How to get quicker but not lose quality?

Grifffx4

Grifffx4

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I know if I plan to ever make money detailing, I must get the job done well, but get it done within a amount of time that is productive.

So far in the two interior details I have done, it's taken me forever. I spent 8+ hrs on my fathers Explorer and ~6-7 hrs on my wife's Caravan.

-Vacuumed, cleaned leather seats, cleaned all interior plastic and didn't even clean carpet stains or windows because I ran out of time.

I know at that rate it will take me two plus days to do a full detail with correction.

I am aiming to be able to do a full detail in about 10-12 hours with one step AIO polish/sealant. Is this about right?
 
how dirty were these cars? Those are usually. Vehicles that will take most a long time to do right. Are you new at this?
 
To do an explorer interior it takes me 2 hours usually. Vacuum, Clean carpet, upholstery/leather, dash doors trim etc, revacuum, windows. All about a system and how easy you make it to start your next process.

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andy2485 said:
how dirty were these cars? Those are usually. Vehicles that will take most a long time to do right. Are you new at this?
Click to expand...


Yeah I'm new at this. They were both pretty nasty. I have 3 kids, 7yr, 3yr, & 11mo so the minivan was pretty messed up. The Explorer is a 98 with 321k miles on it. The leather seats and console/dash were really dirty.

I just went over everything with Meg's APC with a detail brush lathering section by section and wiping off getting in creases cracks etc. I cleaned under the rails and components under the seats. I was pretty OCD. If I saw something dirty I couldn't leave it alone.

The van has black carpet, seats, plastic throughout. The seats stow away in the floor so I was able to get them out if the way and go over every inch with the a detail brush.


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There are a lot of shortcuts you can take without compromising the quality, you have to learn them over time. I learned a TON from watching other experts detail. There are even methods for drying a tire/wheel faster and better. You just have to learn from experience.

For example, interior details depend whether the headliner needs any work, if yes, start there, if not, start with windows, dash, and work your way down.
 
I do both dealer work through a company and full correction details. I've learned that in order to speed up interior jobs, I start at the trunk by vacuuming all and wiping everything but door jambs as they will need to be wiped after the wash.

After the entire trunk is done, go up the passenger side starting in the rear seat. I do all the wiping of plastics and vinyl/leather (stiff bristle brush can really make embedded dirt and grime easy work) and THEN vacuum after everything but before windows. I vacuum last because I like to sit/maneuver inside the car as I clean seats and such. Then windows last after all sections are done so I am not re wiping the dust off from the vacuum.

Finally after all wiping/cleaning/vacuum, if the owner even wants this, I will dress the hard surfaces stating from the rear passenger again.

Floor mats, if needed, are my last step as they are outside the car when I do them. Then wash.

Just my process.
 
Grifffx4 said:
I spent 8+ hrs on my fathers Explorer and ~6-7 hrs on my wife's Caravan.
Click to expand...

Jeez, and I thought I was slow......

crober53 said:
To do an explorer interior it takes me 2 hours usually. Vacuum, Clean carpet, upholstery/leather, dash doors trim etc, revacuum, windows. All about a system and how easy you make it to start your next process.

Sent from my SM-N900V using AG Online
Click to expand...

Jeez, and I though I was fast......

I typically budget 2-4 hours for interior work; an extra 1-2 hours for very large, filthy vehicles depending on which service is chosen. The lower end services do not include stain removal (this takes ~ 2 hours). The upper end services include removal of most stains (this takes ~ 4 hours). Salt removal, pet hair, biohazard and set stains will take additional time and are additional services.


In all seriousness OP, you were working on vehicles with a lot of real estate and vehicles that probably see a lot of abuse. Also realize that you should have different interior packages that you market. It sounds like you did a top level interior cleaning, which should bring top dollar and take some time.

As for saving time.....For leather and fabrics, brush attachments for the DA polisher will speed things a lot. Steam is a huge time saver for plastics and door jambs, steam can also help with carpet and fabric stains. The Tornador is also well respected for plastics; I don't own one, so I cannot comment on actual performance. An extractor can speed things along or slow you down depending on if you use it wisely or not. Another huge piece is understanding stains and having a regimen/process for removing them (and having a service level for not removing them).
 
There are tools to speed things up as well. I got my first use of a tornador and steamer this weekend. Still working on the steamer but dang that tornador ripped through the dirt and crap on the door panels. Even the carpet on the door panel came clean!

 
parttimer said:
There are tools to speed things up as well. I got my first use of a tornador and steamer this weekend. Still working on the steamer but dang that tornador ripped through the dirt and crap on the door panels. Even the carpet on the door panel came clean! What is a tornador??


