This article provides professional detailing information for the everyday do-it-yourselfer.

• Is Dawn Dish Soap Good For Cleaning Car Engine Bay 911 Parts

Is Dawn Dish Soap Good For Cleaning Car Engine Bay 911 Parts

I spray any greasy areas with WD-40 and let it sit for some time, then wash engine w/ a wash mitt, hot water and Dawn dish soap. (It cuts oil and grease like crazy. It also strips wax if you get it on the exterior.

This article applies to the Porsche 928 (1979-1995), 993 (1993-1998), and 997 (2005-2012).

When detailing your Porsche, you want to use quality products that work. We'll offer great suggestions on which products are designed to produce long-lasting results, as well as explain how to carry out each step for professional-level results. Let's get started!

Materials Needed (some optional)

• Bucket and water
• Microfiber cloths, cotton towels and sponges
• Detailing brush
• Meguiar's #1, 2, 7, 39 and 40
• Meguiar's Show Car Wax
• Meguiar's Quick Detailer
• Meguiar's SoftBuff Pads
• Meguiar's Claybar Kit
• California Water Blade
• Car soap of choice
• Meguiar's Heavy Duty Carpet Cleaner
• Meguiar's Gold Class Leather Conditioner
• Meguiar's Gold Class All Metal Restorer
• Meguiar's Endurance High Gloss Tire Gel
• Meguiar's Chrome Polish (optional)
• Meguiar's PlastX
• Meguiar's Gold Class Vinyl/Rubber Protectant
• RainX windshield treatment
• Car Wash Concentrate
• Meguiar's Professional Wheel Cleaner
• Rain-X fog wipes
• Car vacuum
• Porter Cable 7424 buffer

Step 1 – Remove dirt and other deposits from your wheels

Spray a professional-grade wheel cleaner on all four wheels, starting at the bottom. We recommend Meguiar's Wheel Brightner. Sold at auto parts stores as well as online for $20 per one-gallon bottle, this professional-grade wheel cleaning product is used by the majority of detailing professionals. Allow the product to work for several minutes, and then rinse, making sure to spray down the rims well.

Step 2 – Polish your wheels

Polish each wheel with a professional-grade metal restorer. We recommend Meguiar's All Metal Restorer, which retails online for less than $10 per 10-oz. bottle. If your wheels are chrome, skip the metal restorer and use a chrome polish instead. Finish by wiping down each wheel with a microfiber cloth or cotton towel.

Pro Tip

Be sure to remove excess residue from each wheel before proceeding to Step 3.

Step 3 – Add shine to wheels

Using a sponge, apply a professional-grade tire protectant gel, such as Meguiar's Endurance High Gloss. This product contains premium ingredients that produce a lasting shine for weeks. For added shine and clarity, apply Meguiar's PlasX, followed by Meguiar's Gold Class Vinyl/Rubber Protectant. This premium product protects tires (as well as other interior and exterior parts), while reducing damage caused by harsh UV rays.

Step 4 – Wash dirt and other contaminants from the exterior

Wash the exterior of your car with a generous solution of water and car soap. Cleaning product strips away dirt and other contaminants from the clear coat without leaving behind scratches. Dry with the California water blade, making sure to wipe the blade regularly with a microfiber towel to reduce residue buildup.

Pro Tip

Home cleaning products like Dawn dish washing liquid should not be used to clean the paint. State of decay 2 new game plus.

Step 5 – Remove any stubborn, shine-blocking particles

We recommend using Meguiar's Clay Bar Kit. This relatively inexpensive product (approximately $25 and above) is the final step in blasting away stubborn, shine-blocking particles from your car's clear coat. Finish this step by cleaning the entire exterior of your car one more time.

Pro Tip

This step usually takes approximately an hour and a half just by itself.

Step 6 – Buff your car

Buff your car using a front to back motion. Switch to an up and down motion; however, when buffing side panels, apply Meguiar's 1 and 2 as you go. Finish with a Quick Detailer spray, and then wipe dry. Repeat up to four times as needed to achieve a professional finish.

Pro Tip

The Porter Cable 7424 Buffer is a great buffing tool for car detailing and is most often used by car detailing professionals.

Step 7 – Restore the interior

• Vacuum out the interior, removing large items by hand and going over hard to reach areas with the various nozzles on the car vacuum cleaner.
• Apply a heavy-duty carpet cleaner to the front and rear carpets to remove stains and increase freshness.
• Apply Meguiar's #39 and #40 to interior plastic pieces using a cotton towel to clean those areas.
• Go over the interior glass with Rain-X fog wipes. These handy wipes are perfect for removing streaks from the interior glass and do not contain harsh chemicals, making them a great choice for working inside an enclosed areas such as a vehicle.
• Spruce up leather pieces with Meguiar's Gold Class leather conditioner. Apply with a clean cloth or microfiber towel.
• Vacuum the carpet once more to remove any missed particles and dust that might have been kicked up during the cleaning process.

