When is the best time to detail your car?

The best time to carry out a full detail? Today could be the day!

Safely getting your car pristine, and of course keeping it that way, is the essence of the art of detailing. But the question of how often you should detail your car and the best detailing products you should use is one that comes up time and time again.

Now, it’s obvious that there’s a difference between safely washing your car (what, as detailers, we call routine maintenance) and carrying out a full detail that involves processes like decontamination, polishing, adding protection and interior deep cleaning. There’s also a difference between the first time you seal in all that gloss and refinement using protection layers like waxes, sealants or ceramic coatings, and when you’re simply topping them up to boost their life and performance. But when should you be carrying out these processes? And what do you need to keep in mind along the way?

Well, let’s start at the beginning. If you haven’t yet fully detailed your car to get it to exactly the level you would like it to be, the best time to break out the polishes, compounds and your choice of protection layers, is right now. There’s no time like the present, right?

If, however you’re asking what the best times of the year are to carry out different types of detail, that’s a whole different story. So, let’s take a look at our guide to the best time to detail your car and answer all those common questions…

What is a full detail?

Larger details (including restorations, enhancements and paint corrections) are designed to get your car to the best possible standard. Regardless of if it’s for a special event, a road trip or simply in preparation for the summer, it’s the most in-depth type of detail where you go the extra mile to restore and refine all surfaces.

The work you’d like to, or indeed need to, put in is the biggest consideration. There’s plenty of variables such as how grubby your interior or engine bay is, the condition of your paintwork with regards to scratches, swirl marks and oxidation, if your exterior plastics are damaged and faded, and if tarnished brightwork, wheel lips or exhaust tips need bringing back to life. It’s not a simple question of how new your car is, either. We see plenty of cars straight out of the dealers that are covered in scratches and swirls. Whenever you buy any car you can never guarantee how safely it’s been washed by the dealer or previous owner.

What is normally referred to as a full detail will usually involve specialist processes such as paintwork decontamination, hand or machine polishing paintwork to remove defects, deep cleaning your interior, deep cleaning wheels and chassis parts, and engine bay cleaning. A full detail is where you’re simply getting your car to a standard that you’re happy with before adding protection to make sure it stays that way in-between your routine maintenance washes.

What is a maintenance wash?

A routine maintenance wash is a process designed to safely remove everyday grime and any corrosive contamination - the kind of stuff that may cause damage to surfaces or protection layers. Your car can be exposed to all sorts of different types of contamination while driving, if it’s been sitting outside, or even in storage, and this is what we’re looking to remove safely. Routine maintenance is simply about getting your car back to looking its best and as close as possible to the standard of your last full detail.

The key to any maintenance wash is using the correct products and techniques to ensure you’re not inflicting damage or stripping protection layers. No matter the time of year we don’t want to be dragging large gritty particles, traffic films and bug splatter across surfaces during any car wash as this may inflict swirls and scratches, and will certainly abrade protection. This is why we employ certain safety measures to ensure a swirl-free wash.

First, we’ll make sure we never skip the pre wash stage. We’ll initially use a wax, sealant and coating-safe pre cleaner - such as Citrus Power Bug & Grime Remover or Dynamite Traffic Film Remover - to eradicate potentially harmful large, gritty particulates without having to make contact. We’ll follow this step by using Avalanche Snow Foam to break down and remove bonded particles. The reason why Avalanche is so effective is that it’s applied as a foam that lingers on all surfaces for as long as possible to break down and lift away the grime.

After our snow foam it’s safe to perform the contact wash but that comes with specific safety measures, too. We’ll use a professional wash mitt to lift and lock grime away from surfaces, two Detailing Buckets (one for your shampoo and one to rinse out your mitt between passes) and a surface/protection safe cleaning agent like Lather Car Shampoo to lift, encapsulate and lubricate any small particles present to be safely rinsed away.

During routine maintenance we’ll often top up our protection layers and readdress areas specific to each car such as plastic trim, interiors and tyres using our choice of ideal dressings and finishing products - just to perfect the final finish over the whole car. In this way your maintenance is simply aiming to keep your car in the same condition for a prolonged period, or at least until your next full detail.

For more on the perfect swirl-free maintenance, check out our article - How To Safely Wash A Car.

Can I fully detail my car every time I wash it?

You shouldn’t need to perform a full detail every time you wash your car. With some stages, such as polishing, it can add up to be detrimental if you do them repeatedly.

