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The International Detailing Associaton

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You may have seen the IDA logo on my website, on my email signatures, on my social media, my van or on my uniform but you have no idea what it is. The IDA is the International Detailing Association. A trade association for car valeters and detailers that started in the USA and is now spreading worldwide. The UK has a thriving chapter and others are growing and developing across Europe, Asia and Australia. There is a whole lot that could be said here… and I’d probably bore you to death so I’ll try to keep this brief. In the UK the car detailing industry is pretty much unregulated. Anyone can put a bucket and sponge in a van or the family car, call themselves a detailer and get out there and work on cars. Compare that perhaps to the CORGI gas register or the body that approves/accredits electricians. You can’t just do those jobs. You need training, skills and qualifications. Whilst the IDA does not (at least yet) and cannot command the same legal requirements as the aforementioned associations it does provide a framework for valeters and detailers to join, adhere to a code of conduct and invest in their own professional development. The IDA host many webinars, podcasts and training events that allow detailers to increase their knowledge, learn new skills and tactics and expose themselves to the latest products and industry developments. The IDA also provides a certification and validation process. Certification comes in the form of online examinations. If passed the member is allowed to show to the public that they are a ‘Certified Detailer’. To progress further the member can have their skills and knowledge assessed by professionals within the industry to ensure they are operating safely and skilled in their processes.  This is the ‘Skills Validated’ program. It is a face to face exam where a detailer is asked to demonstrate and explain all their processes, different options that may be available to resolve an issue and show that they are fully skilled both in their knowledge and their practical application. So why is this important to me and why is it important to you? For me it’s about CPD (continuous professional development). I hold CD and SV qualifications and continually update my knowledge/skills with regular webinars, podcasts, training events and more. I also have a huge pool of talent around the UK and the world that I can tap into. I am a retired police officer but during my career there were often discussions along the lines of ‘How would you explain this in court’. Now I’m not saying that I plan to end up in court from detailing but consider this. If I were challenged about my skills and training I would much prefer to list all my training, skills, qualifications, certifications and my extensive CPD rather than saying I’d done nothing but had watched a video on YouTube by an unknown person or took advice on a forum from someone who appeared to know what they were talking about. I’m invested into and committed to my own professional development within a community of like minded professionals. As a customer, you want reassurance that the person looking after your car knows what they are doing. Would you prefer to put your pride and joy into the hands of someone who ‘really’ knows what they are doing and is committed to excellence and can evidence it or someone who may be cheaper but you have no idea of their standards or training. As a caveat.. it would be very fair to say that there are many excellent detailers out there who are not IDA members and who turn out fantastic work, sometimes over many years of experience. But what is their commitment to being at the top of their game? Where do they learn new skills and processes? Maybe you should be considering this and asking such questions before you let someone near your car. Being a member of the IDA is important to me and I hope it’s important to you. If you’re not local to me then you can find your nearest IDA detailer anywhere in the world by searching the Detailing Nearby website.

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Weather to Cancel or Whether to Come

