Both of our sons, ages 17 and 12, like to clean cars.
More to the point, they like taking cars apart and wiping them down in places unseen by human eyes - i.e. the back side of aluminum wheels, the spare-tire bracket, the interior parts of side mirrors, the underside of the seats.
In all my car-cleaning days, I never unbolted the seats and removed them from a car. Yet, it's a normal part of the car-cleaning process for our boys.
I once came home to find my 17-year-old taking the wheels off his 12-year-old Toyota FJ Cruiser for no clear reason.
"What are you doing, Son?" I asked.
"Oh, just cleaning the brake calipers," he explained, wielding a wire brush.
"Oh," I said, incredulously. "Well, don't scrub them down to nubs. They have a job to do."
The boys also like collecting exotic cleaning gear and power tools.
When I was a teenager, I liked cleaning. But my tools were simple: an old bath towel, a bottle of dishwashing soap and a 5-gallon bucket.
Now, our sons have to clear the floor of our two-car garage just to assemble all their car detailing tools.
Their power tools include a gasoline-powered pressure washer, a three-horsepower shop vacuum, a power drill and, if it's cold, a portable space heater.
I cleaned with dish soap and a chamois.
They deploy low-sudsing car-wash solution, clay bars to detox the paint, leather cleaner and conditioner, Carnuba wax, wheel cleaner, tire shine, carpet shampoo and low-gloss dash protectant.
They don't use rags, in the hand-me-down sense, but rather brand-new microfiber detailing towels, car-wash mitts and an assortment of geometric detailing brushes to remove crumbs and dust from cracks and crevices.
I blame YouTube.
The boys don't just grab what's available to do any work task; they study YouTube videos for hours to determine the perfect gear to use. If we don't have it, they buy it. Happily, they buy supplies with their own money since they are budding entrepreneurs.
My 12-year-old son had me running all over town last Sunday looking for a "dog groomer's stone" - something he had seen on YouTube to scrape dog hair off a car's carpet.
I made him go into each of the pet stores by himself, and each time he came out frowning.
"I can't make them understand what I want," he said. "I ask for a groomer's stone, and they all think I want a 'pet rock.' What the heck is a 'pet rock'?
I laughed.
"People used to buy rocks as pets," I explained. "It was just a rock in a box."
"Well, that's stupid," he said.
"Yep," I agreed.
While we were out, he also was shopping for wet/dry shop vacuum. He finally found a 3-gallon shop vac at Walmart that pulls like a Camel smoker.
He agonized over buying a 3-gallon or a 5- gallon-unit, but settled on the 3.
"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good," I advised.
"You say that all the time, but I don't really know what it means," he said.
Back at home he was eager to get busy on his detailing job, preparing his aunt's Buick for trade-in. It was cold and dark, but he knew he was on the clock. After a couple of hours, the interior of the car was nearly spotless.
"I'm proud of you," I said, kissing him on the head later.
"Thanks," he said, by now buried in his computer.
There's something about cleaning something thoroughly that soothes the soul. It feels like you have created value from thin air.
This is why I always advise people who are thinking of trading cars to spend $200 on professional detailing.
If you trade, it will pay for itself. But it might just make you keep your old car. Which can feel pretty good, too.
I think they call that a win-win.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com, or 423-757-6645.