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An opposing view might be that nothing has really changed – we still use detergents to clean cars, polishing machines to work out the scratches, and something glossy to slather all over cars to ‘protect’ them.
The reality, as ever, is somewhere in between the extremes. Perhaps you could describe the industry as one in a constant, if gradual state of evolution, interspersed with occasional hops forward when something genuinely innovative is released.
With the perfect vision of hindsight, one could easily identify at least three ‘game changers’ that have had the greatest impact on the industry as a whole. Firstly, we have the long-throw dual action (DA) polishing machine – for which the Italian company Rupes rightly gets most of the credit. While DA and rotary polishing machines have been on the market for decades, increasing the throw of the oscillation element of a dual action is akin to the invention of an automatic gearbox. It made machine polishing easier – for professionals it allowed them to bash out more cars each week to a reasonable standard, and for home users it offered an easy route into machine polishing. Long-throw DAs have by no means made older rotary and short-throw machines obsolete – everything still has its place and its fan club – but, when paired with built-for-purpose pads and compounds, the long-throw DA has become the most common weapon of choice for detailers.
The second innovation was the ceramic coating – which had its origins in industrial coatings developed in the early noughties but only really made it into the detailing mainstream from about 2010 thanks to pioneering companies like Nanolex in Germany, Gtechniq in the UK, and TAC Systems in the Far East. Prior to ceramic coatings, your choices of paint protection were limited to waxes and sealants – even the best of which offered very little chemical or abrasion protection, while rarely would they last over a year on a regularly washed car. Now you can apply a coating that will last upwards of five years with chemical bonds so sophisticated they offer a genuine, if occasionally over sold, protective layer against much of what daily life exposes a car to.
Another stand-out development is not specific to detailing, but the detailing industry’s adoption of it was a turning point: microfibre. Apparently invented in Japan in 1970s, it didn’t appear in detailing until the noughties, but since then it is the one item every detailer, amateur or professional, uses in some way for every detail they do. Now available in countless forms and formats, with different weaves, polyester to polyamide ratios, weights, shapes, and sizes – whether it is a super plush drying towel or on the surface of a polishing pad – you can’t detail without it. While they are now making a quiet comeback, the humble sponge was considered a sinful tool for washing your car, the vegan un-friendly chamois leather perhaps even worse for drying a car – it was all about the microfibres.
Which brings us to the topic of today’s article – what do we think will rock the world of detailing, what do we think commentators will be reminiscing about in ten years’ time? In terms of evolution, rather than revolution, cordless tools have already come a long way from the earliest Ni-MH and Ni-CAD battery-powered, brushed-motor based examples, with the Flex 24v lithium-powered range currently leading in the voltage wars, while the latest 18v iBrid system released by Rupes in late ’23 was a huge step up in terms of matching their corded counterparts. With cordless power tools in general being such a vast market, the detailing industry can ride on the coat tails of battery investment and development, without having to fund the bill.
Dry ice has been used in classic car restoration for decades, but a new range of smaller, more affordable machines that are better suited to unit-based car detailers are starting to gain popularity. While in Germany we have seen companies like Dry Ice Energy on the scene for at least five years, uptake in the UK was initially slow. Now, however, we are seeing more and more detailing companies diversify into dry ice, and although initial costs are high and supply of dry ice somewhat limited, there is every chance that it will become a service offered by many high-end detailing companies.
In terms of chemical development, we had the rise of SiO2, where it was being added to everything from shampoos to quick detailers – with mixed results. TiO2 followed with less of a bang, but it was Graphene that became a buzzword, with dozens of manufacturers adding it into their coatings, and latterly a broader range of product genres. Though exciting at the time, now you can buy products enriched with all three ingredients from Highstreet stores – they are most likely better than what we had in 2010, but they haven’t really changed how we ‘do detailing’. Perhaps the more important chemical developments are a bit less exciting, a bit less sexy. Environmentally responsible chemistry has been a long time coming in the detailing industry – for larger automated operations in some countries it has been a necessity – but it has always been low on the priority list for most consumers. Now however, certain companies are taking the lead, be it Menzerna introducing water-based compounds or Nanolex launching a whole green range – things are changing for the better – let’s hope it continues!
