Pictures and Comments- Roadshow Class at The Wax Shop

[DMiglio]

After that they headed into the detail bays and were shown the tools and products they were going to use to correct and polish the vehicles.

The Wax Shop, Blackfire, Sonax, Wolfgang and I’m sure a few others I’m forgetting had options that were all available to use. Tools from a Porter Cable, to I think just about every Rupes and Flex on market!! Pads and towels were in abundance as well, various pads from Lake Country, Rupes and Buff and Shine. Towels from Autogeek and The Rag Company. All extremely high quality reputable brands.

This is my favorite part of the classes, besides learning from the top instructor in the industry, you get to try tools and products you’d never get a chance to without first buying them. You get to put the polisher, pads, polishes and towels to the torture test(how’s that for alliteration?).

With so much marketing and influencing going on in the scene, it’s nice to just find out for yourself what tools you like and with a team of professionals there to help and guide you through any questions or issues you may be facing.

Here Mike is teaching a lesson using a Porter Cable, which is to keep the pad flat while working with free spinning DA’s.
Spinning while it’s flat

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Not spinning..

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After this short lesson and how to and why to perform a test spot, the students then grabbed a PC and got to work!

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Mike even jumps in from time to time (buffing on a car with one of the best, that’s pretty awesome I’d say!!)

 

[DMiglio]

I only went there to assist Mike and the team at The Wax Shop, even then it was pretty hands on for me. I’m surprised I didn’t grab anymore pictures than this, but as the work started we don’t sit or stand around much.

The students got to use the full range of detailing supplies from The Wax Shop, the compounds, polishes, wax, foam soap and detailer and spray wax.

Mercedes got a two step compound and polish and finished with their Deep Reflections wax. This thing was beat, but probably got to 85-90% correction, tires finished with Pinnacle Black Label tire coating.

The Corolla got a one step polish and Blackfire’s paint coating. It looked great when finished and the metallic really popped after a mid-level polish/pad combo.

I just want to say thank you to Mike Phillips and The Wax Shop crew, Jose, Eric and Jim, for allowing me to work alongside you guys and pitch in where needed. These classes are a blast whether you’re a student, team member at the facility or just assisting, I appreciate you guys having me!

 

[57Rambler]

Hey Rambler, I didn’t want to say anything till I saw the car in person, but the “spots” you see were just cloud reflections. No major clear coat damage luckily, but quite swirled out.

I'll be making my eye exam appointment ASAP ... :doh:

 

[mikeybo]

First I want to thank the wax shop for hosting the class and allowing Mike Phillips to come and teach us some of what he knows (the man has tons more knowledge and unfortunately we did not have enough time to learn more).

It was an amazing class and a chance to truly learn about taking care of cars and the equipment and products available to use. Without this class I never would have known what it is like to utilize the different buffer/polishers on the market and what kind of equipment I would like to purchase for my own business.

If you ever in the area of The Wax Shop it is worth checking out and checking out their line of great products.

Next I would like to speak about the new product from Blackfire called one step. This product was amazing and simple to apply and remove. While applying the product it spread great and I see the product working on the first application.

The Yellow Mustang we cleaned had major swirl marks all over the car and after figuring out what pad to use we went to town on the Mustang.

One Step went to work and removed a good portion of the swirls and wiped clean with minimal effort. One Step from Blackfire not only cleaned and shined the paint but removed a lot of the swirl marks leaving a nice clean smooth surface. Black Fire One step is definitely a product I would recommend to anyone from beginner to expert.


Once again a shout out to Mike Phillips and the crew from The Wax Shop for a great day of car detailing.


:xyxthumbs:

 

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


This class started on time at 7:30am sharp with washing cars. I call this Extreme Car Washing mostly because I don't know what else to call it but also because we cover SO MANY tools, products and techniques.

The Order To Detail a Car
I used to teach a class on this topic at Mobile Tech Expo. The order is kind of to your preference but here's what I teach,

Do the things that make the car mess FIRST and then wash the car.


