The 10 Best Car Detailing Kits

Editor's Notes

November 02, 2020:

Wax on, wax off. For this update, we've removed the Chemical Guys Drought-Buster and replaced it with the Aero Cosmetics Waterless, another water-saving solution that doesn't require a garden hose or bucket to be effective. It's less expensive and gets higher marks from reviewers.

We've also replaced the Meguiar's Ultimate with the Meguiar's Complete. Both are great sets from a highly-regarded company, but the Meguiar's Complete costs less than half as much, and it still has everything that you need for a spic-and-span ride.

Another newcomer is the Chemical Guys Black, which comes from a top brand and is specially designed for dark-colored cars. We also removed the Adam's Arsenal Builder because it was too expensive for its ratings when compared to others on our list.

Finally, we've updated the information on several items, including the Griot's Garage Starter, the Armor All Complete Care, and the Mothers California Gold System.

October 17, 2019:

Added Adam's Arsenal Builder. It comes with almost everything you need to detail your car and a high-quality foam gun that helps apply foamed soap without making contact with a sponge. This allows the soap to lift the particles before wiping, which may help avoid causing scratches or swirl marks.

Griot's Garage Starter takes the top spot because, along with having most of what other detailing kits have, it comes with a clay system, which helps substantially when preparing the car's paint for waxing and polishing. You can achieve good results without claying your paint, but using it produces a show-quality polish with less imperfections than alternatives. Meguiar's Ultimate is still an excellent kit and includes buffing compound and a pre-wax glaze that has also been shown to have great results.