Five Basic Car Care Tips from Gia's Detailing

Five Steps to keep your car looking its best.

1. Avoid scratches as much as possible

We start with scratches. Why? Because they are the biggest threat to your car's finish. And avoiding scratches is the secret to keeping your car looking good. Washing your vehicle and keeping it clean will prevent scratching in the long run!

Although commercial car washes can damage the finish if not properly attended at the time of washing. It is shown that damages most often come from the harsh chemicals and brushes used in these facilities. Utilize a hand wash facility if possible to minimize common micro scratching on your vehicle paint surface from these car washes.

2. As much as possible, protect your cars finish and interior.

This means storing the car in a garage or covered area. Also, the use of a car cover is recommended. A car that is constantly exposed to sunlight and other environmental hazards will deteriorate quicker and require significantly more cosmetic maintenance. Darker color cars require more maintenance than lighter color cars.

When choosing a car cover make sure that the cover is able to “breathe” while the car is covered. This enables the car to not be encapsulated and trap moisture under the cover further causing damage to a vehicle’s paint.

Also, for the interior, keep a high quality bristle brush handy and brush out the dirt from the carpet surface, staining of lighter colored carpets will be minimized. We recommend this on a weekly basis. This will prevent the dirt from building up over a long period of time which will require a more extensive cleaning in the future.

3. Always keep a good coat of wax, paint sealant, or use of waterless wash on the car.

In addition to providing gloss and depth, wax will also protect your car from the elements, including sunlight and many other circumstances that you will encounter, from bug carcasses to bird droppings.

Consider washing your vehicle with a high-grade waterless wash which contains polymers which emulsify and remove dirt from the surface and leave a long lasting shine and protection!

Click here for a complete demonstration of how waterless wash works.

It is a quick and easy process utilizing waterless wash and microfiber technology without dragging out the hose, bucket and having all of the soap run into the drains harming the environment.

With waterless wash, no mess, no hoses and no threat to the environment!

4. Be aware of your car's finish.

 Make regular quick inspections of your cars surface a habit. Note if the scratches “catch” your fingernail when you rub gently over the surface of the paint.

If it does, try a light compound to level the surface and possibly remove or lighten the scratch, apply factory touch-up paint to prevent cracking, rusting, and the scratch from further spreading to another area.

Also consider bringing it to a professional detailer in your area. See the Professional Detailing association website for one in your area.

5. Make a habit of detailing your car.

In most cases, washing your car once a month is adequate. Once every two weeks is better and necessary if the car is subject to harsh conditions.

Bringing your vehicle to a detail professional at least twice a year is recommended. Expert compounding and polishing with high grade detail products by a trained professional will bring your vehicle back to that showroom shine!

For detailing industry terminology please refer to our website.

The staff at Gia’s Detailing also is here to answer any of your car care needs or questions:

Contact us at 631.445.3944 or e mail us at carcare@giasdetailing.com anytime!