Simple Tips for Cleaning your Fender Wells
by Ian MartinezCleaning your fender wells is an often overlooked step when washing a car. However, it can make a huge difference in the end look.
Here is a clean car without the fender well properly cleaned.
Now here it is with them cleaned, see how much better it looks?
It is very simple to add this to your wash regimen with just a few simple steps.
- Rinse them down. A strong stream of water will help loosen all of the dirt, rubber, etc that has caked up on there.
- Spray it all down with a good all purpose cleaner like Meguiar’s D101. Since they are plastic you should treat them the same way you would exterior plastics, and an APC is the best way to pull out the dirt as well as any oxidation.
- Use a good fender brush. You need something with bristles that are stiff enough to clean, but not too stiff where it wont conform to the round shapes and edges of of the fender well.
- Rinse again. You need to make sure you get all of the APC off as if it site on the plastics it can dry them out.
- Let dry. You need to make sure these are dry for two reasons. One, make sure it is clean. It can look clean, but once it dries see the extra dirt that did not get removed. Since it is dark and hard to see, letting it dry allows you to see it easier. It also ensures you can apply your protection and have it soak into the plastics.
- Protect them. You can use the same dressing you use on your exterior rubbers and plastics, like CarPro PERL or Chemical Guy’s VRP. Either apply by hand, if you can reach, or you can cut it 50/50 with water and you can spray it on. You can also use Meguiar’s D45 for the tight, unreachable areas.
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If you have fabric liners, because those exist for some reason, you would do the same thing except for the protection step. Just leave them clean and your good to go.
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All right. I like these articles y’all put out. Good content here.
This one is a great one too, because dirty fender liners really let the detail down if they are left unattended.
A good brush is what we are all looking for…and its not the one linked in this article. Nor is it on Amazon.
What we need is a LONG handled, version of the DI Tire Brush or Tuf Shine Tire Brush.
What we need is a stiff short bristle on a long handle. Can DI solve this plight?
Long soft bristles don’t clean well, nor do they fit in narrow wheel arches.
Justin – Well said! I personally find the DI Brushes EZ Detail Brush to be a big help here as it is a longer brush, but for heavier cleaning jobs a long handled brush would work great. We do not have long handled brushes on the site right now, but hopefully in the future!
For plastic wheelarch liners, I’ve found that treating them (apply with microfiber block, then buff) with Turtle Wax ICE Seal and Shine. It provides amazing hydrophobicity and makes cleaning effortless. Usually whatever accumulates after comes away with a blast of the pressure washer or high pressure hose.