How to do high quality production detailing - Your largest market!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Phillips
  • Start date Start date
batcat420 said:
Great work, Mike and students! Bookmarking this for sure.
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It's a process anyone can duplicate in their driveway.



batcat420 said:
I've had to refresh this thread several times but eventually all of the pictures showed up.

Try that, guys.
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I wasn't so much you refreshing your screen as it was me re-uploading all the pictures and then re-inserting them as the URL page code changed for each picture.

Took me about 20 minutes to re-upload and re-code. Since there's a lot of chatter in the Facebook world about this thread I wanted to make sure everyone could see the pictures.


:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
...the Porter Cable 7424XP with a Cyclo Gray Interior brush takes all the work out of the job and does a much better job than you and your arm.
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I would think that the bristles on this brush would be too soft versus the Aqua or White options. Did you also use the Gray brush on the plastic trim?
 
Angus said:
What's Nick doing with the dryer?

Blowing the wet tire coating into all the nooks?

Or drying the tire so the next coat can be applied sooner?
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Like Frank said, he's doing both.


This is the technique I use when I coat my 40" Toyos on my Silverado. The idea being two fold,

1. Using forced air to push the liquid coating into all the cracks and crevices evenly. This is really helpful if you have a tire with siping on the sidewall. (The grooved lines).

2. Using forced air to speed up the drying time so while physically already all set-up to coat a tire might as well stay there till you've applied the number of coats you want to apply. For this truck I think we applied 2 coats to each tire, maybe 3.


The Metro-Vac Sidekick is a really handy tool to have around for all types of detailing related projects.


There's two to choose from, one comes with the basic rubber nozzles and the other comes with a 3 foot flexible hose.

Metro Blaster SideKick

Metro Blaster SideKick Professional Series


You could also do the same thing with the DP Turbo Car Dryer.


DP Turbo Car Dryer


Definitely blasting the sidewall with air makes the coating process better and faster.


Tip
Keep some spray detailer or some glass cleaner nearby when coating the tires and if you getting any of the coating on the rims then wipe it off quickly.

:)
 
Batcave said:
I would think that the bristles on this brush would be too soft versus the Aqua or White options.
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The bristles on the gray brush are soft but they wear well. The bristles on the white brushes tend to spread out and stay spread out with use. The green bristles seem to hold their shape pretty well.

I chose the gray brushes as a precaution as I didn't want the plastic cladding to get any scratches in it and didn't want to take the time to swap brushes during the process.

While the bristles on the gray brush are soft at the speed the polisher scrubs they still do a great job and both the tires and the plastic cladding came out perfect.


batcat420 said:
Did you also use the Gray brush on the plastic trim?
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Yes and hand scrubbed two as we only had 2 Porter Cables outside for this project.


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:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Like Frank said, he's doing both.


This is the technique I use when I coat my 40" Toyos on my Silverado. The idea being two fold,

1. Using forced air to push the liquid coating into all the cracks and crevices evenly. This is really helpful if you have a tire with siping on the sidewall. (The grooved lines).

2. Using forced air to speed up the drying time so while physically already all set-up to coat a tire might as well stay there till you've applied the number of coats you want to apply. For this truck I think we applied 2 coats to each tire, maybe 3.


The Metro-Vac Sidekick is a really handy tool to have around for all types of detailing related projects.


There's two to choose from, one comes with the basic rubber nozzles and the other comes with a 3 foot flexible hose.

Metro Blaster SideKick

Metro Blaster SideKick Professional Series


You could also do the same thing with the DP Turbo Car Dryer.


DP Turbo Car Dryer


Definitely blasting the sidewall with air makes the coating process better and faster.


Tip
Keep some spray detailer or some glass cleaner nearby when coating the tires and if you getting any of the coating on the rims then wipe it off quickly.

:)
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Thanks Mike! I'll try this next time I coat a set of tires w/ my MasterBlaster using only 1 motor. Great tip on the spray detailer too. I'll probably hold a mf towel in the same direction I'm blowing product in to catch any loose liquid before it has a chance to get onto the paint.
 