Messy stuff includes,

1. Topical Class Polishing
2. Headlight Correction
3. Engine detailing

After the above 3 things, then wash wheels and tires first, then start at the top of the car and work your way down.

Now let's see if I practice what I preach.



First up - Topical Class Cleaning
The guys are machine polishing the glass using Lake Country ThinPro orange foam cutting pads with Pinnacle GlassWork Water Spot Remover. The tools are CORDLESS FLEX polishers. No cords and no risk of electrical shock.

For this car we're not going to detail the engine, we have a Toyota for the Wet Wash Engine Detail that's coming up after this car and the headlights were good, so no headlight correction.

Next up will be wheels and tires but while we're cleaning wheels and tires the class is going to start the chemical decontamination process by spraying the car down with SONAX Fallout Remover.

Wheels and Tires

While the SONAX Fallout Remover is doing its thing, the guys get the wheels and tires clean. To do this, they are using the FLEX Cordless Rotary Polisher with Nylon Brushes attached and then using Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner.

The tool you see D.J. using is the FLEX PE-150 Cordless Rotary Polisher - besides doing a great job of getting the tires clean, because it's cordless you cannot get SHOCKED!

The brush is the Heavy-Duty DA Carpet Brush – Long Bristles - there is a short bristle version but the long bristle version works better for most tires.

I also brought the Mighty Mini to machine scrub tires. This is also a cordless tool and the Cyclo Aqua Brush fits this tool and works great for machine scrubbing tires.

After tires are scrubbed, next is wheels. For this we're using SONAX Wheel Cleaner and Speedmaster Wheel Brushes and also Wheel Woolie Wheel Brushes.

Once the wheels and tires are washed next they are rinsed. (no pictures)

After that, the car is foamed with car wash soap and washed. (no pictures


After the car is fully washed and rinsed, the car is foamed again and then the paint is mechanically decontaminated using Nanoskin Mitts and towels as well as the BLACKFIRE Clay Mitts.

Then the car is rinsed again and then dried using Guzzler Waffle Weave Drying Towels. The FLEX Car Dryer is not used to dry the car but to blow water out of cracks and crevices.

Test Spot and then Paint Correction
After washing and drying, we moved the car over to the next bay where we went over the purpose of a Test Spot and why to do a Test Spot. I just wrote an article about this here,


The two reasons WHY you should always do a Test Spot before buffing out any car



The swirls and scratches were deep enough and all over this car that we found the best combination for product and pad to use with the Porter Cable 7424XP was the Wax Shop Overhaul 1000 Heavy Cut Compound and the Buff & Shine Uro-Tech Medium Maroon Heavy Polishing Foam Pad and the

After the compounding step we then machine polished the paint to maximize gloss and clarity. For this our Test Spot showed us to use Wax Shop Tune Up 3000 Fine Polishing Compound with the Buff & Shine Uro-Tech Soft White Finishing Foam Pad

Sealing the paint
After the polishing step next we used the Wax Shop Deep Reflections Liquid Carnauba Wax. The pads we used were the same type of pads we polished with, the Buff & Shine Uro-Tech Soft White Finishing Foam Pads only everyone switched over to new fresh pads for the waxing step.

Coating the tires
One of the reasons I teach machine scrubbing tires is in case you want to use a tire COATING instead of a tire DRESSING. In order to use a tire coating the tires MUST be surgically clean and machine scrubbing always works better than hand scrubbing.

For these tires we're using the Pinnacle Black Label Tire Clear Coat. This is a one-and-done tire coating. That is you only have to apply a single application to get a deep, dark black shine. With other tire coatings, I find myself applying 4-6 applications to get the same look.

Before

A single application....

After

Here's the final results!

And the team shot!

Great work everyone!

This was the first car the class detailed and we have 3 more to do before class is over.

 

[Mike Phillips]

First I want to thank the wax shop for hosting the class and allowing Mike Phillips to come and teach us some of what he knows (the man has tons more knowledge and unfortunately we did not have enough time to learn more).

