Guide
What is car valeting?
Car valeting is a thorough clean of a vehicle inside and out, done by hand. Unlike an automatic car wash, a valet covers the interior as well — vacuuming, cleaning the glass, plastics and fabrics — and the outside is washed by hand rather than with spinning brushes. A mobile valet is the same job carried out at your home or workplace, with the technician bringing their own water and power.
What's included in a car valet?
The exact list depends on the package, but a proper valet follows the same order every time:
Wheels and arches first
Wheels, tyres, arches and shuts are cleaned before anything else, so brake dust and road grime are never dragged across the paintwork.
Snow foam pre-wash
A thick foam is laid over the car and left to dwell, softening traffic film and lifting loose dirt before any cloth touches the panels.
Hand contact wash
Two buckets, grit guards and a clean microfibre mitt — top panels first, lower panels last. No spinning brushes, so no swirl marks.
Rinse and safe dry
Rinsed with filtered water to avoid spotting, then dried with soft drying towels rather than left to air dry.
Interior clean
Full vacuum including boot, mats and seat rails, then plastics, trim and glass cleaned with a non-greasy finish. Deeper packages add hot extraction on fabrics.
Finishing touches
Tyres dressed, glass polished streak-free and, on the larger packages, a wax or sealant applied for a few months of protection.
Types of valet explained
- Exterior safe wash
- Outside only — wheels, hand wash, dry, glass and tyres. Best as a regular top-up between bigger cleans.
- Mini valet
- The outside wash plus a tidy-up inside: vacuum, glass and a wipe-down of the main surfaces. A good general refresh.
- Mini valet plus
- A mini valet with more time inside — door shuts, boot, deeper attention on plastics and trim.
- Full valet
- Inside and out done thoroughly: decontamination outside, deep interior clean, and protection applied to the paint.
- Maintenance valet
- A cheaper repeat rate for cars we already valet regularly — the car is never allowed to get bad again, so it takes less time.
Valeting vs detailing — what's the difference?
Valeting is about cleaning: getting the car back to its best within a few hours. Detailing is about correcting and protecting: clay bar and chemical decontamination, machine polishing to remove swirls and light scratches, then a durable wax, sealant or coating. Detailing takes far longer — often a full day — and costs more, but the finish lasts and looks noticeably deeper.
A simple rule: if the car is dirty, book a valet. If the car is clean but the paint looks dull, hazy or swirled under sunlight, book detailing.
How long does a valet take, and what does it cost?
An exterior-only wash is around 40–50 minutes on a car. A mini valet is about an hour, and a full valet is roughly two and a half to three hours. Larger cars, MPVs and vans take proportionally longer. Prices scale with the vehicle size and the package — you can see every figure on our car valeting prices page.
How often should you valet your car?
For most drivers, a full valet two to four times a year with a lighter wash every few weeks keeps a car in good shape. Cars parked under trees, near the coast or used for work get dirty faster — salt, sap and iron fallout all etch into paint if left. Regular maintenance is cheaper than correcting damage later, which is why we offer a reduced maintenance rate to repeat customers.
Want your car valeted at home?
We cover Cardiff, Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan — book online with live availability.