The Best Car Wash, Wax and Detailing Supplies

The Best Car Wash, Wax and Detailing Supplies. If you want to keep your car’s finish pristine and shiny, you’ll need to do more than just regularly give it a wash.

Spending the time to do a thorough detailing session every couple months makes a huge difference in protecting and maintaining your car’s finish. If you’re looking for the best car detailing products, you’ve come to the right place.

Here, we’ve rounded up all our top product recommendations across several categories. You don’t have to browse all over the place to get what you need.

Armed with these products, some elbow grease, and time. You can get your car looking like it’s brand new and maintain it for years to come.

Related Post: Best Pressure Washers for Car Cleaning

Taking good care of your car is worth it. Regular washing and detailing not only makes the car nicer to drive but can also help your car retain thousands of dollars in value down the road.

This guide includes:

• Pro tips and
• Recommended supplies

for the average do-it-yourselfer who wants to make their car look its best without a lot of time, hassle, or expense.

Essentials for the exterior Car wash detail

There are dozens of car wash soaps out there and truth be told, any from one of the more reputable brands will do the job just fine.

But if we had to choose one, that pick goes to Chemical Guys’ Mr. Pink Super Suds Car Wash. This car shampoo is designed to be gentle on sealant and wax coatings, ideal for weekly use.

It’s also pH balanced so it won’t damage other materials on your car’s surface, such as polished metals, glass, vinyl, rubber, and plastic trim pieces.

Related Post: How To Start a Car Wash Business

It features a slick formula that easily glides off your car, helping ensure swirl marks and scratches don’t occur while you wash. It also rinses clean, leaving behind no residue or water spots.

1. Best Car Wash Soap: Car wash detail

Chemical Guys Mr. Pink Super Suds Car Wash

 

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Featured Product: The Last Coat

If you’re looking for a single product that can be used on every inch of your vehicle’s surfaces – both exterior and interior – while giving your ride a finish that turns heads, look no further.

Extremely easy to apply, The Last Coat is a powerful all-surface coating for your car, giving you durable protection plus a mirror-like finish that will last up to 6 months with a single application.

This top sealant protects your car from water, dirt, salt, UV rays and more, helping keep your finish cleaner longer, making future cleanings a breeze.

All while giving you an exceptionally smooth look and feel that won’t take hours to apply; instead, The Last Coat bonds and sets within 7 minutes, and can be layered for enhanced protection and depth of shine.

The secret is in the ceramic-based formula, making it, in essence, a sprayable ceramic coating. Available in a 16 oz bottle or gallon jug, it’s also extremely economical – most average-sized cars only require 1 to 2 ounces per application for full coverage, providing excellent value.

Created by professional detailers with over 20,000 hours of real-world detailing experience, The Last Coat is 100% made in the USA, and reviewers rave about this product, praising it for everything from its easy application to the streak-free results.

2. Best Non-Ceramic Spray Wax: Car wash detail

CarGuys Hybrid Wax

We’re well aware that not everyone has the time to regularly wax their car with traditional wax.

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That’s why spray waxes exist, helping protect the coat of wax you’ve already applied and keeping your car shiny and protected in between heavy detailing sessions.

Again, there are plenty of quality options to choose from, but our recommendation goes to CarGuys’ Hybrid Wax.

This spray sealant is infused with traditional carnauba wax and is formulated for safe application on every surface of your vehicle.

When used properly, it’ll leave behind long-lasting UV protection and a hydrophobic barrier to keep water beading off your car’s surface.

It comes in a bottle with a professional grade sprayer with a fully adjustable nozzle. You can even use CarGuys’ Hybrid Wax on glass, plastic, and rubber.

3. Best Foam Cannon: Car wash detail

DUSICHIN Adjustable Foam Cannon

If you’re using a pressure washer, you’ll want a foam cannon to easily blanket your car with your favorite car shampoo.

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The DUSICHIN Adjustable Foam Cannon features a 1/4″ quick disconnect fitting and a 1-liter bottle. While most foam cannons are similar, you’ll want to get one with quality components so it’ll last.

DUSICHIN answers the call with brass connectors on this particular foam cannon.

In order to use this foam cannon, your pressure washer must flow at least 1.2 GPM and over 1,000-PSI pressure. It’s also adjustable, so you can control the mixing and just how much foam it generates.

4. Best Paint Scratch Remover: Car wash detail

Meguiar’s ScratchX 2.0

Getting rid of light scratches is an important part of car detailing. You’ll want to take care of those unsightly blemishes before spending more time and labor applying a hefty coat of wax.

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If you’ve got a few scratches you need to get rid of, consider Meguiar’s ScratchX 2.0, which is specifically designed to be a fine scratch and blemish remover.

It’s formulated with an exclusive micro-abrasive system that safely removes scratches, blemishes, and swirls on all paint finishes, helping you restore clarity to your car’s finish.

More importantly, this product permanently removes those defects rather than simply hiding them; but don’t expect it to work on deep scratches.

This scratch remover is clear coat safe and can be used either by hand or with a dual action polisher.

5. Best Tire Shine:

Meguiar’s Endurance Tire Gel

Nearly every single tire shine on the market will do what it advertises: keep your tires shiny. But some tire shines last longer than others, and some are easier to apply than others without leaving a mess.

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If you want a product that’s long lasting and easy to apply, that would be Meguiar’s Endurance Tire Gel.

