For show cars, motorcycles and RV’s one of the biggest mistakes we see is using the wrong type of cloth for cleaning or worse, using a sponge or brush. Never use regular cotton cloths, especially terry cloth to clean with. They collect dirt in a small area as you wipe and cause all those cleaning swirls on your surface! Any sponge, regardless of what the advertisement says, collects dirt in small areas and creates those surface cleaning swirls easier than terry.

A brush is perhaps the worst thing to use. In many owner manuals, especially motorhome manuals, it clearly says “do not use a brush to clean the outer surface”. Brushes drag dirt all over the surface creating havoc with today's high gloss finishes. Some people say they always use a brush and don’t have problem. For the most part these people are cleaning non-high gloss surfaces. Since there is little to no light reflection from non-gloss surface, you don’t see the brush marks unless the sun hits them right but they are there.

For superior results always, use a quality microfiber product. Discount store / club microfibers will perform well for a short while but eventually they will lint and cause swirls do to the method used to make them. Let us state however, even the cheap discount store stuff is better than cotton in any form, sponges and brushes. Microfiber has the ability to grab dirt particles, pulling them away from the surface so there is no dirt buildup to cause swirls, unless you overload it. Remember, dirt particles are the primary cause of surface cleaning swirls, not the cloth. If we have to convince anyone today about the benefits of microfiber I have to question their ability to clean a vehicle.

To improve your cleaning technology even more, always use products that contain chemistry to bind up dirt particles with special lubricants that prevent surface swirls. Any quality brand should have at least one.

Perfect Detail Spray Polish,   Best Finish Ultra Gloss Detail Spray Polish  and   No Rinse - Wash & Shine   are three that we carry and can easily lift the dirt particles from the surface to eliminate surface swirls. Those products will improve your cleaning ability, lessen the time required to clean and improve the results, especially if you use a microfiber cloth.

Regarding the use of discount store products, you should always remember an old and true saying QUALITY PAYS - IT DOES NOT COST! Those products are cheap for a good reason, it cost little to make them. There are over ten ways to make any product cheap but only a couple of ways to make it really good and the ingredients to do so cost much more than the ingredients in the cheap stuff. You get what you pay for! nuff said!

Using products designed for home cleaning is unfortunately all too common. They are NOT designed for vehicle finishes! Ultimately they will damage your surface, cause dulling, swirls and can discolor paint, aluminum, graphics and fiberglass. Just contact your vehicle paint manufacturer to see what they say about this subject.

Wax! Talk about a 1900's product! There is a really good reason clear coat was developed around 30 years ago. Paint was oxidizing and the car manufacturers wanted to stop it due to the heavy amount of complaints about their paint oxidizing no matter what they did. What were they using then, WAX. It didn’t protect then and it doesn’t protect now. Wax is a great beautifier, it provides a great shine, and no more. The elements beat it off in a few days, it washes off easily, it builds up to cause a mess, UV protection lasts only a day or so, silicone in wax does nothin g beneficial, Teflon® is a farce since it does absolutely nothing in vehicle produts. This is verified by an aricle put out by Dupont Corp. the developers of Teflon® as an answer to all the ridiculous claims being made by wax and other product manufacturers. The advent of clear coat required much newer technology. Hense the development of polymer polishes which shine as good or better than wax, provides true long lasting protection and holds up to the elelments and washing. You can disagree all you want but it has long been a proven fact, wax does not protect.

If you want true, proven long lasting protection look at the various polymer protective polishes (cream style). One example is Prestige Protective Polish,   It provides a brilliant gloss with a very long life. It's protection is outstanding against the elements.

If you have someone detail your vehicle, make sure to use a professional with a place of business. It is a sad truth, any idiot can be a detailer and ruin your vehicle in a flash. Make sure they are licensed (business license), insured and bonded. If they don't there is no recourse when they damage your vehicle finish. Do not let anyone use high-pressure wash units on your vehicle. A pressure wash of about 1500 psi is tops. The more typical 2500 psi and up can and will cause damage to your clear coat and possibly trim, blowing it loose or off. Another problem is the chemicals they use. For the most part they are alkaline or solvent based which can dull your surface and streak it when used over time. There are safe cleaners available, Belly Wash Surface Degreaser   is one of them and Total RV Wash  is another. Both are designed for hand or power cleaning and they cannot cause surface damage from the cleaners. Most detailers use cheap chemicals in their power wash units purchased at discount auto parts stores.

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