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"Get onto it straight away," is the advice Scott Wray from Shine My Machine gives when it comes to spills, stains, sap or bird dirt on your vehicle's interior or paint.
He says that if there's a spill inside the vehicle it's best to get a towel or something absorbent onto it before it's had a chance to soak in and set.
Most of us are pretty vigilant with bird mess, but Scott says the acid from inside bugs can also damage paint if it's just left there, and tree sap is also important to remove as soon as you see it.
Tar and other things that get on when you drive through roadworks should be removed with care as well, so as not to damage the paint underneath.
Another suggestion that came out of our chat was it's not a great idea to do your engine bay at home.
One of the reasons Shine my Machine have moved to their current premises of 30 Hill Street is because it's not easy to find a long-term location that satisfies all of council's requirements. You can't just degrease and rinse an engine bay anywhere you like; the EPA will have quite a lot to say about it, and none of it will be good if you get fined.
Another thing on engine cleaning is, in order to ensure that all the components cope with being a little bit wet Scott will have the engine running, and that's definitely not something you should try at home either. For one thing, even those plastic fans can take fingers off.
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WHAT IS DETAILING?
Automotive detailing is essentially a very thorough, often quite fussy, cleaning of a vehicle.
The detailer will get right into the nooks and crannies that take time and effort to work on, but also produce a much better result than a basic wash.
They pay attention to crevices between seats, the spokes of your wheels, the inside and outside of your windows. Door jambs don't get forgotten either.
Sometimes it will also entail some minor scratch or swirl repairs, or stain removal where possible.
Depending on which package you ask for, detailers can also apply some form of surface protection to plastics, paint, and trim, and they will know which products work best on which piece of trim or which paint type.
Tyres may be shined, carpets can be shampooed, and pieces of external trim may get polished as well.
Bringing us back to our first point, Scott says it's also important not to leave it too long from one detailing session to the next, whether you do it yourself or bring it to a professional.
Protectants generally work for an approximate period before it's recommended to reapply them, and if you don't get those damaging substances off in a timely fashion (or immediately in some cases - Scott says that pigeons can cause paint to blister) they can really affect the surface in a negative way.