I was so impressed with the Solutions Finish plastic restore, that I purchased a bottle.
 
Angus said:
Thanks Mike! I'll try this next time I coat a set of tires w/ my MasterBlaster using only 1 motor.

Great tip on the spray detailer too. I'll probably hold a mf towel in the same direction I'm blowing product in to catch any loose liquid before it has a chance to get onto the paint.
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Definitely force drying and blasting the liquid over the irregular shapes on so many tire sidewalls work faster and better. I put 4-5 coats on my truck tires and due to the size of the sidewalls this was the method I found to get the job done faster.

Here's another tip....

When blowing any wet coating, blow away from the wheel, not towards it. I've had dried coating on my hands before and it doesn't wash off. Had to scrape it off. So blow away or outward from the wheel, not towards the wheel.

:)
 
He great questions and I'm glad you asked them as it gives me an opportunity to clear up any confusion.


jwgreen6 said:
I noticed you use multiple steps between washing, claying and using Iron-X.
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Technically we didn't clay the Avalanche. We used the Nanoskin Autoscrub Mitt. Not sure what to call it and add the ing to the end of the word like clay and claying but just so any lurkers that don't read but only scan are not confused I wanted to point this out.


jwgreen6 said:
Have you tried using CarPro's Snow Soap with a Nanoskin AutoScrub Wash Mitt at the same time?


Would that cut time and end up with the same/similar results vs. washing, claying and Iron-X(ing)?
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That can sound like a great idea on paper but here's the deal and I think I have an article on this same topic somewhere on this forum.


The goal is to get the car clean as possible and at the same time
  2. Chemically decontaminate the paint.
  3. Mechanically decontaminate the paint.

Chemically decontaminating the paint is an optional step. If it's your own car and you're own money then go for it. If you're detailing for money then you need to build the price of the Iron X into each wash job or you'll lose money. Remember there are places that will wash your car for $10.00 so keep that in mind when considering your competition. You can build the cost of Iron X into your price but you have to educate the customer because they'll want to know why you charge more to simply wash a car?


Next... the reason for the extra step of washing and re-foaming and then using the Nanoskin Mitt is because...

The polymerized rubber side of the Nanoskin mitt is sold (but flexible) and if you don't wash the vehicle first and RINSE OFF THE LOOSENED DIRT then you'll rub that dirt between the rubbery side of the Nanoskin Mitt against the paint and this is where you risk putting swirls and scratches into the paint.

If the car is really dirty, this could mean a lot of swirls and scratches and possibly even deep swirls and scratches depending upon the type of dirt on the car.


Make sense?


Your idea of trying to save time is a great idea and for a car that DOESN'T have any visible dirt or abrasive particles on it you might be able to get away with this approach but I wouldn't use it on my own vehicles and I certainly wouldn't teach this approach in Autogeek's 3-day Detailing Boot Camp Class.

You still save a step or two with this approach plus you have both the chemical and mechanical decontamination over with during the wet washing step.

And in my experience, the Nanoskin products remove more above surface bonded contaminants than clay and do it faster.


Make sense?


:)
 
Great timing on this, thanks Mike! I just happen to have an Avalanche in for full detail right now. Luckily it is an LTZ, so no lower cladding, just the stuff around the box. We have a local detail shop that sells cyclo brushes, so I may pick up the grey one to do the plastic around the box. Would D101 diluted 1:4 be good to use to clean these plastic parts? I am going to attempt to seal with BFTTTS. If I get some streaks or spotchy-ness, I may try and blend it out with BF Tire Gel over the BFTTTS.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
What are you going to use it on?


:)
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First subject is a 2007 Ford Econoline cab class c RV. The lower half of the front bumper is plastic and the same grey/white as the Avalanche was.

A neighbor has a Honda Element that I need to get my hands on an use this stuff to. All that plastic is just begging to be restored.
 
High Caliber said:
Blackfire Total Polish and Seal and I believe the Lake Country hybrid white polishing pad.
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This is correct.


