Followed by getting out of debt and losing weight, quitting smoking is the third most popular New Year’s resolution in 2010.
Did you or a loved one make the resolution to quit smoking this year? You can help keep that resolution with our Interior Detail with Smoke Odor Removal Service. With a car that smells fresh and new, the temptation to sneak that cigarette on the way home from work will be so much lower.
An Interior Detail with Smoke Odor Removal is a great gift if you have someone you want to encourage to quit smoking. It’s also a great gift to yourself if you’ve decided to quit. Remember, you’ll be saving some money now that you’re not buying cigarettes.

Can you hear it?  Winter’s right around the corner and that rustling sound isn’t the last of the fall leaves.  It’s dollars flying out of your wallet as the winter takes its toll – with all its rain, mud, snow, ice, road de-icer, gravel and grime – on your car.
What should you do?  Let’s think ahead a few months…

Come spring time, when you get around to cleaning your car, here’s what you can do now to make that job much easier and cheaper:
1)    Give your car’s paint a fighting chance through the winter with a coat of wax to protect the finish.  A good wax is your paint’s best friend when it comes to repelling the nastys of winter.  Get your car thoroughly waxed now so you won’t have to pay a detailer extra to polish the oxidation or to remove other stubborn contaminants.
2)    During winter your car should be washed weekly, but at least every-other week to prevent the build-up of contaminants on the paint.  This is especially true for your wheels.  That gray brake dust sitting on your wheels is right now etching its way permanently into the coating. Investing the time and expense throughout the winter will save you even more than if you need to have a detailer clean the stains you just can’t get out.
3)    Visibility is very important during the dark, wet winter months.  Check your headlight lenses to make sure they’re still clear.  If the plastic is fading, hazy or turning yellow you should have them looked at by a professional detailer.  If needed, a detailer can restore the clarity of the lenses to maximize headlight output, and at a fraction of the cost of buying new lights.  You’ll be much safer during the dark days of winter.
4)    Continuing with visibility and saving money, now is the time to fix any rock chips in your windshield.  Drastic temperature changes cause seemingly dormant chips to split out into large cracks with no warning.  That chip may have sat there all summer and fall just minding its own business.  In fact, you probably don’t even notice it anymore.  But one of these cold winter mornings when you hit your defroster that chip will scream to life and make a sound, that’s right, the sound of money flying out of your wallet.

Keep your car looking its best during the winter months and your spring cleaning can be a breeze.

Windshield chip repair (WCR) is a process that injects a special clear adhesive resin into a small crack or break in a windshield. The damaged area’s strength is restored to prevent any cracks from spreading; in fact it’s guaranteed not to spread! The clarity is also improved at least 85%.

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Why repair a windshield?
Repairing (instead of replacing) a windshield is environmentally friendly. Thousands of damaged windshields are needlessly replaced every year, ending up in our landfills. Repairing a windshield will save it from the landfill!

• Repairs save money by preventing the need for a more costly replacement. Replacing a windshield on a modern car or SUV will cost hundreds of dollars, even more if it has an antenna, defroster or rain sensor built in to it.
• Repairs are very convenient taking less than an hour.
• Repairs are safer than replacement because the glass is never removed and the original factory seal is maintained.

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What kind of damage can be repaired?
Chips can be repaired up to about the size of a 50 cent piece. Best results are obtained when the damage is repaired right away, before it gets contaminated from moisture and rain and road grime. It’s also better to get it done before the damage spreads.

I tell customers that as part of our Standard Detail Service, we’ll polish their car then apply a coat of wax.  Inevitably the question follows, “What’s the difference between polishing and waxing?”

In the car and truck and boat detailing world, “polish” is synonomous with “buff” and they are both verbs.  They are something you do to the paint to make it shine.  “Wax” is something to put onto the paint to protect it from nature’s elements.  The confusion comes from product manufacturers who advertise on TV, saying “This new product XYZ is both a polish AND a wax, eliminating a step when detailing your car. Just put this polish on your paint and it will shine like new forever blah blah blah…” As usual, don’t believe the hype.

There is no one miracle polishing compound that does it all.  The paint should be polished first to make it shine, then a coat of wax should be applied to keep it shiny as long as possible.

Welcome to my first blog post.  I wrote this because I get asked a lot of questions about car leather seats, and there is a lot of misinformation out there that I would like to clear up.

You probably have a pigmented/protected/top coated/painted type leather because this is the most common leather type and is used in over 95% of automotive interiors. This leather has a uniform appearance and color with a definite pattern (grain). You cannot see any natural leather markings through the top coatings because a pigmented leather paint coat is applied to the surface. It is then sealed with a durable finish. If properly maintained, this finish will provide years of durability.

Identifying characteristics of pigmented/painted leather: uniform color and grain patterns; will not scratch easily; water dropped onto the surface will not change the color of the leather.

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Another kind of leather found in automotive interiors is aniline (Castano) leather found mostly on Ford King Ranch edition pickup seats. It is top quality natural leather in which the actual surface grain markings of the true leather (hide) are visible. This type of leather is not intended to remain pristine but rather rugged. These seats have no or very little protective treatments applied. They also require different cleaning procedures than protected leather due to its porous nature and are prone to sun fading.
Identifying characteristics: very easy to scratch, water dropped onto the surface will darken the color and then dry back to natural color.

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Yet another kind of leather found in automotive interiors is nubuck leather found on some Lexus and Dodge Durango seats. These are natural aniline leathers that have been brushed creating a nap and leaving a texture similar to suede. Nubuck has a natural finish, but may have a light protective coat and a transparent leather dye for color. This process increases the leather’s surface exposure making it extremely absorbent to body oils and soil, also making it difficult to clean effectively.
Identifying characteristics: usually gray in color, very soft to the touch, will scratch or scuff very easily, water dropped onto the surface will darken the color and then dry back to natural color.

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So now you know what kind of leather your car has, but you might be surprised to learn that the entire seat is not actually leather!  Most modern cars have leather seating surfaces while the rest of the seat is vinyl that is made to look like leather.  To the untrained eye it looks like the entire seat is leather, but in fact it is not.  Why do they do this?  Because vinyl is cheaper than leather of course.  “But I ordered leather seats when I bought my car!”, you may say.  To that I will say, “Read the fine print of the order sheet, it says ‘leather seating’ or something similar to that.” This is how the car manufacturers trick you into believing that the entire covering is leather.

So what?  So some of the surfaces are vinyl, does that matter?  Generally not except that the sides will wear out and crack well before the leather surfaces do.  At which time you take your car to an auto upholstery specialist and have them replace that cracked/torn vinyl panel with a real leather panel and you’re good to go.

What about leather conditioner?  This is where I really have to laugh at what’s going on in the public’s mind.  The use of leather conditioner on most automotive seats is vastly overrated.  I don’t mean it’s a waste of time, but it’s not as critical as many people believe and here’s why:  Remember that 95% of cars have the pigmented/protected/top coated/painted type of leather right?  That top coat seals out moisture and contaminents… so how well do you think that leather conditioner soaks past that protective copcoat and into the leather?  It doesn’t.  I hear all the arguements from car enthusiasts that it is critical for long lasting leather and to keep it from cracking.  I say this, keep your leather clean, (including in the seams where the stitching is) and keep it protected from UV rays (window tinting) and your leather will last a long time.  Going to the expense and trouble of applying leather conditioner on a regular basis isn’t a bad thing, in fact it shows that you’re willing to take care of your investment, just don’t lose any sleep over it.