When you wash your car and clean your interior during routine maintenance it should be a relatively quick top up to get it back to being fresh and clean. Inside your cabin (and aside from in cases of random spills and mud being dragged in) all you should need is a quick once-over to freshen it up and not a full-on valet or deep clean. Exterior maintenance on paintwork, wheels, glass and trim is simply to remove any surface grime and help the protection layers continue doing do their job.

When it comes to polishing, whether that’s by hand or machine, you shouldn’t need to polish your car, or carry our any advanced paintwork correction more than once or twice a year. Again, once defects are removed and paintwork is refined to a level you’re happy with, you can employ special protection layers to seal-in the finish… and any effort you’ve put into that finish. Protection layers, such as waxes sealants and coatings, help to stop environmental elements from inflicting damage so, assuming you’re carrying out your maintenance safely, you shouldn’t need to polish again as long as that protection is in place. The bonus of course is that protection layers add even more depth and gloss at the same time by levelling the optical finish.

The other reason you shouldn’t polish your car every time you wash is down to the science of how polishes work. Whenever you’re using an abrasive polish or compound to remove defects or refine the finish, it makes sense that the product has to make direct contact with the surface or the paint or clearcoat, and not just the protection on top. In fact, your compound will cut through your protection first, stripping it away, to be able to work on the paint finish. This is why you should always add protection after polishing.

Abrasive polishes and compounds remove surface defects by levelling down the entire area until the bottom of the defect is reached. As you polish, you’re basically taking away a miniscule layer of your paint or clearcoat, so it stands to reason that you don’t want to be doing that on an extremely regular basis. It may only be a few microns removed at a time but, as you can imagine, they can add up quickly if you decide to polish your car every week.

When is the best time of the year to perform a full detail?

The best time – when you start your detailing journey at least - is exactly when your car needs it. As we said, if it your car has never been properly detailed, there’s likely a whole load of imperfections you’ll want to remove. You’ll also want to enhance and refine the finish and get it protected. After that, most detailers agree that a couple of times a year is sufficient, just as long as you use the best protection along the way.

This is where the idea of seasonal detailing comes in – many enthusiasts will fully detail their car at the beginning of Spring to address any refinement issues from the winter and prepare for looking good in the sunshine during the warmer months. And then they will fully detail their car at the end of Summer to prepare for the colder months – look at it as a spot of Autumn/Winter prep. Some may add in an extra detail just before Summer, or just before Winter, but for the most part 2 or 3 seasonal details is the ideal balance between keeping your car looking good and preserving the integrity of your paintwork.

Are the processes different for different seasons?

Many of the processes will remain the same no matter the time of year. On full details that involve polishing - whether that’s an enhancement by hand or using machine polishing for full correction - you’ll have to ensure that paintwork is spotless first. Not only will we follow the professional, and by that we mean safe, maintenance pre-wash and contact wash techniques (there’s no point in giving yourself more work by creating more swirls and scratches to polish out, right?), but we’ll add in an extra decontamination stage, or ‘Decon Wash’, to eradicate the types of contamination that can’t be removed by washing alone.

Embedded contamination, such as metal deposits from brake dust, sticky tar and glue residues, and environmental contamination – such as mineral deposits from hard water and protein deposits from bird droppings and bug splatter – not only interfere with the appearance of your paintwork, gloss plastics and wheels, but they will do plenty of damage if they’re left to whizz around on your polishing pads.

This is why we always use specialist products and a three-stage process to ensure contamination is removed safely before polishing. This includes using Iron Out Contaminant Remover to chemically dissolve metal fallout, ObliTARate Tar & Glue Remover to cut through sticky residues and a Detailers Clay Bar (along with Glide Clay Lube) to physically pull other deposits out of the surfaces for a smooth, glass-like finish.

For the full rundown on the paint decontamination process, check out our article – How To Decontaminate Paintwork.

As for polishing. Some may choose to machine polish on every full detail, or just in preparation for summer - where looks are the priority - and then hand polish in preparation for winter where it’s more about protection. Simply as a kind of interim top up.

There are also different types of paint correction. It could be a multi-stage correction that’s needed, or a single stage enhancement/refinement. It’s unlikely that a full on 3-stage correction is going to be needed more than once in a year or two.

Once again, any kind of polishing is always proportional to the extent of the defects to be removed or the refinement that’s needed to bring the paint back to the best finish. Most of all we never polish paintwork if it doesn’t need polishing.

Some other detailing stages processes will be more in-depth versions of those during routine maintenance. Interior cleaning is a good example.

On a full detail we’ll deep-clean surfaces such as carpets, boot areas, plastics and seats using Total Interior Cleaner, Hide Leather Cleanser or a suitable Dilution of Verso All Purpose Cleaner. That way all we need to do is give the interior a quick once over with Total and Spritz Interior Quick Detailer when we carry our regular maintenance.