Actually, what we do for Production Detailing Class is we let the students pick any tool they want to get more hands-on time with and use it with a polishing pad.

For the Flex 3401 students were using the Lake Country White Foam Polishing pads.

For the BOSS G15 and G21 students were using the BOSS Yellow Foam Polishing Pads.

I call this the Free-for-all session because each person is free to choose the tool they want to use. For ALL the other cars we buff out during the 3-day class the tools are matched to specific cars.

We don't do the Production Detailing Class till Saturday after the class has already used the below tools so they have real-world experience with each tool.

  • Entry Level DA's = Porter Cable, Griot's 6", Megs MT300 and Megs G110v2.
  • Cyclo Polishers
  • Boss Polishers = G21 and G15.
  • RUPES BigFoot Polishers = BigFoot 21, BigFoot 15, Duetto 12 and Mini 12.
  • Flex 3401

If the class didn't use ALL of the other tools first? How would they know which tool they wanted to spend more time with?

Make sense?


Here's a copy and paste showing the product, tools and pads from post #3 of this thread.



Mike Phillips said:
Free-for-all
During the production detailing class students can choose any tool they would like to get more hands-on time with using the one-step cleaner/wax

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The key when using a one-step cleaner/wax is to use the softest pad you can get away with and I explain what that means in my article here,


How to choose and use a one-step cleaner/wax by Mike Phillips


Correctly used, a one-step cleaner/wax can do amazing work and reduce your time investment into your project car. If you detail cars for money it will increase your profits as compared to doing a multiple step process.


These classes are very well laid out. We start with foundational knowledge and skills and then build on this foundation all the way through the 3-day class.


:)
 
Great result by the class. As an up and coming detailer in Australia, topics like this are priceless. Thanks Mike!
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Ready for the next steps.....

Free-for-all
During the production detailing class students can choose any tool they would like to get more hands-on time with using the one-step cleaner/wax

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:)
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Hi Mike,

Questions.

1. In the first picture there was a student polishing the glass. May I know what is the techniques/products used?

2. In the second picture, the wiper arm seemed faded, did you manage to restore it?

Thank you.

http://www.autogeekonline.net//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
 
rcoops77 said:
Great result by the class. As an up and coming detailer in Australia, topics like this are priceless. Thanks Mike!
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You're welcome.

I still have pictures from the last class that show AMAZING detailing project we do in all our classes.

Just need time....


:Picture:
 
Here's the results I got on one of the bed cover panels today on an Avalanche I just happen to have in for a detail (all 3 came out this good).

Process:
1) D101 @ 1:10 sprayed liberally over panel and let soak for about 1 minute
2) GG6 with cyclo aqua brush on speed 2
3) 6 section passes in crosshatch pattern just like polishing paint. I got the best results by doing 4 section passes, then rinsing, then spraying again with D101 and doing 2 more section passes.

The one on the right was one that I hadn't cleaned yet. Huge difference (obviously). The panel has not been treated, sealed or dressed...just raw after cleaning.
 
wdmaccord said:
Here's the results I got on one of the bed cover panels today on an Avalanche I just happen to have in for a detail (all 3 came out this good).

Process:
1) D101 @ 1:10 sprayed liberally over panel and let soak for about 1 minute
2) GG6 with cyclo aqua brush on speed 2
3) 6 section passes in crosshatch pattern just like polishing paint. I got the best results by doing 4 section passes, then rinsing, then spraying again with D101 and doing 2 more section passes.
Click to expand...

Sounds about right. Machine scrubbing old neglected plastic works well.


wdmaccord said:
The one on the right was one that I hadn't cleaned yet.

Huge difference (obviously).

The panel has not been treated, sealed or dressed...just raw after cleaning.
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And that's the key to getting great results with any dressing, sealant or a product like Solution Finish and that is to start with a clean surface.


Here's your picture. I uploaded it into your free gallery on this forum to make it easier for people to see into the future.

Nice work.

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:dblthumb2:
 
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