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Home detailing will save you big bucks, but finding the right products is hard work. We break down the best car cleaning kits on the market.
Our Three Top Picks for Car Wash Kits
You’ve found the perfect car and even scored a great deal. Now it’s time to make the most of your new investment. Next to routine maintenance under the hood, one of the most important things you can do for your car is maintaining the exterior and interior through regular detailing. But with the average detailing job running around $160, that can overwhelm your budget quickly.
Like most things, doing it at home will save you thousands in the end, and thankfully there are some great car cleaning kits out there to take the guess work out of which products you need. Today we’ll look at the three best car cleaning kits on the market that bundle all the essentials, save you tons, and help keep your ride in tip top shape inside and out.
If you’re new to DIY car detailing, you may want to begin with our article, DIY Car Detailing: Secrets From the Pros. While you’re at it check out our Best Types of Car Washes article.
Chemical Guys 14-Piece Arsenal:
If you’re looking to cover all of the basics for your at-home car detailing job, then the Chemical Guys 14-Piece Arsenal is the ticket. It’s the priciest on our list, but we like that nothing has been excluded—and that includes exterior and interior. In the kit you’ll find Butter Wet Wax, Honeydew Snow Foam, Diablo Wheel Gel, Silk Shine Dressing, Signature Glass Cleaner, a detailing bucket with a Cyclone Dirt Trap, Torq Foam Blaster Foam Gun, Microfiber Wash Mitt, a short handle brush, 3 microfiber towels, and a dressing applicator.
The foam gun made this a front runner for us. It easily attaches to a garden hose and mixes just enough soap, water, and air to create a thick soapy foam that gently cleans your vehicle. The car wash bucket with the cyclone dirt trap keeps abrasive particles at the bottom of the bucket to reduce scratches and swirls.
A high-quality wax and wheel cleaner finish up the exterior detailing and the interior is covered with a glass cleaner and Silk Shine Protectant. At just under $90, this car cleaning kit will pay for itself with just one driveway detailing job.
Armor All Premier Car Care Kit
The Armor All Premier Car Care Kit is a great place to start if you’re new to at-home detailing or have a smaller budget but don’t want to sacrifice on quality. Priced around $40, it comes with eight items that will cover both the interior and exterior and includes a car wash pad, Armor All Ultra Shine wash and wax, tire and wheel cleaner, tire shine, a multi-purpose car interior cleaner, Armor All Original Protectant, glass cleaner, and a car air freshener spray.
The Ultra Shine Wash and Wax system removes grime, aids with water beading, and improves the appearance of your vehicle’s paint in a single step. We like that this includes some great products for the interior. The multi-purpose cleaner can be used on virtually every surface, including the dashboard, console, vinyl, or cloth seats, as well as carpet, to prevent cracking and discoloration from UV rays on plastic, vinyl, and rubber parts.
Meguiar’s Complete Car Care Kit
The Meguiar’s Complete Car Care Kit is a great mid-line choice that delivers some very versatile products at a great price. You can get this car cleaning kit for around $75 and it includes Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo and Conditioner, Gold Class Carnauba Plus Liquid Wax, Gold Class Endurance High Gloss Gel, Quik Detailer, Quik Interior Detailer Cleaner, two 50-gram clay bars, PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish, ScratchX, a microfiber towel, a foam applicator pad, and a Microfiber wash mitt.
In addition to the shampoo and waxes, there are some great tools in this kit that will ensure you’re restoring your car to its original state. The clay bar safely lifts surface contaminants from the paint and the ScratchX gently removes fine scratches, light stains, oxidation, and fresh surface contaminants without swirling or scratching. We like that this is also a car interior cleaning kit that includes the multi-purpose detailer that cleans all surfaces making them look like new. The microfiber towel is a great addition as well and is especially useful when cleaning leather upholstery.
If you’re needing more tips for leather maintenance, check out our Proper Leather Upholstery Care article for other product recommendations and cleaning best practices.
Quality Products for Cleaning Your Car
There you have it. Three great car cleaning kit options for any budget. You really can’t go wrong with any of these, so whether you splurge for the Chemical Guys kit, stick to the essentials with the Armor All kit, or meet in the middle with Meguiar’s, you’ll come out on top saving tons and get the satisfaction of doing it yourself—which is priceless.
