Being more efficient during a detail

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snowracer21

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I’ll start off by saying I’m by no means a pro detailer. I’ve been detailing for about 12 years or so, but never for profit, usually just my vehicles, relatives, etc. I recently detailed a co-worker’s vehicle, and he compensated me for the job, he also suggested I make this into a part time gig, which I have begun to do. My last detail was a Mazda 3. I follow all the tips from pro detailers (Mike Phillips, AmmoNYC, etc.)

On the Mazda, I did an exterior wash, bug removal (some nasty stuck on bugs), clay, iron X, then Blackfire 1-step. The interior was already pretty clean so I did a simple vacuum, wipe down of door jams, windows...and dressed exterior and interior trim/tires/etc.

Here’s the problem I’m running into: this was a one stage machine polish (Blackfire 1-step)... the car, outside of a lot of bug buildup, wasn’t too bad... but it took me nearly 12 hours from start to finish...

So here’s my question:
What are some tips/suggestions to speed up the process, while not sacrificing quality?

A few things I noticed that ate up time:
- I need more pads, cleaning pads every panel takes time

-I spent a lot of time looking for certain tools that I put down somewhere, suppose I could be a bit more organized

-I’m using a Porter Cable 7424 with lake country thin pads. It works very well...IF I take my time. I’m interested in a Flex 3401...the cost doesn’t bother me if it speeds the process up.

Any other suggestions? Even small steps I should take? An extra minute here and there really adds up after a while.



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One thing Mike said was changing pads out is quicker than cleaning them on the fly.
2 hours isn't that bad to me
I usually spend any where from 5 tob12 hours on a car depending on how bad they are and I have been doing it for over 25 years
Although that's the time its in the shop and not time spent on it,
I get pulled different directions constantly
 
Good post and topic.

I'm just a weekend warrior but I think you are on the right track. The right tools and organization seems to be a common denominator with all the top detailers out there.

But the PC is the main culprit here...it's a marathon trying to do anything with that machine.
 
* MORE Pads. I invested quite heavily on Megs MF Cut pads cuz I spent way too much time cleaning them (very well) and re-priming. Saved me time AND product

* ORGANIZATION - keep it clean and tidy, and know where your things are.

* detail cart, or something. That way you have what you need without having to walk back and forth to grab stuff. The detail cart (though I can't take it with me on mobile jobs) is a massively great investment for me. LOVE it. Larry of AMMO has those tool boxes he uses. That could work as well.

Flex 3401 is such a great tool. I have two of them. One set up for the bigger backing plate, and the other with the smaller backing plate. No time spent swapping out plates!

Edit: I'm just a part-timer, not a full on pro
 
Another thing I forgot to add, which occurred quite regularly: hose & extension cords getting stuck under the tires when moving around the car. Forcing me to either walk back and move the hose or get it unstuck...or plug in the extension cord because it became disconnected.

I’m going to say this happened 15-20 times throughout one detail. Sure, it wasted 5-10 seconds...but it adds up...plus, it’s frustrating as hell!


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snowracer21 said:
Another thing I forgot to add, which occurred quite regularly: hose & extension cords getting stuck under the tires when moving around the car. Forcing me to either walk back and move the hose or get it unstuck...or plug in the extension cord because it became disconnected.

I’m going to say this happened 15-20 times throughout one detail. Sure, it wasted 5-10 seconds...but it adds up...plus, it’s frustrating as hell!


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Click to expand...

Try looking into Speed master Detail Guardz.


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With the extension cords you can tie a loose knot when you attach them together. This way they don't separate them apart. So the connections is in the knot :)
 
snowracer21 said:
Forcing me to either walk back and move the hose or get it unstuck...or plug in the extension cord because it became disconnected.
Click to expand...

Masking tape is among the top 5 things I always have on my detailing cart whenever I start a detail. It’s actually the 1 item that remains on the cart at all times because it’s the 1 thing I hate having to look for.

I use it everytime I plug anything into the extension cord. With my vacuum, I have the cord tied up on the lid and keep a zip tie on it so it always stays neat and simply plug the extension to it. With my polisher I simply plug it in, then take a couple of seconds and tape some masking tape around where it plugs in to prevent it from accidentally disconnecting during use. Same thing when I use the Metro Sidekick.

Best of all it’s cheap. I get masking tape from the 99 cents store.
 
Off the top of my head....


Put your phone away. You cannot work and use a phone at the same time.

