My wheel regime is killing me, help!

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JamMaster Jay

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So most of my details have been taking too long because of my wheel regime. I'm spending close to an hour with setting up and starting on wheels, rims & wheel wells first. I've been using Meg's super degreaser and it works great but it takes me two maybe three passes to get them where I feel they're appropriate. Been going with a 4:1 ratio and using a combo of speed master, wheel woollies and mothers brushes. I spray the tires with the D108 in a foam sprayer, let sit 2 mins, scrub, rinse and inspect. Should I be scrubbing more, letting the degreaser set for longer or what? I've got to cut this time down if I plan on making money. Help!?!
 
I think I last used a bottle of CG APC 10:1, spray, agitate, rinse, dry. 100% happy with results. 5-6 minutes tops for each wheel. Wheel wells are a different story, depending on how dirty they are, but they still shouldn't be taking you an hour. Granted, there's no loss in taking this long IMO, I'd rather take longer and get the job done right than to try and get it done quickly, and my client not be happy.
 
Like the others have said above, go with a stronger wheel cleaner. I would save the degreaser for the wheel wells. Also, maybe you can sell your customers on applying wheel sealant during the details. Something quick and easy to apply like CarPro Hydro2/Lite should make it easier to clean the wheels on future details depending how often you do it. If you need longer longevity, go with a wheel coating.
 
JamMaster Jay said:
So most of my details have been taking too long because of my wheel regime. I'm spending close to an hour with setting up and starting on wheels, rims & wheel wells first. I've been using Meg's super degreaser and it works great but it takes me two maybe three passes to get them where I feel they're appropriate. Been going with a 4:1 ratio and using a combo of speed master, wheel woollies and mothers brushes. I spray the tires with the D108 in a foam sprayer, let sit 2 mins, scrub, rinse and inspect. Should I be scrubbing more, letting the degreaser set for longer or what? I've got to cut this time down if I plan on making money. Help!?!
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as funny as this sounds,I don't dilute my apc or acid based cleaners.Im not down with agitation,and never bent down to clean a wheel or use special rim brushes.a pressure washer will do great with the right chemicals so maybe a option to get one if you can.It takes me 15 min a wheel barrels and all then I move car back to start with the other side of the wheel timing maybe shorter 15 min is a horrible dirty wheel.
 
Your total prep time which includes wheels all door jambs wash no motor for me , and clay and dry on a moderately dirty car such as a midsize car should be 1 hr.Times vary depending on the size of the car or truck but 1 hr is the norm .
 
I'm not a professional detailer, but my opinion is most people are cleaning wheels just "good enough". If your spending a lot of time on them, you are prolly getting them spotless - including the barrels. That's how I do it - and it takes time. No magic chemical will eliminate that time.

If it was me, I would include just cleaning the faces, and charge extra to clean barrels and behind spokes.


****please support trans-species humans.
 
swanicyouth said:
I'm not a professional detailer, but my opinion is most people are cleaning wheels just "good enough". If your spending a lot of time on them, you are prolly getting them spotless - including the barrels. That's how I do it - and it takes time. No magic chemical will eliminate that time.
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That's normally how I do it also and it takes time. It normally takes me about 15 minutes per wheel to clean the face, inner barrel, tire and wheel well, about an hour total for all 4 wheels. Takes longer if they are in real bad condition.

I think clean wheels gives it that extra "pop". For some of my customers, that's the 1st thing they notice or comment about.

swanicyouth said:
If it was me, I would include just cleaning the faces, and charge extra to clean barrels and behind spokes.
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That is a good option to cut down your time and for customers who want to pay less.

If you know it's going to be a regular customer, you can do a thorough cleaning the 1st time and apply a sealant, such as Hydro2 and then it will go quicker the next time.
 
For the enthusiast : Pull your wheels, give them a full cleaning and apply a coating. My wheels just take minutes to clean with the left over rinseless wash solution. Piece of cake.

When I clean wheels for others I just first with Sonax Full Effect, let it dwell then power wash.
 
What kind of wheels are you cleaning? I have bbs wheels...the mesh kind.... it shouldn't take a whole hour for 4 wheels.

Meguiars wheel brightener is the way to go
 
What kind of wheels are you cleaning? I have bbs wheels...the mesh kind.... it shouldn't take a whole hour for 4 wheels.

