Although Florida does not present the dangers of damage resulting from the use of salt on the roads in the winter like more northern areas, Florida does have its own hazards to be mindful of.

Beaches
If you live near an ocean, you know that everything outside corrodes faster. That applies to cars too! There are constant “salt fumes” in the air that float around and stick to things, including your car. Salt is caustic to some extent to virtually all materials. That’s why many durability test of things that live outside include saltwater testing!Even if you don’t live on the beach, if you visit the beach, and especially if you drive on the beaches that allow it, you are subjecting your car to these same nasty elements. Tip – Always wash your car, especially the wheel arches and the undersides after a trip to the beach. ASAP. If you live near the beach then you must wash your car more often. Once a week is not too much.

Sun
Florida has much more intense sun than areas further north. Sunlight contains UV rays (ultraviolet rays). These are the same ones that politely give you a suntan, or more aggressively give you sunburn. Those UV rays also degrade, fade, and otherwise destroy a lot of the stuff your car is made out of. Paint fades, and in extreme cases the clear coat protecting the paint is damaged to the point it no longer protects the underlying paint and can actually start flaking off. Rubber moldings and plastic trim pieces suffer a similar fate. On the interior, plastics, fabrics, and leather also take a beating. Tip – Regular washing followed by quality waxes or other paint protectants act as the first line of defense. However, they don’t last forever. Be sure your car receives this protection on at least a monthly basis. To protect the interior, consider getting your windows tinted from a quality company. Don’t forget to apply protectants to the headlights too. Most are made of plastic and they could use some help to last longer.

Rain
Florida weather is frequently rainy. Not being able to see out of your windshield and other glass is dangerous. Tip – Use a quality windshield treatment product to help bead the water off, even if your wipers are worn out. Of course that leads to the importance of replacing your wiper blades at least once a year. Remember the sun? It degrades the wiper blades too!

Armadillos
No, they don’t really hurt your car unless you hit one. Tip – Be alert for them. They like to lie on their back on the roads waiting for a chance to grab your car when you pass by!

At Dragon Detailing, our goal is to ensure that you are completely satisfied with our car detailing Orlando Florida services. Inquire about detailing for your other recreational vehicles and watercraft as well.

A car with new wheels, or a new car (with new wheels of course), looks great! Unfortunately, your wheels are often the dirtiest part of your car because they are constantly exposed to the elements (corrosive brake dust, ocean or road salt, stones, cinders and sticky tar).

Damage to wheels caused by prolonged exposure to these elements can ruin the appearance of the entire vehicle so it is important to clean them properly and often.

Here are a few tips on how to maintain a wheel’s original splendor.

Treat the finish of your wheels as you would the finish of your car. Most alloy wheels today feature a painted and/or a clearcoat finish. The best way to take care of wheels without damaging their protective finish is by frequently washing them with a mild soap and water solution. Using a tar and bug remover can prevent permanent tar staining. Periodic waxing will protect the wheel’s finish from the elements.

Never use abrasive cleansers, steel wool pads or polishing compounds.

Beware of automatic car washes. Some washes use acid cleaners either before or during the wash to remove dirt and grime. Others use stiff brushes for cleaning wheels and tires. Both of these processes could harm your wheel’s finish. Wheels with low profile tires can be damaged by the metal tracks used in most car washes. Ask the employees of the car wash about their equipment and procedures before entering the wash.

Never allow your wheels and tires to be steam cleaned. Steam can dull the paint and clearcoat finish on your wheels.

Don’t clean hot wheels — wait until they cool. Cleaning wheels while they are hot may cause your mild soap solution to dry too quickly leaving spots or a film of soap on your wheels.

Clean your tires and wheels first, one at a time. Tires and wheels tend to be the dirtiest parts of your vehicle and have a variety of surfaces to clean. So you will want to use the full strength of your hose to initially rinse away all loose dirt and to finally rinse off your soap solution. If you clean your tires and wheels first, you won’t expose your washed car to the over spray as you rinse them. Cleaning one at a time focuses your attention and ensures that the soap doesn’t dry on one wheel while you’re cleaning another. Be sure to use a different sponge on the rest of the car’s body to prevent scratching the paint from the particles that may have collected during the wheel cleaning process.

Clean wheels on a regular basis. Your new tires and alloy wheels are like any other valuable investment. Care for them as you would care for your entire vehicle.

At Dragon Detailing, we care a lot about how your car looks on the inside and outside. We take special care to check under the hood, cleaning the engine, and properly shine your wheels. Find out more about our car detailing Orlando services.

Windshield Wipers

You can’t drive safely if you can’t see!

