CAR DETAILING CHECKLIST
Free car detailing checklist — every package, step by step
What an express wash, an interior, an exterior and a full detail each include, in the order a detailer does the work: the walk-around, the wash, paint and protection, the interior, and the final check in daylight. Free in Word and PDF, with a line for the customer, the car and the package.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
A car detailing checklist lists what each package includes, in working order: the walk-around and photos first, then wheels and tires, a two-bucket wash from the roof down, clay and wax or sealant on the paint, the interior from mats out to mats in, and a final check in daylight. What it leaves out matters as much — paint correction, ceramic coating, the engine bay, headlights, pet hair, odors and stains are add-ons with their own price.
For a detailing business the checklist does three jobs. It's the quote (the customer sees what the package buys before the price), it's the new detailer's instructions (the same order on every car, nothing skipped), and it's the packages page on your website, already written.
Below: the printable checklist, what's in each package, every section explained, and how the same list becomes the packages page on your website. Before any of it: the vehicle inspection form — the walk-around with the customer that the first line of the checklist points to.
FREE CHECKLIST · WORD AND PDF
The car detailing checklist, ready to print
Fill in the customer, the car and the package, circle the add-ons, and work down the sheet. Each section says which packages it belongs to, so an interior detail skips the paint section and an exterior skips the seats. Letter size, portrait, two pages. Free, no email address, no sign-up.
Checklist · check off every line
| [Your business name] | |
| Car Detailing Checklist | |
| Express wash, interior, exterior and full detail — what's included, step by step | |
| Customer: ____________________ Vehicle: ____________________ Date: ________ | |
| Package (circle): express wash · interior · exterior · full detail | |
| Add-ons: ________________________ Detailer: ______________ | |
| Before you start — every package | |
| ☐ | Walk around the car with the customer and fill in the vehicle inspection form |
| ☐ | Photograph every existing scratch, chip, dent and stain |
| ☐ | Note personal items and ask the customer to take valuables |
| ☐ | Agree on the package, the add-ons and the price before you touch the car |
| ☐ | Check for warning lights and anything that doesn't work |
| Exterior wash — express, exterior and full | |
| ☐ | Pre-rinse the whole car to lift loose dirt |
| ☐ | Wheels, tires and wheel wells first, with their own brushes and bucket |
| ☐ | Foam pre-wash, then a two-bucket hand wash from the roof down |
| ☐ | Door jambs, trunk jamb and fuel door |
| ☐ | Rinse, then dry with clean towels or a blower — mirrors and trim last |
| ☐ | Clean the outside glass, streak-free |
| ☐ | Remove tar, sap and bug residue |
| Paint and protection — exterior and full | |
| ☐ | Clay bar the paint to lift bonded contaminants |
| ☐ | Polish or paint correction, if booked |
| ☐ | Apply wax or sealant and buff off |
| ☐ | Dress exterior plastic trim — no shine on steps or pedals |
| ☐ | Dress the tires evenly, no sling |
| ☐ | Headlights checked, restored if booked |
| Interior — interior and full | |
| ☐ | Remove floor mats and liners, clean them separately |
| ☐ | Vacuum seats, carpets, under the seats and the trunk |
| ☐ | Compressed air or a brush through vents, seams and cup holders |
| ☐ | Shampoo or extract carpets and mats |
| ☐ | Clean and condition leather, or shampoo fabric seats |
| ☐ | Dashboard, console and door panels wiped and protected, not greasy |
| ☐ | Steering wheel, shifter, handles and touch points cleaned |
| ☐ | Clean the inside glass, streak-free, including the top edge |
| ☐ | Headliner spot-cleaned only |
| ☐ | Pedals, seat tracks and door sills |
| ☐ | Odor treatment, if booked |
| ☐ | Mats and liners back in, seats and mirrors back where the customer had them |
| Final check — every package | |
| ☐ | Walk the car in daylight — streaks, missed spots, drips from mirrors and badges |
| ☐ | Check the glass again from inside and out |
| ☐ | No product on the windshield, pedals or steering wheel |
| ☐ | Radio, seat and settings left as the customer had them |
| ☐ | Take the after photos beside the before photos |
| ☐ | Keys and personal items handed back |
| ☐ | Explain the aftercare and when to book the next visit |
| Not included unless booked as an add-on: paint correction, ceramic coating, engine bay, headlight restoration, pet hair removal, odor treatment and stain removal. Price each as its own line on the quote. | |
| [Your business name] · [Your phone] · [Your website] | |
The Word file is a standard .docx — rename the packages to match your menu, add or remove lines, add your logo, and save it as your master copy. The PDF prints as-is. Print at “Actual size”, not “Fit to page”.
Build the website
Start your car detailing website now
Add your business name and your town to the sentence, and Zarla builds the site, with a page for each service and town you list. You edit it in chat and publish when you're ready.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
EXPRESS, INTERIOR, EXTERIOR OR FULL
What's in each detailing package
The four packages most detailers sell, side by side — so the checklist you work from matches the price you quoted.
| Step | Express wash | Interior detail | Exterior detail | Full detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walk-around and photos | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wheels, tires and wheel wells | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| Two-bucket hand wash and dry | Yes | — | Yes | Yes |
| Clay bar, wax or sealant | — | — | Yes | Yes |
| Trim and tire dressing | Tires only | — | Yes | Yes |
| Vacuum, including under the seats and trunk | Seats and floors | Yes | — | Yes |
| Carpet and mat shampoo or extraction | — | Yes | — | Yes |
| Leather conditioned or fabric shampooed | — | Yes | — | Yes |
| Dash, console and door panels cleaned and protected | Wipe only | Yes | — | Yes |
| Glass inside and out | Outside | Inside | Outside | Yes |
| Add-ons priced separately | Pet hair, odor | Pet hair, odor, stains | Correction, coating, headlights, engine bay | Any of them |
| How it's priced | By vehicle size | By vehicle size and condition | By vehicle size | By vehicle size, with a condition surcharge if needed |
STEP BY STEP
How to use a car detailing checklist on every job
Ten minutes to set up once; then the same sheet on every car.
Make it yours
Open the Word file, rename the packages to match your menu, strike out what you don't offer and add what you do. Put your business name and phone on it and save it as your master.
Send it with the quote
Attach the checklist to every quote. The customer sees exactly what the package buys, and “you didn't do the door jambs” stops being a conversation.
Start with the walk-around
The first section points at the vehicle inspection form for a reason: photograph the marks and agree on the add-ons before a drop of water touches the car.
Work down the sheet, in order
Wheels first, roof down, outside before inside, mats out to mats in. A new detailer can follow it on day one, and the order is what keeps a clean panel from being dirtied again.
Finish in daylight
Walk the car in the sun or under good light — streaks, drips from the mirrors, missed spots on the lower doors. Then the after photos, beside the before.
Put the same list online
What's in each package is the first thing a customer looks for on a detailer's website. The checklist is that page, already written.
Every section on the checklist, explained
“Before you start” is the section that saves you money. The walk-around on the vehicle inspection form, the photos, the personal items and the price agreed on with the add-ons in it. Three hours into pet hair is the wrong time to mention a surcharge.
Wheels and tires come first, with their own brushes. Brake dust is the dirtiest thing on the car; wash it last and it sprays onto clean paint. Separate brushes and a separate bucket keep the grit off the panels.
Two buckets, roof down. One bucket of soap, one of rinse water, and the mitt goes into the rinse before it goes back in the soap — that's what keeps a wash from putting the swirl marks in that you'll charge to polish out. Top to bottom because the lower panels carry the grit.
Clay, then protection. A clay bar lifts what washing can't — the rough feel on the paint — and wax or sealant goes on afterward, on a clean surface. Polish and paint correction sit between the two and are an add-on: say so on the quote.
Interior: mats out to mats in. Mats out first so you can vacuum under them; vacuum before you wipe so the dust isn't pushed into wet surfaces; shampoo or extract before conditioning the seats; glass last, including the top edge the window hides when it's up. “Not greasy” on the dash is deliberate — a glossy dashboard reflects into the windshield, and customers notice.
