Hey all! I do car detailing as a side hustle and wanted to share an updated guide on how to detail your Mirage and have it looking on point! Hopefully this will be the first of many guides. I will try and keep it simple, covering (i) equipment required and (ii) steps to perform.
PREFACE
Car detailing can be split broadly into 2 parts: (i) interior and (ii) exterior. This separation helps as the tools/chemicals etc need to be different for both.
Exterior detailing can be further broken down into
- Wash
- Paint correction
- Paint protection
I hope to cover these in future.
THE INTERIOR
Supplies required
- Plastic Bag or Bin (for collecting trash)
- Small Brush - [soft] paintbrush or toothbrush works
- Microfiber Towels - nothing fancy, save the expensive ones for the paint
- Interior cleaner - any APC works at recommended dilutions
- Interior Dressing
- Carpet Brush
- Vacuum (optional)
Steps
- Clean out the trash from the door panels, back seat, etc.
- Clean the floor mats. Remove them and shake them out, away from the vehicle.
- If they’re carpeted, brush/vacuum them.
- If they’re rubber, spray down some interior cleaner/APC and brush them. Rinse/wipe clean.
- Set the floor mats aside to dry or air out.
- Brush/vacuum the seats. Do not use the carpet brush if its too stiff. Use the brush to remove dirt/debris onto the carpet. Use your fingers to push along the seams to clean those areas.
- Brush/vacuum the carpet. Use the carpet brush or vacuum to remove dirt/debris from the floor carpet.
- Clean the plastics. Grab a microfiber and fold it into quarters. Spray the interior cleaner onto a quarter wipe clean. As the quarter gets dirty (visibly) swap to a new side and spray interior cleaner. Change out the towel when all quarters get dirty. Use a separate wet towel to wipe over the cleaned areas to remove the cleaner from the surface.
- Plastics include: the dash, doors, center console, gear shift, hand brake, interior pillars, steering column.
- Note: do not spray interior cleaner/apc directly onto plastics, they are usually caustic (alkaline) and can leave "burn" marks.
- Apply dressing. Get a new microfiber and spray dressing onto it. Wipe all the cleaned plastic areas down. Typically more dressing equals shinier look. I personally prefer matte finish hence spray the dressing sparingly.
And you are done! For first timers, this process can take up to 3 hours, especially if your car has a lot of miles on it and is not cleaned from time to time. If crunched for time, I like to break it into sections: clean the mats+carpet one day (0.5-1h), do the plastics another day (1h) etc. Having a vacuum saves time (and your back).
Hope this helps!
Attaching the before and after of one of the doors of my partner's car (I forgot to take before/after of my Mirage )