Meguiars wheel brightener is the way to go
 
swanicyouth said:
I'm not a professional detailer, but my opinion is most people are cleaning wheels just "good enough". If your spending a lot of time on them, you are prolly getting them spotless - including the barrels. That's how I do it - and it takes time. No magic chemical will eliminate that time.

If it was me, I would include just cleaning the faces, and charge extra to clean barrels and behind spokes.


****please support trans-species humans.
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Magic eraser and tar remover helps with the really caked on barrels.
 
OP.

You are not doing anything wrong.
The time factor you stated is on par with the amount of time it takes to do the job for tires, wheels, and, wheel wells.
This if you are detailing, and not just blasting through.
This is true for many detailers, including myself.

Time Factor:
There are always approaches one can take to lessen the time it takes to complete any task.
I would suggest caution in comparing time frames to other detailers in your area, and to those stated in social media.
I have no doubt there are detailers out there who can detail at amazing speed.
I can move with the best of them and have yet to figure out how miraculous time frame auto detail completions are possible.
Then again, not everyone has the same definition of a detail.
Cleaning and detailing are not always the same thing.

The condition always factors into the time frame.
Stronger chemical cleaners may assist in the labor process and time factor, so do keep that in mind.
I more often than not encounter worst case scenarios.
I also primarily use steam clean and rinseless wash solutions, which at times can slow the process down, and at other times can speed the time frame up, just depends.

Price Point:
Make sure the price you charge factors in the time frame it takes to complete the job.
At some point, you will reach the fastest time frame possible for you to complete the job, and will just not be able to go any faster.
Make sure you are compensated to make the job worth your while.
 
asianisafish said:
What kind of wheels are you cleaning? I have bbs wheels...the mesh kind.... it shouldn't take a whole hour for 4 wheels.

Meguiars wheel brightener is the way to go
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I was referring to wheels that have been neglected and not properly maintained. It seems that I have mostly worked on wheels that have never had the inner barrels cleaned and therefore have a build up of brake dust and tar deposits.

I may be strange but I like detailing wheels, probably one of my favorite parts. I like it when the customer says that their wheels never looked so good. I like for the wheels to look like they were removed and cleaned. Fortunately, I have had customers who don't mind paying for the extra time it takes to do a thorough job.

If the wheels were somewhat maintained and sealed or coated then of course it goes faster.

To be more exact, on the average, it takes me about 12 to 15 minutes, so about 45 minutes to an hour total, sometimes less and sometimes more depending on the condition and type of wheel, and that is for the wheels (face and inner barrels), tires and wheel wells.
 
Ebg18t said:
When I clean wheels for others I just first with Sonax Full Effect, let it dwell then power wash.
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Your others must have well kept wheels..no way will Sonax Full Effect and a power washer will get neglected wheels clean without agitation with a brush. Even Meg's Wheel Brightner will need agitation.
 
Rsurfer said:
Your others must have well kept wheels..no way will Sonax Full Effect and a power washer will get neglected wheels clean without agitation with a brush. Even Meg's Wheel Brightner will need agitation.
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Reasonably well kept. If they are 'that bad' I opt out of anything more time consuming that spray, maybe a quick agitation and power wash. I'm up front with people, In reality if they are that bad then the car is just going to get trashed again and the folks dont really want to pay for the time it would take.

I don't do many cars, a few here and there. Most are very well kept.. Since I don't do it for a living so I can respectably decline something more time consuming than I would want.
 
Only my 5th week in business but I've been doing lots of BMW's. They have those deep wheels that take forever to get clean. I didn't know if maybe I was using the wrong chemicals or what but my OCD probably doesn't help. A majority of my details have been interior, wash, nanoskin and wax. I've been charging from $125-$175 depending on size and condition of the vehicles. My time frames have been way off since I didn't anticipate wheels taking me so long. Maybe I'll just have to adjust my schedule to allow more time or experiment with some other chemicals and maybe a power washer. It's come to my attention that not everyone's vehicle is kept as clean as mine. :)
 
My Focus ST has terrible dusting issues so the wheels take forever. Before the summers go back on I bought some CQuartz Dlux and plan on coating my wheels to see if they cleanup faster
 
Wheel brightener and a power washer will do this in under a minute with no agitation. Not perfect, but it will be much easier to clean the difficult stuff with the rest of the brake dust out of the way.

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