The final check is the part that gets you the next booking. Daylight shows what shop lights don't. Seats, mirrors and the radio back where the customer had them is the difference between a clean car and a service; the after photos beside the before photos are what you post.
Put the checklist on your website as your packages page
The checklist you hand a customer is the packages page they looked for before they called. Most detailing websites say “we detail cars” and leave the customer guessing; the ones that get the booking list the packages and what each includes — an express wash includes this, an interior adds that, a full detail covers everything.
If you build your car detailing website with Zarla, add your business name and your town to the sentence above, and Zarla builds the site, with a page for each service and town you list. Then tell the editor “add a packages section listing what my express wash, interior, exterior and full detail each include” and the list goes on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Zarla sends a quote as one link: your customer picks an option, ticks any extras and accepts it online, and Zarla drafts the invoice for exactly what they chose, with any deposit you asked for — and the invoice goes out from the same dashboard.
Want to see a finished site first? Browse car detailing website templates, see how Zarla builds car detailing websites, or look at car detailing website designs and what agencies charge for them.
The rest of the paperwork
Before the checklist comes the vehicle inspection form — the walk-around with the customer, free in Word and PDF like this one, with a towing vehicle condition report on the same page.
Setting up or pricing the business? How to start a car detailing business covers the first steps; car detailing pricing has the 2026 rates and a calculator; the car detailing invoice template has a condition line ready for what you wrote on the form, and how to write a quote and how to write an invoice walk through both. Towing? How to start a towing business covers the truck, the insurance and the permits. Towing rates has the hook-up and per-mile prices.
Car detailing checklists: common questions
Yes. The car detailing checklist on this page downloads free as a Word document and a PDF, with no email address and no sign-up. Edit the Word file to match your own packages, or print the PDF and check it off by hand.
The walk-around and photos first; then the exterior wash (wheels and tires, pre-rinse, two-bucket hand wash from the roof down, jambs, dry, glass); paint and protection (clay bar, polish if booked, wax or sealant, trim and tire dressing); the interior (mats out, vacuum, shampoo or extraction, leather or fabric, dash and panels, touch points, glass, mats in); and a final check in daylight — with a line at the top for the customer, the car, the package and the add-ons.
An interior detail is everything inside the car: vacuum, shampoo or extraction, seats, dash, panels, inside glass. An exterior detail is the wash, the wheels, clay, wax or sealant and the trim. A full detail is both. Paint correction, ceramic coating, the engine bay, headlights, pet hair, odors and stains sit outside all three as add-ons, priced on their own lines.
Wheels and tires first, then the wash from the roof down, then clay and protection, then the interior from mats out to mats in, then glass, then the final check in daylight. Outside before inside so you're not climbing in and out of a wet car, and wheels first so brake dust never lands on clean paint.
As a rule of thumb, an express wash is under an hour, an interior or an exterior detail two to four hours, and a full detail four to eight hours on a sedan and longer on an SUV or a truck — more again for pet hair, heavy soiling or paint correction. That spread is why the checklist has a package line and an add-ons line at the top, and why most detailers price by vehicle size with a condition surcharge. Time your first few cars against the sheet, package by package, and your own numbers replace the rule of thumb.
Every time. A detail makes every existing mark visible, and without a record of the chips and scratches the car arrived with, the first polished car you hand back is the first argument. The vehicle inspection form on this site is that record, free in Word and PDF.
Yes — that's what the Word file is for. Rename the packages to match your menu, add your logo and phone number, delete the lines you don't offer and add the ones you do, and save it as your master copy. The PDF is the same checklist for printing as-is.
It should — as your packages page. A visitor to a detailing website wants to know what each package includes and what costs extra before they ask for a price, and the checklist already answers that line by line. If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor to add a packages section with those lines — it's a section you can edit any time your menu changes.
Turn the checklist into the website that books the next detail
Add your business name and your town, and Zarla builds the site from that one line — with a page for each package you list and a quote form that takes photos of the car, ready to edit in chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.