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The British weather, even more so it seems with global warming, is as unpredictable as ever. I have 3 weather app’s on my phone and they all generally have a different idea of how the day is going to unfold…. but the weather comes regardless and it can have an impact upon the services I can provide. Being a mobile detailer, I come to you and don’t have a nice warm and dry unit to prepare cars in. Whilst a unit would be a very welcome option to my services it’s no good to you if you have to deliver and collect it again later. The convenience of having your car done at home cannot be underestimated. The weather is an important factor when considering whether your job goes ahead or is better to be cancelled. I will always do my best to get your car done on the date/time you have booked but sometimes a cancellation is the best way forward. I’ve never yet had to cancel a job because it was too windy (I just know this is going to happen now!) but rain, snow and temperature are the big ones. Temperature There are two ends to this. Too hot and too cold. If the weather is too hot then the wash process becomes tricky. Not normally impossible but extra care and time is needed to ensure the chemicals and products used on the car do not dry out on the car before I have chance to rinse them off. If they do dry then there is potential for chemical staining on the paint which neither you or I want. If the car has been successfully washed but a polish and wax has been requested then this may not go ahead. As the metal panels of the car are exposed to direct sun they heat up. Polishes and waxes are made up of a number of ingredients and have maximum temperatures to which they can be applied. If the panels are too hot the products will ‘flash’ off much too quickly not allowing the polish to clean as it should or the wax/coating to bond to the surface properly. If the weather is too cold then the first issue is frozen taps. Generally, if the weather is 2 degrees or below (preferably 4 degrees) then a cancellation is probably a good idea. Why? It’s above freezing. All should be ok right? Not necessarily so. The air temperature may be slightly warmer than the car itself and ground. Water will flow if above zero but if you rinse a car down a thin layer of water may still freeze on the car. Snow foam can freeze on the car and then it really is ‘snow’ foam. In such cases the efficacy of the product is diminished and pushing frozen water, ice and suds around your paintwork is only likely to cause damage. The second danger factor is that the water that hitting the ground may freeze. This creates a slip hazard and a bad fall could move me from cancelling a day’s jobs to cancelling them for a month! Precipitation Snow, hail and rain. Snow is pretty much a none-starter as the temperature is probably too low too (see above). Hail is, more often than not, a short lived thing and can be managed. Rain however can stop work completely. Why would that be? I’m getting the car wet anyway right? In theory this is true and I have some fantastic wet weather gear and can rinse off and wash the outside of a car in the pouring rain without an issue. That said there are some things to consider. Drying the car properly is part of the safe wash process to ensure the car is as clean as it can be. Rain can mask some of the dirt so the car may not be fully clean and only reveal itself when the car has dried naturally and I’m long gone. Not good for your or my reputation. The bigger problem when raining is the interior. It cannot be done without the doors being open. Whilst they are open the rain gets inside the car and also soaks all the door cards. I’m soaking wet and if I get in the car in wet gear then the interior gets wet too. I could take it off but then as I go from car to van I get my dry gear wet and the problem persists. Depending upon where you live and where the weather has come from there is also the chance of acid rain. This could potentially cause damage to and mark/stain a leather interior if not dried away quickly. Whilst drying one section another is getting wet… and so on. Some mobile valeters and detailers carry a large gazebo for such occasions. I don’t. Firstly, I don’t have room in my van. Secondly they take time to put up and take down which adds to my time ‘on site’ and increases your bill. Third, and most importantly to me, is the risks they present when they catch the wind and blow away. You can buy huge weights to hold them down or plastic containers that can be filled with water on site. However, in my experience, no matter what you do with a gazebo it will always blow away. The last thing I or you want is the metal foot of a gazebo to drag itself across the bonnet of your beautiful car as we wave goodbye to it as it blows down the street! Summary I don’t like to cancel jobs but sometimes it is safer to do so both for the car and for me. The weather can be really annoying. It can be set to rain all afternoon and the job is cancelled only for the sun to come out 90 mins later but it’s now too late to come and get the job done. Cancelling a job is always a judgement call

