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Want to know how to valet a car...the right way?
First things first, valeting a car is not an easy job and there are many different methods depending on what products you are using. This guide is designed to show you how to clean your car to a high standard using regular valeting products. This is the same sort of valet you would get from a standard motor trade valeter and would cost you between £60-£80. This should take you between 2-3 hours. If you are using specialist products such as Zymol then please follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer. A full treatment using top quality products such as Zymol can take as long as 8-10 hours. Click here for more information on Zymol car cleaning products Before you read our guide on how to valet a a car please remember that although a pressure washer is a highly effective way of removing dirt it can also cause stress and damage to your paintwork. Always use very lightly on areas were paint is chipped, flaking or where paintwork has been repaired. You can use lightly by increasing the distance between the nozzle and the car. Never get the nozzle too close to the car even when you see stains such as bird mess. Just use to blow away surface dirt and grit and to lightly rinse after shampooing. Now you are ready to learn how to valet a car.
Firstly, treating one wheel at a time, use a wheel cleaner or traffic film remover and spray onto your alloy wheel or trim. Then disturb the dirt and grime with a wheel brush and finally rinse off with a pressure washer or hose. You can also use the pressure washer to clean your wheel arches and tyres at the same time. Remember to remove the spare wheel and clean that as well, then leave to dry. Open the doors of your car and carefully clean the door shuts and hinges with a pressure washer. Try to avoid soaking the interior of the car at this point. Lift the bonnet and clean the underside of the bonnet and the bonnet edges in the same way. I would always avoid using a pressure washer directly on to the engine, even if you have a professional steam cleaner you have to be very careful and know what parts of the engine are sensitive to moisture. I have known people who have needed to replace air mass meters after washing their engines. This can be costly. If you really want to clean your engine I would always recommend cleaning by hand with a thoroughly wrung out sponge and dry cloths. Rinse off the entire vehicle with fresh cold water using you pressure washer or hose. You should always do this before applying shampoo to remove all surface dirt and grit, which could scratch the paintwork. Next you should get a clean bucket and fill with shampoo and cold water using the amounts stated on the bottle in preparation for the exterior wash. Using a clean sponge apply the shampoo to the bodywork and trim. Pay attention to areas where there has been bird droppings and rub gently to dislodge it. You should also give the wheels a shampoo as this will give them extra shine and remove any dirt that remains. Rinse the car thoroughly but lightly to remove all shampoo. Using a chamois leather or a clean cotton towel, remove any excess water from the bodywork, trim and door shuts. Try to leave the car as dry as possible as this will make it easier when you come to polish it. To allow extra drying time, the next part of our how to valet a car guide will concentrate on the interior.
Using a dry small sized paintbrush, dislodge any dust or dirt from air vents, switches, seat runners, gear stick gaiters and any nook or cranny you can find. Remove and empty all ashtrays, wash separately and leave to dry. Using a small flat tube attachment, vacuum the interior of the car. Remember the glove box, down the side of and under seats, door pockets, headlining, boot and spare wheel compartment etc. if you have floor mats, remove them and vacuum separately outside the car. Then using a small brush attachment, vacuum the dashboard, console and interior trim. Depending on the condition of the interior you are dealing with, you may want to use a wet-vac to clean your seats and carpets at this point. If you do, clean one seat and carpet area at a time to avoid over soaking. Apply the wet-vac shampoo, lightly brush the area then remove the excess moisture with the vacuum. Finally, put plastic seat covers on before the next step or you will get very wet! Alternatively you could use a fabric cleaner that is applied using a damp sponge and removed by hand using a clean dry cloth. Next, using a suitable interior cleaner, clean all the interior trim and plastics then buff to a shine with a clean dry cloth. Remember areas such as doorsills, sun visors, seat belts and pedals. Some people use cheap silicone dressing at this point to make the plastics shine. I am not a fan of such products or the effect produced by them. They look tacky and make everything sticky especially in hot weather. I would recommend avoiding such products and keeping a natural clean look. If you do want to dress your interior then splash out on a good quality natural dressing that will protect your plastics. The next step is to apply window cleaner to the inside of the windows. Use a cream cleaner and not a spray and try to avoid getting the cleaner on your clean plastics. Applying the cleaner to about an inch away from the window edges can avoid this. Remove the window polish with a clean dry cloth. Finally give your interior another quick vacuum to remove any more dust that has settled.
Ideally you should avoid direct sunlight when cleaning the exterior of your car. Car polish is much more effective on a cool surface and shouldn’t be allowed to dry completely before being removed. Even if you can avoid sunlight you should always work on one panel at a time as this minimises the drying time of the polish and will make your job much easier. Apply the polish to the first panel. Try and apply the polish to within an inch of the panel edges but not right to the edge. This avoids getting polish in the panel gaps. Use a backward and forward motion as opposed to circular to prevent swirl marks. While the polish is still on the panel, apply any trim dressing that is required in that area. Doing this while the polish is still on means that any excess dressing is removed from the bodywork at the same time as the polish. Continue this process until every panel is done. It is quite common to find small tar spots on the lower panels of the car; these are quite difficult to remove if they have been on the car a long time and may require extra effort when applying and removing the polish. If you polish your car at regular intervals they should come off easily. Next apply and remove polish from the door, boot and bonnet shuts. Clean the outside of the windows one at a time, again avoid polishing right to the edge. The polish will stain your window trim and is difficult to remove. You may wish to apply tyre dressing to your car to add a nice finishing touch. If you do this using a spray, try to avoid getting it on the bodywork. You can do this by either; applying carefully in a draft free area; shielding the bodywork with piece of cardboard or by applying when the surrounding areas are still covered in polish. Finally check around the car once again for anything you may have missed and replace your ashtrays, floor mats and anything else removed from the car.
Hopefully your car now looks great and no doubt you will want to keep it that way. Well it should be easy now you know how to valet a car properly. If possible, shampoo the exterior of your car and vacuum the interior weekly following the methods above, this will make cleaning the car easier when you next come to valet. Perform a full valet 2 or 3 times a year following the steps in our how to valet a car guide.
You may find that you enjoy valeting your car and want to take things a stage further. Well if you want to learn how to valet a car to concours or show standard then you will need the right products for the job.
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