It was an amazing class and a chance to truly learn about taking care of cars and the equipment and products available to use. Without this class I never would have known what it is like to utilize the different buffer/polishers on the market and what kind of equipment I would like to purchase for my own business.

Hi Mike,

Thank you for attending this class and for sharing your experience on our forum. I really appreciate it.

If you ever in the area of The Wax Shop it is worth checking out and checking out their line of great products.

I agree. The Wax Shop has a great facility, stellar people and top shelf products.

Next I would like to speak about the new product from Blackfire called one step. This product was amazing and simple to apply and remove. While applying the product it spread great and I see the product working on the first application.

The Yellow Mustang we cleaned had major swirl marks all over the car and after figuring out what pad to use we went to town on the Mustang.

One Step went to work and removed a good portion of the swirls and wiped clean with minimal effort. One Step from Blackfire not only cleaned and shined the paint but removed a lot of the swirl marks leaving a nice clean smooth surface. Black Fire One step is definitely a product I would recommend to anyone from beginner to expert.

Agree.

I'm thankful that Wax Shop let use this product for when I covered "production detailing" as it's truly a wonderful product for taking a car from neglected to respected in a single step.


Here's Mike using a Cordless FLEX Polisher to do topical glass polishing BEFORE we wash the car. Besides saving time and steps by polishing the glass (this gets the car messy), before washing the car, with the Cordless FLEX you don't have to mess with extension cords in the wash bay and there's no risk for getting shocked.

 

[briarpatch]

Did I miss something in the pics? No Griots polishers?

 

[Mike Phillips]

Did I miss something in the pics? No Griots polishers?

First - I just started the pictures so more to come.

Second - This is a Vendor Roadshow Class. It's a tick different than an Autogeek Roadshow Class With a Vendor Roadshow Class we cater to the Vendor.


And you're correct, no Griot's polishers by request from upper management at Wax Shop. They were good with RUPES, FLEX and Porter Cable so I honored their request. This class was still more hands-on than any other class you can attend.


The Porter Cable is the same "type" of tool as the Griot's Garage 6" Random Orbital Polisher, that is they are both 8mm free spinning tools.

The RUPES BigFoot 15mm and 21mm are the same "type" of tools as the Griot's BOSS 15mm and 21mm free spinning tools.

So the people attending were able to experience the same types of tools we show in our Autogeek Roadshow Classes.


Just to note - I've taught RUPES and Optimum Polymer Technology "Vendor Roadshow Classes" where for these class there also was no Griot's tools or FLEX tools. At the RUPES class the students were able to use the full array of RUPES tools and at the OPT class the students were able to use the fully array of OPT tools.

 

[Reuben Brumby]

The thing I appreciated the most about this class was the hands on training! 95% of the time I had a tool in my hand!
Mike Phillips taught the smaller group how and what to do as we went along! There was a brief description at the beginning of each segment of the task to be finished and then we all got to work on a section together. Technique was taught as we went along, Mike would observe, adjust, and mentor while work was in progress, not from a chair!
The only time we sat was to eat lunch!

I really appreciated getting my hands on all the tools I've been seeing on YouTube and learning which ones I preferred and how to use them!
After the training sessions with Mike Phillips, I gained the confidence I needed to get my detailing business started.
I couldn't recommend this class enough to anyone looking to learn or improve their detailing skills!

 

[Mike Phillips]

The thing I appreciated the most about this class was the hands on training! 95% of the time I had a tool in my hand!

Now that sounds 100% ACCURATE.

Thank you for stating that.

Mike Phillips taught the smaller group how and what to do as we went along! There was a brief description at the beginning of each segment of the task to be finished and then we all got to work on a section together. Technique was taught as we went along, Mike would observe, adjust, and mentor while work was in progress, not from a chair!

Thank you again for describing my teaching style. I'm 100% engaged with the each person that attends one of our classes, be they a small class or a large class. Everyone gets PLENTY of one-on-one time with the Instructor.

The only time we sat was to eat lunch!

And that's accurate too and I would guess the time spent sitting, eating and drinking some cold water was 15 to 20 minutes.

