties of this all-in-one cleaning solution and heavy-duty lubricant allows it to be used on all surfaces, all paintwork and vinyl wrap types and even your wheels.

Rapid is all about the convenience of safe detailing without the need for running water, and it can be used to clean your car in two ways. First you can add this dilute-to-suit concentrate to a Detailing Bucket of fresh water and use a microfibre wash mitt to safely eradicate grime from surfaces, working one panel at a time and drying immediately using your Aqua Deluxe Drying Towel…

Or you can fill a Pro Mixing Bottle or Foaming Pressure Sprayer with Rapid for simple spray-on application, using Rapid as more of a water-less wash solution. Versatile, safe and effective, Rapid Rinse-less Wash covers all the bases for when you’re out and about.

Mini Detailing Bucket

Whether you’re looking for a proper Detailing Bucket to use with your Rapid Rinse-less Wash, or for a more traditional two-bucket wash with Lather Car Shampoo, our Mini Detailing Buckets are spot on for all kinds of detailing at home or away.

Perhaps the best feature with these large capacity 16-Litre buckets (aside from the fact that they come complete with a professional grit guard, of course) is that we’ve designed them specifically to be big enough for safe detailing but compact enough to fit in the boot of the vast majority of cars. This means that two buckets, or even three for adding in a thorough wheel wash, isn’t a problem and won’t take up too much of your precious space.

One other top tip for using your Mini Detailing Bucket when the road trip is calling, is to utilise our Bucket Lids and fill up a bucket or two at home. That way you’re ready to go when you get there!

Foaming Pressure Sprayer

Our Foaming Pressure Sprayer takes the effort out of applying all kinds of cleaning solutions, and we’ve already talked about the fact it can be utilised for quick and easy application of Rapid Rinse-less Wash. But this professional-grade detailing accessory also has a particularly magnificent trick up its sleeve, and the clue is right there in the name.

Aside from instantly atomising and evenly applying spray-on cleaners and dressings, our Foaming Pressure Sprayer has a unique foaming nozzle attachment that proves the only effective way of applying Avalanche Snow Foam when you don’t have access to your own pressure washer and Snow Foam Lance.

This of course, means that you can also throw a bottle of Avalanche in your kit for use when you’re away from home and still get the super-safe snow foam pre-wash that’s essential before any traditional contact wash.

You’ll need a jet wash too of course, but let’s not forget that you can get a great full detail at a petrol station jet washer or self-service cleaning area while you’re away on your trip. And here’s a bonus article that proves it – How To Detail Your Car When You Don’t Have Room At Home.

Dynamite Traffic Film Remover

Again, sheer versatility is the key to this heavy-hitting cleaning product. It’s true that in many cases you’ll be using Dynamite Traffic Film Remover for dirtier cleaning tasks, which means that you’ll need to be at a public jet wash… but by now you’ve already got the other gear, so why not make that car wash the safest? In any case, we’d argue that it’s also a good idea to have a powerful, citrus-based pre-wash and degreaser that won’t strip your protection layers in your kit. Just in case the time comes when you need it most.

It's not just the ultimate pre-wash though, as we said Dynamite is extremely versatile. This dilute-to-suit cleaning agent can be added to a Pro Mixing Bottle or Foaming Pressure Sprayer in different dilutions to perform a number of cleaning tasks quickly and effectively. These include wheel cleaning (1:2), engine bays (1:1), cleaning door jambs and shuts (1:3), and many, many more.

Total Interior Cleaner

You may be the only one that sees it, but it’s plain silly to neglect your interior cleaning, especially as the cabin is where you typically spend most of your time. It’s good for it to offer a nice place to be, right? Especially on a long trip.

We’ve picked Total Interior Cleaner here, simply because it does the lot. This surfactant-based deep-cleaner can be used for both general cleaning and spot stain removal on all interior surfaces and materials. It won’t harm plastics, leather, Alcantara, cloth upholstery, carpet, rubber, LCD screens and anything else you’ll find inside your car, because it’s specifically designed to safely break down and encapsulate harmful particles for safe removal on a molecular level.

