Difference Between Car Spa and Car Detailing Explained

Difference Between Car Spa and Car Detailing Explained

Have you noticed that some vehicles that are on the road just seem to have a deeper gloss and more reflection than others? It's almost as if they're permanently wrapped in glass. You wash and wax your car too, why doesn't it achieve that same effect? While we can't do anything about sunlight or indirect sunlight creating incorrect visuals or reflections, we can show you how to tell the differences between a "wash" and "light detailing" and an actual "detail". 

A lot of times, car owners search the phrases "Car Spa" and " Car Detailing " and think they are the same thing. While they will both make your vehicle look great, they are different services focused on different goals for your car. Let's get this confusion cleared up about what a "Car Spa" is and what "Car Detailing" is.

Understanding the Car Spa: A Luxurious Deep Clean

Car spa is like a day of pampering for your vehicle and its primary purpose is to provide your car with a full-on high-quality cleaning experience that goes beyond a standard wash to refresh and redo its overall appearance.

A quality car spa package will typically involve: 

• A thorough outside hand wash with quality pH neutral shampoos.
• Applying a quality spray or paste wax to add a degree of shine and temporary protection.
• A thorough deep inside car cleaning (e.g. deep vacuuming of carpets and seats, wiping all plastic and vinyl surfaces such as the dash, and ensuring that all windows are streak free). 

These are just a few examples; a car spa is a great way to keep a reasonably good car looking great on a routine maintenance schedule.

Decoding Car Detailing: The Art of Restoration

While a spa is all about pampering, auto detailing is all about restoration. Detailing a vehicle is a skilled and labour-intensive process with the goal of restoring a vehicle to as close to factory-new condition as possible. Professional automotive detailing is an art form.

Detailing includes all of the spa elements, but also provides more detail with advanced techniques:

• Decontamination: Detailing starts with a thorough wash, followed by the use of a clay bar on the paint. This is an important step that safely removes embedded contaminants (industrial fallout, brake dust) from the paint that make it feel rough.

• Paint Correction: Paint correction is the core of detailing. A technician uses machine polishers, along with a prescribed range of compounds, to remove defects from the vehicle's clear coat including swirl marks, light scratching, or water spots. 

• Long-Term Protection:By Long-Term Protection, we're really talking about what is the last vital step after restoring the paint. An average detail is likely to use a durable paint sealant and probably the goal for many is to coat portions of the car surface with a liquid ceramic or graphene polymer. This hard sacrificial layer helps protect the car paint and surface for many years from small scratches, UV damage, and chemical stains, while making it super easy to clean. 

• Intensive Interior Work: Intensive work on the interior is carried out in the same manner and involves the use of steam cleaners to sanitize, fabric shampoo (with extractors) to get at the deep seated dirt, and conditioning leather to protect and prevent cracking.

At a Glance: Car Spa vs. Car Detailing

Which Service Does Your Car Need?

• Choose a Car Spa if: Your car is relatively new or its paint is in good shape, and you want to maintain its cleanliness with a periodic deep clean.

• Choose Car Detailing if: Your car's paint looks dull or is covered in a web of fine scratches. Detailing will restore that showroom shine. It's also the best choice if you want to apply serious, long-term protection to your automotive investment, new or old.

Now, when you see that impossibly glossy car, you'll know its secret. It isn't just clean; it has likely been professionally detailed and protected, ready to take on the Delhi roads with a lasting, brilliant shine.