Special Services Include:
Industrial Fallout and Paint Overspray Removal - Cleaning your paint does not mean washing your car, it means removing oxidation and contaminants, adding emollient oils back into the paint and smoothing out the surface of the paint. The following briefly describes how this process works.
CLEANER: A cleaning agent may be either friction or chemical. A friction cleaner is usually either a silicate or clay particulate. If you examine your paint through a microscope, it would look like a mountain range with peaks and valleys. The friction or abrasive (don't get nervous at the word abrasive) type cleaner will clip the tops of these mountains off and help fill in the valleys, to approach the optimum smooth plane that offers the greatest depth of shine. Friction cleaners are usually described as fine, medium or heavy cut. Chemical type cleaners are usually more effective in removing the remains of bugs, stains, tree sap and tars.
GLAZE: A glaze usually denotes a superfine friction type of cleaning agent, usually with essential emollients and lubricating oils and may even contain some mild chemical cleaners. Glazes will usually remove mild swirl marks, scratches, refresh the paint with oils and smooth out the finish.
POLISH: A polish is normally a non-abrasive product based on a nutrient oil matrix and may or may not have a chemical cleaner as part of the package. Most polishes use fillers to help cover swirl marks.
COMPOUND: A compound is the "coarse sandpaper" of the paint-cleaning world. This should be used only if the paint is in serious trouble and all else has failed.
CLAY: Literally a plasticene/abrasive mixture used to smooth new paint and remove over spray. This type of product must be used with lots of lubricant. The technique of using a clay is a learned skill. Use too little lubricant, or get contaminants in the clay, and you have moved into scratch city. This is one product that is the fast lane to trouble if not used with extreme care.
WAX: There are two broad categories of wax, organic and polymer based. The organic waxes may be derived from plants such as Carnauba, or varmints, such as bee's wax. The polymer-based waxes are usually made in chemical factories. A coat of wax is nothing more than a clear, sacrificial protectant for the painted, clear coated, polished, chromed and almost all other areas of your car except the rubber parts. It is far better to have ultraviolet rays, ozone, acid rain, tree sap, road tar, and all the other road hazards attack a coat of wax than attack your paint. The wax can be refreshed with little effort and cost, whereas replacing paint can be somewhat financially painful. A good coat of wax will also add "depth of shine" and reflective gloss to the finish, but cannot transform a neglected or abused finish from a pile of rubble into a Pebble Beach Concours winner. For a wax to be effective, it must be applied to a clean surface, as it will enhance the gloss as well as the defects of the surface.
Scratch and Oxidation Removal - Mild cutting creme utilizes very fine polishing agents to gently clean every type of finish. Removes 1200-1500 grit wet sand scratches, acid rain damage, water spots, surface blemishes, fallout and light to medium oxidation.
Swirl Removal - Our ultra gloss polish uses extremely fine polishing agents to eliminate swirl marks and hairline scratches while preparing a blemish free surface for final finishing. Provides longer buffing time to create an exceptionally high gloss, glass-like appearance on all types of paint finishes.
Headlight Restoration - Restores damaged plastic lenses to “like new” condition for a fraction of the cost of a replacement lens. You’ll be surprised at what a difference having crystal clear headlights can have on the overall appearance of your vehicles! We can remove haze, cloudiness, and scratches.
Polymer Paint Sealant Protection - High quality paint sealant that produces a long lasting, high gloss shine on all types of automotive paint finishes. Amino functional polymers resist UV rays, salt, air, snow, sleet, insects, road film, harsh detergents and environmental contaminants that can fade or discolor automotive finishes prematurely. One of the finest protective products available on the market today, professionally applied. This is the same product dealers sell for hundreds more.
Scotchguard Fabric Treatment - Aerosol fabric protector shields velour and other cloth interiors from oil and water based stains, soil and grime. Non chlorinated formula is safe for all fabrics. Eliminates static buildup.Seals and protects the fibers of your cloth interior. Helps prevent stains from coffee, tea, punch, etc. from setting in.
Air Purifier - Ozone Treatment removes bad odors forever. Cigarette smoke, cat odors, fire damage, milk products, vomit & many others.