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Ceramic Coatings

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I don’t do ceramic coatings. You may think this an odd way to start a blog about ceramic coatings? Let me explain. I regularly get asked questions and approached for advice on ceramic coatings. The intention of this blog is to answer those questions and hopefully help you to make the right decision. Ceramic coatings have become increasingly popular over the years and are often something I am asked about. So what is a ceramic coating? Well we could go into huge technical detail about the products, chemical properties and characteristics but that’s no use to the customer who just wants a plain English answer to “What is it and do I need one?” What is a ceramic coating A ceramic coating is what is known as an LSP (last stage protection). That means the final product a detailer will put on your paintwork. The layer that provides protection to the paint. If it helps, think of it like a traditional car wax but one that is much longer lasting. One that actually creates a glass hard layer on top of the paint that resists scratches and swirls. A ceramic coating may have a life expectancy of 1 year or more and some products claim up to 9 years. Some of the best products fall into the 3-7yr range. So do you need one? There are a few things to consider here before you take the plunge. They don’t come cheap (see more below) and you need to decide if the outlay is a worthwhile investment? How long do you normally keep your car? If you buy a car and run it into the ground then a long lasting coating could be right for you. If you swap out every couple of years why pay for a 5yr coating? Then again if you sell/return your car at 3yrs and the paintwork is immaculate it may increase your selling price. That said, considering the state of paint on many cars your purchaser may not care or even notice. Do you lease/rent/PCP the car? In other words is it going back? Again, it may enhance the value when you return it or at least reduce the risk of penalty charges… but it may not either. So whether you need one is influenced by a number of factors and you should seek appropriate advice from a number of detailers before committing to a package. Get a feel for who you can trust and what they tell you about the coatings, the pre-preparation, how long it’s likely to take and the cost. Once you have done this research you are in a much better place to make an informed decision on what you want done or deciding not to have one at all. What is the process to have a ceramic coating applied to my car? All detailers do things slightly differently. Not all ceramic coatings are the same and many require product specific installation. That said the basic process is to wash, clean and fully decontaminate the car. A good 2 or 3 stage wash process should generally be followed by iron fallout remover and tar/glue removal. The latter are the sticky black blobs on your car thrown up from the road. These post wash processes are called ‘chemical decontamination’. Essentially using chemicals to remove contamination from the paint surface. Despite this process there is still likely to be even more residue on the paint and at this point a detailer should move to using a clay bar or clay mitt to clay all the panels. This is called ‘mechanical decontamination’. A soft clay specifically for car paint is lightly worked across all the panels to remove any other contamination from the paint including things like tree sap that the chemical process has not removed. The car then needs to be dried. Why go through all this decontamination? Firstly. If the car is to be machine polished then not doing so runs the risk of the polishing pad picking up this debris and actually inducing more scratches into the paint. Secondly, if not done, you are embedding this debris, which should not be there, into your ceramic coating. Look at any car in bright sunlight. There is a good chance you will see lots and lots of light circular scratches on the paint. Often called ‘swirl marks’ or ‘micro scratches’ these significantly affect the depth, colour and gloss of the paint. Some ceramic coatings ‘may’ help in reducing the appearance of these scratches*. However, if you are proud of your car and want it to look the best then these need removing. This involves machine polishing all the panels on the car. There is no need to have this done but if this stage is omitted you are simply burying all those scratches and swirls underneath a rock hard ceramic coating. They ‘may’ be minimised by the coating but they won’t be gone and more likely will be immortalised on your paintwork until the ceramic coating eventually fails. Your car ends up having great water behaviour but still looks a mess! Machine polishing a car is not simply a case of running a machine polisher over the car as fast as can be done and ‘hey presto’. I will cover machine polishing in more detail in another blog. However, if it is done correctly, it is not a fast process, needs a number of machines, a variety of polishing pad sizes, a selection of polishes and time. Sometimes, the ‘enhancement’ of the paint can be completed with just one pass. This means the panel is polished once with a fine polish and the result is good enough. At other times it may need two or even three stages. Detailers often refer to this as a ‘two stage’ or ‘three stage’ paint correction. Essentially they use a coarse polish to start off with to remove deeper scratches but then need to refine that afterwards with a much finer polish to bring back the

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The MOdeTail

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This is a new service we now offer in conjunction with D&M Auto Services in Calveley. Does your car need an MOT? Would you like it to be MOT’d and given a full valet/detail at the same time? How about having the car collected and delivered back to you? We can help. Give us a call to discuss your needs and your MOT due date. Once we have some agreed potential dates we will look to arrange an MOT on one of these dates. On the day, deliver the car to D&M and leave the rest to us. The garage will advise if there are any issues with your MOT and if not we will be in touch to say the MOT is done, the car is fully detailed and ready for collection. What could be simpler? We can help with a collection and delivery service to make this process even easier for you. Please contact us to discuss your needs. In addition to MOT work, if your car needs a service, tyres or any other garage services then we can work alongside D&M to provide the work you need doing and ensure the care comes back to you looking its best.