Featuring an advanced formula with specialized macropolymers and copolymers that leaves your tire with a brilliant, high gloss shine, this product is designed to last weeks, even through rain and car washes.

It’ll also help protect your tires against UV damage.

Being a gel rather than a foam or spray, you’re able to control just how much shine you give your tire, by adjusting how much you apply.

6. Best Car Wax:

Meguiar’s Ultimate Liquid Wax

Once you have your car thoroughly washed and you’ve gone through it meticulously with a clay bar, it’s time to apply a coat of wax.

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Like car wash soap, there are dozens of options to choose from, but we’re fan favorites of Meguiar’s Ultimate Liquid Wax.

Seasoned auto detailers prefer this wax over its competitors for its ease of application/removal, affordable price, and durability.

The Ultimate Liquid Wax is formulated with a long-lasting synthetic hydrophobic polymer, leaving your car with a deep and mirror-like shine for months.

As a bonus, it comes with a special foam applicator and a microfiber cloth for buffing, so you don’t have to spend money on those accessories.

7. Best Clay Bar:

Chemical Guys Medium Clay Bar and Luber Kit

If you really want your car’s finish looking like it’s brand new, you’ll want to get yourself a clay bar and set aside some time.

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Clay bars are designed to remove contaminants from your car’s surface and it’s highly recommended to go through your car’s surface with one prior to waxing.

Chemical Guys offers 4 different clay bars, allowing you to choose from original, light, medium, and heavy.

The medium and heavy clay bars are professional-grade products and it’s recommended that you have experience using a clay bar before buying one of those options.

They tend to be fairly stiff and not easy to shape, which is not great for a novice.

No matter which clay bar you choose, it’ll do a good job at removing any contaminants in your paint and overspray—just make sure you have the experience and patience to properly use it.

Chemical Guys’ clay bars are non-abrasive so you can safely use it on all aluminum, chrome, fiberglass, paint, and finishes.

8. Best Buffing Pad:

Viking Car Care Microfiber Applicator Pads

If you are using a wax that didn’t come with an applicator pad, or you’re looking for a quality buffing pad, here’s our recommendation.

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Viking Car Care’s microfiber applicator pads are offered in 4 different styles: standard, cotton terry, rectangular, and pads with a finger pocket. You can choose to purchase either 2, 6, or 8 applicator pads at once.

Designed for applying waxes, polishes, and other protectants, these buffing pads feature soft microfiber or cotton terry and are clear coat safe. And once you’re done, they’re machine washable and reusable, so a little goes a long way.

9. Best Ceramic Detailer:

Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Wax

Ceramic coatings have become extremely popular in recent years, but they don’t come cheap. Fortunately, car detailing companies have been working on hybrid ceramic detailers. That allow you to give your car ceramic protection without forking over hundreds of dollars.

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Not surprisingly, Meguiar’s was one of the first companies with a hybrid ceramic coating solution you can apply at home with its Hybrid Ceramix Wax detailing spray.

It features advanced SiO2 to deliver ceramic wax protection and it’s extremely easy to apply. Simply spray it on your car after a wash, rinse it off, and then dry your car with a towel. No rubbing or buffing, unless you really want to.

10. Car Wash Mitts

Griot’s Garage 10268 Micro Fiber Wash Mitt

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Why you need it:

Don’t be tempted to wash your car with a towel. At the very least, you will want to use a sponge, but it’s best to use a hand mitt.

Not only do they make the job more comfortable and convenient, most mitts are made from microfiber or sheepskin, which is much safer to use on your car’s surface.

They’re also much easier to wash and keep clean when they’re not being used.

What to look for:

Nowadays, there are a lot of different companies that manufacture car wash mitts. Look for a mitt that is constructed from a soft material that’s safe to use on your car’s paint, preferably microfiber.

Some products are offered in pairs at a competitive price, and having a second mitt handy doesn’t hurt. Just make sure you get a high-quality mitt that won’t fall apart after a couple uses.

Recommendation:

Griot’s Garage is another well-respected company in the car care market, and it offers a two pack of its microfiber mitts for a competitive price.

This way, you can use one mitt for the extra dirty parts of your car, and another for the glass, roof, and hood. Griot’s Garage’s pair of mitts come in different colors, so you’ll be able to differentiate which mitt is being used for what.

They’re also machine washable for easy maintenance and there’s no thumb area, so the mitts easily rotate on your hand.

11. Car Window Cleaners

Invisible Glass Premium Cleaner

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Why you need it:

So you have the exterior of your car all washed up and your cabin is looking spotless. That’s when you realize that you probably neglected the windows.

While the outside glass is likely clean from the wash itself, you’ll want to make sure the inside glass gets treated as well.

Over time, the inside of your windows can accumulate all sorts of residue, leaving you a cloudy appearance that your wipers can’t take care of.

What to look for:

You may think a popular household product such as Windex will do the job, and you’re not wrong. But there are products that make the job easier, with a finer mist spray that won’t drip all over the place.

In addition, some glass cleaners are formulated to remove the thin layer of film that builds up on the interior of windshields.

If you have tinted windows, you’ll also want to make sure you’re purchasing a glass cleaner that is safe to use.

Recommendation:

Easy to apply and ammonia-free so it’s safe to use on tint, Invisible Glass premium glass cleaner comes in an aerosol can with a no-drip, fine mist spray.

It’s one of the most popular products on Amazon and for good reason. It doesn’t use any soaps or dyes, nor is it scented.

Each wipe won’t leave streaky residues, so your windows are crystal clear once you’re done.