Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 7
Detailing cars starts with the brain - not the buffer -Mike Phillips
A few years ago I started saying this in my detailing classes as I told a real story about my experience teaching detailing classes at Meguiar's for all the Corvette clubs in California.
Most of the owners of the Vettes were like my dad, that is older and retired. These guys would show up early Saturday morning for the Detailing 101 class and there would always be a couple guys that would say,
Give me a buffer!
I would politely state that the class started in the classroom, not the garage where we would be going over a brief Power Point Presentation to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to the foundational basics of detailing a car.
It led me to say,
Detailing cars starts with the brain - not the buffer -Mike Phillips
These guys and lots more like them were simply excited to be at Meguiar's for a detailing class and enthusiastic about getting started.
But the quote is true and accurate. Detailing a car starts with the brain, not the buffer. Knowing a little bit about what I call,
The Three Ps
That is,
Paint
You need to know or understand a little bit about the material you're working on. You need to know it's thin, scratches easy and because it's thin there's not a lot of room for mistakes. You also need to know it's easily dulled down using inferior products. And while it can take hours to remove all the swirls and scratches it only takes SECONDS to put them back in again.
Products
Anyone that's been reading any of my articles on this forum, on FB or my replies on this forum or FB knows I harp on the topic of always using products that use GREAT abrasive technology. I would say from experience interacting in the real-word and the cyber-world that most guys think getting great results has to do with their technique. This is though process is ego-driven and also my experience with detailers in general. That is, because most guys are self-taught or learn most of what they know from forums like this or YouTube, they get filled with pride and thus think it's the way they move the buffer that creates the results.
Technique is a factor but now days with current abrasive technology it's the least important factor. I've taught people that have NEVER detailed a car in their life let alone run a buffer how to get professional results their very first time - this means the only technique they have is what they were just shown seconds before turning the buffer on.
Procedures
This category is all the steps in the right order, things like starting with a clean work environment including a clean place for your towels and buffing pads. Properly washing a car starting with the wheels and tires first, not starting at the top and working down. Chemically decontaminating the paint followed by mechanically decontaminating the paint and then inspecting and doing a Test Spot before choosing the frist step product and process.
But yeah... I've met a lot of people that say,
Give me a buffer... I show you how it's done...
And to them I politely say,
Detailing starts with the brain... not the buffer... now let's start by going over some of the basics before we start working on a car.
A few years ago I started saying this in my detailing classes as I told a real story about my experience teaching detailing classes at Meguiar's for all the Corvette clubs in California.
Most of the owners of the Vettes were like my dad, that is older and retired. These guys would show up early Saturday morning for the Detailing 101 class and there would always be a couple guys that would say,
Give me a buffer!
I would politely state that the class started in the classroom, not the garage where we would be going over a brief Power Point Presentation to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to the foundational basics of detailing a car.
It led me to say,
Detailing cars starts with the brain - not the buffer -Mike Phillips
These guys and lots more like them were simply excited to be at Meguiar's for a detailing class and enthusiastic about getting started.
But the quote is true and accurate. Detailing a car starts with the brain, not the buffer. Knowing a little bit about what I call,
The Three Ps
That is,
- Paint
- Products
- Procedures
Paint
You need to know or understand a little bit about the material you're working on. You need to know it's thin, scratches easy and because it's thin there's not a lot of room for mistakes. You also need to know it's easily dulled down using inferior products. And while it can take hours to remove all the swirls and scratches it only takes SECONDS to put them back in again.
Products
Anyone that's been reading any of my articles on this forum, on FB or my replies on this forum or FB knows I harp on the topic of always using products that use GREAT abrasive technology. I would say from experience interacting in the real-word and the cyber-world that most guys think getting great results has to do with their technique. This is though process is ego-driven and also my experience with detailers in general. That is, because most guys are self-taught or learn most of what they know from forums like this or YouTube, they get filled with pride and thus think it's the way they move the buffer that creates the results.
Technique is a factor but now days with current abrasive technology it's the least important factor. I've taught people that have NEVER detailed a car in their life let alone run a buffer how to get professional results their very first time - this means the only technique they have is what they were just shown seconds before turning the buffer on.
Procedures
This category is all the steps in the right order, things like starting with a clean work environment including a clean place for your towels and buffing pads. Properly washing a car starting with the wheels and tires first, not starting at the top and working down. Chemically decontaminating the paint followed by mechanically decontaminating the paint and then inspecting and doing a Test Spot before choosing the frist step product and process.
But yeah... I've met a lot of people that say,
Give me a buffer... I show you how it's done...
And to them I politely say,
Detailing starts with the brain... not the buffer... now let's start by going over some of the basics before we start working on a car.
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