Garage Detailing Advice

eric04h said:
Hey everyone.. I had a few questions hopefully you all can help me with.

Last year I dived into Mobile detailing and love detailing for both my personal car and as a side business. I did strictly mobile detailing since I lived in an apartment at the time and had no where to work from home. This year I just bought a house and now have a garage that I can detail in. With that being said, I'm a bit lost on a few aspects.

Interior details: How do you guys dry interiors? When doing mobile jobs I simply left with the car still wet or damp and told them to roll down the windows and let it sit in the sun for a bit and that'll do the trick. Now they have to leave the car with me/pick it up so I can't really have them drive home in a wet car. Whats a quick way to dry out their interior? Typically how long does this take? Do you guys usually put any paper mats to cover their just washed carpets? I've googled them but don't know what they are called and couldn't find any. If you guys could give me some tricks / best practices that'll be great.

Exterior details: I usually spend anywhere from a few hours to the entire day doing a car at someones house. Theres always a hiccup so my time estimate is usually off by an hour or a lot more. When detailing from home, do you just give people a rough estimate and call them once it is ready? If its a job that'll take me most of the day, is it common for people to drop off their cars and pick up the next day? Personally I think that'll be the best scenario so I don't have to rush through the job to meet the time I said I'd be done.

Lastly, Does anyone get more garage details than mobile? I'd like to head in that direction as mobile can get a bit tiring constantly packing and unpacking. However, I'd assume most of the business is on the mobile side.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help!

-Eric
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Interiors:
A steam cleaner in tandem with some type of extraction is a win.
My $100 McCulloch Steam Cleaner in tandem with my $50 dollar Little Green Machine can not only compete with the best extractors on the market costing thousands, it beats them in actual cleaning.
Also makes for a much faster drying time.
A simple Shop Vac with a Gulper Nozzle will dry carpet and upholstery lightning fast.
Also consider battery powered fans placed inside the vehicle.

Time Frame:
My experience as a full time detailer since last December, and part time detailer of more than 20 years before that, is that the time frames stated by most professional detailers in social media are completely unrealistic.
This is more specific to first time details on a vehicle, vs a maintenance detail where you are cleaning a vehicle that is already clean and now maintained.
The better tools, products and machines will always improve time frames.
Having a helping hand or work crew will significantly decrease time frame.

The reality is, most vehicles are not properly taken care of, and are neglected most where it matters the most.
If you are finding that it takes you much longer to compete a detail compared to what you see posted online, you are not doing anything wrong.
You are simply experiencing the reality of detailing in the real world.
You will find faster ways of cutting to the chase, but doing it right is a time consuming process.
I now separate the terms Production Detailing and Professional Detailing, but that is just how I look at it.

Mobile/Shop:
I am strictly mobile at the moment.
I agree that the packing/load/set-up/take down/pack again/unload is highly annoying.
A van will solve a lot of my own issues with this, and I am searching for a good van or truck as we speak.
Ultimately, should I do this full time for long term, I will have a shop.
Mobile detailing is much better suited for strictly mainetance details vs full paint corrections in my opinion.
I much prefer a shop over mobile detailing.
 
Been trying upload various pics this morning and uploads keep failing. No idea why. Pm me your email and I will send a pic.
 
If your interiors are taking more than a few hours to dry (especially with fans), then you're doing something wrong.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. The drying tips will help. I had my first garage customer who agreed to leave it overnight so i can do the exterior detail across two mornings (he actually took an Uber home). I just moved in and my neighbors seem friendly so hopefully no problems occur or they atleast tell me first before complaining.

Do small towns generally let you operate out of your garage assuming you get all the paperwork? I feel like that wouldnt fly. Ive been doing ONR so i dont think the drains would be an issue. In a completely compliant scenario, Wheres this waste water supposed to go once it is collected?
 
eric04h said:
Thanks for the advice everyone. The drying tips will help. I had my first garage customer who agreed to leave it overnight so i can do the exterior detail across two mornings (he actually took an Uber home). I just moved in and my neighbors seem friendly so hopefully no problems occur or they atleast tell me first before complaining.

