Detailed knowledge for detailersMiscellaneous detailing related content
Road spray is a dirty mist of contaminants in the air, thrown up by a vehicle driving over the road. Road spray is partly the cause for traffic film and can cause dirt and grime, even when the weather has been dry and there is no obvious origin for dirt on a vehicle.
A tack cloth (also: tack rag, tac cloth) is a special cloth/towel that is covered by a sticky substance. This allows it to grab dirt and remove it by making it stick to the fabric of the towel.
A traffic film is the term used to describe the fine layer of contaminants that cover a vehicle that has been used. The very film layer of contaminants lie on top of the car as a grey-ish film. Washing alone might not always be enough to fully remove this film.
Sheeting is a particular form of water behavior. Thanks to the interaction between a liquid and a surface, sheeting can occur. This means that the water glides off the surface like a big “sheet” of water. There are a few different things at play that cause sheeting, but it is a popular effect that protective layer can give.
Beading is the visual effect that a difference in surface energy and surface tension gives. Beading gives an indication of how a liquid behaves on a certain surface. Many manufacturers put a lot of time and effort into trying to get the best beads. Many people believe that good beading must mean good sheeting, but this is not the case. Beading is one of the most popular side-effects that a good form of protection gives.
Many detailers will post up pictures of their vehicle showing great beads, and then claim their layer of protection is very old. However, that doesn’t add up. When a wax is a few months old, it doesn’t bead very good anymore, and that is normal. So how did this person manage to use a normal wax and get such great beads after all that time? Because he used a QD!
A Last Step Product (LSP) is the product that you use in the last step of detailing. This is the “protection” part of detailing. The term is often used by people telling or asking what product was used to protect the achieved finish after a small or large detailing session. As abbreviations are popular, this term quickly become shortened into: LSP.
Oxidation is the chemical process in which there is a chemical reaction that involves the moving of electrons. To be more precise, it means that the substance that is giving away electrons is oxidized. In simple terms it means that the surface of any object is affected when time goes by.
Snowfoam is a particular way of pre-cleaning before washing the car with a washmitt or similar. Snowfoam will loosen up dirt and will move a lot of the dirt when it is rinsed off.
Claylube is a specific liquid that helps to lubricate the surface when claying. Without this lube, the clay will leave a lot of marring due to it being fairly rough and having a very high level of friction when moving.