Do you ever notice your vents are really dusty, or certain parts of your car interior are difficult to clean?

Or, do you notice build-up around your ride’s badging, grille or wheel lug nuts?

There are two great options here - we’ll share with you the least expensive one in this post.

One of the very best, and most simple, tools every detailer and car enthusiast should have is a set of boars hair detail brushes. Here’s a reasonably priced set to consider.

Here are six ways you can use these to more easily and effectively clean your car:

1. Interior Vents - Your air vents often accumulate dust and grime, and can be difficult to clean. Using your favorite interior cleaner, or an all purpose cleaner (APC) with a 10:1 dilution, spray the detail brush with the solution. Then gently agitate the vents with the brush. Wipe clean with a microfiber. 
2. Hard to Reach Interior Spots - Often parts of your vehicle console can collect crumbs and debris. Sometimes even compressed air and vacuuming don’t remove these. Simply spray your detail brush with your APC (10:1 dilution) and brush the area. It may take a couple applications like this. Afterwards, wipe clean with a microfiber.
3. Leather Seat Cleaning - This is one of my favorite ways to clean leather seats. Make sure to vacuum thoroughly first. Using your favorite leather cleaner, liberally spray the surface of the seat and the detail brush. Using small circles, gently agitate the cleaner on the surface. Immediately wipe with a microfiber towel. You may want to repeat this process. With the two cracks at the edge of the seat, gently pull - slightly, to reveal the crevice to be cleaned.
4. Gunk Around Badges - During your wash process, you can easily get at the gunk using a detail brush. After rinsing, make sure the area you want has plenty of soap on it. Apply 10:1 APC to a detail brush and the badge area. Gently (do not push) agitate the badge area. Rinse immediately and review if you need to repeat. 
5. Vehicle Grilles and Trim - Similar to your badge cleaning process, make sure the area has been rinsed and washed. While wet and soapy, apply 10:1 APC to the area and detail brush. Agitate the area to clean it well. It may take a little time for this detail. Rinse thoroughly.
6. Wheels - Your wheels should be the first part of your car that you watch. You can read our post on the best wash process for more detail here. After rinsing and applying your wheel cleaner (or spray 10:1 APC) on the wheel and agitate 

In general, have a seperate set of detail brushes for interior and exterior. You can use a sharpie to label them so you remember.

Detail brushes clean pretty easily with soap/water. Rinse thoroughly, of course.

Remember to always spray the product on the brush - never touch a dry brush to a surface.

If you are looking for an easy way to carry detail products and your brushes, this belt is one of my favorite detail accessories. You can put a couple cleaners, your brushes, and a few microfiber towels. You’ll spend less time running around for things and be able to complete the job in less time.

If you have fun detailing your own vehicles, consider checking out our detail side hustle course. We show you a proven way to easily make $900-$2k a month, and still have time for friends, family and your full-time career.

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After this process, monitor these areas to make sure the mold doesn’t come back. If it has gone to the seat cushions, you will have to have them replaced. Many auto shops can do this, without the need to replace your entire seat.

Congratulations on making your car safe, clean and refreshed!

If you have fun detailing your own vehicles, check out our detail side hustle course. We show you a proven way to easily make $900-$2k a month, and still have time for friends, family and your full-time career.

Amazing Results with Two Items and a Simple Process

Excellent car care does not have to be expensive. We’ll share two inexpensive products that make an amazing difference in keeping your vehicle’s paint looking great.  

You may want to also check out our post on straight lines, as well as our upcoming article on drying your vehicle.

Improper washing and drying technique are the cause for 95%+ of the swirls and scratches you see on vehicle paint. The good news is that you can easily prevent this, extending the life of your paint and glow of your car or truck.

First, we’ll tell you about the two items, and then will tell you how to use them. Your total spend on all of these items will be under $35!

Your Items:

Item 1 – Buckets (3):

You can buy 5 gallon buckets at most hardware stores for $4 or under. We’ll explain the technique in the next section, and yes, you want to buy three. These will likely last your lifetime.

Item 2 – Grit Guards (3):

Grit guards are available at a variety of car specialty shops and online at places like Amazon. Any of them that are sized for 5-gallon buckets are perfect for you. You’ll also need three, and they will last you an incredibly long time.