That’s the key to our bestselling interior cleaner, it does it all. And when those long road trips see you practically living in your car, that means dropped food stuffs, spilt drinks, sweat, body oils and lots and lots of fingerprints. Total can effortlessly and safely remove the worst of these, and then some.

Tripple All-in-One Polish

You may not need our advanced cleaner wax for every single job when you’re out and about but trust us when we say you will need Tripple All-in-One Polish at some point. And you’ll certainly be glad that this product is in your kit when you come across those annoying blemishes that are most noticeable when you spend a lot of time with your car… and you never seem to have the right product to hand!

Well, the great thing about Tripple is that it’s always the right product. With this easy-on, easy-off, all-in-one solution you can not only enhance your whole car, refining your paint and gloss plastics for a deep, rich gloss as and when you choose. But, being an advanced cleaner polish that contains light diminishing abrasives and deep-cleaning solvents, it’s also ideal for addressing those little niggles such as light oxidation, ingrained contamination and light abrasions, especially in awkward areas such as door jambs, grilles, bumper recesses and even your painted or powdercoated wheels.

Tripple also contains carnauba wax, so it leaves behind a layer of hardy wax protection and gloss for up to 4-weeks. Tripple cleans, polishes and protects in a single application making it not just the best polish for a variety of enhancement duties, but perfect for speedy detailers on the go, too.

Glisten Spray Wax & Ceramic Spray Wax

It’s so important not to forget your protection layers that we’ve given you a rather epic choice of two products here. After all, we all know that surface protection is important for keeping your car cleaner for longer, and for shielding your sensitive surfaces from the elements… along with the onslaught of all those road trip miles.

Now, some may prefer the look and warm gloss of a wax and others may be looking for the hard-layer durability of a ceramic coating, hence the option of Glisten Spray Wax, a natural-wax based emulsion. Or Ceramic Spray Wax, an SiO2-based ceramic coating that’s just as quick and easy to apply.

Both are ridiculously quick and easy-to-use ‘spritz-wipe-buff’ finishing sprays. Both offer extreme water behaviour, next-level hydrophobic performance and an intense shine. And both can be used to install long-lasting protection on all paintwork, plastics and vinyl wraps. Glisten lasts for up to 4-weeks, Ceramic offers protection for up to 3-months.

Perhaps most relevant of all, in the context of a road trip at least, is that both these advanced protection products are extremely effective for use when topping up previously-applied protection layers after every maintenance wash – Glisten for wax-based protection and Ceramic for ceramic coatings.

In other words, there’s an essential finisher to keep your car looking cleaner for longer, no matter the type of protection you choose to use along the way.

Satin Tyre Crème

There’s many of our detailing products we could suggest for the last of our top 10 road trip essentials. That said, most will depend on your particular car and your personal preferences. It could be your favourite AF Signature Hard Wax, a spot of Mercury Metal Polish for bringing back the lustre to brightwork, polished wheel lips and stainless tailpipes. Maybe it’s Revive Trim Dressing for those faded matte plastics, or even your choice of Hanging Air Freshener or Aroma Pump Spray… just to keep that cabin smelling super-fresh along the way. After much deliberation though, we’ve picked one of the all-time great finishers that every vehicle needs – Satin Tyre Crème.

Satin is an easy-to-apply tyre dressing that allows you to choose the final finish. One application will offer a subtle stain sheen, while multiple applications build up more of a dripping wet-look gloss. But Satin is not only capable of elevating the look of your whole detail in a matter of seconds, it also offers a barrier layer to the elements to protect your tyres. In fact, this advanced formula even nourishes the rubber, reconditioning deep under the surface and - as it’s packed with advanced UV inhibitors - it protects from the browning, fading and cracking associated with exposure to the sun, too.

So, whether it’s jaw-dropping looks, or simply better protection for your tyres while you’re on tour, you simply can’t go wrong with a bottle of Satin in your mobile detailing kit.

And that’s our choice of our top 10 detailing products to help you out on every trip, all these products and many more are available right here in our Online Store.

For more of our top detailing guides be sure to check out the Guides Section Of Our Blog.