What should you plan to pamper your car when you go on vacation?

The holidays are finally here! Always a much-anticipated moment for everyone.
Detailing enthusiasts pamper and protect their car as much as possible before the long departure. However, once you arrive at your destination or during the journey, you often wonder how to best clean your car with whatever means are available, often without water. We know we should never let surface contaminants penetrate the paintwork, but this can become problematic due to lack of time and without your usual equipment.

Let's go over together the bare essentials to get through your vacation honourably!




Prerequisites: How to best prepare for your departure on holiday?

Obviously, a clean vehicle at departure will be preferable as it will avoid extra work once the journey is complete. At the very least, a good exterior and interior wash would be the baseline.

Ideally, you would depart with a vehicle already perfectly prepared: washing, decontamination and protection of your choice. Why? Simply because all the actions you carry out afterwards will require less work. Contamination and the greasy road film will stick far less to surfaces.

If you own an exterior protective cover, take it with you, because often you don't know exactly where your vehicle will be parked during the holidays. Prolonged parking under a conifer in the middle of a heatwave could be catastrophic for a paintwork...


What products/accessories should you bring to quickly clean your car?

The essential and indispensable product remains the Quick Detailer: it is a versatile product for supplementary exterior maintenance. Often ready to use, you can also find it in dilutable format. In our current use case, we will choose a ready-to-use formula for ease.
The excellent reference Classic Quick Detailer by VALET PRO is perfectly suited here. Good cleaning capacity, it reinforces or leaves a protection after use. It will be the ideal product for cleaning the front of the vehicle covered in midges, the sills with road grime, or even bird droppings, fingerprints, etc.



You will also need an excellent glass cleaner to remove the midge film from the windshield and ensure perfect visibility in all circumstances. This glass cleaner must leave the windows clean and streak-free, but must also be usable on hot surfaces during spot cleans on highway rest breaks, for example.
That is why we strongly recommend Clarify from CARPRO for its flawless finish and the smooth feel it leaves.
Do not forget either to opt for quality microfibres. That will be the key to achieving streak-free surfaces. Always use at least two microfibres: one for the initial clean, the other for the finish. We warmly recommend the Red Apple from COCKTAIL MICROFIBERS and the Microfiber Glass.

Another essential product on your journeys, for when the quick detailer alone is no longer enough: an insect remover.
Often called "Insect Remover" or "Bug Remover", this product is a true weapon for dissolving effectively and above all quickly the remains of insects when there are too many of them and the quick detailer alone is no longer sufficient.

The only downside to using this type of product is that it will remove natural protections (wax) and gradually weaken synthetic protections. Only genuine ceramic coatings will not be affected. Indeed, insect removers have a strong detergent base, with very alkaline pH levels specifically to remove insects effectively. They can often leave a slightly greasy film after use and wiping.
We therefore recommend always following up with a quick detailer to properly finish your cleaning and reinforce protection. Ideally, rinse the insect remover after use, but if you are doing a quick hand clean, wipe with a good microfibre and follow up with a little quick detailer — it will work.

An excellent insect remover is the one from the French brand ALCHIMY7, simply called Insectes. Ready to use, it quickly tackles even the most stubborn insects.

In order to use an insect remover correctly and without risking creating micro-scratches, you will need to use an excellent microfibre — thick, dense and very soft. We recommend the Bloody Mary from COCKTAIL MICROFIBERS with its density of 800gsm, perfect for this type of work. Then, carry out the finishing wipe with a little Classic Quick Detailer by VALET PRO and a high-density double-sided microfibre such as the Black Velvet.



The "Maniac Auto" survival kit: the perfect choice!

We thought of bringing all these products and accessories together in the famous "Survival" Kit continuously revised and improved by the Maniac Auto teams. As a bonus, you store all your products in the famous bag that takes up minimal space in your trunk.
This kit will ensure you can carry out your spot cleaning anywhere during or after your journey. Ready-to-use products, easy to use, no room for error, and above all guaranteed results.



Indeed, with summer and the heat, it is best not to delay removing bird droppings, midge films or other contamination, to prevent them from catalysing too deeply into the paintwork and leaving marks that cannot be recovered without polishing.

Reacting quickly and with the right products is the guarantee of keeping your car in a pristine aesthetic condition for a very long time.


Conclusion:

On vacation, on the road, or elsewhere, you should always have your small set of products so as not to let your car deteriorate under a tree, in full sunlight or with the salty sea air. Detailing, or the art of maintaining your car, is truly a "mindset". This mindset should not be lost during the holidays — quite the contrary.

The "Survival" Kit offered by Maniac Auto lets you pull out the essential product at any moment. It will take up little to no space in your trunk and comes with excellent microfibres from the reference brand COCKTAIL MICROFIBERS. All of this at a reasonable price — there's no reason to go without.

In this article and in this kit, we truly find the essentials to be able to react quickly and effectively. That said, it is always possible to bring along other references if you wish (and have room in the trunk!): for example, a wheel cleaner, an interior product, etc.

Enjoy your holidays and happy detailing to all!