We’ll also utilise products that nourish and protect interior surfaces during our full detail, such as Hide Leather Conditioner and our Caramics Interior Protection Kit.

All the info on the best way to deep clean your interior can be found in our article – The Ultimate Guide To Interior Cleaning.

The same goes for wheels and tyres here, a full detail is the best time to go even further and get them off the car for a deep-clean and decontamination. You all get better access to those inner arches and suspension components, too.

Once your wheels are clean and fully protected with a suitable product like Mint Rims Wheel Wax or our Caramics Wheel Protection Kit, a little Imperial Wheel Cleaner or Revolution Wheel Soap is all you’ll need to keep them well protected, especially over winter.

Other detailing processes, such as engine bay deep cleaning using Eradicate Engine Degreaser, you may choose to only carry out on a full detail. Again, a few targeted touch ups - with some Verso and Dressle All Purpose Trim Dressing perhaps - should then be plenty to keep everything fresh until the next full detail.

For the full lowdown on engine bay cleaning, see our article – How To Clean Your Engine Bay.

And finally, there’s finishing essentials that we’ll carry out at the end of every detail, regardless of if it’s a large detail or a maintenance wash.

Making sure your windows are smear and streak-free using Crystal Glass Cleaner and dressing your tyres using Satin Tyre Crème not only provides the ultimate finishing touches for a professional finish, but it ensures that nothing draws the eye from the rest of your, otherwise perfect, detail.

What about the weather season to season?

Whatever the time of year you should take the weather into consideration when detailing. The winter months may come with challenges with regards to comfort but basically, if you’re freezing your buckets off, don’t clean your car until it warms up a little. The simple reason is that icy crystals can scratch and abrade protection layers, it’s also not the most pleasant kind of detailing when you have to dip your mitt in! For the most part though, winter detailing tends to be a little easier than in the summer.

The number one rule at any time of year is not to let your cleaning products dry naturally on surfaces. This becomes more apparent in the summer and it’s the main reason why we don’t wash cars in direct sunshine or when the sun is at its highest.

Most car cleaning products work by using a mixture of special surfactants and water to safely remove grime. A hot surface simply makes products dry out prematurely, evaporating the water part of the solution and leaving behind the surfactants and the contamination, which is no good to anyone. Always keep your car wet until it’s time to dry safely using and Aqua Deluxe or Silk Drying Towel.

As a general rule carry out your spring and summer detail early in the morning or late in the afternoon… that said, remember that many of us are in the UK, so in the very rare cases that it’s too hot to detail, go and enjoy the sunshine instead.

Does contamination change through the seasons?

The particular time of year affects the kinds of contamination that may come into contact with your car, and this is the main consideration with seasonal detailing. Cars tend to get much dirtier in winter, right? But that said, the warmer months have their own challenges.

What’s true is that the type of contamination, and the concentration of the contamination in question, changes throughout the seasons making it important to consider in terms of cleaning and the protection you choose.

Colder, wetter months will always have significantly more heavy contamination to deal with. Mud, corrosive road salt, traffic films and general grit and heavy soiling can cause big problems for paintwork and can even eat into protection if left for long enough. Plus of course, a dirty car doesn’t exactly look good. That’s why we wash them, after all.

This is where versatile products like our Dynamite Traffic Film Remover and Verso All Purpose Cleaner come into their own. These dilute-to-suit cleaners can be mixed up to perform a whole host of heavy-duty cleaning tasks safely, without stripping protection. To see what these versatile products can do for you, see our articles on the many uses of Verso and Dynamite.

There may be far less heavy grime on the roads in the summer, but there’s certainly more bugs to splatter all over your car. Dead bugs, along with bird droppings, are extremely acidic and, again, if left long enough they can eat through protection and paintwork. These need to be removed during your pre-wash using a suitable dilution of Dynamite, or our powerful, ready-to-use pre cleaner, Citrus Power Bug & Grime Remover.

The effects of UV radiation tends to be more damaging in the summer, too. Although we’ll use our advanced Revive Trim Dressing to bring faded plastics back to life all-year-round, in Winter this water-resistant, silicone-based formula will give extra help to protect from grime ingress, and in Summer the UV inhibitors it contains will help to shield against fading and cracking caused by all that sunshine.

What’s the best protection to use for my full detail?