Engine Compartment Cleaning- Why should you clean the engine compartment? Rust prevention, early oil/fluid leak detection, early belt wear detection and cosmetics are among the prime reasons. The proper cleaning temperature of the engine is warm but not hot. If you can just hold your hand to the engine without burning it, then it is warm enough to clean. As the engine cools to proper temperature, we use the time to cover the few openings on the motor that dislike ingesting water. The air intake/air filter, the distributor, the coil and the oil dipstick/breather are among the few sensitive areas. We then spray the entire engine/engine compartment with a quality, non-petroleum based degreaser. A must if you are planning to sell your vehicle.
Wheel Cleaning - To discuss cleaning methods/chemicals, we should first discuss the agents that attack your wheels. The main culprit is brake dust. Brake pads are made from several components, including monofilament carbon fibers, metal filings, Kevlar fibers and polymer based adhesives. The brake pad adhesive is the root of most of our problems. When the adhesive residue (a component of brake dust) becomes wet, it turns acidic and may etch your wheels. The metal filings, during braking, will become red hot and tend to "burn" tiny holes in the finish of your wheels. If you have small droplets that look like road tar on your wheels, this may not be road tar, but may in fact be re-polymerized brake pad adhesive. These polymer adhesives flocculate and form droplets that wind up on the wheels where they adhere with a vengeance. The only sure way to stop all this etching/burning/flocculating (sounds kind of kinky) is to refrain from using your brakes. Such a course of action is not usually desirable, even though some drivers are proponents. One of the keys to maintaining your wheels is a coat of wax. The wax acts as a sacrificial protectant. The damaging effects of red-hot brake dust, brake dust acids, pollution and ozone are unleashed upon the wax and not your wheel. There are several ways to clean your wheels, and we choose the least aggressive method that will get the job done.
Bird droppings - Bird presents are one of the most damaging "natural" disasters that attack our paint. They are highly acidic. The longer we leave these bird presents on our paint, the more damage they will cause. The acids tend to etch a microscopic pond shaped depression in the paint. Removal as soon as possible will help minimize the damage. Instead of carrying a hose and bucket in your car, carry a bottle of no salt seltzer water. No salt seltzer water is nothing more than water and carbon dioxide which will not harm your paint. When needed, take off the cap, place your thumb over the top, shake well and you have a fire hydrant that will wash the worst of the bird's thoughtful gift from your paint. Try to rub this area as little as possible. Birds use gravel to digest their food and grit is one of the major components of their presents. If you try and rub off the solids, you may scratch the paint. When you have the time call us, and we will give the area a good coat of wax.
Tire and Trim Rejuvenation and Protection - There are two main degrading agents that attack tires and rubber trim. They are UV light waves and ozone. Both of these attack the long hydrocarbon chains of the rubber and, by breaking these bonds, shorten the molecules with resulting loss of elasticity and other problems. Tire manufacturers add two primary sacrificial protectants to the rubber. To protect against UV, they add carbon black. This is why tires dont come in designer colors to match your paint. The carbon black will turn white/gray as it absorbs the UV and dissipates the energy as heat. This is the basis of rubber parts turning gray as they age. To protect against ozone, tire manufacturers add a wax based, sacrificial protectant. The ozone attacks the wax and depletes it. As the tire rolls, additional wax is forced to the surface of the tire. This is referred to as blooming. This blooming refreshes the surface wax protectant. A tire that has not been flexed will have the wax depleted by the ozone and thus begin to degrade and suffer dry rot. The raw silicone oil that is the main ingredient in most of the nationally advertised, auto parts store, high gloss products may actually dissolve the wax and be the cause of premature tire sidewall cracking/failure. The quality tire/rubber dressings should contain a strong UV protectant to bolster the efforts of the carbon black and not contain any raw silicone oil. Many of the nationally advertised rubber and vinyl products also contain formaldehyde. If you plan on having a funeral for your vinyl/rubber, then you may wish to use one of these products.
Pressure/Power Washing Service - Driveways, Walkways, Patios, Porches, Concrete, Brick, Stucco, Tile, Etc.
Gift Certificates Available
If you have any questions or need any further information, please feel free to email us at josh@zimmsdetail.com,
or call 760-717-2185.
