Father needs advice on how best to detail car in 1h - for reasonable $$

It sounds like having a nice clean ride is very low on ur totem pole....as well as the expectations in results for the time ur willing to spend on the car.... I would just pay a professional to clean it up nicely then u can just maintain it from there.... But even then at ur proposed 1 wash a month or might not be enough to keep it nice and clean depending on the duties the car gets
 
i do the same as loser said. wash and clay the night before then i polish the next day. my daughter who is 2 helps clean the rims with a goat brush or whatever. the wife does the inside usually.
 
Can take a couple hours just to remove tree sap if there is a lot of it. Your expectations on a trashed car are not reality. Re assess .
 
or what you could do is just have a mobile detailer come by and then you wont miss any time.
 
Auto geek member may take your mobile job for you if you ask around

I think maybe just a 15 $ car wash would be good every week or two bring the family and ride through it together before going to dinner. You can enjoy your time with the family then

Not everyone has time for an "auto geek" life style or two day detail monthly.


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wing commander said:
The best way to stop complaints from your wife is get her to help so she can see that a car won't just wash itself. If your kids are old enough to help get them involved also. A good work ethic starts at a young age.
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I washed and detailed my wife's car with her yesterday. It's the only way they will appreciate the process. If yours doesn't then stop washing it. Let her take it to the swirlomatic.
 
think the 5 hours you spent detailing your car is about average, or maybe a little less time than average. You don't have to spend every weekend doing a 5 hour detail. If you apply a coating, all you'll have to do is a wash and a short time cleaning your tires, interior, and windows. I'll do the 5 to 8 hour detail about every 2 to 3 months on the average. Yes, it's a all day affair, but believe me, it's worth it. Your vehicle will feel so much better for you to ride in when it's clean and sharp. I think your wife will appreciate it too, because your skill level will improve along with the amount of time you will shave off of your time spent detailing. A Honda Pilot? That's a pretty big SUV, and 5 hours isn't bad at all for the first time. It'll get better with time.
 
Real Riders said:
The main way to keep the detail below an hour is to wash the car on a weekly basis. Now that you have it clean here is what I would do next week

--- Wash with ONR using a wash mitt or a Big Red Sponge in a 2 gallon bucket with one oz of ONR
--- Pre soak half the car with a Flo Master pump sprayer with ONR solution, wash the whole side, dry, and move to the next panels (wash two or 3 panels at one time) -- total wash time -- 15-20 min
---Clean wheels and tires with Optimum Power Clean with a black microfiber -- 5 minutes
--- Use Optimun Power Clean for any bugs - less than 5 minutes
-- Dress trim with 303 Aerospace Protectant -- less than 5 minutes
----Apply Optimum Opti Seal wipe on walk away sealant in 3 to 5 minutes
---Dress tires with favorite dressing -- 3 minutes

----- Exterior done in about 35 - 40 minutes
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35-40 minutes, I've got pick up my game.
 
I may be out of line But,
if you dont have enough time to wash your car, you need to do some changing your life or you will never be able to enjoy life at all
 
Unless he's finding a cure for cancer or similar, in which case just do a wash and wax whenever and don't worry about it..

Then when he sells the cure for cancer he'll never have to wash a car again.. just buy a new one when its dirty..
 
I love some of these comments...everything from practical advice to life philosophy :-)

Anyway - just to add another layer to the discussion...
I actually enjoy washing and detailing my cars, but the enjoyment greatly diminishes after about an hour/90mins, especially after my arms get tired. I really like to play (and watch) golf, hang out with the fam and generally plan other household/gardening projects during my weekends. I really only see myself dragging out the hose and car wash supplies about once a month during the warm months. I think if I added some extra tools into the mix, it may cut the time down considerably and make cleaning more enjoyable AND family friendly.

Here's what I'm thinking:
No time or patience for polishing, hand waxing, claying, etc. (I can live with small swirls in the clear coat if it still looks great from a distance)

On fairly dirty DD(my Impala):
1. In shaded area, rinse with hose, focusing water pressue on bad areas
2. Gilmour foamaster II presoak - apply mix of meguiars apc and regular cheap car wash, let sit for 5min but not dry. Intend to soften tar, bugs, sap etc. (maybe soft brush scrub or mf mitt)
3. Rinse with hose water (I'm hoping that this would accomplish some decontamination w/ the help of the APC)
4. Apply McKee's Powerwash, gloss & wax via foam gun. Go over with MF mitt.
5. Rinse and dry
6. (maybe if time) stoner invisible glass and trinova plastic trim/tire treatment

On the newly cleaned Pilot and after a clean impala, I would just start at step 4.

