Y’all are a bunch of nerds, just take it to the automatic car wash around the corner. Last week I couldn’t make it so I just used some dawn dish soap and dried with a used beach towel. Took 5 minutes and it looks fine.
In actuality, you nerds are my fav people. Car detailing has been my OCD release for years and years, all my past cars have had some combo of PPF and ceramic coating, good paint corrections, I have most of my garage workshop space dedicated to car detailing products, and half of my YouTube algorithm is car detailing channels (watch Detail Geek for the satisfying dirty cleans, AMMO NYC, Chicago Auto Pros & Car Craft Detailing for the high end detailing how to’s and extensive paint corrections).
Telluride will be going in Monday (finally) for the correction, FULL FRONTAL (
@JerseySXP 
) PPF, and ceramic coating on full exterior, wheels and calipers, and glass (Feynlab Ceramic). Past cars were all CeramicPro 9H so curious to see if I can feel a difference, also a bit anxious as this will be my first car with a new shop (old guy left the business).
Current setup is as follows, but has changed and I’m sure it will soon again:
Main Gear:
- Ryobi 2000psi Electric Pressure Washer
- In-Line pre-filter to reduce AZ’s hard-ass water (looking at some more whole-home filtration options)
-
Chemical Guys foam cannon
- undercarriage cleaner attachment
- 2 buckets (duh) with grit guards
- McCulloch MC1375 Steam Cleaner
- Bissell SpotClean Pro Carpet Cleaner
- Kobalt Leaf Blower for drying (Metro Vac n Blo coming soon as an anniversary gift from the wife)
- RIGID 6hp Shop Vac w/ car kit attachments
Accessories:
- Detail Geek boar’s hair detail brushes (soft and stiff)
- Detail Geek wheel and tire brush (separate one for wheels and tires)
- Lily Brush Dog Hair removal tool (essential if you have pets)
- Drill scrub brushes (assorted bristle stiffness for deep carpet cleaning and for rubberized
floor mats)
- Costco Microfiber towels (there isn’t a better towel for the money, fight me!)
- Detail Geek giant plush drying towel (could dry a whole telluride with no air blow with one towel)
Products:
- Shine Supply Shift pH neutral ceramic coating soap
- Optimum No-Rinse for detail spray and glass cleaner (1oz to 31oz distilled and deionized water)
- AMMO Brute and Plum wheel cleaner
-
Chemical Guys DeCon Pro iron remover (mainly for my company truck and after an occasional spirited drive with hard braking in my old toys, haven’t needed to use on Telluride yet)
- Optimum Opti-Bond tire shine (1:1 solution to spray, or from bottle on an applicator)
- 303 Aerospace UV Protectant for all interior trims and exterior plastics (the BEST “
back to black” plastics restorer I’ve tried ans I’ve tried a LOT. No grease, no slick feeling, just deep rich color and long-lasting protection)
- whole bunch of other AutoZone quality stuff for my company truck, cause I’m not wasting my good stuff on that thing.
I’ve generally left the actual paint correction to the professionals and only handled the detailing and maintenance cleaning myself, but this year one of my resolutions was to jump into the actual paint correction side, with a good Rupes DA orbital and all the goodies to go with it. Pick up an old hood from a junk yard and get to work experimenting with pads, compounds, and technique. Telluride and the next vette will still the professionals, but I’ll probably paint correct my company truck once I hone my skills. Definitely looking forward to that adventure and doing homework the true millennial way by watching hours of YouTube videos.
anyway. Pics from Sunday, hopefully the last time I have to wash her uncoated. She’s gray under there, I promise.