ESSENTIAL DETAILING PRODUCTS AND TOOLS

Written By Brent Marttinen

In the interest of full transparency, I’ve compiled a comprehensive listing of each and every product and tool we use in our DRIVEN detailing services (As of August 2025) with brief descriptions of each. The quality of detailing products can greatly vary, so it’s important to be aware of what touches your car. This list is also an excellent baseline for products I’d recommend for your own detailing pursuits.


PRODUCTS


EXTERIOR

  • Meguiar’s Gold Class Car Wash: A luxurious car wash soap with a high degree of lubricity and cleansing power.

  • Koch Chemie Active Foam: A higher PH pre-wash soap to help break down stubborn dirt.

  • P&S Brake Buster: A strong yet safe wheel cleaner that breaks down brake dust and road grime.

  • Griot’s Garage Engine Cleaner: A strong yet safe engine cleaner.

  • Griot’s Garage Bug & Smudge Remover: Helps break down stubborn bug guts and road tar.

  • Griot’s Garage Window Cleaner: A quality, non-streaking glass cleaner.

  • Obsessed Garage Drying Aid: A thick lubricant to prevent scratches during the drying process.

  • Obsessed Garage Tire Dressing: A rich, deep, uniform, and long lasting tire dressing.

  • AMMO NYC Blush Pro Finishing Wax: A ceramic infused carnauba wax for a deep, lasting shine.

  • Turtle Wax Stuck Stuff: An adhesive remover for residual sticker glue or other stubborn adhesives.

  • Rupes Blue Coarse DA Compound: A heavier cut polishing liquid to address deeper scratches.

  • Rupes Yellow Fine DA Polish: A finer polishing fluid for achieving an optimal finish.

  • Mother’s Mag and Aluminum Polish: A polish for chrome such as exhaust tips.

  • P&S Iron Buster: An iron remover to break down embedded particles in the paint.

  • AMMO NYC Reflex Pro 2: Ceramic coating for paint and glass.

  • AMMO NYC Gelee Pro: Ceramic coating designed for wheels and metal.

  • AMMO NYC Frame Pro: Ceramic coating designed for plastic and trim.



INTERIOR

  • P&S Xpress Interior Cleaner: An effective, safe, and high sudsing interior cleanser.

  • P&S Carpet Bomber: A dedicated cleaner for general carpet and upholstery cleaning and extraction.

  • P&S Terminator: A specialized enzyme cleaner for pet stains, milk, blood, etc.

  • P&S Finisher: A specialized peroxide cleaner for organic and tannin stains such as juice, coffee, etc.

  • AMMO NYC Mousse: A rich leather conditioner to moisturize and protect leather surfaces.

  • P&S Rags To Riches: A detergent designed specifically for microfiber towels and polishing pads.



TOOLS


EXTERIOR

  • The Rag Company Eagle Edgeless 450 and 500: Very plush microfiber towels for washing and drying.

  • AMMO NYC Drive + Protect Microfiber Towels: 325 GSM microfiber towels for various detailing tasks.

  • AR630 Pressure Washer: Very durable pressure washer with adjustable pressure and high flow rate.

  • MTM PF22.2 Foam Cannon: Applies a very thick and uniform layer of soap on the car.

  • AMMO NYC Aerator: Hand pump foaming sprayer used to apply wheel cleaner.

  • Buckets: Buckets.

  • Gamma Seal: An attachable lid for the buckets.

  • Curveball Synthetic Brushes: Ultra soft brushes for washing tight areas and applying tire dressing.

  • Wheel Woolie: A unique long handled wheel cleaning tool.

  • Auto Drive Tire Contour Brush: A curved stiff bristle brush for thoroughly cleaning tires.

  • Scangrip Minimatch: A very bright and color adjustable paint inspection light.

  • TC100 Paint Depth Gauge: Measures the thickness of the paint before polishing.

  • The Rag Company Ultra Clay Towel: A clay bar type towel to remove embedded paint contaminants.

  • Rupes Bigfoot iBrid HLR15: A cordless random oribital polisher for quality paint correction.

  • Liquid Elements A1000: A cordless 1 inch random orbital and rotary polisher for intricate areas.

  • Rupes Blue and Yellow Foam and Wool Pads: Quality polishing pads in a variety of strengths.

  • Rupes X Cut Sanding Discs: Used in wet sanding to achieve a perfectly flat paint texture.

  • 3M Precision Masking Tape: High quality tape that does not leave behind any residue.

  • Homax 0000 Steel Wool: Used in rare cases to remove stubborn wheel corrosion.

  • Metal and Plastic Razor Blades: Carefully removes window stickers without scratching.



INTERIOR

  • Craftsman Shopvac: Powerful vacuum with removable air filter for liquid extraction.

  • Fortress 10 Gallon Ultra Quiet Air Compressor: Mobile air compressor that packs a surprising punch.

  • Tornador Z-014: Rapidly spinning air gun that’s highly effective at blasting out hard to reach dirt.

  • McCulloch MC1385: Steam cleaner to expedite and improve cleaning ability.

  • AMMO NYC Interior Brush: Long bristled boars hair brush for effective interior cleansing.

  • Lilly Brush: Rubber edged pet hair removal tool.

  • Mothers and Viking Carpet Brushes: Stiff bristled carpet cleaning and carpet stripe brushes.

  • Mini Woolie: Micro version of the Wheel Woolie that works great at cleaning AC vents.

Brent Marttinen https://drivenblackhills.com
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MICROFIBER TOWELS: PROPER USE AND CARE