How Long Does A Full Detail Take?

When it comes to car detailing, the estimated time for every detailing process may vary on the current condition of the vehicle like its size and age. External factors, as well as labor factors, may also affect the total working time for car detailing. If you are doing the car detailing process yourself, it might take longer. But if you entrust the job to a professional car detailer, the process would be much shorter than expected.

Are you curious how long a full detail takes? Many car owners are interested in the process of a complete detail and what is involved. As a trusted car detailing company, here’s an overview of the full detail process and how long it typically takes.

What is Car Detailing?

Car detailing is a rigorous process of restoring the surface condition of your car, eliminating the exterior dirt, common pollutants, rusty parts, and corrosive materials that typically damage the car’s structure. If not given attention, these elements can lead to further rusting, peeling off of the painted surface, and severe pitting of the vehicles’ body. You can say that car detailing is simply a car restoration process with a touch of aesthetics and design. 

There are two processes of car detailing; Interior Car Detailing and Exterior Car Detailing. 

Interior Car Detailing Process

It is never a complete and successful job in car detailing if the car’s interior has not been properly cleaned or detailed. It is very important that your interior is in the same restored condition as the exterior. Unfortunately, some companies tend to ignore the process of cleaning the inside compartments and cabins of the car. So what do we do with interior car detailing? Firstly, we start with removing all of the contaminants inside the car’s cabin. After that, we continue with the cleaning procedures on specific compartments.

At Auto Detailing Pro, we do the following Interior Detailing tasks. The Major benefits of interior car detailing are:

• Leather Seat Protection – Leather seat cleaning is essential to disinfect the unseen bacteria and viruses. It prevents sensitivity and pet allergies to those inside the car. This will also extend the material’s life for a much longer time. 
• Complete Interior Cleaning – We make sure that every spot and corner is cleaned properly without any spec of dirt and dust left behind. Usually, this is where door jambs, dashboard panels, cup holders, car compartments, and sun visor panels are cleaned. Complete interior cleaning makes sure that you are not breathing any dust and micro bacteria inside your car. 
• Stain and Odor Removal – We do not just clean the compartment, we also make sure that the smell inside is refreshing and no foul odor is present. At Auto Detailing Pro, we use eco-friendly air fresheners to remove foul odors. We use fabric-friendly detergents, stain removers, glass cleaners, and carpet extractors for stain removal. 
• Interior Windows Cleaning – Using special glass cleaners, we make sure that your car’s interior windows are not just clean but shiny and sparkly as well. 

Now that we know the process for interior detailing let us know how long will it take to be done? The estimated time for car interior detailing will be an average of 5 to 8 hours of labor. That is common to cars or vehicles that are old enough, severely worn out, and have deeper stains. But if your car is brand new, basic cleaning and a quick vacuum throughout the cabin will do the thing. For smoker vehicles, it might take a weekend for the vacuum process, another for stain removal procedures, and another for refreshing and removing the smoke odor. 

Also Read: Benefits Of Ceramic Coating For Your Vehicle

Exterior Car Detailing Process

Exterior car detailing is the process of cleaning and restoring the exterior of a vehicle to its original condition. This can be done either by hand or by machine, but most professional detailers use a combination of both methods. The goal of exterior car detailing is to make the car look as new as possible, without damaging the paint or leaving any streaks or smears.

The estimated time for exterior detailing will depend on the current condition of the car. If there’s a lot of rust and peeling paint, then you will be doing some paint restoration to bring back its original color. At Auto Detailing Pro, we use common detailing tools like degreaser, polisher, wax, detergent, and many more for exterior car detailing. Most of the time, we start with decontamination using detergent soaps, some headlight restoration, and paint corrections, followed by wax applications, sealant application, and lastly will be the ceramic coating. Auto Detail Pro’s exterior car detailing ensures that those hard-to-reach places like the door jambs, gas caps, and grille inserts will be cleaned and free of rust, dust, and corrosions. For our full-service exterior detailing, here are the inclusive services we offer:

• Headlights Restoration – this process entails a couple of minutes to remove possible built-up grease and grimes in the headlights. 
• Salt Stain Removal – if your car’s painted surface is not that damaged, you can try this salt stain removal. It eliminates car stains and provides extra protection for your car during the winter season. 
• Wax and Sealing – This process entails longer time as it needs a careful and thorough application to achieve a proper wax and sealed surface. If your car has wide scratches and dents, waxing and sealant application can be used to make the surface evenly restored. 
• Windows and Mirrors Detailing – This can be the last method for exterior car detailing. This is very important to keep the windows glossy and clear. 

For exterior car detailing, if a professional is doing the job, it might take a couple of hours just for the paint correction phase, especially if the car is quite dire and has numerous paint peeled. If the car has some rusting parts and needs a newer surface, our professional car detailer can do waxing and seal before ceramic coating. In the end, the estimated time for exterior detailing will still depend on the car’s current condition.

Also Read: Importance of Car Detailing

Detailed Procedure for Car Detailing

To understand the car detailing process and figure out how much time will be needed, it would be much better if you know the step-by-step process in a specific car detailing, like cleaning the interior of the car and other detailing services. Here’s an overview of the procedure for car detailing:

Interior Cleaning

• The process starts with removing clutter and trash inside the car compartments. This includes removing any material like water bottles, books, magazines, and some trash such as food wrappers, plastic wear, and receipts. It is also necessary to clean the carpets and floor mats since it has the most dirt-occupied space inside the car. The carpet and floor mat cleaning period will depend on how much dirt is intact on the material.
• The next step is vacuuming the cabin. This is specially done to pick up specs of dust and dirt on the floor carpet, under the car seats, storage strays, and cargo area.
• The glass window of the car can be cleaned with a microfiber towel and a spray cleaner.
• The next step is for the car dashboard, doors, car seats, and center console. Now since this is a common storage area for materials and luggage, it takes a lot of time to remove the dust and stains. We make use of soft brushes, fabric cleaner, and microfiber towels to wipe out the dust and thoroughly clean the car seat. If you have a leather seat, it is much safer to use an upholstery cleaner.

The procedures for interior cleaning will take time. To make sure that your interior is properly and thoroughly cleaned, get an expert to do the job. 

Exterior Washing

• For exterior parts of the car, we basically do exterior washing, wheels and tires cleaning, further exterior washing, drying, and application of wax, sealant, or ceramic coating.
• The first step will be the decontamination process, where we use a spray cleaner and let it sit for a minute to loosen the thick specs of dirt. After a couple of minutes, we spray it out using a pressure washer.
• Since the wheels and tires are the dirtiest part of your car, it would take time to scrub out and wash off the dirt, especially if the tires are covered with mud.
• Now after cleaning the wheels and tires, you may now start to wash the entire exterior surface of the car, starting from the top to the bottom. Again, the time for this process will depend on the size of your vehicle.
• We make sure to use microfiber towels for the drying process because they can perform deep absorption, which lessens the working time.
• Lastly, if the client wants to put waxing, sealant, or ceramic coating, that would be the last thing you can do. 

Car detailing is not an easy job. It takes a lot of processes and procedures to restore the car’s best condition. If you are unsure of what to do or where to start, getting an expert at your side can be the best idea to get the job done.

Luckily, our experts at Auto Detailing Pro have done several cars detailing services on various vehicle models. We make sure that entrusting your car property to us is never a failed decision. We have high-quality equipment, facilities, and professionally trained car detailing personnel. Call us now and book your next car detailing appointment. Call us today!