I've got the exterior part of detailing down, but what about the interior?

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AliMusa

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I've got all the tools, techniques, products, etc needed for detailing the exterior of my car but I haven't done much research about how to detail the interior of a car. I have a 2008 Lancer GTS and there's a lot of fading going on on the faux carbon fiber and the leather wrapping around the steering wheel. I also have some stains in the carpet/upholstery, but I'm not sure what any of them are. Also, the upholstery is very stubborn, especially the floors of the car. If anything is stuck in the fibers, it takes a good amount of effort to get it out. If anyone could please point me into the right direction to make my life any easier, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
 
The interior is what customers want. Get the tools you need and good luck. Very few people will ever ask about paint correction but everyone(especially female customers) wants a clean new looking interiors.
 
rustytruck said:
The interior is what customers want. Get the tools you need and good luck. Very few people will ever ask about paint correction but everyone(especially female customers) wants a clean new looking interiors.
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Bingo. Paint correction is the rib eye steak of detailing but interiors and wash and wax are the bread and butter.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online
 
Me, it's just a weekend hobby so I only do friends / neighbors cars. Us guys we all care about the outside and how good we look getting there. They usually do the interior while I do the exterior. I bring my products so they get an idea of how much better the good stuff is. My favorite interior dressing, CG Silk Shine, great stuff and leaves a new car scent behind.
 
AliMusa said:
I've got all the tools, techniques, products, etc needed for detailing the exterior of my car but I haven't done much research about how to detail the interior of a car. I have a 2008 Lancer GTS and there's a lot of fading going on on the faux carbon fiber and the leather wrapping around the steering wheel. I also have some stains in the carpet/upholstery, but I'm not sure what any of them are. Also, the upholstery is very stubborn, especially the floors of the car. If anything is stuck in the fibers, it takes a good amount of effort to get it out. If anyone could please point me into the right direction to make my life any easier, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
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I have a 2009 lancer ralliart and I know what you mean be the carpet being terrible to work with. If you get to rough with it the fibers start wadding up and making it look bad. Get your self the pet hair brush they sell here, its worked the best on my carpet for removing white dog hair from the previous owner.
 
rustytruck said:
The interior is what customers want. Get the tools you need and good luck. Very few people will ever ask about paint correction but everyone(especially female customers) wants a clean new looking interiors.
Click to expand...

True interior detailing takes a lot of patience and time. In my shop it's very common to have two detailers work 4 - 6 hours detailing the interior. There are no cutting corners here, just a lot of hard work. Detailing all the nooks and crannies, instruments panels, consoles, vents, knobs, levers, seats, seat rails, carpet, cubbies, and the list goes on. Using the right products and techniques on every surface is critical to a successful interior detail. No petroleum products, no silicone's, and no greasy surfaces are key.
 
Midnight1700 said:
True interior detailing takes a lot of patience and time. In my shop it's very common to have two detailers work 4 - 6 hours detailing the interior. There are no cutting corners here, just a lot of hard work. Detailing all the nooks and crannies, instruments panels, consoles, vents, knobs, levers, seats, seat rails, carpet, cubbies, and the list goes on. Using the right products and techniques on every surface is critical to a successful interior detail. No petroleum products, no silicone's, and no greasy surfaces are key.
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maybe I misunderstood you but I think you might need to rethink your interior process. It should not take 4 to 6 hours just 1 1/2 to 3 max unless the car is excessively dirty.

Sent from my LG-LG855 using AG Online
 
OK, Who becides myself HATES doing the interiors?
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I LOVE Interior detailing. It's my favorite part of detailing..Maybe i'm awkward!

maybe I misunderstood you but I think you might need to rethink your interior process. It should not take 4 to 6 hours just 1 1/2 to 3 max unless the car is excessively dirty.
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Ummm? I have my process down pat..I don't ever get an interior job FULLY finished in that amount of time. I have all the big boy tools to do the job too! The closest I have done is in the show and shine if you search *Ford escape detail* and that was done in about 2!

It was not a comfortable detail and I worked faster than most would in a hurry..!! I have had interior jobs go for 25+ Hours and that time was not used slacking off or "not knowing" what I was doing.

Do you have any pictures of your work? Just curious to see what you qualify as a corrected and detailed interior in 1-3 hours.
 
A good interior detailer is worth ten who only know how to run a polisher. Paint polishers are a dime a dozen. People live in their cars sometimes hours a day.

The outside gets trashed within hours after you drive it out the driveway or the first heavy dew or rain.
 
Phathooddetail said:
maybe I misunderstood you but I think you might need to rethink your interior process. It should not take 4 to 6 hours just 1 1/2 to 3 max unless the car is excessively dirty.

