Search results

Even if you are polishing afterwards, why inflict more damage (marring) to the paint than necessary? Medium is good when you know you have a heavily contaminated car, and speed is of the essence. Otherwise, fine works too; just takes a few more passes on heavily contaminated cars, and has less...

I think it would be more cost effective to simply buy more high-quality, thick microfiber towels to use with this wash method. How much water does this method use? It seems a bit excessive, so perhaps you could couple this with a water collection system so that the water can then be used to...

Great job! I too am a weekend warrior detailing hobbyist. I have numerous friends and co-workers who don't take care of their daily drivers, so what you got isn't as uncommon as you might think. At best, tunnel car washes a couple of times a year is what these type of owners put their cars...

Thanks! Being that this was the first time I've used FG400, and I haven't tried any other compounds, I don't have anything to compare to. There was a lot of experimenting on my end with how many section passes to do per panel, how fast was my arm, and how much pressure to apply. I do like...

Please be gentle. This post has a lot of firsts for me: - First ever detail that I'm sharing on forums - First time doing paint correction on a black car - First ever convertible - First time using Menzerna FG400 - First time using microfiber cutting pads - First time applying Opti-Coat...

It's a total crap shoot. I've read on multiple forums from different people who have had success with Home Depot buckets, failures with Lowes buckets, and vice versa. My personal experience is that the blue Lowes bucket didn't work for me (Grit Guard doesn't go all the way to the bottom) and...

Favorite Mother's product and why: California Gold Showtime Instant Detailer -- because it works well due to its slickness, and smells very pleasant. Favorite car/racing movie: Ronin

What I find conflicting about this spreadsheet is that if you try to be more efficient (by getting better tools/chemicals/etc), then you'll spend less time achieving the same result. That means you have less billable hours and therefore should be charging less money for the same result. This...

Considered this a lessons learned. Next time, get the work and cost estimate down in writing so there is no ambiguity.

But wouldn't there still be plenty of product wasted because it was absorbed by microfiber towel?

Which Lake Country flat pad(s) did you use, orange and/or white?

I don't understand the Vac N Blo. On one hand, it will vacuum dirt and other junk from surfaces. On the other hand, it will blow air out from the same opening that it uses to vacuum in the dirt. This seems counter-intuitive to me. What you want are two separate things: a dedicated vacuum...

Use a sharpie and label your buckets. It may not be the prettiest, especially depending on your penmanship, but it's effective. :) Also, I use a third bucket for wheels. I simply don't take any chances by using the same bucket for washing/rinsing the paint even after rinsing or cleaning out...

Re: COAAD: What Lies Beneath... I'm thinking it might be safer/easier to do the wheels first. This is especially true if you're not removing them for separate cleaning. And if you do remove them, you can clean the wheel wells without worrying too much about splashing or spraying onto the...

Re: COAAD: What Lies Beneath... What about cleaning the wheels, tires, wheel wells, and the door jambs?

I believe it's aesthetics. I don't think anyone is claiming that plastidip'ing your wheels will keep your wheels any cleaner.

Carfax (and similar services like Autocheck) only know what it's been told. No dealer, or mechanic, can be enforced to report everything to Carfax. So it's no surprise that it doesn't show all event history for a car. A "clean" Carfax report only means that it doesn't know of anything bad...

Can't really tell how big the mess is. Here's my contribution: