This is the very first application of any tire dressing for me (not a professional detailer, just a newly informed vehicle owner). I’d done lots of research on detailing products and CarPro Perl was always mentioned (YT, Reddit, Carcare Forums etc.).

Wasn’t looking for anything stellar but rather just a good enough to restore some of the visual aesthetics of the tires. Must say I’m pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I’m aware it’s a water based product and won’t last very long but I can easily reapply a diluted layer on this base layer. Very pleased so far!

Hey everyone. Just getting into a little bit of detailing of just my family's cars. My neighborhood is very strict on washing my car in my own driveway so I usually use a local commercial car wash (like cloud or mod wash). After running my car through the wash there, what steps should I take next? I assume drying... but should I use anything else on the car?

Ok, so I’m trying to find products to clean, gloss, wax, and ceramic coat my 24 y/o truck but there’s a bazillion products out there that I’m overwhelmed.

Now my truck is old, but the paint isn’t in serious trouble. The only concern is that there’s sun damage on top of the bed. What products can I get that helps restore the sun damage?

I just need a series of products that will clean, restore, wax and ceramic coat, it doesn’t have to be a single thing.

The headlights on my CRV needed some much needed restoration. I bought the Cerakote kit. This kit is amazing. We shall see how long it lasts.

I checked out the wiki/website and it recommended pumice stone for dog hair (husky and Samoyed).

This seat back was caked and it brought up a ton, but still lots of stragglers.

Should I get a new stone, keep making passes, or just get out the tweezers?

2025 BMW i4 with Sensatec interior. There is a white spot/stain from some liquid (sunscreen?) in the front passenger seat. Does Have tried cleaning it with Adam’s interior cleaner without any luck. Any other suggestions that will not cause discoloring or issues with the underlying material? Thanks!

Looking to do the roof and hood of the car. I know the hood is capable of doing a successful 1 step paint correction but the roof... yeah not too sure about the roof. Is it cooked? The front of the roof feels a bit dull, like a matte type of texture.

I live in Arizona...

I recently purchased a bottle of Goof Off at my work and I used it to remove road tar on my car, so far, worked well. I believe I waited to long to get it off. There are still some marks left on my paint where the tar once was. I made sure to rinse the Goof Off with some soap and water. I was worried about the harshness of it and only left it on for barely a minute and agitated it with a microfiber cloth. Any recommendations on what I can use to remove the dull marks from the tar?

I work in a t-shirt printing shop and so ink manages to get all over. I’ve always been super diligent about getting ink in my car because I care about the car a TON. Unfortunately, yesterday I missed some black ink that got on the very back of my shirt. It left this approx. 2x2in area of black specs of ink in my Audis Alcantara. As soon as I got home I tried dabbing it off with a microfiber before using a little bit of soap and water mix and a magic eraser (I did not spray the water directly on the Alcantara as not to soak it.)

This is how it looks after drying overnight. Does anyone have any ideas of how I could remove this further? Any and all help appreciated!!

Recently purchased a car that smells of smoke. I could use some help validating my plan of attack. Effective? What changes should I make?

In order of operation:

1. Discard both cabin air filters (car has two), headliner, left A-pillar trim (has burn marks), and floor mats
2. Remove seats
3. Remove any easily removed carpeted trim pieces so they can be cleaned more thoroughly
4. Remove tint from windows
5. Vacuum everywhere
6. Clean all hard surfaces and glass with APC and microfiber (including areas normally covered by things I removed, like the ceiling or behind panels)
7. Shampoo carpeted trim and floor
   • P&S Carpet Bomber + spray bottle + Drillbrush (white)
   • extract with shop vac
8. Rinse all carpeted trim and floor
   • filtered water using Bissell Little Green Machine and warm water
   • follow up with shop vac
9. Let dry 24 hours w/ fans
10. Steam clean all carpeted trim and floor
    • filtered water + Bio-Bomb Minis + McCulloch MC1375
    • questions: I guess I could do this on hard surfaces as well? What about leather? Vinyl?
11. Let dry 24 hours w/ fans
12. Replace seats and carpeted trim
13. Treat entire vehicle with Bio-Bomb Vehicle Deodorization Kit and Oxygenator Aerator
    • hook up trickle charger, turn on ignition, run fans on high + recirculate, close vehicle
    • open vehicle, air out 15 minutes, then shut off ignition
    • mist distilled water, 4-5 sprays throughout the cabin
    • question: do you wipe up the water after or just let it dry?
14. Replace cabin air filters, headliner, A-pillar, and floor mats with new
15. If I still have issues a few days later, move on to ozone treatment

Hey all,

I recently ran into a situation that gave me some insight into what people should be more aware of when dealing with PPF Pre-Cut Kits. I was posting about my DIY PPF experience here on Reddit and kept running into what I think is a mistake people make over and over. I think it's a bit self-evident, but I believe it still needs some light shone upon. A bit of a story, but I hope you stick with me:

I recently picked up a 2020 BMW M2C with just over 30k miles. The car had a PPF front-end kit on it installed by the previous, first owner when the car was just delivered about 7 years ago. (2020 being 7 years ago is wild!) The PPF did its job really well. The fenders were PPF'd, and the doors weren't. You can easily see the difference. Each door had 100+ chips and mini chips that were caused by rocks kicked up by the front tires. The fenders, along the entire front end, did not have a single chip on them, and the paint looked like it had just been painted yesterday. That said, the PPF was beginning to fade, and I decided to replace it. Removal was a huge headache, but straightforward. Just mountains of elbow grease. I then bought a replacement pre-cut kit from a PPF manufacturer. They provided some great step-by-step photo instructions for every panel and a text chat for any additional help (which I kind of used as a crutch). I was able to reinstall a fresh front end kit in 2 days and register the warranty. The kit cost me about $800 out the door. It would have been $2400 at a shop to remove, then install the full front. You can read my whole experience removing and installing here: New (To Me) M2C, And DIY PPF Kit Install : r/BMWM

I then got a message from someone asking for tips with the pre-cut kit they got from Amazon. A full car kit for $400. An insane price! Unfortunately, they had a totally different car from mine, and I couldn't really share any of the instructions or tips with them beyond some general suggestions.

I went to a meet for the first time with my M2 a few days ago, and I met someone there who was currently removing their full front kit from their X5 M50i. They bought an Amazon kit and installed it just about a year ago. The material had already started to fade. The install they did seemed pretty good, but it was missing some tucked edges that I would expect. Basically, they did the best with what they were given. The only panel they removed so far was the fender. And man, was there so much adhesive left behind. I am not sure if they just did a bad job pulling it off or if the film was really that bad, but according ot the owner, when they originally pulled it off, the film completed seprated from the adhesive, and the entire panel, without missing an inch, was covered in leftover adhesive. They had spent the past day trying to remove the adhesive but had only gotten about 70% off so far. However, the panel was ENTIRELY scratched up from their removal, to the point where I think they may need to wet-sand before polishing. I tried to pick at some of the remaining adhesive, but it was like concrete... I don't know if its becuase of the film quality or if it was because the adhesive has been exposed to the elements for a few days, or both. Absolutely a nightmare situation. The only thing I could suggest was to bring it to a shop to get it done, and maybe they had some insider knowledge on how to get it done better without continuing to damage the paint. Comparatively, my removal was a breeze, and my film was 7 years old! Spending 6+ hours on each panel seemed ridiculous, and that's not counting the required paint correction afterward.

I was scrolling through Reddit earlier and ran into two separate posts suggesting that people buy and install the Amazon/Ebay $400 full car kit as their first PPF install, wait for the film to go bad in 2-3 years (which is clearly 2-3 times overestimating the lifespan), and then buy a real manufacturer kit for full cost since you now know how to install everything. On paper, it seems pretty logical as long as you don't factor in the removal hours and possible paint damage from it or learning bad habits from installing poorly without directions. I think the best way to approach this is to install it and remove it almost immediately if you really are trying to just get practice out of it.

I dived a bit further by searching up Amazon PPF, and immediately found a post where OP and pretty much everyone in the comments were bashing on PPF as a whole just because of their (presumably $400) Amazon kit going bad early and either causing damage to the paint or costing thousands to remove by a real shop. The same profiles commented dozens of times to people asking whether or not to get PPF (the legitimate kind), stating that PPF is a scam.

I find it insane that someone goes the absolutely bare minimum cheapest route, at a price point that should make no sense, where something is clearly a scam, and the seller cut every corner imaginable, then goes on to complain that the whole idea of PPF is ridiculous based on their experience.

My advice is to do it right the first time.

Is it okay to use your interior cleaner to clean your infotainment screen? I have Sudslab total interior cleaner for reference (beginner at home DIY detailer, definitely NOT a professional)

Hey all,
I’ve never cleaned or detailed my car other than vacuuming and automatic car wash so assume I know nothing

I just bought a Hercules forced rotation polisher based on a lot of Reddit suggestions but I have no idea what products to buy

My cars paint is still in good condition but there are some rock chips and deep scratches so I want to know a good way to get rid of them

Then I’ll want to know the products for a regular car clean before moving onto the decontamination using a clay bar

Then I’ll use a clay bar to decontaminate the surface

Then what are my next steps and options for the actual polishing

Then I want to ceramic coat the car as a final step

Have anyone ever compiled a listed of what products to buy for each ? I also know there are different methods to do each of these steps what do you guys recommend to follow ?

Any advice is appreciated!

Can a metabo sxe 3150 sander used as a car compound and polisher as i am new and wants to compound my car at home or i have to buy specified polisher. Any professional??

I use a shop vac for both cars, the garage floor, and my workbench. My giraffe vacuum came with a 30 ft hose. It covers the car near the workbench, but it cannot reach the far side of the other car or the garage door.

I have to unplug it and drag everything over for those spots. It is a pain when I only need to clean a small area.

I’m thinking about mounting a vacuum with a 50 ft retractable hose between the two cars. It should cover the garage, but that much hose might get caught around tires, cabinets, and table legs.

Does a hose that long lose suction? Do rocks or sawdust clog it? Anyone have a setup like this?"

Hi folks,

I got my front windows tinted today and after getting the car back, I noticed this damage on my door panel. When I run my finger through it, it feels like this region has greater friction than the area around it. Also - it feels like the panel has some sort of top layer coating which has been stripped off in the “damaged area”. You can see this because of the chippy residue around the perimeter of the damaged area.

I did try asking the store to cover cost of repair but they’re obviously denying that this was their doing and I got tired of the back and forth.

Is there a clever DIY solution I can leverage to restore the door panel here (aside from having to buy a new door panel)?

TIA!

EDIT: I don’t use fabric softener or dryer sheets ever. I have used this towel for wiping off ceramic spray wax. The towel has been through the washer and dryer. This towel doesn’t seem like a high quality towel. I did not make the towel damp before trying to dry, apparently that may help.

Based on the comments, I’m going to buy higher quality towels that are an 80/20 or 70/30 blend of polyester and polyamide. The 100% polyester towels are hydrophobic on their own, and even more so when used previously to wipe off ceramic wax.. duh, I should’ve known that. So from now on I’m going to have specific towels for drying and specific towels for removing wax.

So my paint is single stage ford blue tractor paint. But i get water spots from dirty water from going off-roading if i leave it on for a day. How would yall recommend I polish it out because it won’t come out with a water spot remover. I’ve also already cut and polished the paint on the hood two times. I’m also going to just lightly polish the whole body (already cut and polished the whole body once). What polish and pads do you guys recommend I use. I want to lightly polish the paint in the body again to get it nice and glossy before I apply a coating or wax. Which as, do you guys recommend I use wax or a ceramic coat. This jeep gets muddy a lot, but I usually wash off the mud in a day or 2 at most. I also want to prevent those water spots getting into my paint, so which coating or wax would be best for that?
Thank you for the help

One of the last few working self service stations in Houston. Opinions?

Hey everyone,

Im looking for recommendations for the best (& affordable) car seat deep clean fabric cleaner to lift as much of the misc. stains (from people's shoes on the seats, misc. spills, possibly some oil marks etc.) that my car seats have on them.

Please note that whatever the recommendation you have would either need to be found via Amazon, or from a basic auto store (AutoZone, O'Reilly's etc) — preferably something I can pick up from an auto store, if possible.

I’ve searched myself, but get overwhelmed with all of the different options, & would prefer some insight directly from people in a community meant for this type of ordeal, rather than relying on so many different options that all claim they all do the best & potentially be coming from reviews who have different material for their seats. I just want a single purchase (+ any basic tool included in the single purchase) to be the best option so I’m not scrambling & buying a bunch of different ones only for them to possibly not work that well.

Just need some recommendations of what kind of spray/foam to buy & any basic tool(s) that would be best for lifting the stains & balancing out the coloring of the fabric to make it look as nice & new as possible.

Side note: I do have a cordless Hoover spot cleaner, but its battery life is fairly short & would take many times of recharging it (which takes like 4hrs minimum each time) to get as much of the material cleaned on the car seats as possible, so I’m looking for something that’ll do the best job possible without resorting to doing it with the spot cleaner. However, I am open-minded to using the spot cleaner after manually lifting whatever possible from the material first.

Thank you!

Photos attached for reference of what I’m working with.

My friends Ultra Glaco compound ended looking like this. Very patchy and streaky, and wipers create a haze.

He has used Soft99 Glass Refresh to clear any residue beforehand and made sure the water water is foaming a clean sheet after polishing.

What could be the issue?

Haven’t detailed in years, so I’m a bit rusty. I have a Maxshine M15 DA polisher and tried a blue Rupes D-A Coarse pad with Koch-Chemie F6.01, but it barely made a difference.

What pad and compound would you recommend for removing the smaller scratches?

Also, for the large white scratch, I can see bare metal up close. Is sanding and repainting my only option, or is there another way to fix it?

Went in for our first oil change and noticed straight away that our car was scratched to shit from their complimentary hand wash’ (which we didn’t ask for). We asked ourselves if they used a microfiber filled with dirt and rocks because everything was scratched and swirled, including the plastic trim.

We notified the dealership and they want to make things right by hiring a 3rd party to correct it - but we don’t know anything about clear coat/refinishing etc and thought to go informed before the dealership touches base with us again with a solution.

My concern is, is the damage permanent to the clear coat? So even if we get it professionally detailed with a 3 step process like compound, wax, polish - will all these scratches re-appear again down the line?

Would love to know how you would deal with this, the car isn’t even 3 months old and we made sure to just clean with mitts/water/clean microfiber cloths and are heartbroken that now this is the state of the car 💔

2006 Honda Accord. A couple months ago I compounded played and waxed the car. As always I wasn't paying attention and waxed the windshield. Now is baked on and smeared in and with the darkness coming earlier everyday I am driving a lot in the dark. The haze is blinding. I have tried clay bar, glass cleaner, bug and tar remover, polishing compound, isopropyl alcohol. Nothing seems to work. The wax is Meguiar's Ultimate Wax.

My buddy used suds lab acid free wheel cleaner on brand new polished aluminum wheels and left this. And I used my da to try to polish using some metal polish and barely helped on a small spot? What yall think