If you had to pick only one power tool for detailing.

[ShineTimeDetail]

A steam cleaner- Not a cheapo but a good one- and spend $30 on a vacuum lol

 

[My Detailing Guys]

OOOPS! I might have been in a drunken stupor when I typed that.

It would be nice to have that lift, though. No more crawling or lying around to get to the low spots. A good "tool" to have.

Bob

:iagree:A lift is on my wish list.

 

[HighFive]

That would be of greater value if it weren't that they're now owned by Black and Decker.....

Black and Decker also makes DeWALT power tools. Does that mean DeWALT are not good tools?

 

[qaz393]

im surprised people havent mentioned pressure washers......

 

[LegacyGT]

I would pick the Flex 3401. It's so versatile and powerful. It's truly the best of both worlds (RO and Rotary).

+1

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

If a person is "new" to machine polishing and going to start a "new" detailing business, they all they need is a DA style polisher because most of your work should be or will be detailing daily drivers and that means doing one-step, or maybe two-step paint polishing procedures, not multi-step, full blown show car detailing procedures.
Feed back please
And for daily drivers, all you need to do is,

1. Wash the car
2. Clay the paint if needed
3. Machine apply a one-step cleaner/wax
4. Clean the glass inside and out
5. Dress the tires and any plastic, rubber or vinyl trim
6. Vacuum the interior
7. Dress the vinyl and leather surfaces

KISS = Keep it Simple Simon


You want to do quality work but you need to reduce your time invested to maximize your profit and you can't do that by doing multiple-step show car detailing on daily drivers.

People that will hire you to detail their Toyota Camry don't know the difference between a swirl and a squirrel , so match your services to your customer, under promise and over deliver but be smart about it.

As you increase your skills and become better at marketing yourself, then add a new tool to your arsenal, either a Flex 3401 or a rotary buffer to compliment the PC style polisher.


This is a Squirrel

These are Swirls

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Both of these cars are daily drivers owned by people that really don't care about a show car finish, if either were to ever hire a detailer to detail their car all they would be looking for is,

• Shiny paint, (not swirl-free show car quality paint)
• Black tires
• Clear glass
• Clean interior

Both vehicles were buffed out using only one-step cleaner/waxes and DA Polishers.


Dodge Neon Extreme Makeover with Dodo Juice

Before

After

KISS Detail - Extreme Makeover - Toyota Highlander


Before

After

:buffing:

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Black and Decker also makes DeWALT power tools. Does that mean DeWALT are not good tools?

No, nor is that what I was implying. I'm just saying that Porter Cable as they exist today are not the same tools dating back to 1914.

 

[tuscarora dave]

Now that I own a Flex 3401, a rotary, a G110V2 and a Cyclo, if I had it to do all over again I'd do it exactly as I did and that's to purchase a mega Cyclo kit and the carpet brushes in addition to that.

The Cyclo in my experience is the most versatile of all of the polishers I have. It can correct paint without the need for a real learned technique to keep the pads rotating as you can't stop them unless you're just putting stupid pressure on the machine.

With the carpet brushes on the tool you can put stupid pressure on the machine and not stop the rotation.

The tool will not overheat no matter how hard or how long you work it.

There is a complete spare parts list for the Cyclo, in fact so complete that you could buy all the parts to build another tool from the parts list.

It is a bullet proof machine that has been manufactured right here in the USA for over 50 years so it is a truly tested polisher.

I scrubbed the carpets in my house with my cyclo, corrected 1200 grit sanding marks with it, waxed with it, pulled one backing plate off of it and detailed a motorcycle with it, put one 5" backing plate on it and polished a car like that, scrubbed truck bed liners with it, scrubbed garage floors with it, put velcro backed grinding discs on it and sanded the rust off of an old oil tank with it.

I am sure it will serve me well for more unorthodox uses in the future too.

 

[My Detailing Guys]

Now that I own a Flex 3401, a rotary, a G110V2 and a Cyclo, if I had it to do all over again I'd do it exactly as I did and that's to purchase a mega Cyclo kit and the carpet brushes in addition to that.

The Cyclo in my experience is the most versatile of all of the polishers I have. It can correct paint without the need for a real learned technique to keep the pads rotating as you can't stop them unless you're just putting stupid pressure on the machine.

With the carpet brushes on the tool you can put stupid pressure on the machine and not stop the rotation.

The tool will not overheat no matter how hard or how long you work it.

There is a complete spare parts list for the Cyclo, in fact so complete that you could buy all the parts to build another tool from the parts list.

It is a bullet proof machine that has been manufactured right here in the USA for over 50 years so it is a truly tested polisher.

I scrubbed the carpets in my house with my cyclo, corrected 1200 grit sanding marks with it, waxed with it, pulled one backing plate off of it and detailed a motorcycle with it, put one 5" backing plate on it and polished a car like that, scrubbed truck bed liners with it, scrubbed garage floors with it, put velcro backed grinding discs on it and sanded the rust off of an old oil tank with it.

I am sure it will serve me well for more unorthodox uses in the future too.

The Cyclo was one of the first power tools we purchased when we first started out in our business, and we use it all the time. The attachments work great and are a time saver.