My hat is off to you guys who do this for a living

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theparmachine

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So I spent about 4 hours cleaning and detailing my car, inside and out. It was a pretty comprehensive cleaning which included:

Exterior:

  • XMT Gel Shampoo & Conditioner in the Wolfgang Foam Cannon
  • Meguiars Wheel Bright
  • Meguiars APC +
  • Meguiars Degreaser
  • Meguiars Medium Clay
  • ONR
Interior:

  • Ryobi 6.5 Horsepower Vac
  • APC +
  • Meguiars Window Cleaner
  • Wolfgang Vinyl & Rubber Protectant
  • CG Stripper Scent
Anyways, the results were fabulous. The problem was that the next day I felt like I was hit by a truck. How do you guys to this 5, 6, 7 days a week? My hat is off to you guys.
 
I can completely relate. I detail cars for friends and referrals. I spend at least 12 hours on each car. I'm not a young pup anymore and I can really feel it the next few days. Especially my back, which I've been dealing with the last 8 years. So I've really had to cut back the number of cars I detail.
 
You can do exercise such as cardio and weight lifting to improve your body strength and endurance.
 
I have a small detailing biz on the side. I always see guys on here saying they want to do it full time and I'm never sure why.

I'm with you it is tough work. A few cars a week for some play money. YES Doing this full time. NEVER
 
Listen to you old timers. That means your not doing it right. I just spent 14 hrs on my brothers 08 dodge. A few dozen beers and my back dont hurt at all. But my headache tomarrow will probably be bad.
 
irishguy said:
Listen to you old timers. That means your not doing it right. I just spent 14 hrs on my brothers 08 dodge. A few dozen beers and my back dont hurt at all. But my headache tomarrow will probably be bad.
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The Beer always keeps me limber..LOL! You must be a young fella....I always hurt after a detail( back,arms,etc.) but I never hurt after the beer! :props:
 
Not easy at all. You gotta stay in shape. But still a sore back is everyday life for me now :( but doing this full time seems to be nothing. I could say the same thing about plenty of other jobs. Construction, carpentry, roofing, etc... Every hands on labor has its rough spots.
 
Agfan said:
Every hands on labor has its rough spots.
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A desk job Monday thru Friday doesn't help!!

I only detail my vehicles and those of my immediate family. So, I can pace myself. That really helps!!!

I'm able to keep detailing as mental therapy.
 
Is it wrong that I'm ecstatic that my next detail will be in an air conditioned garage?

I feel like I should be paying the customer. :p
 
I'm always sore after a full detail. I'm in pretty good shape and I'm in my 30's and I still get achy after doing what you did.
 
I love doing this as a career choice. Work smart and buy the right tools to make the work less labor intensive.

Rolling chair, crawlers, extenders for vacuum.

I worked an office job for 2 years, and all the sitting left me sore! I couldn't stand the whole atmosphere in general.

Detailing gets easier the more you do it.
 
I was going to do it as a full time business. After my first 12 hour detail I chose otherwise for now. I take trade ins from my dealership to do whenever I want so I will stick to those and family and friends.
 
Try two cars and three RVs every week, 7 days a week with no days off for 3 weeks. The trucks that are running me over making more soar are getting bigger and bigger. I'm 56 years old, but like the poster above stated, you have to stay in shape by working out a few days a week, plus waxing on/wax off activities.
 
By the way. Im paying for those beers yesterday. I guess I am not a youngster anymore. I have bad knees, back, and arthritis in my hands. I do 3 vehicles a week and just cant handle anymore. I guess I am a little slower than I used to be.
 
JonFD has the right idea :)
After a while you find the easy way of doing a good job.

Experience is everything. As my older friend says...
When I was in bhagdad, you were in dads bags.
I suspect most us who stick to exteriors are older, the young contortionists amongst us can gladly keep doing the interior jobs :)

Sent from my iPhone using AG Online
 
i agree is is very labor intensive work! we do 4-5 full details per day! me and my two employees! witch i would not be where i am with out them!! so i do pay them a good wage for the work they do! thanks guys!

i would say it does get easier over time when you do it every day! i started out doing 3 cars a day by my self that was 12+ hrs per day lol! now we do 4-5 in an 8 hr day!!

i have had guys quit because they said its to hard of work and they didnt think it would be lol!

but it keeps you in shape and i would not change my line of work in a heart beat!

just pace your self, and the right tools makes it alot easier! work smart and it pays off!
 
I feel your pain, literally lol. I am exhausted after a detail. The last detail I did I started running out of steam and had to have the wife help to finish in time. Make sure you drink allot of water and make sure you eat.

1 positive side effect was the 10 lbs I lost detailing cars every weekend in this heat.
 
This is why I am focusing my attention in the direction of Access and Mobility vehicle repair, concentrating my efforts on commercial wheelchair lift service and repair. I've run a small mobile detailing business for the past 5 years or so, in addition to a full time blue collar job, (among other things) I'll be 43 years old soon and I have trouble with the pace and workload of detailing.

My current plan is to cater to the higher end work of doing paint corrections and applying permanent paint coatings and farming out the regular details to a local guy who I have been teaching the ins and outs of detailing to.

The high end stuff draws a thinner workload so I can have a little "Dave time" in between jobs and still meet the ends.

It is definitely tough work and I'm feeling the physical aftermath as I type this.
 
If I stick to one car on a weekend, I'm OK, but if I need to do more, than that exhausts me. I'm 11 years from retirement and plan to do this more when that time comes. My garage is air conditioned and I have the best equipment I can afford. I have a bad knee and that's how I pay in terms of pain.
 
604_Snooze said:
You can do exercise such as cardio and weight lifting to improve your body strength and endurance.
Click to expand...

To me this is great advice.

I've always belong to a gym and I'm a distance swimmer, since moving to Florida I've learned to love working out in the ocean because you get to fight the waves and the one direction current.

The hard part is making time to get to the gym. Like the saying goes though...

IF you don't use it you'll lose it


And the older it gets the more you have to work at it.


I also think wearing a shoe with good ankle support is important. I always have worn either mid-top or high-top Nike Air's when I detailed full time and still do today.


All your muscle movement, legs, thighs, stomach, back, shoulders and arms etc., starts with a sure stance.


:)
 
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