Now that we’re solidly into peak car season, most of us prefer to spend our time either driving our cars or showing them off at events. With all that use and driving, though, comes the inevitable need to keep it clean. Afterall, a clean car is a happy car! When my cars are spotless, I enjoy them more and feel a sense of pride in knowing that it demonstrates just how much I care about them. With Father’s Day coming up, and the need to keep our cars pristine, this is a perfect chance to talk about all the car care supplies you, or your pops, need this summer. Here are some of my must-haves for my garage and detailing cabinet that help me keep all my cars and toys in tip-top shape.
Schwaben Must-Have Garage Tools
Lay Down Interior Creeper
Doing anything in the footwell, whether it’s the driver or passenger side, is a huge pain. You have to contort yourself, work upside down, and fight limited space. That’s why we sought out a solution that makes any pedal or under-dash work a breeze. The Schwaben Lay-Down Interior Creeper gives you a perfect workstation to comfortably lay down and reach what you need without all that pretzel logic. This is a must-have if you ever spend any time under the dash of your cars, especially if you’re getting up there in years. This is my top pick as a Father’s Day present, too. Give your old man the gift of comfort this year with our interior creeper.
SHOP LAY-DOWN INTERIOR CREEPER
Mechanic’s Folding Ground Pad
Ah yes, more comfort in the garage is where it’s at. One of my favorite additions to my garage setup is this extremely simple, yet effective, ground pad. It’s soft, it’s cushy, it has a head rest, and it stores easily between my tool box and the wall. What more do you need to say about it? The thing just makes any groundwork so much less painful. Get one for your pops and one for yourself to make life a bit more tolerable the next time you have to crawl under your car.
SHOP SCHWABEN FOLDING GROUND PAD
Work Gloves
Speaking of less painful, something I always resisted was a good pair of mechanic’s gloves. I’ve always preferred being able to do things by feel, so I never bought a set of gloves until I grabbed these Schwaben gloves. They protect your knuckles and fingies well without being too bulky to fit into tight spaces. Sure, you give up a little bit of feel if you’re trying to undo a tiny nut or electrical connector, but I find myself slipping them on just about any time I do any wrenching under the hood. They prevent tool slippage, adding to your ability to gain leverage on stuck bolts, and if your hand does slip off or you break a bolt, you won’t be busting your knuckles (as badly). These make a great gift for your dad and should be in everyone’s toolbox. Make the switch to a good set of gloves and don’t look back!
SHOP SCHWABEN MECHANIC’S GLOVES
Padded Creeper Seat
Once again, it’s all about comfort. I absolutely LOVE my padded creeper seat, especially for doing brakes, suspension work, or even working on my motorcycle. It has tool storage trays and dividers underneath so you don’t have to keep getting up to find what you need and the heavy-duty casters make rolling around on even broken-up old concrete a breeze. This thing saves my knees and adds a level of comfort to DIY work that I will not soon give up. Save your dad’s knees (or your own) with this creeper stool as a top-tier Father’s Day gift.
SHOP SCHWABEN PADDED CREEPER STOOL
Car Ramps
If you really want to impress your dad, get him a set of our car ramps. There are plenty of times I need to get under the car but don’t need to remove the wheels, so why would I want to waste time fiddling with a floor jack and jack stands? Ramps are safer and more convenient for certain jobs, like an oil change or just doing an inspection, and make lifting your car as simple as just driving it up to the top of the ramps.
Griot’s Garage Detailing Supplies
If you’ve read our blog for a while, you know how much I love Griot’s Garage detailing supplies. I won’t go into detail (ha) about every single product they offer, because it’s a huge catalog, but as a general rule of thumb, pretty much everything they make is designed to be the best product for your car care. From foaming sprayers to headlight restoration kits, and interior detailing brushes to orbitals and rubbing compounds, Griot’s Garage makes a point to provide the discerning enthusiast with everything they need for professional-level detailing. I have been building my collection of detailing equipment and tools, which brings me to the selling point here: every part of your car requires a specific set of tools for the job. Detailing is no different. Sure, you can do an ok job with just off-the-shelf sprays and some towels, but when you have a tool or product specifically designed to clean what you’re trying to get perfect, you’ll never want to go back. I highly recommend grabbing some of the more universal and regular-use tools, like their pump-up foam sprayer and random orbital polisher for your Dad’s garage (or your own) this Father’s Day. Set him on the right path with tools for the job designed by folks who care about his car as much as he does.
SHOP GRIOT’S GARAGE DETAILING SUPPLIES
Liqui Moly Car Care Supplies
From the folks who know just how to protect the inside of your engine comes a relatively new line of detailing and car care products I’ve fallen in love with. Liqui Moly takes lubricants, compounds, and cleaners seriously. It’s kind of what they do. With that pedigree of protection for purpose-built engines behind them, you know their new line of detailing supplies is just as science-backed as their engine and gear oils. I’ve used everything they offer and don’t plan to switch to any other brand. That’s not just the marketing professional in me, that’s actual experience with their stuff versus the other guys’ products. Liqui Moly interior detailer, leather cleaner/conditioner, and their universal biodegradable degreaser are extremely effective at producing results I’m not just happy with, I’m sincerely impressed by. Most notable, though, is their Scratch Stop. I had to see this stuff work in action to believe it, but it really does work. I’ve used it on my 911 with great success, which you can see here in this video we put out a while back. It’s perfect for any paint imperfection or scratch that isn’t severe and is even capable of bringing headlight lenses and plastic trim back to life. It’s basically a heavy-duty rubbing compound that fills and smooths the surface like a wax, but more aggressive. I keep a bottle of it in each of my cars for any inconvenient parking lot mishaps and am always impressed by how easy it is to magically erase some minor blemishes. If you get only one present for your dad this Father’s Day, make it a bottle of Liqui Moly Scratch Stop.
That’s it from me this week! Take care of each other and make your dad proud this Father’s Day with any (or all) of my favorite garage and detailing recommendations.
