My hat off to pro detailers

joche26

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So Ive been detailing my car this last 2 days and honestly its way harder than it looks. Its easy to sit in your office with the AC on and in your comfy chair watching Mikes videos on what to do and how to do it. You order your PC and a whole bunch of products to do this, do that, get super excited when Autogeek delivers your order, track it all the way down to your house, can wait to get to your house and open that great big brown box take pics of the box opening, post it on the forum and get real excited once saturday comes.
So you wash your car with your foam cannon so that implies getting and preparing the pressure washer, clay it find out its wayyy dirtier than you imagine so it takes twice as long, wash it again, the heat isnt in your favor so you have to put a new shirt because all the sweat is dripping to your now dry car. Now you put the new PC to work oops forgot to tape the car, ok done taping, check the clock its close to 2pm, now your fighting mother nature. Start polishing oops forgot to turn the PC with the pad on the car, splatter all over the place. Done with the hood now the sides of the car, dam this machine weights a lot. Wife brings you Wendys best baconator you ever ate, polsh-eat-polish, sun is going down ill finish tomorrow. Sleep like a baby, wake up and muscles in your body that you never knew were there ache. Get everything ready for day 2, finally you finish polishing, wife says good job but what about the interior jajajajaja all you can do is laugh, so you get the latherique out, make a mess put the car outside, Ok so how do I get in, remember a tip from a fellow geeker (take a garbage bag and use it as a seat cover, wait for the 12'oclock sun to do its thing, so you take a break. Around 3 the sky turns grey, better hurry, go to the car dam its hot in there, put it again in the garage and start removing all the gumpy, sticky stuff you put in there, thats when you say to yourself "My hat off to the people that go thru this for a living".
 
So Ive been detailing my car this last 2 days and honestly its way harder than it looks. Its easy to sit in your office with the AC on and in your comfy chair watching Mikes videos on what to do and how to do it. You order your PC and a whole bunch of products to do this, do that, get super excited when Autogeek delivers your order, track it all the way down to your house, can wait to get to your house and open that great big brown box take pics of the box opening, post it on the forum and get real excited once saturday comes.
So you wash your car with your foam cannon so that implies getting and preparing the pressure washer, clay it find out its wayyy dirtier than you imagine so it takes twice as long, wash it again, the heat isnt in your favor so you have to put a new shirt because all the sweat is dripping to your now dry car. Now you put the new PC to work oops forgot to tape the car, ok done taping, check the clock its close to 2pm, now your fighting mother nature. Start polishing oops forgot to turn the PC with the pad on the car, splatter all over the place. Done with the hood now the sides of the car, dam this machine weights a lot. Wife brings you Wendys best baconator you ever ate, polsh-eat-polish, sun is going down ill finish tomorrow. Sleep like a baby, wake up and muscles in your body that you never knew were there ache. Get everything ready for day 2, finally you finish polishing, wife says good job but what about the interior jajajajaja all you can do is laugh, so you get the latherique out, make a mess put the car outside, Ok so how do I get in, remember a tip from a fellow geeker (take a garbage bag and use it as a seat cover, wait for the 12'oclock sun to do its thing, so you take a break. Around 3 the sky turns grey, better hurry, go to the car dam its hot in there, put it again in the garage and start removing all the gumpy, sticky stuff you put in there, thats when you say to yourself "My hat off to the people that go thru this for a living".


They got Wendy's in Puerto Rico?? Hahaha jk, but yup im no pro detailer but I too experience this... For me this is a perfect weekend :xyxthumbs:
 
When I first opened I said, I'm the owner and only boss, I will only work 8am to 5pm, hahaha It is sunday @ 10:20pm as I write this !
 
When I first opened I said, I'm the owner and only boss, I will only work 8am to 5pm, hahaha It is sunday @ 10:20pm as I write this !

Dedication goes a long way my friend!
 
They got Wendy's in Puerto Rico?? Hahaha jk, but yup im no pro detailer but I too experience this... For me this is a perfect weekend :xyxthumbs:
I think we have a Mc Donalds too.
 
It is true. Baconators taste SO MUCH better after a 10 hour correction job. Something about the polishing oils on your fingers mixed with the greasy bacon fat. Mmmmmmmmmmm. :buffing:
 
It is true. Baconators taste SO MUCH better after a 10 hour correction job. Something about the polishing oils on your fingers mixed with the greasy bacon fat. Mmmmmmmmmmm. :buffing:
:iagree:

D.A.T. = Delicious Abrasive Technology.
 
Haha, i completely understand where you're coming from. My first detail took the better part of 3 days. Ill admit that i move a little slower than most, but i didnt want to rush, and the faster i do things the quicker i get worn out. Anyway, i love when i see a pro on here take a swirled up mess, and turn it into perfection, and they're all "this car took 8 hours from start to finish".

WTF how do they do everything so quickly. You mean to tell me it takes me like 4x+ longer to do this stuff than them.

Its just not fair!

Shawn
 
Haha, i completely understand where you're coming from. My first detail took the better part of 3 days. Ill admit that i move a little slower than most, but i didnt want to rush, and the faster i do things the quicker i get worn out. Anyway, i love when i see a pro on here take a swirled up mess, and turn it into perfection, and they're all "this car took 8 hours from start to finish".

WTF how do they do everything so quickly. You mean to tell me it takes me like 4x+ longer to do this stuff than them.

Its just not fair!

Shawn


Hey Shawn,

PM me what you won from that prize thing from selecting your favourite video.

Anyways back to your comment, sometimes there are possibly more than 1 person working on the car? Either that or they may be lucky with their test spots :laughing: But I don't think I've ever heard of a full 3 step correction taking 3 hours.
 
Haha, i completely understand where you're coming from. My first detail took the better part of 3 days. Ill admit that i move a little slower than most, but i didnt want to rush, and the faster i do things the quicker i get worn out. Anyway, i love when i see a pro on here take a swirled up mess, and turn it into perfection, and they're all "this car took 8 hours from start to finish".

WTF how do they do everything so quickly. You mean to tell me it takes me like 4x+ longer to do this stuff than them.

Its just not fair!

Shawn

X2......
I've got over 30 hours of detailing into my new car and I'm not even done. I'm slow but thorough. As a hobbyist, I also do some things that the pros probably don't have time to do
like polish the two exhaust tips for 1/2 hour, polish and seal the door jams, use the Flex 3401 to polish all the interior glass before sealing, etc.

It does make me appreciate the work of the pros as the hours of lifting, stooping, crouching, and contorting while doing the interior, etc bring home how physical the process is. :buffing:

So here's to the pros and here's to the hobbyists----may they both do their thing.....
 
The first time is tough, it gets easier the more you do, my first car took 14 hours, my second took 11
 
It takes a lot of dedication from the heart to do this "for a living". I'm glad that you did it even though it was a lot of hard work. It makes the finished product seem so much better. Thanks for the appreciation. The next one will be easier.
 
I know dealers don't pay much, I get $100 per vehicle from my new car dealer. However, these cars come from the auction where they were already some what detailed by their guys but they use old rotarys and add all the swirls then i take them out, go over the interior on what they missed. I can usually knock out a dealer car in 4 hours and do 10 to 11 a week and then throw in a few privately owned vehicles at $150 to $250 each. Long days and won't get rich but it pays the bills and most of all I enjoy it, even when frustrated I'm still having fun and love seeing the transformation and the look on customers when they pick up their ride, plus I often get any where from $20 to $100 tip more often then you would think!
 
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