“To me the pursuit of perfection has always been near on an obsession”.

Exterior detailing involves cleaning and bringing a defect-free shine to the car’s paint, chrome trim, windows, wheels, and tyres. Detailers use different products to do this, including detergents, detail clay, waxes, polishes, and a variety of applicators and special cloths.

The three main components of exterior car detailing are cleaning, polishing, and protecting.

Cleaning refers to removing all foreign surface particles from exterior surfaces through the use of washing and claying. A clay bar helps to clean contamination/dirt from within the clearcoat that cannot be removed through weekly washing. Clearcoat contamination can come from industrial fallout, air particles, dirt particles, tar, and animal droppings.

Polishing refers to using mechanical polishes by hand or with a machine and specific polishing pads that remove a fine layer of clearcoat from a vehicle to remove fine scratches and swirls from a paint surface produced from improper washing or drying technique.

Protecting involves the application of a protective material (in liquid or paste form) that prevents foreign matter from adhering to the surface of the vehicle, including water, bugs splatter, tar, and dirt. Waxes and sealants provide this barrier against the elements.

Interior detailing involves cleaning the passenger compartment of the car. Vacuuming is standard, steam cleaning, liquid cleaners, and brushes may also be used to remove stains on upholstery. Some nonporous surfaces may also be polished.

Detailing information from Wikipedia