I'm hoping this would give me a pretty good looking vehicle with protection to last at least a month (DP powerwash w/ wax).
 
expdetailing said:
Marc, I saw a video explaining Opti Seal works on trim too. Have you tried Opti Seal this way?
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I have not used Opti Seal on the trim. I always clean trim with Opti Clean and dress with 303 Aerospace Protectant but I will try the Opti Seal next time to see how it works
 
kevincwelch said:
Wow - seriously, how do you do that in 15 minutes? :) If I'm doing a rinseless, it takes me 30 minutes at a minimum, but perhaps I am just going too slowly. Add in the wheels and topping with something, that's another 30 minutes. I should set a timer and see what it really is for me.
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I wash dealer cars with ONR only (no hose) and I washed and dried 8 cars today, dressed the tires, and cleaned wheels in 20 minutes each and they were filthy with lots of pollen and bird droppings. I did not do an exterior detail but the cars looked ok for the lot

 
For sure rinse less or waterless wash will cut down a lot of time on your routine.

Maybe get a bottle of the Wolfgang uber or someone around you can give you several ounces as a sample.

Hose wash vs rinse less on my Odyssey the hose wash takes way longer especially the drying part.

You could use some sort of insect remover on the front or a soaked in rinse less towel to lay on the bug covered panels for a while that softens them up with no need for foam guns and all this other time consuming stuff

Just another suggestion


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MattPersman said:
For sure rinse less or waterless wash will cut down a lot of time on your routine.

Maybe get a bottle of the Wolfgang uber or someone around you can give you several ounces as a sample.

Hose wash vs rinse less on my Odyssey the hose wash takes way longer especially the drying part.

You could use some sort of insect remover on the front or a soaked in rinse less towel to lay on the bug covered panels for a while that softens them up with no need for foam guns and all this other time consuming stuff

Just another suggestion


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Even though I kind of liked the idea of the foam gun (kids would love it), I really need to look into these no rinse car washes. I've been hearing too many good things about them. I'm particularly interested in the ones with wax. Is there a favorite among those sold here: ONRWW, McKee's 37 no rinse w/ wax, wolfgang uber, ultima etc?

Also, even though I said no polishing...I started reading reviews of a product call HD speed, which is supposed to be an AIO polish, cleaner and sealant. I like the fact that is if safe on trim and wipes off easily. If I can use this product with a harbor freight DA and polishing pad and skip the clar bar, I wonder if this would allow to skip having to really clean the paint with any type of prep beyond washing. Is doing a quick NR wash followed by HD speed something that could work? Any how fast can one apply hp speed over the whole car? Windows/glass included?
 
Here's the deal for a guy who wants a clean car and likes to do other things with his time than spend it all detailing.

Go to your local coin-op and rinse (no soap) the car off. Actually, if you want you can even use the soap, rinse, spotless rinse if you want. I said no soap because that's what I do, but my coin-op is 2 minutes from my house. Anyway this removes the bulk of grit. Don't want to rub that in the paint.

Get yourself a rinseless wash a dozen to a couple dozen quality micro-fiber towels, and some spray wax. Done! Never drag a hose out again.

If you don't have a coin-op nearby, then, yes, you'll use your hose to knock the grit off on occasion which will only add just a few minutes. The rest of the time skip the hose, unless you see grit, and just use the rinseless from a couple buckets and dry it off as you clean each panel. I block it off into sections the hood and front fenders, then dry. Front bumper and grill, dry. IF you use a rinseless with wax, then you're done in 10-20 minutes tops if the car is already somewhat clean without letting it get grimey.

Ten (10) to twenty (20) minutes 2-3 times a week is still less time than the 90 minutes you hate. That said, 5-10 minutes a day with the same rinseless wash can be done every day or every other day and it's crazy easy, especially if you mix up a 5 gallon bucket of product ahead of time, keep it covered when not using, and use a separate rinse bucket. This keeps the wash solution clean at all times while in storage. At a minimum I'd take the 10-20 minutes 2-3 times a week over doing a 90 minute wash anytime.

