What this checklist is for
This is a fillable inventory of surfaces to clean on a shop detail or your own house car. Fill out the form on screen above, download as CSV or PDF. The top shows who is doing the detailing and which vehicle is being cleaned. It also shows the type of seats, the paint, and the type of water used for washing. Each station cover one zone of the car. Mark N/A if the vehicle doesn't have that part. Skip if you didn't want to do it this time. Or mark Done once it's done.
The rows are not from a wash-to-wax recipe. They come from manufacturer detailing how-to pages and other manufacturer care pages. For example, on the Honda Civic Exterior Care page, they name the engine compartment, cameras, fuel-fill door, aluminum wheels, resin bumpers, glass, and paint as individual care items. On the Honda Civic Interior Care page, they name interior glass, cloth or leather seats, floor mats, and resin dash parts. And the Lexus NX owner's manual (OM78341U) breaks it down similarily: body paint, wheels, bumpers, plated trim, lamps, windshield, carpets, leather, and synthetic leather. The Meguiar's show-prep guide includes additional surfaces to still get their own pass: wheels, engine-bay plastics, glass film, unpainted trim, tire sidewalls, interior plastics and screens, and carpet.
Use this sheet when you want a record that every listed surface was reached. A driveway owner could mark the engine bay rows as N/A. A shop could cover an entire exterior and interior with one sheet, noting remaining stains at sign-off.
What it is not
- It is not the unpublished auto detailing steps form. That other sheet is a wash-to-wax process order. This sheet is the inventory of things to clean. Do not treat these stations as a required sequence.
- It is not a safety walkaround, a used-car buyer inspection, or a state inspection sticker. Chips and stains belong in Notes. They are not Pass or Fail limits.
- It is not a paint-correction, ceramic-coating, or PPF install procedure. If the vehicle has film or a coating, follow the film or coating maker and the OEM, then mark rows Done only for the surfaces you actually cleaned.
- It is not a legal instrument and it is not a substitute for the vehicle's owner-manual cleaning chapter.
How to fill each block
Job and vehicle. Enter the date of the visit. Name the vehicle, plate, color, and who is detailing it. Select where the washing will happen, such as a home driveway, shop bay, or commercial wash stall. The scope includes exterior surfaces only, interior surfaces only, exterior and interior, or a full wash plus an engine-bay wipe. Record finish: Gloss, Matte, Ceramic, PPF or wrap, etc., so subsequent rows don’t assume something that the finish doesn’t accommodate. Select the seat type: Cloth, Vinyl, Leather, or Mixed. Select the wash-water plan of action, not permission: Driveway to gravel/grass, Shop drain to sanitary sewer, Commercial stall, or Waterless wipe.
Body panels and paint. Clean each one, then tick it off: roof, hood, bumpers, doors, rockers, quarters, lid or hatch, painted mirror housings. Wash more frequently if paint gets covered with tar, soot, insect guts, tree sap, bird droppings, or other road-salt, coastal driving conditions, Honda advises, or wipe off any fuel, oil, coolant or battery fluid on resin parts immediately. The Lexus manual says the same for spilled gasoline, coal tar, sap, insects, bird droppings, and soot. Note chips. Don’t make up a spec for repair.
These include cameras, lamps, and exterior glass. Paint is different than windshield, side glass, rear glass and mirror glass. Honda says to wipe glass with a glass cleaner, keep high-pressure spray off cameras, and keep your distance from windows so water doesn't enter the cabin. Don't wax lamp lenses, keep nozzles at least 11.9 in (30 cm) away from body and don't spray cameras, Lexus says. Meguiar's considers glass a different surface where it lives with bugs, vinyl fog, road film and sap. Vehicle doesn't have camera? Mark N/A on camera.
Brightwork includes exterior trim and seals. That would be chrome, emblems, exhaust tips, plate frame, resin cladding, handles, rubber window seals, unpainted plastic. Meguiar's lists cowl plastics, mirror housings, bumpers, moldings and handles under trim rather than paint. Honda warns that resin can stain from gas and battery fluid. Lexus warns that black stainless moldings and plated trim are subject to abrasion and alkaline or acidic cleaners.
Wheels, tires, and wells
These parts include ornaments, wells, sidewalls, visible calipers, caps, lugs, barrels, and faces. Clean with a mild detergent and a sponge (avoid harsh wheel cleaners and stiff brushes), don’t wash hot wheels, and dry them wet so no water stains occur. (Lexus)
Use a neutral cleaner, rinse, and do not clean the hot parts of the wheels. (NAPA Know How) Sidewall dressing is optional, but always use a separate tire brush away from the paint. Mark Skip if you didn't agitate or rinse.
Check the fuel door, hatch, and door jambs. These include the front and rear jambs, hood jambs, hatch or trunk jambs, the fuel-door pocket, any weatherstrip channels, body drain holes, and areas next to the paint. Don’t spray a capless filler, Honda cautions, and don’t direct water into the fuel-fill door (which might open under high pressure). Keep door drain holes clear of packed-in dirt. If washing just closed panels, these edges are easy to overlook.
