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A Guide to the Karlsson Collins Full Valeting Service

At the heart of each Karlsson-Collins Prestige valet treatment is a 48 stage hand crafted process that is designed to give your cars paintwork a crystal clear shine, mirror like reflecting properties and a wonderfully clean and pleasant interior.

This presentation provides you with a few of the main components of that 48 stage process.

Consultation

Prior to commencing work on a customer's car it is evaluated in order to determine what work is required and to decide which products and treatments will meet the customer's needs.

Citrus Pre Clean

A citrus based de-greaser is used prior to the main washing process to loosen and remove traffic film, dead insects, mud and dirt etc. Following application of the citrus cleaning solution the entire car is rinsed using filtered water.

Aqua bath wash

A foaming shampoo is applied to the entire car to bathe it in a solution that has deep cleansing properties and which acts as a lubricant when the car is washed using a pure lamb's wool mitts and buckets containing special "grit guard" filters. By using this car wash method we are able to give the car a thorough cleansing wash withoutintroducing any unsightly fine scratches into the cars paintwork. A car being treated to a Prestige valet treatment will receive at least two full shampoo washes prior to the application of any finishing products.

Filtered water rinse

In order to prevent damage caused by hard water drying on the cars paintwork, only water that has been filtered by us is used for rinsing customer's cars. A car undergoing a Prestige valet treatment will be rinsed at least three times to ensure that the car is perfectly cleansed prior to the application of the chosen fine waxes and finishing products.

Car Drying

Significant damage can be caused to a cars paintwork by poor drying techniques; to avoid this we only use the very best quality waffle weave microfiber towels which are more sympathetic to modern car paint than old fashioned chamois leathers.

Paintwork decontamination

A vital stage in the process if a glass like feel is to be imparted to the cars paintwork. A plastic "clay bar" is used in conjunction with a lubricating solution to remove embedded contaminants from the surface of the cars paint.

Evaluating the depth of paint

An important step in the Prestige valet process. Prior to commencing any machine polishing an electronic gauge is used to measure the depth of paint that is on the car. If there is too little it may be foolhardy to polish the car with a mechanical polisher, if the readings are abnormally high this might indicate a repair sometime in the past.

Paintwork optimisation

A selection of mechanical polishers and professional grade compounds are used to correct the flatness of the paint. A maximum of one or two microns of paint are removed to ensure that all surfaces reflect light perfectly to create a mirror like finish in the cars paint. This process is typically repeated two or three times until all of the removable surface defects that are present have been removed.

Paintwork Cleansing and feeding

A special treatment which is designed to feed the cars paintwork and remove the last traces of any old polish or compounds prior to the application of any of the fine waxes or final finishing products. This is a step that is sometimes overlooked but is crucial if the full benefit and effect is to be gained from chosen fine wax once it is applied.

Fine wax

We offer a number of final finishing products from manufacturers all over the world our favourite offerings come from Switzerland, The USA together with the UK firm of Raceglaze. We are able to offer waxes which have been specifically designed for use on particular brands or generic types of cars e.g. German and Italian cars which have very different qualities when it comes to properties of the paint that has been applied to the car.

Hand applied fine wax

A number of the fine waxes which we offer benefit from being applied using bare hands, the heat of the human body is used to help the wax become more fluid and bond to the cars paintwork. The wax is always applied in the direction that water is likely to flow over a car which helps removal of the water when washing or when driving in poor conditions. For a really special finish we would recommend that two or three separate layers of wax are applied to the car.

Final finishing

Each coat of wax is left to cure and then buffed off using plush microfibre towels that are kept specifically for the job of buffing and final finishing.

The finished article

Having been through a 48 stage process the owner can rest assured that their car will draw admiring glances wherever it goes. It is once again the envy of all their friends who will want to know what the secret to a perfectly cared for car is?