Silent Risks in Shine – Regulations for Car Detailing Chemicals
9 Jul 2025
Taking the UK as an example, there are three key aspects to where regulation impacts, or at least should impact the industry. Firstly, there is chemical safety – many of the products used in detailing are hazardous to both their users and the environment around them. The risk to human health has always been present in car cleaning chemicals, but in the early days they weren’t always noticed and certainly weren’t protected against.
Fluorinated hydrocarbons and other polyfluoroalkyls, for example, were widely used in spray-on fabric protection products, and though their risk to human health were widely understood in the scientific community, thousands of car valeters were merrily dousing automotive interiors with them without so much as a paper mask. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that this, unsurprisingly, led to cases of serious respiratory disease.
On the surface at least, things are now far better. Firstly, there are fewer unpleasant chemicals in use, secondly, they are generally better labelled with appropriate hazard signs, and thirdly, people are more accepting of appropriate PPE during their use. However, the fact remains that with almost any genre of detailing chemical that involves solvents, there are still dangers, and some of them aren’t immediately obvious. Tar removers, for example, smell of solvent and are easy for users to realise the risk they pose. Conversely, despite high VOCs, many ceramic coatings are near odourless yet can quickly lead to headaches and nausea. Compounds are another ‘subtle’ risk, while many manufacturers have turned to water-based formulations, more harmful solvent-based liquid abrasives are still in use and can pose significant risk to users without the correct PPE.
Detailing products are treated as any other over-the-counter product in terms of regulation – there are some ingredients you are no longer allowed to use, and a huge number of hazardous chemicals that can be used but require proper documentation in the Safety Data Sheets and appropriate labelling on the bottles themselves. One also needs to distinguish between chemicals that are harmful to humans and ones that are harmful to the environment – many pose a risk to both. One could make a strong case for greater regulation on chemical safety – some manufacturers like Nanolex (pictured), Menzerna, Mile Deep, and others have proven that you can make effective products that are both safer for the user and have less impact on the environment. Low VOC and biodegradable alternatives however, are often more expensive to manufacture and seen as less effective by customers – the soft option – making it difficult for responsible manufacturers to gain market share.
“If there was greater regulation that forced all manufacturers to formulate safer, greener products, it would be a level playing field, and accelerate their adoption.”
Regulating the actual process of detailing is a different topic altogether, and one with far greater variation within Europe. For example, in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and other countries, it is illegal to wash your car at home unless you have vast commercial-grade drain filters that are economically unviable. Conversely, if washing your car at home was banned in the UK, there would likely be a popular revolt – weaponizing wheel cleaners and pulverising authority figures with pressure washers. Furthermore, while for many washing their car is a hobby, in certain countries it is considered ‘work’, and can therefore not be done on the weekend. In other countries, including the UK, the idea of being told when you can and cannot work, or indeed what counts as ‘work’ would lead to a general strike.
Then we come to the professional market, which is relatively consistent across European nations, though enforcement and obedience are somewhat varied. In Germany, all independent professionals are required to have insurance, operate from premises with suitable drainage, and have the relevant permits from local authorities for the work they are doing. For most, the very thought of not complying with said regulation is abhorrent – those are the rules, everyone follows the rules, and that is how society survives. In the UK conversely, we do have rules about washing cars near storm drains, about suitable waste carrier and disposal licenses, and trade bodies like the PVD association, who try and improve the industry for both consumers and traders. However, for the most part, all the regulations are entirely ignored and many owner-operator detailers run without full insurance, blatantly in breach of local council and Environment Agency guidelines, and refuse to sign up to any code of conduct set out by a trade association.
Perhaps a suitable approach to this scenario is to reduce the level of regulation in certain countries, but enforce it thoroughly and consistently. One could also tie-in regulation relating to chemicals, for example, whereby those using biodegradable products that meet certain standards are able to wash their cars at home or on the street, thus rewarding those pioneering manufacturers trying to make a difference. Equally, rules that are founded upon religious grounds, or outdated cultural nuances, could perhaps be replaced by ones more suited to the 21st Century, where we sometimes need to work on Sundays rather than spend it on our knees in prayer. For those who don’t adhere to existing regulation, the normal excuse given is that it is never enforced, and if they did abide by said conditions, they would no longer be commercially competitive or viable – thus ensuring consistent enforcement will level matters up – if everyone obeys the same rules, things work better.
Finally, we come to the sensitive topic of training and accreditation. In some continental European countries, you can study car detailing as a legitimate topic at technical college – it is a respected trade. However, in other countries, like the UK, car detailing is still (wrongly) considered to be relatively low skilled – something you don’t need to be ‘qualified’ in. Many car valeters, for example, enter the trade when they are made redundant from other employment or are demobbed from the army – very few aspire to it from a young age. There are training facilities, such as UK Detailing Academy, but without government support to cover costs, or legislative requirements to be qualified, only the ambitious and well-funded detailers utilise such facilities. This is another area where more legislation would perhaps be a good thing, at least in the UK where self-regulation hasn’t worked so far. At the very least it would ensure professionals can operate safely using the chemicals and equipment made available to them, but beyond that, it would give the public peace of mind that those working on their valuable vehicles know what they are doing. This, however, is very much a country by country conclusion – in other territories it may be the case that the reigns could be loosened slightly to make the profession more accessible. It would be interesting to see where in the world they have got the balance right and investigate if that could be used as a blueprint internationally.
Bert Youell
Editor – PRO Detailer Magazine
Covering news from the world of detailing for Gateway.