There's two ways to wash a car, been typing and talking about this for years. The gentle wash and the aggressive wash. The gentle wash is for AFTER you've detailed a car, that's where you're careful so as not to put scratches back into the paint. The aggressive wash is to get the car surgically clean BEFORE you do a major paint correction etc. WHEN doing the aggressive wash, do all the things to the car that get the car messy BEFORE washing the car, this would include,

Headlight correction
Engine an engine bay cleaning
Glass polishing - usually topical cleaning but also when removing wiper marks, its and general scratches.

Then start with the wheels, tires and wheel wells and AFTER doing the 4 wheels and tires, then start at the top and work your way down.

If doing a chemical decontamination, start with this, then foam then wash and rinse.

If doing mechanical decontamination, after rinsing (after the chemical decontamination and normal washing to remove loose dirt), then re-foam and do the mechanical decontamination step.

The point being, do ALL the things that get the car surgically clean WHILE THE CAR IS WET.

Then dry the car, use air to blow out all cracks and crevices.

Next tape off anything you don't want to detail later after you're done and tired. In other words, tape off any crappy plastic found on new BIC cars.

Next do your test spot. Make damn sure the results you get in your test spot are the results you hope for and dream about.

Repeat the process dialed-in during the test spot to the rest of the car. Start with the roof and then work down to horizontal panels. For some cars and for some projects, there is a benefit to knocking out the roof from start to finish before doing the hood and trunk lid. I have an article on this topic.

After horizontal surfaces, knock out vertical panels.

Tips to help speed up the buffing process.

PRE INSEPCT ALL PAINT WIPING TOWELS BEFORE YOU START. Don't waste time inspecting one towel at a time.

Have LOTS of pads for the correction step. Here's the deal on lots of pads,

DRY clean pads cut faster then wet soggy pads. (think about it). By switching to a clean dry pad OFTEN you do two things,

1: You remove defects faster.

2: You remove defects more effectively.

This --> Wet, soggy pads don't cut.

The end results for changing pads often is you get UMR and this means uniform appearance over the entire car.


Use a gear-driven orbital polisher. This will save you time as you don't have to waste time monitoring if the pad is rotating or not. I've seen guru experts "try" to argue that a pad does not have to rotate on a free spinning oribital polisher in order to remove defects or in other words, remove paint. I call B.S. Always have, always will.

Anytime I want to knock a car out fast I use a gear-driven orbital. Anytime you see me using a free spinning orbital I'm usually catering to the tools or the person I'm addressing. In the real world, I'm all about speed and keeping my quality high and I use gear-driven orbitals for most details.

The primary difference between a less costly tool and a more costly tool is the speed in which you can turn and churn pads and products and get the job done.

Waxes - Machine apply.

Synthetic sealants - Machine apply.

Ceramic paint coatings - have GREAT towels for the chemical stripping step and lots of them.

Ceramic paint coatings "application" - Have a GREAT inspection light to make sure you've removed any and all high spots so they don't come back to bite you in the butt later on.


The above is just off the top of my head and it's 6:30am in the morning as I typed this out and I haven't even had my coffee yet.


:laughing:
 
Mike Phillips said:
Off the top of my head....


Put your phone away. You cannot work and use a phone at the same time.

There's two ways to wash a car, been typing and talking about this for years. The gentle wash and the aggressive wash. The gentle wash is for AFTER you've detailed a car, that's where you're careful so as not to put scratches back into the paint. The aggressive wash is to get the car surgically clean BEFORE you do a major paint correction etc. WHEN doing the aggressive wash, do all the things to the car that get the car messy BEFORE washing the car, this would include,

Headlight correction
Engine an engine bay cleaning
Glass polishing - usually topical cleaning but also when removing wiper marks, its and general scratches.

Then start with the wheels, tires and wheel wells and AFTER doing the 4 wheels and tires, then start at the top and work your way down.

If doing a chemical decontamination, start with this, then foam then wash and rinse.

If doing mechanical decontamination, after rinsing (after the chemical decontamination and normal washing to remove loose dirt), then re-foam and do the mechanical decontamination step.

The point being, do ALL the things that get the car surgically clean WHILE THE CAR IS WET.

Then dry the car, use air to blow out all cracks and crevices.

Next tape off anything you don't want to detail later after you're done and tired. In other words, tape off any crappy plastic found on new BIC cars.

Next do your test spot. Make damn sure the results you get in your test spot are the results you hope for and dream about.

