Car Detailing Series

I've been blogging infrequently for a good portion of 2 years now. And I just realized that I have yet to do a write up of this particular passion in my life--- my car. I don't drive a fancy Porsche or Corvette, but I do drive a car that is incredibly fun and handy. My 2008 STI, my All Wheel Drive baby. Not only do I enjoy driving the car a lot, but I also have lots of fun cleaning it....strange right??? Nah...I'm one of those people that take pride in doing things myself. So, I'm going to post a series of instructions on how to properly maintain your vehicle whether it is a Civic or a Dodge Caravan.

The first post will be how I go about cleaning my wheels. Now not every car has fancy wheels, but a person should still take the time to properly clean them every once in a while. You can go to Wal-Mart or Advance Auto Parts to get your cleaning supplies, but here is my list of products that can be found at www.detailersdomain.com:

3M Adhesive Remover

P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel Formula

A couple of buckets (soap, water, and to sit on maybe)

A "Boars" hair brush

Various Sponges

P21S Polishing Soap (go light on the clear coat parts this is an abrasive)

Menzerna 85rd
Menzerna FMJ

Some random microfiber towels (for the buffing and drying of wheels)

Cleaning Procedure:

1. Here is what I did first sprayed them all down with P21S Wheel Cleaner Gel formula. I let them all soak in it while I was working on the first wheel.

2. Got the soap bucket and the boar's hair brush started the brush the dirt and grime off the wheel.

3. After that was done I used the 3m adhesive remover to get rid of the bug/tar/leftover brake dust/grime and adhesive from the weights.

4. Rinsed off the wheels with a sponge.

5. Dry them good.

6. Used the P21S Polishing Soap on the clean wheel to polish them up lips, inner
wheel, face of the wheel. (go light on the clear coated parts)

7. Rinsed them down again with a sponge.

8. Dried the wheel good.

9. Polished the lips with some polish that is good for clear coat (Menzerna 85rd)

10. Used the Menzerna FMJ to seal up the inner wheels, face of the wheel, and
lips.

11. Repeat on the rest of the wheels.

For me to complete the above procedure takes roughly 2 hours from start to finish. Not everyone has to do it this way, nor do they have to use this specific list of supplies. The guys from Detailersdomain posted this on IWSTI, and I've been doing it exactly the same for roughly 2 years now and the wheels always look pristine for a good couple of weeks. I wouldn't recommend doing this more than once every couple of months as you can just rinse with soapy water and use a rag and tooth brush in between the in-depth cleaning.