Throughout the course of our business, we have the opportunity toattend many car shows to demonstrate and market our products. The showsthat we go to might be a casual cruise-in, a local or a national meet.Regardless of the type of show - there is always one thing that standsout ? a nicely detailed car!

Your ride might be a ?driver?, a concourse-quality ?trailer-queen'or even a racecar. No matter what you drive, there is no doubt that adetailed car that ?pops? grabs your attention. And who doesn't like todrive a nicely detailed car? And if you are a gear-head like me, yes Ihave a great job!

Some of these shows are meant to be just ?fun?, while others arehighly competitive. For example at the Mid America Truck show they havea show and shine. All of these ?Big Rigs? are working trucks. Thejudges actually use white gloves! These guys even wax the inside of theframe rails ? and detail the tires inside the tread. I couldn't fathomsuch detail until I attended the event last year with our Canadiandistributor Stephane Gauthier who is well known in the Big Rig Show andShine circuit. They start detailing their rigs the week before theshow.

Assuming that you don't have a week to dedicate to detailing andstaging a car at a show and the judges aren't using white gloves, Iwill attempt to share with you tips and techniques for prepping yourride on site at the show. Now, your car might never see water and betowed to the event in an enclosed trailer, or it might be a cruiser andyou drive it ? the process is about the same - and can look equallynice ? it's all in the details!

Let's assume that we are starting with a fairly clean surface -there is no sense in putting wax and dressings on dirty, soiled orotherwise contaminated surfaces.

Start with the exterior. Think of detailing your vehicle likepainting a room ? always start from the top down. The reason for thatis if there is any overspray from wax or dressings, you can catch themas you work your way down the surfaces of the vehicle.

If you have a convertible or vinyl top, it's time to dress it! Let?stalk a little about dressings here. For the most part, there arebasically two kinds of dressings for vinyl, rubber and plastic ? theyall are either water based or solvent based. You will want to usesolvent based dressings for the exterior of your ride ? solvent baseddressings won't wash right off and fall apart like water-baseddressings will, and in my opinion give a richer, deeper luster. Aswell, a solvent based dressing, like our Super Blue will do a betterjob for conditioning and UV protection.

I always suggest dedicating an applicator to your solvent-baseddressing. The reason for this is that you want to do this asefficiently as possible and minimize any clean up of overspray. Startwith spraying small amount of dressing on the applicator and wipe theentire top from front to back. Now ? this is where some people stop andthey get streaky-looking results. To eliminate this ? repeat theprocess going from side to side, front to back. This crisscrosstechnique ensures even coverage and eliminates any chance of gettingthose dreaded streaks when it dries.

If you don't have a convertible or vinyl top, start with a quickdetailer / spray wax and a clean microfiber towel on the roof surface.

Before you begin, let's talk a little bit about your quick detailer/spray wax and microfiber towel. To get optimum results, you will wantto use a quick detailer / spray wax that will not streak. Some will,given the humidity and temperature when they are applied ? the bottomline is you want to enhance the appearance of your ride ? not addsmears or streaks. Also look for a quick detailer / spray wax thatcontains a small amount of carnauba ? as an added benefit you will alsobe extending the protection of any existing wax you have on your ride.We also recommend using a clean microfiber towel dedicated to thispurpose.

When using your quick detailer / spray wax ? a little goes a longway. Just spritz the product lightly. Other than adding more protectionand ?pop? to your surface, it will also serve as a lubricant helping tosafely float off dust and grime. Our natural tendency is if this muchis good, more is better, right? Just like me with laundry detergent ?wrong! All you end up doing is wasting product and making a mess.

The reason that we recommend a microfiber is that if used correctly,it will not scratch the surface of your ride. Don't treat themicrofiber towel like sandpaper ? wipe gently, turning the towel overfrequently - let the towel do the work. You won't be adding any moreshine or luster my rubbing hard, and even a microfiber can scratch yourpaint if you rub hard enough. Just by turning the towel over frequentlyand wiping off any excess it will easily collect any dust, road grimeor bug splatters. I usually concentrate on a concentrate on a 2-foot by2-foot area at a time ? the old clich? applies here ? inch-by-inchlife's a cinch! Do your entire surface of the roof.

Next, let's move down to the glass with your quick detailer / spraywax. Now, some of these products don't work well on glass, but the goodones will, like our Body Shine Showroom Spray Wax. Spritz a little onthe glass surfaces, then wipe with a microfiber towel. The microfiberwill make it a snap to clean up any contaminants like bug splatter ifyou drove to the show, and they are highly absorbent to suck up anyexcess detail spray. Your quick detailer / spray wax will make yourwindows ?pop?!

Now is the time to start with the front part of your ride. Start atthe hood and continue to work your way down. After the hood is wipedoff, I move to the front of the vehicle. Repeat the same process,paying particular attention to the nooks and crannies of the grill andother trim of the car, including the headlights and grill.

Staying with the front part of your ride, I then start on the frontfenders. Repeat the same process. Don't worry about any vinyl, rubberor plastic trim; I usually save that for last. Ensure that you hit thechrome with your quick detail / spray wax as well as any paintedsurfaces. At this point ? take a step back, check it out and admireyour work ? things are starting to come together after only a fewminutes!

Next, move to the back of the vehicle. Start on another big surface- the trunk lid. After the trunk is done ? continue on to the rear ofthe vehicle, again doing all painted and chrome surfaces. Next, move onto the rear quarters. I usually then will do both doors and surfaces inbetween the front and back last.

Now is the time that you want to dress the rubber, plastic and vinyltrim on your ride. Again, I apply the product with an applicatorinstead of spraying it on ? it saves clean up time. Don't worry or fretif you get any of the dressing on the adjoining painted or chromesurface ? just wipe it off with your microfiber towel!

After dressing the trim on the body of your ride, move to the wheelwells. Yes ? the wheel wells. Use your dressing to spray under thewheel wells to get it to look like new. It will easily cover up anydust or dirt that you might have accumulated driving to the show orparking at the show and it will look like new! Next hit your tires.There is nothing better looking than fresh-dressed tires - remember -it is all about the details!

Again, I suggest dressing wiping the tires with an applicator fortwo reasons. First, you will minimize any clean up from overspray.Secondly, we all have personal preferences about shine and finish ?wiping the product on will allow you to get the exact finish that youdesire ? the heavier that you apply it the shinier the surface.

As a last step, use your quick detailer / spray wax and microfibertowel on your rims/wheels. This last step allows you to wipe up anyexcess dressing off your wheels.

Take another break and step back and admire your work. Next ? let's look at the interior.

Start with cleaning the interior glass. If needed, use a streak freeglass cleaner and a microfiber towel dedicated to cleaning glass.Remember to clean up any overspray on the dash and door panels. Usingyour microfiber towel, wipe any dust off the dashboard, rear deck lidand the rest of your interior trim.

After wiping the interior down, open the door and pay attention tothe jambs. Using a quick detailer / spray wax, spritz the surfaces andcollect any grime that might be present.

As a final touch, use an aerosol touch up dressing for hard to reachplaces, like our Dash Vent Magic to dress those hard to reach areaslike the conduit that carries wiring for power windows and locks. Itwill make them look like new!

Open the hood and trunk and wipe down those compartments. Use yourspray wax / quick detailer if needed. Pay attention to the seams wherethe hood and trunk meet the body ? on both sides of the panels ?remember - it's all in the details!

Grab your lawn chair, get a cold beverage and admire your ride ? and watch as everyone else does.