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Scratches and Swirls

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If you take a close look at pretty much any car on the road you will find that the paintwork is covered in a haze of tiny scratches and swirls. These are generally created by poor washing techniques at home, cheap road side car washes or the use of automatic car washes. You may have a brand new car and have meticulously looked after it but if you inspect your paint the scratches and swirls will be there. This may not be your fault. Quite often a brand new car, on the day of delivery can have paintwork in a very poor state. It looks great until you get up close. The paint on modern cars is made up of 3 layers on top of your panel (the substrate). Primer, colour and clear coat. The clearcoat is the top layer and this is what you polish and cleanse when cleaning your car. Clearcoat hardness varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and the scratches and swirls are very minor gouges into this uppermost surface. These scratches and swirls are most evident when a car is in full sun or is being inspected with bright LED lamps. They seriously affect the gloss, relflectivity and overall appearance of your car. Depending on the severity of these marks a professional car detailer will, by machine polishing with various cutting compounds and pads be able to remove or greatly minimise the presence of these scratches. The cutting action of the compound takes very fine layers of the clearcoat away and flattens the uppermost surface towards the bottom of the scratches. You’re right. I never went to art school! However, the image above right illustrates what I mean. It shows a magnified view of the scratches, of various depths, within the clearcoat and how the cutting compound shaves away the clearcoat to try and level the surface and remove the swirls. The net effect of this process can be quite dramatic. This can be an expensive process that takes time and care. Whilst it can be done at home it is best left in the hands of a professional with the right equipment. The last thing you want to do is go at your paint with a machine polisher and burn right through the clearcoat and damage your paint. This then needs a respray. A professional detailer will measure the depth of your paint/clearcoat to ensure it is safe to be machine polished before starting. The overall result can be very pleasing and leave a car much the better for it. Not only does this improve the car for you but it also helps to maintain your cars residual value. That said, not everyone wants to have the perfect looking car. Furthermore, it’s hardly worth the investment of paying to have a professional remove only to continue with poor washing and put them all back again! There are some things you can do at home that will help. A good quality polish such as AutoGlym Super Resin Polish acts as a paint cleanser and definitely helps with the visual appearance of your car. It will ‘mask’ some of the marks. It won’t be brilliant but it will look better for your time and effort. An alternative method is to use a glaze such as AM Details Glaze. This product cleanses your paint too but also contains a ‘filling agent’. This essentially leaves a clear residue behind in the scratch. This helps to mask it much more than the polish and gives a better visual outcome. This will wash away though so it needs a protectant over the top. AM Details have a sealant. This puts a hard cover over the glaze and helps to keep it there. A good wax such as Soft 99’s Fusso will do the same. Neither of these last forever though so regular maintenance and care is essential to keep the scratches as minimised as possible. The video below shows the boot lid of a Jaguar that has been polished with Autoglym and what can be achieved. Toward the top of the picture you can see the swirls are still there on the left but much reduced. AM Glaze does the same, but in our view, slightly better. It then shows the rear quarter of a Ranger Rover that was machine polished yesterday where the scratches have pretty much been eliminated. We are more than happy to help and discuss the condition of your paint and what you can do for yourself or what we can do for you. Get in touch.. no obligation at all.

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Giving some love to a Mazda 3

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A car is a very personal possession. Sometimes they are much loved and pampered. Other times they are a tool. A means of getting from A to B and not particularly cared for at all. Whether you car is fabulous sports car used at weekends, a daily driver or a beaten up old banger you just can’t live without… we can help. One such car recently was this 2006 Mazda 3. This job was done as a favour for a friend It was left with me for a few days and I slowly picked off the jobs. As with all my work it started with a full safe wash process. The wheels were in a particularly sorry state and also showing some signs of rust but they cleaned up really well. The inner barrels were impossible to decontaminate whilst on the car due to how close the shielding/back plate is to the rims. Removing the wheels would have solved this but such a task fell outside the requirements of this job. Tar and iron fallout removal followed and then a full hand polish and wax. During this time we tackled all the hard to reach places and for deep cleaning such as door shuts, the tailgate upper drainage area and the fuel flap. We also took the machine polisher to a heavily contaminated front nearside door. The transformation here is stark. The clean then moved inside. A full vacuum, spot cleaning of some marks on the cloth seats and then all plastic trim scrubbed clean, dried and then dressed. Windows inside and out finished off the job. The video speaks for itself. Our message to you. We can’t fix everything. Some scratches need specialist attention at a body shop but we can make your car look infinitely better. We don’t care if your car is a vintage Aston Martin, a Ford Transit van, a Ferrari or an old Mazda 3. We will look after your car and give it the same attention to detail to have it looking it’s best.

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Headlight Restoration

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When I was a boy headlight lenses on cars were always made of glass. As time has gone on the headlight has evolved considerably both in looks and performance. Most headlights these days have a clear plastic lens. These allow manufacturers to really showcase some of the amazing looking light units they create but there is a downside. The plastic lenses can, over time, fade, become discoloured and start to turn opaque. The net result is that the effectiveness of the headlight is impaired but the front of the car also starts to look unsightly. Headlight restoration is a simple solution that will bring your headlights back to their former glory and have the front of your car looking stunning. Take a look at the video below. The two headlights on the BMW 525d (E39) were in need of some attention and the results speak for themselves. If you would like us to have a look at your headlights and advise on what we can do then do please get in touch. Headlight restoration can come as part of a detailing package or as a stand alone service.

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Cheap Supermarket Car Wash?