Grifffx4 said:
I know if I plan to ever make money detailing, I must get the job done well, but get it done within a amount of time that is productive.

So far in the two interior details I have done, it's taken me forever. I spent 8+ hrs on my fathers Explorer and ~6-7 hrs on my wife's Caravan.

-Vacuumed, cleaned leather seats, cleaned all interior plastic and didn't even clean carpet stains or windows because I ran out of time.

I know at that rate it will take me two plus days to do a full detail with correction.

I am aiming to be able to do a full detail in about 10-12 hours with one step AIO polish/sealant. Is this about right?
Click to expand...

I did a Mercedes c300 this weekend clayed compounded polish, and a coating took me about 12 hours but I did some extra stuff
Click to expand...
 
Well that's prolly some of my prob with speed. I didn't really have a process laid out. I just did a quick vacuum, then started cleaning with APC. It just took longer than I ever thought. I kept thinking what I needed to do next and how I couldn't make any money if this were a true client.


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I will echo the posts about TOOLS! Those will make your process faster and more enjoyable, and may even improve the outcome.

A tornador black, a steamer, a dual action polisher with carpet brush attachments, and a good hot water extractor will speed things up BIG TIME on the interior work. Same applies outside. A DA with a nanoskin pad has been a great investment. The tornador does help in the delivery and agitation of your chemicals (rims, emblems etc..). I think you get the idea ;)
 
You've just gotta nail down a process that works for you

Here's mine

1. Quick vacuum, just surface debris. I don't spend too much time here bc I like to dry brush or dry agitate (5 mins)
2. Dry brush with HF DA/aqua carpet brush and various sized hand brushes. (10 mins)
3. Air purge with blow gun, including blasting dry dirt out of carpet and upholstery (30 mins)
4. Vacuum thoroughly (15 mins)
5. Spot clean, shampoo and extract carpet and upholstery. I like folex and zep high traffic for spotting, agitating with my fingers. Shampoo with automagic ez clean hd foaming shampoo mixed in a bucket. Extract with a shop vac. Spray with water and extract if necessary (1 hr)
6. Clean all interior plastic trim with aio apc/dressing mix. Also rubber door gaskets and jambs. I spray down a quarter of the car at a time, giving it time to dwell. Then I wipe. If it's still dirty I'll respray and agitate with brushes (30 mins)
7. Spot clean headliner (5 mins)
8. Clean windows, mirrors and clear interior plastic. Touch up door jambs (15 mins)
9. Go back and touch up carpet and upholstery stains that pop up (5 mins)

That's around 3 hours for a complete interior detail. I wouldn't ever do an interior detail without compressed air. The da brush helps a bit, bc manual agitation sucks. I have a tornador, but since I started using the aio dressing/apc mix, i haven't found an advantage using the tornador lately. Compressed air helps a bunch and I would definitely recommend that over any tool if you don't have access to it. It helps me clean out crevices, cracks, vents, dry extracting carpet and upholstery, and you can plug in a tornador if you want.

Anyway, having compressed air and a set process has definitely kept my interior detailing profitable-ish
 
Get a Tornador blow gun and a small compressor. This combo will give you a lot of help.
 
part of it, as you mentioned, depends on how much work the customer has left for you. I've done an interior in good shape with full leather cleaning, full surface cleaning and protectant, vacuum, and windows in 2-3 hours. I had another interior of a jeep that was driven on gravel roads for 5 years. That one took me 25 hours (had to tear out carpets and clean the floor which had about 2 mm of dust on it, clean dash and instruments about 4 times, seatbelts, rollbar covers etc. A suburban that was fairly decent but needed a lot of carpet extraction ~ 9 hours. Lots of variables to consider and after doing a couple handfuls, you'll be able to look at it and know how long it will take, and what to charge. I do windows last since I always seem to get APC and protectant on them when detailing the door panels and dash.
 
If you're not a pro, just take your time and enjoy the experience and satisfaction of doing a good job.
 
But even if you have the best interior tools on the market, that doesn't make you more efficient or effective. You need to have a system down before you do your job. What will be cleaned first, what areas need more attention, etc..
 
this is what you want to get, dual action polisher with carpet brush attachments. look in the cyclo line of brushes, you can attach them to your PC if you have one. the more you can do by machine the quicker you will get.
 
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