Headrests, belts, seats. Vacuum first. Use 90% water and 10% neutral soap for Honda leather; wipe residue; dry in shade. Use about 5% neutral wool detergent for Lexus leather; dry in shade. Use dilute neutral wipe (no organic solvents) for Honda resin/vinyl & Lexus synthetic leather. Use mild soap and warm water for seat belts. Air dry them. Don’t use dye or bleach. If no child-seat or third row in cabin, mark as N/A.
Pedals, mats, carpet. Remove mats. Clean rear and front carpets, footwell, dead pedal, pedals. For cloth, use a foam cleaner and keep it as dry as possible. Don't wash carpet with water. Electrical parts is located underneath carpet. Keep carpet as dry as possible. Don't stack mats. Re-secure driver's mat on hooks. Wipe pedals so that no residue remains. Pad should not be slick. This is from Lexus.
These include screens, glass, dash, vents, and consoles. These items includes screens, interior glass, dash, cluster visor, vents, wheel, column, console, cupholders, shifter, door pockets, switches, glove box, headliner, and visors. Do not spill liquids on electrical parts. Don't use alkali or benzene on resin surfaces. Avoid using silicone sprays on switches and audio units. Don't wax polish the instrument panel (causes glare on the windshield); when cleaning the rear-glass heater wires, wipe in the same direction as the wires.
Meguiar's lists interior plastics, vinyl, leather, metal, and navigation screens as one interior-cleaner family, and carpet as a deeper clean if you need it. Trunk and cargo. Cargo floor, side walls, hooks, weatherstrip, spare well, kit pocket. First thing: Remove any trash so you're not wiping up around it. Not a packing list, but a clean-surface row.
Wipe the engine bay. If it's paint and cabin only, you mark the entire station N/A. Don't use high-pressure water in the engine compartment. Don't spray water into the hood vents or air intake. You can use mild detergent and low pressure if you wet-clean. Water on electrical parts can cause a fire, so don't apply water to the inside of the engine compartment, says Lexus.
What varies
Meguiar's engine cleaner is a wipe-oriented product for plastics and other engine-cover grease, not a hose-down. Engine is cool. No dressing of belts here. Record notes and sign off. Leftover chips, odors, or stains is listed. Runoff that didn't go down the storm drain is ticked in the wash-water box. You signed off on an honest recording of the scope.
The list of surfaces shows that OEM manuals differ on mix ratio and product name but not surface. For Honda leather, use a 90/10 soap and water wipe. Leather (Lexus): 5% wool detergent. Foam cleaner for cloth, go light on water. More dilute wipe for vinyl, synthetic leather. It is not a blend. Use what’s in the car in front of you.
Certain finishes like PPF, vinyl wrap, matte paint and certain ceramic coatings prohibit abrasives like polish or wax. Likewise, the Lexus NX manual prohibits abrasive wax on its own self-restoring clearcoat. When you see a header such as film or matte, skip the rows for wax-like products and go to the care page for that finish.
Use local water for washing. Residents, follow EPA’s vehicle-washing BMP (EPA-832-F-21-032F): Use a water-based, phosphate-free detergent; wash on a yard or driveway (not in the street); direct water to gravel or grass, not a storm drain.
After you finish
Shops should recycle water or send it to the sanitary sewer. Follow EPA’s municipal washing BMP (EPA-832-F-21-030H). Wash in a marked bay that holds water. If the bay isn’t plumbed, use a berm and a wet/dry vacuum to capture work done on the driveway. Cities/counties add local rules. This form does not replace your local discharge permit.
These are still surfaces: third row, running board, sliding door, pickup bed, and convertible top. Mark N/A if the body style doesn't include it. A shop may add its own coating or odor rows.
This template doesn't say to turn those extras into Pass or Fail numbers. Download a CSV or a filled-in PDF if you'd like a copy of it outside this tab. Download a blank PDF if you'd like a paper checklist. Answers live only inside this browser. Next visitor gets an empty form. A household copy lives with the owner. Copy stays with the work order for the shop. Nothing here files itself with a state. Nothing here books a paint repair. Nothing here updates a maintenance log.
You write it on the sign-off if there are any chips or stains that require a second look when they bring it back in. Both Lexus and Honda advise a quick test drive after using water on brakes, then a couple of stops and goes before parking to avoid rust sticking to wet pads. Below the form is a link to the blank preview and PDF versions. Above the article is the form itself:
Not a substitute for the OEM procedure
It’s not a licensed inspection. It’s not legal advice. It’s not a substitute for reading the owner manual’s cleaning chapter or any shop’s written work procedure. It’s just a recording sheet. Don’t make up your own Pass or Fail criteria. Match the cleaner to what you’re looking at.