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** Warning ** A lengthy read but worth it if you use a cheap car wash. The cheap roadside or supermarket car wash is likely doing your car more harm than good. They are cheap and convenient so the temptation to use them as a regular way to keep your car clean is hard to resist and for under £10 it all sounds great so why wouldn’t you use them? Here are some reasons worth considering… The first thing your car is normally subjected to is an application of diluted traffic film remover (TFR) via a pump sprayer and this is bad in two ways. The first is that this strong chemical is very good at removing grime but will also strip any wax or protection your paintwork already has. This leaves it exposed to day to day wear and the elements. If you paid for a nice Lifeshine treatment or have a ceramic coating then this could damage or completely remove it. A second concern is that TFR should be applied to a pre-rinsed (i.e. wet) car. If applied to a dry surface there will be a risk of damage to the top layer of paint (clear coat). The severity is dictated by the strength of the dilution. Along with this there is also the possibility of damage to chrome, plastic and rubber trim. They are also known to use some rather unorthodox methods whilst washing your car! Wheels are often treated with the same TFR or an acid based product normally via a pump sprayer. The acid products give quick results but are very aggressive. Both can cause damage. Your vehicles wheels will inevitably be hot due to heat soak from the brakes and calipers. This causes the water in the solution to evaporate quickly allowing the chemical to dry or begin to dry on the finish. Using these products on warm or (worse) hot wheels, will generally result in some form of damage to the wheel and caliper finish. The small buckets of water you see the staff working with at supermarkets are far too small to have sufficient water to adequately clean a go-kart never mind a car. At other washes the large tank they have will be a soup of grit and grime from other cars. The sponge or rag they are using is the same one that was used to clean the filthy 4×4 that was before your vehicle. If you want your car washed with dirt this is definitely a great way to achieve it. The correct shampoo is important. It should be ph neutral to ensure no damage is caused to any existing protection on the paint and should also provide good lubricity. The latter helps to remove the dirt from the paint efficiently with minimal micro scratching. Cheap shampoos will not provide these requirements and cannot be provided within the budget restraints of a £5 wash. Washing cars with the traditional sponge has been identified as one of the biggest causes of damage to vehicle paint. Sponges trap dirt between the surface of the paint and the surface of the sponge. This creates a mild sandpapering effect leading to the fine scratches, surface hazing and swirl marks that are easily seen on almost all vehicles in bright sunlight. Understanding the correct way to clean a vehicle may sound ridiculous but there really is a right and wrong way to do it. Employing the correct technique will minimize micro scratching and swirl marks, ensure all areas are effectively cleaned and reduce the risk of other common problems arising like premature drying of shampoo that causes staining/streaks etc. Along with these factors it is also worth noting that cleaning a car should be done carefully and should not be time restricted in any way. A standard safe maintenance wash can take at least an hour, often longer, and not the 5 mins these people take regardless of how many staff they have. Drying the vehicle is the next pitfall and damage can occur by the use of incorrect methods and equipment. The biggest problem is the use of rubber drying blades. These will drag any remaining tiny pieces of dirt or grit across the paint leaving scratches that can sometimes be deep and difficult to remove even with machine polishing. Even after a car has been cleaned the chances of there still being some small particles of dirt or grit on some of the panels is extremely high. Chamois leathers tend to have a similar problem to sponges with regards to trapping grit and then dragging it around. When you also consider that they are rarely rinsed out and normally just wrung out the probability of being contaminated with dirt is high. The safest way to dry a car is by blown air. If that is not available then a good quality microfibre drying towel. Silicone based dressings used on bumpers, plastic and rubber trim and tyres have a sticky consistency that attracts dirt/dust and can leave a patchy finish. It has a tendency to look unnaturally shiny and whilst this can be instantly gratifying the result is short lived and has a tendency to eventually turn brownish in appearance. Waxes and polishes used at such car washes are again heavily silicone based, offer little actual protection or durability and are generally not what you want on your vehicles paint. They are often being applied and removed with unclean or contaminated cloths and rags which can also add fine scratches to your vehicles paint. The minimal benefits of these cheap products are far outweighed by the potential problems that can arise. If you are going to have wax applied to your car then it should be as clean as possible beforehand including tar removal, industrial fallout removal and use of a clay bar. This simply cannot be done in the time scales offered by cheap car washes. They are simply applying wax over a whole load of collected grime. Another reason to

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How Do I Wash My Car Now?