It seems like your wiper blades are always at their worst when you need them the most. But windshield wipers are like most other vehicle parts– they require regular attention in order to work their best.

You should replace your wiper blades twice a year; in the spring and the fall. If it’s going to be a particularly harsh winter in Florida, you may even want to get special winter blades in the fall. Winter blades are designed to resist freezing.

Speaking of winter and freezing conditions, if your car has been sitting for a long time and the windshield becomes frozen, don’t use your wipers to clear off snow and ice. That’ll just tear up the blades and cause them to wear out more quickly. It may even damage the wiper motor.

Over time, wiper blades become hard and brittle, and then tear. They also lose their flexibility and just don’t cover the windshield effectively.

Worn wiper blades aren’t just a safety hazard; they can also scratch your windshield. That may require replacing the entire windshield, a big cost for such a little part. Replace worn blades right away.

Of course you also need windshield washer fluid to help your blades do their work. Always use windshield washer fluid. Plain water, even that fancy bottled water, may freeze in the fluid reservoir or on the windshield itself, making things worse. Besides, water won’t do a good job of cleaning your windows.

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Carpet & Interior

Standard interior detailing involves many more types of materials and more complicated areas than standard exterior detailing (aside from major paint correction, of course). In this installment we focus on carpet and fabrics. We offer excellent car detailing Orlando services.

Battling pet hair

Vacuuming and air purging the loose debris inside a car can be time consuming enough. If there is excessive pet hair, the job becomes particularly frustrating.

The job of pet hair removal can be greatly improved with some kind of device or tool to help grab the pet hairs and pull them out of the carpet fibers. To that end, several small tools are available, including gloves with a special rubberized “hand,” a brush with rubber bristles, or a rubbery pet hair sponge.

The typical technique is to “rake” the pet hair toward you with one of these devices in one hand and the hose end, preferably with a crevice tool for extra suction, in the other hand. As the pet hair is loosened by the raking motion, the vacuum sucks away the hair.

Regardless of the tool selected to help remove pet hair, the use of these tools will yield better and faster results than a vacuum alone.

Cleaning carpets

A great way to deep clean carpets and mats is by using a hot water extractor. We recommend first vacuuming the carpets to remove loose dirt. If you don’t have a specialty extractor unit for car detailing use, you can try one of the “home” models of spot carpet cleaners normally used in the house. The results won’t be as good as using a commercial machine but still, better than just vacuuming.

After vacuuming, prespray the carpets with a non-foaming carpet cleaner that is designed for use with a hot water extractor. Then scrub the carpeting by hand or with a brush-equipped polisher. This scrubbing step will go far to improving the effectiveness of the extractor.

The heated water of a high-quality extractor should be enough to rinse the soil and cleaning chemical from the carpet. We don’t recommend adding any cleaner to the solution tank of the extractor. If you rinse with chemical-laden hot water, the carpet is infused with that chemical. The remaining chemical in the carpeting tends to attract dirt, making the carpets resoil much faster.

Carpets cleaned with extractors will require additional drying before returning to the customer. High-volume air movers can be used inside the car. Also, after moving the vehicle outside, the vehicle’s climate control system may be used to dry the carpet, utilizing both the heat and air conditioning (to remove moisture).

Not all the dirt is in the open

Interior detailing is taking care of everything inside the car, including areas neglected by most drivers. So moving things around inside a car is necessary to get access to all those areas. This includes moving front seats to their extreme positions, adjusting them all the way up and all the way back. When the seats are moved, wipe off the seat tracks with a utility towel or a paper towel that can be discarded.

Seats should be moved to their extreme positions to expose everything that needs to be cleaned. Make sure to clean between the front seats, the center console, and under the seats.

Many back seats nowadays are also moveable. Check to see if the seatbacks have a release, allowing them to fold forward. The crease area behind the seatback could have a collection of debris. Also, if the rear seat bottoms pull up or forward, move them as well, and clean the exposed area.

The rear section of an SUV often has several compartments under the floor. Check, vacuum and wipe these areas as necessary.

Stubborn marks

The hard plastic and vinyl surfaces inside the car are generally easy to clean with an all-purpose cleaner, brushes and microfiber towels to wipe away loosened grime. However, some marks on these surfaces will not come off with even the most aggressive brush.

At this point, I recommend having isopropyl alcohol available. With careful use, it will effectively remove shoe scuffs and similar marks. A popular foam pad cleaner or melamine block is also great for surface marks that don’t come off with normal cleaning.

Interior detailing is a complex operation requiring multiple steps that involve several chemicals and numerous pieces of equipment. Specialized tools, equipment, chemicals and techniques can help to make the job easier.

Dragon Detailing, is a top rated company that offers exotic car detailing Orlando.