Sent from my LG-LG855 using AG Online
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I would have to agree with this. Unless you are "restoring" the interior as in repairing scrapes and scuffs, doing massive stain removal I don't know how you could spend 10 hours+ on an interior.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online
 
Midnight1700 said:
True interior detailing takes a lot of patience and time. In my shop it's very common to have two detailers work 4 - 6 hours detailing the interior. There are no cutting corners here, just a lot of hard work. Detailing all the nooks and crannies, instruments panels, consoles, vents, knobs, levers, seats, seat rails, carpet, cubbies, and the list goes on. Using the right products and techniques on every surface is critical to a successful interior detail. No petroleum products, no silicone's, and no greasy surfaces are key.
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:iagree:

Im siding here... this means getting EVERYTHING.... not just cleaning, then protecting also.... often times people have years of food, grit, dust, human oils, gd pet hair, spills on spills... etc etc

I, and i think im speaking for midnight in his original post, mean to restore the interior to as best possible condition as possible, IF NOT BETTER THAN NEW... hence the words "true interior detail" And thats what im talkin about...... i also include the sunroof and door jambs ans interior because most clients will call it 'inside'.... those damn sun/moon roofs can take a whole....cleaning and re-lubing all those damn tracks with the industrial grease on them

so thats why i can see it taking an excessive amount of time
 
Agree that the "typical" everyday customer just cares about the interior. I've numerous done paint correction exteriors, and the first thing the customer does is look to see if the tires are shiny, then open to door to check out the cockpit.
 
Phathooddetail said:
maybe I misunderstood you but I think you might need to rethink your interior process. It should not take 4 to 6 hours just 1 1/2 to 3 max unless the car is excessively dirty.

Sent from my LG-LG855 using AG Online
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Many people ask why it takes so long, but when they see the work, they understand. We are known for our interior detailing and we've got a number of clients that travel over 200 miles for us to detail their cars/trucks. Nothing is overlooked or taken for granted. Although we are not the cheapest detailer around, people are willing to pay for the work we do.
 
Midnight1700 said:
Many people ask why it takes so long, but when they see the work, they understand. We are known for our interior detailing and we've got a number of clients that travel over 200 miles for us to detail their cars/trucks. Nothing is overlooked or taken for granted. Although we are not the cheapest detailer around, people are willing to pay for the work we do.
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I think the distinction here guys is that %5 difference between really good and flawless. If people are willing to pay for it, that is awesome and keel up the good work. In most areas people are not willing to pay 250+ just for interior so many such as myself work hard hustle and get a very good job done in a shorter period of time.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online
 
AliMusa said:
I've got all the tools, techniques, products, etc needed for detailing the exterior of my car but I haven't done much research about how to detail the interior of a car. I have a 2008 Lancer GTS and there's a lot of fading going on on the faux carbon fiber and the leather wrapping around the steering wheel. I also have some stains in the carpet/upholstery, but I'm not sure what any of them are. Also, the upholstery is very stubborn, especially the floors of the car. If anything is stuck in the fibers, it takes a good amount of effort to get it out. If anyone could please point me into the right direction to make my life any easier, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Not sure about your faux carbon fiber. For the steering wheel you need some cleaner thats effective on leather. Spray that onto a microfiber cloth and keep repeating that until all the dirt is gone. For the carpets and upholstery a product called Folex will help a lot and its available at the big hardware chains. You should also get a carpet extractor, the Bissell Little Green ProHeat and Bissell SpotClean are about $100. It would also be a good idea to buy a carpet brush, AG also sells attachment brushes that fit into drill to make it a little faster.
 
VP Mark said:
I think the distinction here guys is that %5 difference between really good and flawless. If people are willing to pay for it, that is awesome and keel up the good work. In most areas people are not willing to pay 250+ just for interior so many such as myself work hard hustle and get a very good job done in a shorter period of time.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online
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Detailing is without a doubt a very competitive field. We've worked very hard to separate our detailing from others in the area. In the majority of the time, you are dead on when it comes to the average daily driver and some moderately priced vehicles. Our goal is to gain the trust of the higher end / Elite groups of car owners and to do this we must go the extra mile on every car we do. It's through constantly performing details that exceed customers expectations that will bring in the higher end details.
 
silverfox said:
A good interior detailer is worth ten who only know how to run a polisher. Paint polishers are a dime a dozen. People live in their cars sometimes hours a day.

The outside gets trashed within hours after you drive it out the driveway or the first heavy dew or rain.
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It's quite the opposite. Anyone can clean a dirty interior. It's hard finding a good detailer that has the ability, equipment, or patience to remove swirls and scratches.
 
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