IRVINE, Calif. (April 2007) - Washing a car is not as easy as you think. Not that you can't learn how to do it. But if you do what I do - grab a bucket, pour in some no-name dishwashing soap, find any ratty old sponge and have at it - you're gonna be sorry. You'll get most of the easy dirt off but you'll probably scratch the paint, skip the hard stuff (like tar or tree sap) and totally ignore putting on a protective wax coat.

You could go to a commercial car wash but you may find that these places don't do much better. In fact, the towels they use to dry your dripping auto can contain little road pebbles left over from the last car they rushed through. Those pebbles eat up your finish and leave your car in worse shape then when you came in.

So what can you do? You can hire a fancy, expensive detailer or turn to your personal restoration shop (I don't know where mine went) pray for rain or follow the steps recommended by one of the leading experts in car care -- the folks at Meguiars.

They've been making car waxes since 1901, when the grandfather of current President and CEO Barry Meguiar, launched the company.

Barry grew up working in the family business. He spent many summers while in grade school and junior high in the mixing room and out on the production line. While still in college he took over the role of the one-person accounting department.

When he eventually took over the reins of the company it was the favorite of "car fanatics," like car manufacturers, car dealers, body shops, custom painters, detailers and serious automotive hobbyists. Barry set out to show the general public how they could use one of the secret weapons of the car care experts.

Today, Meguiar's products can be found in over 92 countries and Barry has become the cheerleader for the collector car hobby by sponsoring over 5,000 car shows and through hosting a popular television series on the SPEED Channel and on radio. He still is committed to making the world's cars glisten.

This educational endeavor doesn't offer any degrees or professional suffixes but if you follow Meguiar's prescription for car finish health you will have earned the title, Dr. Shine.