Repeat the process dialed-in during the test spot to the rest of the car. Start with the roof and then work down to horizontal panels. For some cars and for some projects, there is a benefit to knocking out the roof from start to finish before doing the hood and trunk lid. I have an article on this topic.

After horizontal surfaces, knock out vertical panels.

Tips to help speed up the buffing process.

PRE INSEPCT ALL PAINT WIPING TOWELS BEFORE YOU START. Don't waste time inspecting one towel at a time.

Have LOTS of pads for the correction step. Here's the deal on lots of pads,

DRY clean pads cut faster then wet soggy pads. (think about it). By switching to a clean dry pad OFTEN you do two things,

1: You remove defects faster.

2: You remove defects more effectively.

This --> Wet, soggy pads don't cut.

The end results for changing pads often is you get UMR and this means uniform appearance over the entire car.


Use a gear-driven orbital polisher. This will save you time as you don't have to waste time monitoring if the pad is rotating or not. I've seen guru experts "try" to argue that a pad does not have to rotate on a free spinning oribital polisher in order to remove defects or in other words, remove paint. I call B.S. Always have, always will.

Anytime I want to knock a car out fast I use a gear-driven orbital. Anytime you see me using a free spinning orbital I'm usually catering to the tools or the person I'm addressing. In the real world, I'm all about speed and keeping my quality high and I use gear-driven orbitals for most details.

The primary difference between a less costly tool and a more costly tool is the speed in which you can turn and churn pads and products and get the job done.

Waxes - Machine apply.

Synthetic sealants - Machine apply.

Ceramic paint coatings - have GREAT towels for the chemical stripping step and lots of them.

Ceramic paint coatings "application" - Have a GREAT inspection light to make sure you've removed any and all high spots so they don't come back to bite you in the butt later on.


The above is just off the top of my head and it's 6:30am in the morning as I typed this out and I haven't even had my coffee yet.


:laughing:
Click to expand...


Would anyone like me to make a video on the above?

I teach all of this in my car and boat detailing classes by the way...


:)
 
snowracer21 said:
-I’m using a Porter Cable 7424 with lake country thin pads. It works very well...IF I take my time. I’m interested in a Flex 3401...the cost doesn’t bother me if it speeds the process up.
Click to expand...


I've used all the tools we sell and any of the gear-driven tools will dramatically increase your overall speed.


I always say, "the little things are the big things". I find I can do faster correction with 8mm gear-driven orbital than with 5mm gear-driven orbital but that's just my experience.


:)
 
Ray and I buffed this car out in 1 hour and 10 minutes from start to finish

1965 Cadillac - Original Single Stage Paint - Slam job by Mike Phillips

No talking on our phones - turn the buffers on and get buffing. Change pads often. Look at the number of pads...

SlamJob_001.JPG






:)
 
snowracer21 said:
Another thing I forgot to add, which occurred quite regularly: hose & extension cords getting stuck under the tires when moving around the car. Forcing me to either walk back and move the hose or get it unstuck...or plug in the extension cord because it became disconnected.

I’m going to say this happened 15-20 times throughout one detail. Sure, it wasted 5-10 seconds...but it adds up...plus, it’s frustrating as hell!
Click to expand...

Maxreed241 mentioned the detail guardz - sounds like it would be helpful with hose/cord management. When I'm swapping sides, I'll usually get all the hose/cable slack to the front of the car, then walk all the way back before starting on the other side. That way I know I'll not get hung up as I'm moving along. +1 on SWETM's tying loose loops in the extension cord at the plugs to keep them from separating.

One thing I've heard when trying to maximize efficiency is to do a video recording of yourself in action so you can notice things you don't notice yourself doing. Just an example would be setting something too far away from yourself so you're constantly reaching for it when you need it.

+1 also on JustJesus' detail cart or similar. I set up a table in the garage (hobbyist) so I can pre-stage stuff and keep it off the ground. There's a restaurant supply place you can get a nice 40"x18" 3 shelf cart for like $70 - PM me for info if you want info.

I have a couple of the carts at work for various things, I want to get one for detailing at home and cut the middle shelf to fit 2 buckets so it can serve as a bucket dolly for washing (lift the top shelf off, it's just press fit), or a mobile table during correction/etc.
 
Awesome suggestions guys! Another thing that really cut into my time was neighbors. I live in a small cul-de-sac area, and have to work outside as my garage is too small to fit a car and work efficiently. I had no less than 3 neighbors stop by and talk to me for at least 10 minutes, admiring my work. I’m a friendly neighbor, but damn, it’s frustrating!


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