“Detailing” is the collective term commonly used to describe the processes and techniques that make up the overhaul of a vehicles appearance through cleaning, paint correction and protective coatings

Wrong !

Detailing is SO MUCH more complicated than just “washing a car”. Yes it is true that a wash is one of the many….MANY steps included in detailing packages ; however it is the technique , attention to detail and pursuit of perfection that sets professional detailers apart from “Car valeting” or “washing a car”.

Everything a detailer does is thought out and carefully planned using years of experience, knowledge and product research to correct the imperfections and defects left in a cars exterior paintwork through one or more combined effects of Manufacturer imparted error , poor maintenance wash techniques and the regular bombardment of foreign material and debris that comes from the Great British roads and weather.

The result is absolutely stunning , glossy paintwork that showcases your vehicle from every single angle. Whether its a 15 year old MINI cooper , or a brand new Lamborghini - every car is special to its owner in some way and presenting it back to the customer to see their faces in disbelief at how good their vehicle looks - that’s the prize for me.

“Paint Correction” or “Machine polishing” as it is often referred ; is the mechanical process involved in correcting defects and enhancing appearance , depth of color and reflective clarity in your vehicles paintwork.

Whilst the exact processes and techniques involved are far too long and in-depth to explain on a simple FAQ page, it can be boiled down to this :

Destructive Defects (minor scratches, swirls , holograms, pigtails etc) create “V” shaped cuts in your vehicles clearcoat (the layer above the coloured paint that protects your paintwork and makes it “glossy”) These “V” shaped cuts allow light to become trapped and bounce around inside them - causing shiny, noticeable marks on the paint surface (scratches). By using a combination of specialist cutting compounds and pads ; a detailer will “round out” the edges of these “V’s” resulting in light dispersing more evenly and creating a “flatter” clearcoat with dramatically reduced (or entirely dissipated) defects.

The secondary (and best) effect this machine polishing process has is by “shaving” the thickness of a vehicles cloudy, weather damaged clearcoat down by thousandths of a millimeter (microns). This allows the colored pigment of your paint to shine through clearer and with more vibrancy resulting in a vehicle that looks not just “clean” but bright, sharp and reflective from every angle.

In my packages you will find reference to paint correction “Stages” or “Multi Stage". This simply defines the amount of refinement your clearcoat will receive :

single stage (ENLIVEN PACKAGE): A light to medium refinement of up to 75% that takes a single pad type and compound to accomplish. This is the quickest way to enhanced paintwork with great results…all be it inferior to a 2 or 3 stage polishing regiment.

2 stage (RADIENCE PACKAGE) : A medium refinement of up to 85% correction that separates the “Cut” and “Refine” processes into 2 separate steps. 2 complete rounds of machine polishing over the entire vehicle using uniquely specific compound/pad combinations creates a noticeably deeper color and shine than a single stage.

3 Stage (969 PACKAGE): A heavy refinement of up to 95% correction that uses 3 complete repeat rounds of polishing over the entire vehicle with the final pass utilizing a compound designed to extract the maximum amount of gloss and depth of color possible

Hydrophobicity is quite literally your paintwork being scared of water (Hydro - phobia) . Dirt and contaminates accumulate on the surface of our roads and are carried to our vehicles paintwork via water (rain/mud/snow). These dirt laden droplets then stick to the paintwork and once the water has dried (or fallen off) leaves behind the contaminate on the paint surface.

Certain products significantly reduce the amount of binding dirt and chemicals have on a surface and the term “hydrophobicity” is used to describe the amount by which it achieves this.

The long and the short is :

we want hydrophobic properties on our vehicles. its our friend and there are literally NO downsides to having as much of it as possible.

Ceramic coating (Sio2 + SiC) is the generalised name given to a specialist product used to “protect” a paints appearance.

Protect (in this instance) however does not mean “Bulletproof”. Many people believe Ceramic and Carbon Ceramic coatings will shield their paintwork from stone chips and other debris - unfortunately this is a mischaracterization .