I really appreciated getting my hands on all the tools I've been seeing on YouTube and learning which ones I preferred and how to use them!

That is the KEY take-away from the class.

Here's the most common comment I hear people say AFTER they take my class


You can watch all the YouTube videos you want but nothing comes close to actual hands-on time with the tools

After the training sessions with Mike Phillips, I gained the confidence I needed to get my detailing business started.

I couldn't recommend this class enough to anyone looking to learn or improve their detailing skills!

Thanks Reuben, I truly appreciate your taking the time to share your real-world experience with on our forum as I know a lot of people sitting on the fence about signing-up for a class will appreciate what you have to say.



This is Reuben applying Wax Shop Deep Reflections Liquid Carnauba Wax onto the face of a pad to machine wax

:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike Phillips]

More...


Just to share, one of the things I really like about all our classes is that they always attract what I call,

High Caliber People


I don't ever remember having anyone in my class that doesn't jump in head first and get their hands dirty.



Different types of learning

I understand people learn differently, for example some people learn best by listening to someone talk, looking at a picture in a power point presentation and writing down notes. I actually retain knowledge best when I take notes. It could be that maybe my class simply attracts people that learn best by DOING - not via these other 3 methods of information input.


Or maybe my class attracts ALL 4 types of people and learning styles and if that's the case, I apologize for the lack of chairs and classroom time.

 

[jcozzie]

Thanks Mike for coming to The Wax Shop and teaching all of us a lot of tips and tricks you have learned over the years.

I would recommend your class to anyone. I have been detailing cars for 20 years, and I learned some new processes that I will continue to use throughout my career.

Whether your new to professional detailing or a car enthusiast you should find a class close to your area and make the investment. You will learn a lot about detailing and meet some great people in the industry.

:xyxthumbs:

 

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks Mike for coming to The Wax Shop and teaching all of us a lot of tips and tricks you have learned over the years.

It was a genuine pleasure to finally meet and work with you Jim. You guys run a 5-Star operation there at the Wax Shop!

I would recommend your class to anyone. I have been detailing cars for 20 years, and I learned some new processes that I will continue to use throughout my career.

What would you say was one of the more interesting tools or techniques we covered in the class?

 

[Aaryn NZ]

Different types of learning

I understand people learn differently, for example some people learn best by listening to someone talk, looking at a picture in a power point presentation and writing down notes. I actually retain knowledge best when I take notes. It could be that maybe my class simply attracts people that learn best by DOING - not via these other 3 methods of information input.


Or maybe my class attracts ALL 4 types of people and learning styles and if that's the case, I apologize for the lack of chairs and classroom time.

Different strokes for different folks I guess but for me, I’m just not an “academic” style learner. Plus it’s way more fun actually getting down & dirty with a real life experience experience.

In terms of say, a “newbie” taking a Mike Phillips class to get some time with all types of different tools in hand to perhaps make a decision on what tool to purchase, I cannot think of a better way to do so. The difference between sitting down listening to someone telling you how good a tool is compared to finding out with the tool in hand ACTUALLY using it as you intended to use it (& on some very cool cars I must say) is incomparable in my opinion.

A few years back I was almost about to hand over a BIG chunk of cash for a bicycle (I’m a sucker for a cool bike) & this wasn’t just a normal bicycle.

Now I read all about it, watched the YouTube videos, looked at all the pictures I could & walked around this thing a fair amount but BUT for some reason I decided to take it for a ride before handing over ALL my pocket money ...

I hated it! I wanted so much to love it but just plain hated it.

Just like polishers - sure there are many great tools on the market but some you will gel with better than others & it may not be the one you expect. You’re gonna figure that out in a Mike Phillips class for sure.


Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2:

 

[Aaryn NZ]

Way to go team! rops:

Crankin’ them out. :buffing: Enjoy folks enjoy.


Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2:

 

[Bill D]

Intensive detailing session but I bet everyone had more than a lot of fun and walked away being even better at the craft than they were before.