How to use your items:

Buckets – Use each bucket for a specific purpose when washing. You can fill them about half full. Here’s how to use each one:

Wash Bucket – Have car soap and water, and your grit guard, in this bucket. Soak your wash mitt in here as you get started.

Rinse Bucket – Have clear water and a grit guard in this bucket.

Wheel Bucket – Have some car soap and water in this bucket. You’ll also have your grit guard, and all of your wheel washing tools (detail brushes, wheel worm, etc.). Have a separate wheel mitt in this bucket as well. Do not use any of these tools on your car’s paint.

Grit Guards – At the bottom of each bucket, you’ll place a grit guard. These magically little items do an amazingly simple and useful job. Dirt and particles sink to the bottom of the bucket, underneath the guard. When you rinse or soap up your mitt or detail brush – none of this stuff sticks. This helps keep your wash materials debris-free – and scratch-free!

Here’s Your Process:

1. Start by washing your wheels and only use your wheel bucket. This is the dirtiest part of your car. Wash  each wheel and rinse before starting on your car’s body. When done, put the wheel bucket aside.
2. After rinsing your car thoroughly, you’ll wash your car. Your wash mitt starts in the soapy water. Using straight lines (article on this here), wash about 1/8^th of the car at a time. Then, put the mitt in the rinse bucket, then the wash bucket, then back on your car. This process will help keep scratches from occurring.
3. Dry your vehicle carefully. We have a future article coming for this.

As a reminder, never scrub hard – gentle and even pressure is good. Pushing and scrubbing is too much effort, and is an indicator that you need another product (like APC) to help loosen the debris.

If you have two vehicles to wash, you can re-use these buckets as-is. The grit guards will keep the junk away from your mitts and paint. After you are done, empty them out and rinse thoroughly.

That’s it – it’s really that simple to get great results and avoid scratches and swirls.

Interested in making your nearly-learned skill profitable as a side hustle? Check out our detail side hustle course. It's a proven path to generate $900-$2000 every month. Keep your full-time job and still have time for family and friends.

“Wax On Wax Off” is a Recipe for Swirls Galore

Many of us remember the scene in the now classic original “Karate Kid” move. Danielsan learns to build his strength and skills by waxing Mr. Miagi’s classic cars. He has him use circles, which may be great for Karate, but are awful for your paint.

Let’s walk you through a little car paint education and then explain the best way to wash and dry your car.

Modern car paint is made-up of a very thin layer of primer, another very thin layer of color, and then a thicker layer of clear coat. To give you an idea of how thin, all three layers are just under the depth of two human hairs (60-80 microns). This approach is used on most cars post 1995.

Your car’s clear coat layer is porous – meaning it has tiny little holes in it (that we cannot see with our eyes).

Over time, little pieces of debris can get lodged in these holes. While there are techniques like clay bar and products like IronX that remove this debris, most paint surfaces still have some small debris that remains. For noting, this will even remain after washing.

Now, imagine a towel “grabbing” this debris and then scratching your paint with it. This is exactly what happens with circle motions are used when washing or drying. You’ll notice in bright light, at an angle, a pattern of circular scratches. Your paint overall will look duller, and water will appear to “stick” to it a bit more. Over time, this does damage this tiny layer of clear coat on your vehicle.

In fact, poor washing and drying techniques are known to be the cause for 90+% of scratches in your vehicles’ paint.

Want to know how to avoid this?

Here are seven pro tips to maintain a great paint finish:

1. Always hand wash your car. Yes, this is not always the most convenient. However, it’s the best way to ensure the best result.
2. Use a separate bucket for rinse water, wash water, and wheel washing. We’ll talk about this more in a future post.
3. Only touch your paint’s surface if it has some sort of lubricant on it – water, soap, detail spray – but never dry.
4. Apply only very slight pressure. If you are scrubbing, you need a different product to loosen the dirt. Your scrubbing will move the debris that scratches paint. You can use an APC mentioned in a previous post.
5. Always start from the top of your vehicle, and go front to back, in straight lines. Slowly progress from top of the vehicle to the bottom.
6. When washing, rinse your mitt about 8-10 times for every car.
7. When drying, flip over your towels – about every 1/8^th of your car, so it receives a clean surface. You may want to consider a drying aid like a detail spray too. We’ll talk about using air blowing to dry your car in a future post.

