When treating your vehicle with thorough car detailing, there will inevitably be toxic contaminants and particulate matter which you will want to take extra care to deal with. These contaminants are all accumulated through the normal lifecycle of any car and if they are not washed away safely at regular intervals, can build up and put you and your vehicle at risk.
Types Of Contaminants
When driving on the roads and off the beaten path, your vehicle will build up traces of contaminants that you will want to eradicate during car detailing. These contaminants include the following:
Dust and dirt: Picked up very commonly, dust and dirt may not present any serious issues but it does make your car look very unappealing and uncared for.
Salt: Salt can accumulate on your car when it is used in wintery conditions to prevent ice build-up on the road network. This is a problem because salt has corrosive properties that can cause the underside of your car to rust and even eat away at vital components, leaving your vehicle unsafe to drive.
Brake dust: Whenever the brake pads are engaged on your car or those of other road users, tiny metal particles are emitted. This can damage alloy wheels, affect braking performance and be detrimental to your health.
Oils and fuels: Other faulty vehicles may be leaking oils and fuels onto the roads, which in turn are whipped up onto your car. This can lead to both discoloration and corrosion of the metallic elements of your chassis.
There are many other contaminants that can be harmful to you, your car, and the environment. Next, we will outline the main steps for decontaminating your car through car detailing.
Step 1: Pre-Wash Your Car
Before jumping in and going straight for the standard wash, it is often important in car detailing to do a preparational wash to loosen any stubborn, thick contaminants that may be clinging to your vehicle.
Using a suitable chemical cleaner, get full coverage of your car before moving on to a follow-up foam wash. Now, when you come to the next step, all of the unwanted material will slide right off.
Step 2: Contact Wash
Grab a bucket and a sponge and carry out a thorough contact wash. Take extra care to clean the roof, door panels, and lower parts of the front and back of your car. Now that you have cleaned off any of the chemical or foam products you used in step 1, you can move on to the third step.
Step 3: Decontamination Of Metallic Contaminants
During this process, we will remove all of the metallic particle contaminants that may be hard to spot on your car. There are several products out there that are designed to remove iron contaminants from your car, so make sure to pick up one of those and apply it to your entire vehicle body.
Make sure only to apply these products if your car is cool and hasn’t been in use directly prior to the car detailing process. These products often highlight the metallic matter as red and as they drain away they produce an effect known as ‘bleeding’.
After the product has reacted with the metal fragments and they have begun to bleed away, rinse your car again with water. In some extreme cases, you may wish you do a second pass to be 100% sure that you have removed all metallic contaminants from your car but in most instances, once should be enough.
Step 4: Decontamination Of Oil And Glue Contaminants
Now that the metal is out of the way, there is another difficult-to-remove category of contaminants to deal with. These are oils, tars, and glues which you will need to pick up specialty products for.
Using these products, spray onto focussed sections of the car and wipe them down with a microfibre cloth. When you look at the cloth, you should see the residue of these contaminants and know they have been effectively removed from your car.
Step 5: Claying
Nearing the end of the car detailing process, using a clay-based product will help to remove any deeply embedded contaminants that you may have otherwise missed. Using a clay product, spray it onto the surface of your car and use a piece of clay to clean the body with light pressure.
Feel the car after this process and you will notice the difference. The bodywork will be smooth, clean, and free of embedded contamination.
Step 6: Finishing
Despite the fact that you have removed any harmful contaminants, you will have also removed any protective layers applied from previous car detailing procedures. You should now apply a wax or sealant bonding or go one step further and give your car a full hand or machine polish.
How Often Should You Decontaminate In Car Detailing?
This process may sound fairly rigorous, but it is not something you need to do regularly. Once or twice a year should suffice to remove any contaminants that have built up on your vehicle.
Conclusion
As you drive your car, contaminants will inevitably build up and present a risk to your vehicle, your health, and the environment. By carefully and thoroughly decontaminating your car every now and then, you can help to stop these impacts and keep your car looking good in the process.