Instead what a Ceramic coating does is provide a tough layer of dirt and chemical resistance that prevents the bonding of foreign debris to the surface of the paint. This “slipperiness” then aids maintenance of the paintwork by making it incredibly easy to wash off - with large foreign deposits (that would usually destroy paintwork when rubbed with a traditional sponge) rinsing off the surface with little more than a good snow foam and a pressure washer.

The second benefit ceramic coatings have is providing a translucent, light scattering top layer to the clearcoat that further enhances the glossy paintwork below. Crystal clear reflections and stunning clarity give your vehicle the appearance of being “wet” when in fact its just insane levels of mind bending refraction.

The 3rd main benefit Ceramic coatings give is Hydrophobicity. Its "slippery” surface prevents water droplets (and the contaminents inside) from settling on the clearcoat. Instead it forces the particles together into tight spheres of water droplets called “beading”. Not only does this beading look incredible on stationary vehicles when the rain finally does stop falling ; but it gives a visual reassurance to the owner that the coating is there. Its doing its job. and its doing it well….these droplets “slide” off the paintwork at speed when moving taking all the nasty paint destroying contaminants with it. Any dirt that does manage to cling on - is quickly delt with at the next Safe Wash without risk to the paintwork underneath.

Ceramic coatings commonly come in 2 main forms ; Sio2 and SiC (there is also nano and graphene variations but this is a hot topic of contention with many professional detailers believing they are simply marketing speak)

If you wish to delve into the “Alice in Wonderland” world of Ceramic chemistry please grab a coffee and be prepared for many MANY hours of googling….however; the short version is this

SiO2 - Great for enhancements on a budget . Lasts anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. Excellent levels of protection and gloss

SiC - Carbon Ceramic 9H coatings are the bigger brother to SiO2 and are considered superior with greatly improved longevity , resistance to dirt/chemicals and superior gloss capabilities. These typically last from 2 years to as much as 10 years with the right product and maintainence.

No. Unfortunately this is a specialist service i do not offer. I have no plans to introduce these services at present.

No. Unfortunately this is a service i do not currently offer. However it is definitely on my radar for the future!

You are paying for :

• time - lots of it. Each car can take up to a week or more to prepare, refine and protect.

• Products - £thousands go into a detailing studio. The chemicals, the lighting , the machinery. This ain’t no “bucket n big yellow sponge” affair.

• Expertise - Painstaking attention of detail takes years of practice and research to achieve. We detailers take ultimate pride in our work (like an artist takes pride in his painting). This is art to us and art takes dedication. Your not paying for someone who obsesses over a profit margin…. Your paying for someone who obsesses over the finished result and the results speak for themselves.

• Hard work - Detailing is physically and mentally hard work. There are a ton of steps that must be methodically managed and carried out to the highest levels at every step. One wrong move can mean undoing days of labor to start again… plus the physical processes like washing and machine polishing can be gym workouts in themselves!

“Grey means spray” - If you can see grey pigment in the scratch ; it more than likely means the scratch has extended down to through the clearcoat, pigment layers and down to the primer. This cant be polished out and needs touched up or completely resprayed…if the Grey is “shiny” its more than likely down to metal…this is even worse and needs a professional respray to fix

bubbles of doom - if your paint lacquer is scaley (like a snake) or has more bubbles than a freshly poured pint ; it indicates significant damage to the clearcoat layer and cannot be machine polished. I wont go near any areas like this as polishing can potentially do even more noticable damage to these areas.

Naked paint - Paint which has been rattle canned (spray paint tin) in a backyard shed without proper technique , undercoat or lacquer (clearcoat) is just asking to be destroyed with a polisher….To save a headache for me or the customer - I wont go near this.

Virgin Paint - When a car is sprayed the chemical bonding creates gasses in the lacquer. These gases (called VOCs-Volatile Organic Compounds) gradually rise to the surface and dissipate through a process called “Gassing off”. Typical paintwork needs anywhere from 30-90 days to Gas out and during this time it is generally a bad idea to machine polish it as doing so can irreparably damage the paint curing process….so if you know your car has just had a panel resprayed wait at least 2 months before getting it corrected - you'll thank me later!