If you apply this approach to your washing regimen, your paint will have less scratches and more shine.

If you need a new mantra or song, instead of “wax on wax off”, maybe change the lyrics of “blurred lines” to straight lines (hey, hey, hey, hey). It’s important to have fun.

Smile and enjoy your ride!

Interested in making your nearly-learned skill profitable as a side hustle? Check out our detail side hustle course. It's a proven path to generate $900-$2000 every month. Keep your full-time job and still have time for family and friends.

Okay, now that you have three ways to use APC, how much money will you really save?

You would spend about $40-50 for the four different types of cleaners mentioned above, and they would last you about 6 months to a year.

If you buy a gallon of APC and three spray bottles, you will spend about $35-40 and it will last you 3 years or more. It’s about six times less expensive.

While there are many great brands of APC out there, we have personal experience with Chemical Guys - also Meguiars and 3D. If you pick another brand, be sure to read directions and always start with a gentle dilution and go stronger. You can quickly damage things by using too strong of a mix.

This is the first of a short series we are publishing on car detail tips. You can find out more, and check out our detail side hustle course, at Rad Dad Rules.

Enjoy the clean!

Interested in making your nearly-learned skill profitable as a side hustle? Check out our detail side hustle course. It's a proven path to generate $900-$2000 every month. Keep your full-time job and still have time for family and friends.

How to Overcome Life's Turbulence

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Overwhelmed right now and not sure how you’ll make it through?

Maybe this story will help a little.

Years ago, I was flying from Hong Kong to San Francisco, returning home from a work trip.

Four hours into the nine-hour flight, the captain came on the PA system, and told us we were in for some bumps. He then ordered the flight crew to go to their seats for the remainder of the flight.

Queue the heart racing and sweaty palms!

We were then in the middle of the Pacific - no land in sight. 

All of a sudden, the plane began violently bashing about in turbulence. You could hear babies crying - and some adults crying out too. Bags bounced around the overhead bins. Every so often the plane dropped altitude as it bounced around. This went on for almost two hours.

After we landed, we heard from the flight crew that this was a “9 out of 10” and that some veteran flight staff have never experienced anything like it before.

In this sort of situation, none of us (even the pilots) have complete control of the situation. Our own mortality and fragility then become painfully evident. We can either get caught up in panic and stuck in fight/flight, or do something else to respond. Either way, we will still be in the turbulence.

While I was certainly panicked, I did my best to focus on breathing slowly and saying a little mantra. This was between white knuckle grabs of my seat. Looking back, grabbing a seat at 38,000 feet for assurance is actually fairly funny.  Somehow, I thought my seat would keep me safe. Of course, it was bouncing around too.

So why bring this up? This flight mirrors a lot of what we are going through in the world with coronavirus. None of us are in control and our frailty is exposed. We are all in this turbulent time together. We have to shelter at home (stay in our seats).

We can also take steps to avoid panic and stay calm.

While this pandemic will sadly take too many lives, the majority of us will make it through this  (and other trials in our life).

Here are three suggestions to help you cope through this tough time:

1. Remember a time you made it through something particularly difficult. Use whatever is true to you – pick something in school, work or your personal life that you made it through. It may have not been ideal, but you made it through. You are probably stronger than you give yourself credit for.
2. Translate what worked in that time to today. This could be as simple as remembering you made it through that, and you’ll make it through this. Or, it could be more detailed with the specific coping mechanisms and supports you used in the last adversity you overcame.
3. Remember life is often about how we respond. We will all face adversities in our lives. We cannot often control these, even with our best efforts. However, we can control our response, including interrupting patterns that lead to fight or flight.

While this current pandemic may seem like the largest thing civilization had ever faced – we have come through larger ones. To name a few – the Bubonic Plague had a 75+ million death toll, the 1889 Flu took over 1 million lives, and HIV/AIDS resulted in 36 million lives lost at its peak.

That said, it will be turbulent for sure. Many will feel fear. Many will get sick, and some will sadly lose their lives. And, all of us have to take action to shape how we respond and react.

After you have found your calm – brainstorm how you can help your loved ones and others. Now is a time to give. Just like my troubled flight many years ago, you can make it through and maybe even land better than ever before!

If you are looking for a boost to feel more vibrant, our free course may help.