Pro Tip

Quality car vacuum cleaners are available at auto parts stores and online as well as through national retailers for as little as $50 to $75.

Step 8 – Detail the engine

Protect electrical connectors and wiring from possible damage and contamination by covering them with plastic. Degrease the engine bay with a quality engine degreaser and a detailing brush. Wet the fluid containers and hoses well for a showroom finish. Rinse with water, but don't crank up the pressure too much (a slow stream is best). Rinse and then dry with microfiber towels. If you own an air gun, now is the time to bring it out. Finish by polishing up the the plastics and hoses. We recommend a rubber/vinyl treatment like 303 Aerospace Protectant for professional level results.

Related Discussion

• How to Detail Your Car - Rennlist.com

If wheels are your car’s shoes, the tires are the laces. After you’ve spent time cleaning up your car’s shoes (read Greg’s article here), nothing sets off a detailed car like a set of fresh black tires. Unfortunately, as the miles roll-on, that fresh black look seems to roll-off. Then you’re left with nice shoes, but dirty laces. Knowing how to clean and dress them will not only keep them looking nice and fresh, but prolong their life as well.

Before:

After:

The first step is to get the tires clean. Tires collect all kinds of debris from rolling on the ground as well as dust created from braking. These pollutants work their way into the pores of the rubber causing a grey, dirty tire. These pollutants cannot be rinsed off with a hose- not even a pressure washer. For proper cleansing you will need the following:

1. A stiff bristled brush (SBB)
2. Degreaser of All Purpose Cleaner like Optimum Power Clean
3. 2 Buckets (One filled with Water and One with Soapy Water)
4. Tire Dressing like Meguiar’s Hyper Dressing
5. 1 Tire Dressing Applicator like Lake Country Tire Dressing Applicator

Begin by wetting the tires with a hose.

Then apply the Optimum Power Clean generously to the presoak the tire.

It can be used at full strength but I find 2:1 or 3:1 dilutions to be effective for general use. Allow the Optimum Power Clean to dwell while you fill up your buckets.

If it is a very hot and sunny day, fill your buckets ahead of time so the Optimum Power Clean doesn’t dry on your tires (you don’t want to allow it to dry although it won’t cause irreversible damage).

Next, agitate the tire’s sidewall with the SBB. Rinse the brush with every couple of swipes on the tire in the clean water.

Then, wash the tire with soapy water to neutralize any residue from the Optimum Power Clean and rinse with the hose.

Allow the tire to dry while you work your way around the rest of the 3 tires. This is also a good time to check tire pressure (and don’t forget the spare).

Now that the tires are clean, it’s time to give them that fresh look and help protect them from destructive UV rays. While the level of shine you like is a personal preference, the type of dressing you select is easy to recommend.

Dressings come in two varieties: Solvent Based (which are clear and greasy) and Water Based (which are milky). Aside from being non-biodegradable and often slinging up onto your paint while you drive away, solvent-based silicone dressings contain an compound known as Dimethyl (DMS) which leeches the elasticity from the tire causing it to harden prematurely. It also advances the movement of Antiozonant out of the rubber, causing premature browning of the tire called “blooming”. Antiozonant is added to the rubber to block Ozone and UVrays from damaging the rubber. As the DMS evaporates, it takes all the positive properties of the rubber with it, leaving behind a hard rubber and an unnaturally shiny tire that will attract dirt like flypaper.

Water based dressings (like Meguiar’s Hyper Dressing) contains a silicone based organic polymer known as PDMS. It is used in everyday items like shampoo to leave hair silky and shiny. In addition, they often contain products that assist in UV blocking, are non-toxic, and are largely biodegradable. They won’t last as long as a solvent based dressing, but the benefits (and even the cost) are worth their use; and, they don’t attract dirt like their counterparts. Unlike solvent based dressings, Meguiar’s Hyper Dressing can be diluted to become more cost effective and control the amount of shine or sheen you desire.

Last come the application of the dressing. Apply via sprayer or pour the like Meguiar’s Hyper Dressing onto the Lake Country Tire Dressing Applicator. When using a sprayer, it is better if you dilute the dressing 1:1 – 4:1 (depending on your desired level of shine) so that it sprays rather than streams out of the bottle. If you apply too much, it will run, but it can always be wiped even with a microfiber or second Lake Country Tire Dressing Applicator. Do this to all four tires, and you are finito!

Here you can see the difference between dressed and not-dressed.

And one more time…After:

So the next time you shine your shoes, don’t forget the laces. Spend a few extra minutes now, and they will provide you with a few extra miles in the future.

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