When I say 10 minutes above, if you keep it clean, then put some solution in a spray bottle and simply spray and wipe the super light dust that's on the ride, a 10 minute cleaning and done. Occasionally, you'll take more time, but it's easy. Try it!
 
With all due respect, I think before you get into figuring out how to do a fast detail (which is something nobody here has figured out yet) you might want to learn the basic concepts of polishing vs waxing, etc. You can't try to combine steps like putting Klasse AIO into your wash water. That's sort of like deciding that baking a cake and then decorating it takes too much time so you mix the frosting right into the batter.

Simply put, making a car look good (by our standards) takes time. Kinda like how your wife probably spends an hour putting on makeup before going out for the night. I'm betting that if you told her to combine her steps so it would only take 5 minutes she'd laugh at you.

If you don't have the time to do this I'd suggest putting some NuFinish on the car and enjoy the beading for a year.
 
brettS4 said:
With all due respect, I think before you get into figuring out how to do a fast detail (which is something nobody here has figured out yet) you might want to learn the basic concepts of polishing vs waxing, etc. You can't try to combine steps like putting Klasse AIO into your wash water. That's sort of like deciding that baking a cake and then decorating it takes too much time so you mix the frosting right into the batter.

Simply put, making a car look good (by our standards) takes time. Kinda like how your wife probably spends an hour putting on makeup before going out for the night. I'm betting that if you told her to combine her steps so it would only take 5 minutes she'd laugh at you.

If you don't have the time to do this I'd suggest putting some NuFinish on the car and enjoy the beading for a year.
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With all due respect, you should read post #36 again. He doesn't have patience for compounding and polishing and wants a clean car while spending most of his time doing other things. Heck, lots of people are this way. Just because they join a forum like this doesn't mean they are like most of the OCD forum members here. You said some good things in your post, but it's easy to see polishing is not on his mind. NuFinish is an option once. If he's going to take the time to put that stuff on, then he might as well get a bottle of Collinite 845 for less than $20 or a bottle of Duragloss 105 for less than $15 and both will take the same amount of time to wipe on and wipe off, be easier to wipe off if put on super thin. Then again, he said that's not something he's interested in.

Use these for quick easy maintenance, particularly the rinseless washes...there are other more expensive options and even larger quantities to be had, but these will work to start:

Meguiars Ultimate Wash & Wax Anywhere, waterless wash ... To be used for the lightest of dust and for 10 minute super light cleaning, daily. These are just options for you and some perform double duty. Study the link and make your own choices.

Meguiars Rinse Free Express Wash, rinseless car wash, no rinse A great cleaner containing no wax. Can be used anywhere on or inside the car.

Meguiars Ultimate Quik Wax, spray wax, synthetic spray wax, quick wax, meguiars quick spray wax, paint protectant, liquid wax, meguires, meguiars car


Meguiars Rinse Free Express Wash & Wax D-11501, rinseless car wash, rinseless wash and wax

Meguiars Synthetic X-press Spray Wax, X-press car wax, Meguiars X-press spray liquid wax, D156




Here's a nice low cost kit that will last a few months. Doesn't take much spray wax during application.
Duragloss Aquawax Clean N Shine Trio Each product in that kit can be found on this page in larger quantities, but the kit gets you started cheap. Duragloss Car Care Appearance products The Wet Look




Wolfgang Uber Rinseless Wash, no rinse car wash



Ultima Waterless Wash Plus+ Concentrate, concentrated waterless auto wash, waterless car wash

Ultima Paint Guard Plus 4oz., paint sealant, liquid wax, car wax, paint sealer Wipe this sealer on and walk away. Do not have to wipe it off.




Optimum No Rinse Wash & Wax, no rinse car wash, rinse free car wash, optimum no rinse

Optimum No Rinse Wash & Shine: clay lubricant, optimum rinseless wash, no rinse car wash, optimum detailing products

Optimum Car Wax is a spray wax made with real carnauba and synthetic paint sealants for protection & shine! high-grade carnauba wax and silicone Great longevity...then again with the other spray waxes listed, apply them often, don't worry about longevity.

Optimum Opti-Seal 8 oz. Free Bonus! New & Improved! Wipe this sealer on and walk away. Do not have to wipe it off.
 
Any of the rinseless washes with wax will not disappoint. If you just want a great and awesome rinseless cleaner so you can use a spray wax of your choice, the Meg's D114 is great. The gallon sizes of any will last you a long time....and no suds to rinse off.
 
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