How to Detail a Car for a Car Show

Most show-quality cars are kept in a garage and kept extremely clean. They do not require a lot of detailing from show to show because they are never driven on the roads. Some, though, do drive their car show vehicles more often and need to do a thorough detailing before the next car show. The key word here is "thorough." You’ll need a checklist, either mental or written so that no minor detail is overlooked.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Water hose
• Soapy water
• Soft, lint free cleaning cloths
• Scrub brush for tires
• Car polish
• Chrome polish
• Vacuum cleaner
• Paper towels
• Popsicle sticks

Exterior Detailing

1. Wash the entire outside of the car. Make sure to spray under the car and in all of the side wells of the tires. First, wash the body of the car, then do the bumpers, tires and rims. Change your wash water often to avoid any grit getting in the cloth you are using.

2. Polish the body of the car with your favorite high-gloss car polish. The chrome should sparkle in the sunlight. If there is any chrome under the car, you’ll need to slide under it and polish this, too.

3. The tires should be scrubbed with your favorite brand of tire cleaner and the rims or hubcaps should be polished with chrome polish. Always use soft lint free cloths. Change the clothes often to avoid polish build up.

4. Clean the windows, side mirrors and lights with window cleaner. Wipe these with a soft cloth, too, until they sparkle.

Interior Detailing

5. Vacuum the entire inside of the car. Use a soft brush attachment to vacuum the head liner, sun visors, seats and carpet. Be sure to get under the seats and vacuum any cloth on the door panels.

6. Use window cleaner on all of the interior windows, and polish them to a sparkle. Newspaper works great to polish the window glass with.

7. Choose a cleaner suitable for your type of dash. There are many types of leather, vinyl and plastic cleaners available at auto parts stores. Start cleaning from the dash, and work your way towards the floorboards. Clean the floor mats, or vacuum them.

8. Wipe down the steering column and all dashboard instruments with the cleaner. Pay close attention to heating vents. A popsicle stick works great to clean these. Just wrap the stick in a soft cloth, and slide it between the slots in the vents.

9. Do not forget the trunk. Either wash or vacuum the trunk’s interior. Check the engine, as well. Either hose it off if as necessary or polish any of the chrome that needs to be tended to. Judges tend to check every little nook and cranny of the detail work. You will collect more points at the car show the better your detail work is.

Tips & Warnings

• Add era-specific things to sit in the car, such as stuffed animals or memorabilia that correspond with your generation of vehicle. Also display any past trophies with your car at the car show.