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One of the greatest pleasures I get after detailing a car is seeing the customers reaction when their car has been transformed. This is especially so when the car has been fully decontaminated, polished and waxed. What often follows is a conversation that leads to the following question; How do I look after my car now? The following images and blog will hopefully help you to ensure you wash your car safely and maximise the protection applied to it. Wax offers great protection to your paint from the weather and contaminants but it can be damaged and it can be removed. All waxes and the protection they offer will diminish over time. Different waxes last for varying periods depending on their quality, purpose and ingredients. If you haven’t read my Facebook post about cheap hand car wash sites then have a read of it here. As you will read.. a cheap car wash with the wrong chemicals and you could wave goodbye to the protection you have paid for. So top tips to start off with; Don’t use supermarket or cheap roadside car washes. They are a false economy. Don’t use sponges or brushes for cleaning paintwork Don’t use chamois leather or plastic blades for drying Do it yourself…. or ask me to come and provide a safe maintenance wash for you. To do it yourself you will need; ( I will link to recommended products as the blog continues ) A hose pipe or jet wash A sponge or an older wash mitt Car shampoo Two buckets A good clean wash mitt A quick detailer A soft microfibre drying towel First of all, whether using a hose pipe or a jet wash, rinse the car off thoroughly to remove any loose dirt. The wheels are usually the dirtiest part of the car so the next step is to start there. All you need here is basic good quality car shampoo. Autoglym’s standard car shampoo is perfect. Get a bucket, fill it with approx 2.5 litres of water and mix in some of your car shampoo to the the manufacturers dilution instructions. Put fresh water in the other bucket. This is generally the dirtiest part of the car so the last thing you need to do is wash the wheels, clean them of all the muck and then use the same mitt to wash the car. So use your sponge (the only place a sponge is ok) or an old wash mitt and give the wheels a good thorough clean and rinse off. Do each wheel in turn with a wash and immediate rinse. Between the washing of each wheel dip your sponge/mitt into the fresh water to rinse it and then wring it out. When ready to wash the next wheel load it up with shampoo from the other bucket. Do each wheel until complete. Now the wheels are clean and rinsed off the car is ready for a wash. Before we get going tip out the water from the two buckets and refill with fresh water and shampoo. You’ll need enough water to wash the car so judge how much water you will need and then add your shampoo. Using a jet wash is a good way to mix the shampoo and water once both are in the bucket. Give it a quick blast in the bucket and you’ll have lots of suds! Now you can start washing the car. If the car has dried out whilst you have been doing the wheels then give it another quick rinse. The shampoo works better on a wet/damp surface rather than going straight onto dry paintwork. Start at the top and using your clean wash mitt wash one panel at a time. I use a chenille Microfibre mitt by Chemical Guys. When you’ve washed a panel put the mitt into the clean water bucket and rinse out. Then transfer to the shampoo, load it up and wash the next panel. Simply repeat this process around the car. The lower cills and the bumper behind the rear wheels can collect a lot of mud. I’d recommend you leave these lower areas until last to keep your mitt as clean as possible. One other consideration.. if it’s a sunny day then the shampoo may start to dry out if you’re taking a long time to wash the car. The shampoo and suds hold the dirt.. if they dry on the car the dirt dries with them… so no clean car. Keep an eye on this and if it looks like it’s drying out rinse that whole area and then continue shampooing the rest of the car and rinse. Once the car is fully clean and all the shampoo has been rinsed off it’s time to dry the car. This helps the car look it’s best and stops water droplets and runs drying out and leaving marks on the finish. To dry the car you’ll need a soft microfibre towel. They come in a confusing array of sizes and quality. You can have a really deep plush drying towel with a quality feel or a thinner/lighter towel that is easier to use and handle. Microfibre towels are available from many sources but my go to towel that is easy to use and has great drying capabilities (blue one) is the 450gsm 60×90 towel by Paragon Microfibre. That said you can find many suitable towels on Amazon or in local car shops. I’d still go for Paragon though ;o) If you go straight to drying the car with the towel it will soak up a lot of the water and become quite sodden very quickly. Here the use of a quick detailer in a spray is very useful. Autobrite Direct Berry Blast QD At the moment I use Berry Blast QD from Autobrite Direct. This is a very versatile product that can be used for a variety of purposes at different dilution ratios. It needs a spray bottle. If you don’t want to mess

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