Car Detailing - What products are your go to?

[DFB FGXR6]

I’m in a privileged position to have a cabinet full of chemicals to deal with just about each and every detailing situation presented to me. Half the fun of detailing is finding and trying different products, the not so fun part is paying my hard-earned cash for them! Of course, there is a LOT of similarities and duplication between different brands, but that has not stopped me yet!

After Go Furthers post yesterday, this got me thinking about what I would buy if I was limited to only 10 or 12 products, and therefore what products would give the best bang for my buck. This list will be for chemicals only, tools and towels are another matter entirely. As you can hopefully see, I have chosen products that can serve multiple roles.

1. Car Wash Soap – In the name of versatility, this would be a pH neutral soap so that it can be safely used on all types of sealants, waxes and ceramic coatings. For more cleaning ability, simply add some APC to your soap mixture (See below). In my case, I would choose Koch Chemie GSF, which can be used in a foam cannon or bucket.



2. All Purpose Cleaner – When bought as a concentrate, an APC can be tailored to a variety of tasks. A strong dilution can be used for tyre and engine bay cleaning, a light solution for interior cleaning (including leather, fabric and carpet). It can also be used to clean rubber floor mats or added to your wash soap to increase cleaning ability when required. Koch Chemie Green Star is my choice, but Carpro MultiX or Meguiar's D101 are good choices too.



3. Wheel Cleaner – There are three main types of wheel cleaners; acid based, alkaline based and pH neutral iron removers. In this case, I would go for the iron remover type so that it can also double as a paint decontamination product. I would use Carpro IronX or Gyeon Iron.



4. Drying Aid – A lot of products can be used for this role, however I decided to go for a spray-sealant type for a couple of reasons that will become evident later on. In this case, I would choose between OG Drying Aid or NV Boost.



5. Rinse-less Wash – This is a product that can be used in several areas of the car, not just for rinse-less and water-less washing. It can be used for glass cleaning, interior cleaning and as a clay lubricant. When diluted to a quick detailer solution, it can also serve as a drying aid, however I prefer the use of the above for that role. I have three products I like for this role, but ONR feels the best across all the potential uses I have listed. ONR is also said to be a good bug remover.



6. IPA/Prep Spray – These are alcohol based and are primarily designed to remove oils and resins before applying a new coating or wax. That alcohol base means they double as a glass cleaner. Carpro Eraser is the best in this category.



7. Gyeon Can Coat – This is a very easy to apply lite ceramic coating that can be used on paint, plastic trims, glass and wheels, negating the need for multiple coatings or treatments. Your spray-sealant drying aid then maintains the coating.



8. Sonax Perfect Finish – This is an easy to use one step compound that can be tailored to the required cutting ability.



9. Tyre Dressing – For this situation, I would choose Carpro Perl due to its versatility. Can be used as a tyre dressing, engine bay dressing, exterior trim dressing and interior protection.



10. Leather Care – For leather, I would choose a combined leather cleaner and conditioner like Bowden’s Leather Love.



Optional - A good tar remover can be a life saver and will also double as an adhesive remover. For this role, I would choose Carpro TarX.



Optional – A spray and rinse type sealant makes coating wheels easy or topping up your existing coating. I have switched to the premixed Gyeon Wet Coat for this role.



If you are on a budget or simply don't want to have shelves and shelves of products, then you should be able to keep a car well maintained with those 10 to 12 products.