The term ‘car detailing’ has gradually worked its way into the automotive vernacular over the last fifteen years, and while it is now familiar to any petrol head, it has different definitions for different people, and ask even industry veterans and their answers will vary.
In the USA it refers to anything related to washing vehicles, be it an automatic tunnel wash or the artisanal preparation of the world’s finest motorcars for concours competitions. In the UK it is seen as car washing in its most prestigious and pedantic form, a level above car valeting, and a long way from the car park hand wash.
Some of the world’s top detailers have even started to distance themselves from the term ‘detailing’ in favour of ‘car care’ or ‘refinishing’ to avoid confusion and association with mere car washing. In the US, if you ask for a valet for your car, someone will grab your keys and drive it away, and you’ll need to tip them to get it back.
So, when are you washing a car, when are you valeting one, and when are you doing ‘detailing’? The answer is more existential – it’s not what you are doing, it’s how and why you’re doing it. If you’re trying to make a car look clean with the least effort possible, you’re washing it. If you’re putting effort into making a car look, feel, and smell clean you’re probably valeting. However, if you’re trying to make the car as perfect as possible, regardless of the time and effort required, you’re most likely doing ‘detailing’.
It all boils down to a cost:benefit ratio – visually you can make the biggest difference to a car within the first ten minutes of working on it. When you’re spending a couple of hours or more, the ratio drops but the differences are noticeable. Spend a couple of days on the car and you can get it to a level beyond, often exceeding how the car looked when brand new, but you fall victim to the law of diminishing returns.
The level to which detailers go when preparing a vehicle can boggle the mind – we’re talking cotton buds to clean air vents, toothpicks to clean around buttons, removing badges rather than polishing around them, taking wheels off to ensure the arches are spotless. Translating this into a professional, commercial environment is often a challenge, but the industry has been growing consistently for well over a decade as customer awareness and demand increases. Sure, ‘valeting’ has encompassed many of these processes in a professional environment for decades, and many ‘detailers’ spend the majority of their time ‘valeting’ – but the ‘detailing’ buzzword adds perceived value to their labours.
The very pinnacle of detailing is the concours – a type of competition held at high class events such as Pebble Beach and Salon Privé where the very finest cars are judged on their appearance. This is a cut above the ‘show and shine’ contests at your typical car event, though the principles are similar. To be in with a chance at winning a concours, everything needs to be perfect, but strangely enough car paint – the focus of detailers – often needs to retain original patina for a top score. Entering a concours takes months of preparation – entry is often only granted if the car is sufficiently special, and the owners are sufficiently connected. Then there is a battle to recruit the best detailer you can – top ones get reserved quickly leading up to these events. Three weeks in the detailing studio is commonplace, while quite often we see whole engines being removed in order to ensure the car is spotless from every angle, even underneath, where judges mirrors to make their assessment.
To learn more about detailing, why not visit Automechanika this year at the NEC in Birmingham (6-8th June), where there is a live demonstration stage run by UK Detailing Academy, and many of the top manufacturers will be available to answer any questions you may have.
Bert Youell – PRO Detailer Magazine