Do small towns generally let you operate out of your garage assuming you get all the paperwork? I feel like that wouldnt fly. Ive been doing ONR so i dont think the drains would be an issue. In a completely compliant scenario, Wheres this waste water supposed to go once it is collected?
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Every Incorporated town is different. It would be classified as a home occupationally business depending on how many cars you do a day.

I live in a stupid a$$ town that Oly allows me to deatil a vehicle in my garage. I'm not allowed to wash the vehicle outside my garage.

Needless to say, I just sold my house and moving out of an Incorporated town.
 
garyg7133 said:
Sure. Will post a pic when I am back home. It wasn't hard at all. It's basically just reducing the intake area of the head so that you are increasing the suction.
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Please do I am also very interested. :)
 
I do things strictly at my home not mobile. Been there done that and it's a PIA for a part timer like me.

Time wise, a long while back, I began keeping track of how long certain processes take me and on what type of car or how dirty it is. This way I can asses a cars condition and budget my time and even products accordingly. I've really worked hard to stretch out product use by being careful not to free-poor or use excessive amounts such as with Iron X and Soaps.

Wheels are the biggest variance and time consumer for me. All depends on how bad they are and how intricate they are too. Nothing worse than baked on brake dust and junk on an intricate wheel. Paint and glass are usually pretty easy but wheels I hate. IMO a FULLY cleaned and decontaminated car via a strong but lenthy wash process makes the rest of the job go by very quickly and much easier.

Cliffs: Start timing yourself on processes. Size of Vehicle such as compact-midsize-full size-small SUV-Large SUV, etc. and conditions such as A-being clean; B-Average dirt; C-real bad. I will up my time and thus costs based on these factors.
 
Not getting the interior excessively wet and using this usually has things dry super quick. I just move it around the car with me and its small enough to take when I'm mobile. It also double to cool me down on hot days while I'm in a hot car. Most of my clients have no issue leaving their cars with me when it's a big job, some leave it for multiple days. There has been a few times after they drop off I will give them a ride home but I NEVER will drive their cars.

Shop-Vac 1032000 Mighty Mini Air Mover https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0043235K8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zas2xbVSFGC6G
 
dlc95 said:
This is how I need to approach this.
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this is what ive gone to as well, and as many others have said if they want it done they will find a way. its made things so much easier being an my own controlled environment. granted if the $$$ is high enough ill make a house call
 
sweatthedetails said:
Not getting the interior excessively wet and using this usually has things dry super quick. I just move it around the car with me and its small enough to take when I'm mobile. It also double to cool me down on hot days while I'm in a hot car. Most of my clients have no issue leaving their cars with me when it's a big job, some leave it for multiple days. There has been a few times after they drop off I will give them a ride home but I NEVER will drive their cars.

Shop-Vac 1032000 Mighty Mini Air Mover https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0043235K8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zas2xbVSFGC6G
Click to expand...

This looks handy. How exactly do you use it to dry the interior? Do you have it like on a chair outside the vehicle blowing inward or placed somewhere inside the vehicle? It looks handy but im having trouble figuring out how to use it without constantly moving it from the floor to the seats and constantly shifting its direction etc. I considered buying a space heater like ive seen some place inside the far but i fear that might get hot on the outside and damage wherever its placed. I use a steamer but never delt with waiting till dry. Id simply detail and tell the customer to put on the heat for a while to help speed up the drying but never actually seen how long it took. My interiors dont get that wet but if im working a stain that area can usually get wetter. Normally after folex or similar and steaming they're usually left between damp and wet.
 
If I'm drying the floor I flip it upside down in the seat. If I'm drying the seat I put it on the arm rest in the front or change sides in the rear. I've been playing with the idea of hanging it from the head rest with a belt. If you get it blowing where you want it dries the area very quickly.
 
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