All of our waxes, sealants and ceramic coatings can be used all-year-round. The best protection products form a hydrophobic barrier to stop water and grime from sticking, or abrading the surfaces as it slides over them. This simply keeps your car cleaner and swirl-free for longer. Protection layers also seal your paint so it can’t react with the oxygen in the air (causing oxidation) and can help to shield your car from the UV radiation that causes paint fading. So, in many cases, it’s just a question of using the type of protection product you like the best in terms of looks and durability.

With that said, many detailers choose to tailor their protection by using those with characteristics geared towards their needs or each season. Don’t forget that when you use a polishing compound you’ll remove the protection, so you can change the type of protection you use after each full detail if you choose to.

Summer tends to be about looking good in the sunshine. This means that, you may be after the warm carnauba glow (that’s only created by a natural wax) to get the very best from your paintwork. For many nothing looks better than wax, and we tend to agree. Here you could choose one of our Signature Hard Waxes which are available for all types of paintwork and come with up to 6-8-months durability. There's also Radiance Carnauba Crème which is designed to give the warm look of a hard wax, but extremely quick and easy to use for up to 3-months protection.

Although you still want to look good in the winter (don’t we all?), shielding your car with the hardiest protection from the elements, and the easy-clean properties that come with ceramic coatings and sealants, may become the priority, especially for daily drivers. Here you may prefer to choose the ultra-durable hard-layer protection from products like our super-sealant, Graphene Liquid Filler Wax, or our easy-to-use Caramics Paintwork Protection Kit and Caramics Glass Protection Kit. These products offer plenty of shine, but also the most extreme hydrophobic surface protection that lasts for up to 12-months.

Whether it’s tailored protection for the season, or simply your favourite type of protection to use, there’s no wrong answer here. Simply choose the product that suits your needs the best and you'll never be disappointed.

How often should I maintenance wash?

Traditionally you’ll hear people say you should wash your car once or twice a month, and maybe bit more in winter, but the truth is that the frequency of your car washes should only be as frequently as when you feel you need them to keep your car looking it’s best.

Old skool car wash theory is that there is risk to surfaces when you clean, and while there is plenty of truth in that, by using the right products and techniques to eradicate the risk, how often you wash your car becomes something of a moot point.

Our cleaning products work by lifting, encapsulating and lubricating harmful particles. Essentially, they use surfactants, degreasers and other advanced ingredients pull them off of surfaces on a microscopic level and surround them in the solution. Then they can be rinsed or wiped away without touching the surface underneath or killing the protection. This is what increases safety in the cleaning stages.

So, when you’re using Citrus Power, Imperial Wheel Cleaner, Lather Car Shampoo, Total Interior Cleaner, or any of our other cleaners for removing grime in and around your car, you can be sure they’re all designed to make the process risk-free. Technically you could wash your car every day if you wanted to and you shouldn’t do any harm, just as long as you remember to top up your protection periodically.

What's best to top up protection during my maintenance?

Many of our most popular protection products are designed to be easy to use, especially some of our most advanced formulations such as Graphene Liquid Filler Wax and Radiance Carnauba Crème, so you could simply use them again (periodically) during your routine maintenance washes.

But, we also have many other products geared towards the fastest maintenance that can help you out with an easy and speedy top up of your protection. Some, such as Lavish Ceramic Foam, Aqua Coat Hydrophobic Rinse Aid and Caramics Enhancing Shampoo can be used during the wash stages to top up ultra-hydrophobic ceramic coatings. Caramics Enhancing Shampoo simply replaces your normal car shampoo in the contact wash. Lavish is applied using your Snow Foam Lance, just spray on and rinse after your wash. Aqua Coat is a spray-on product for use just before you dry… so, yes, just spray on and rinse.

Other products can be used at the end of your detail to quickly add gloss and top up the protection layers with just a spray and a buff with a soft microfibre cloth. Caramics Gloss Enhancer is ideal for extending the life and performance of ceramic coatings and using Glisten Spray Wax is the speedy way to top up any wax-based layers. You can also use Ceramic Spray Wax, Wash 'N' Gloss Car Shampoo and Caramics Glass Cleaner for topping up (or stand-alone installation) of ceramic protection on all exterior surfaces including paintwork, wheels, vinyl wraps, glass and trim.

In fact, the only thing to remember here is to match the type of protection to the one you’ve used after the last full detail. If it’s using a wax, top up with a wax, and if it's a ceramic coating (although technically a wax will bond to it) we’d always recommend using a ceramic product for quick top ups.

Hopefully we’ve answered all your questions on the best time to detail your car, and what detailing products to use along the way. If you have more questions - or need tailored advice of specific detailing problems - contact our customer service experts on support@autofinesse.com. And be sure to check out more top detailing guides in the Guides Section Of Our Blog.