Lakeland Auto Detailing

Auto Detailing is our passion and our profession. Xpert Detailers use these main ingredients in every detail:

Our goal is to restore your car to showroom condition. Our customers are often amazed at the end results, but it all starts with having experienced detailing staff. Most of our detailers have 5 or more years experience. Their professional experience, coupled with the latest equipment and techniques, is a recipie for detailing bliss. You can see examples of our work in our Gallery. Now we're going to share some of our detailing secrets with you!

Auto Detailing Tips

It takes years of working in the vehicle cleaning and reconditioning industry to gain the knowledge and experience to handle the toughest challenges quickly and professionally. But even do-it-yourselfers can get exceptional results, if you simply follow a few common sense rules.

Common Sense Rules for Do-it-Yourself Detailing

1. Use Caution

Sometimes it is wisest to leave some things to the experts. We know that you love your car and would hate to do any permanent damage to the paint, trim or interior. So it’s important to realize that certain tasks really do require experience to master. Your car only has one paint finish, and it's meant to last the lifetime of your car. It's important to be cautious, especially if you lack experience.

For example, we get occasional calls from people who have attempted to buff their car by hand, and invariably, what seemed like a simple process turned into a nightmare and their paint has heavy swirl marks or even holograms. They usually start with a mild product that would work well with machine power, but would take almost forever working soley by hand. After hours of hard labor, they don't see much progress at all; so, obviously they must need a more agressive product! Little do they realize, that agressive "cutting creams" absolutely require machine processing. In fact, many modern cutting products are designed to wear down to a milder product as they are worked over and over and even heated by the even pressure of a polishing machine. Working a product like that by hand is going apply uneven pressure and usually leaves circular gouges in the clearcoat. Now, I'm not saying that it's impossible to buff a car by hand -- in fact someone somewhere is reading this right now and thinking to themselves that they have buffed several cars by hand and gotten excellent results -- but those are exceptional results by someone with exception experience and abilty. If you aren't certain that you have that experience -- then trust me please -- you don't.

Stay away from acids and strong alkalai, poisons, and petroleum distillates. These chemicals are dangerous not only to your car but to your eyes and skin. And while there are times that we use them, they are usually rare exceptions. Futhermore, you need proper training and safety equipment. Are you wondering when might we use a poison on your car? Mildewicides are used for mold-remediation -- don't try this one either -- those mold spores and mycotoxins are dangerous and you need a certified respirator mask, rubber gloves, goggles and other saftey equipment and training to remove mold.

Avoid strong, overbearing fragrances. If you must use one, apply it to a small piece of cloth in a pastic dish and place it under the seat in the passenger side of the car -- that way if you find that the scent is unbearable, you can remove it -- if you apply it to your carpets and seats, you'll probably wind up calling a professional who has a carpet extractor, and some enzyme cleaners to break down the smell and remove it.

If you have any doubts or questions -- call us for some free advise! We will be more than happy to answer your questions and/or detail the vehicle for you.

2. Use the Best Car Detailing Supplies

• Newer Products are Better
Auto detailing products have improved remarkably over the years, so chances are that your father’s favorite car wax has been far surpassed.
• Value your time
Your time is valuable -- why invest all that hard work for sub-par results? Also, the latest products will save you time, and may save money too! You’re already saving on the labor, so why not treat yourself to the best products so you can get professional results.
• Compare Car Detailing Prices
As you detail your car, pay attention to how much time and effort it takes. You may find that, after spending almost all of your precious free time on Saturday or your other day off, you wind up regretting the decision to do it yourself. Or you may simply be dissappointed with the results. In either case, check out our car detailing prices on our services page.
• Use a Variety of Products
At a minimum, you will need a degreaser, a good car wash shampoo that is gentle enough to not strip your wax, vinyl dressing, leather conditioner, tire shine, window cleaner and a quality wax or sealant. You may also want to purchase a chrome and metal polish, carpet shampoo, fabric stain-guard, bug and tar removers, and a mild polish or cleaner wax.
• Use Name-brand Products
Sure, there may be some off-brand products that do a good job, but major name brand suppliers have a valuable reputation to maintain, so they are very unlikely to sell you a product that could harm your car’s paint, trim or interior.
• Professional Car Detailing Equipment
If you plan to personally detail your car on a routine basis, you may want to consider purchasing some professional car detailing equipment. You can start with the basics:
• step ladder
• buckets
• extra water hoses
• micro fiber towels
But over time you will probably want to consider purchasing or renting:
• Random Orbital Buffer
• Carpet Extractor -- These are very useful around the home too!
• Shop Vacuum
• Air Compressor -- for cleaning vents, cracks and crevices

3. Use a Checklist for Detailing a Car

As professionals, we know how important it is to give consistant results. One of the easiest ways to stay consistent is the simple "pre-flight check list". You can build your checklist easily over time, by simply adding anything that gets overlooked to the bottom of your list. Overtime, you will build a short all-inclusive checklist that insures that you never forget the "details of the detail"