The difference between a swirl and squirrel

The difference: squirrels eat nuts, swirls drive you nuts
 
silverfox said:
2 things: ...and I never went into any of them saying to myself..."man I can make a killing doing that"....I went in thinking, "God, I love doing this"...and the money always takes care of itself.
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:iagree::applause:

Best thing I've heard today!
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
Thanks Force Field! Always wanted a good cleaner wax, used Meg's for years, seems good, get some of the paint oxidation on my applicator pads, maybe Klasse will be even more aggressive. Love upgrading to what makes the job easier with a better result!
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You're welcome. I don't think it's more aggressive than Meg's cleaner wax though, as there are no abrasives in KAIO. Most all-in-ones are probably not very aggressive polishes, but then the pad, polisher speed, technique (downward pressure) you use also affects how much paint you strip off.
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
maybe Klasse will be even more aggressive.
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Meguiar's D151 (SMAT) and M66, (DAT) are production grade cleaner/waxes specifically for tackling neglected cars via rotary, DA or hand... Klasse AIO is a non-abrasive, chemical cleaner/sealant. It does offer good cleaning ability but it's nowhere near able to do what the aforementioned Megs cleaner/waxes can do.

If you categorized "abrasive" cleaner/waxes by

  • Aggressive
  • Medium
  • Light
Then I'd say the above two Meguiar's are at least medium in their correction ability and the benefit to this is they will still finish out exceptionally nice using polishing pads. (not cutting pads as cutting pads will tend to mar the paint).

Klasse AIO wouldn't fall into the light category in and of itself as it's non-abrasive. It's still a good light cleaner/sealant depending upon the aggressiveness of the pad and process used to apply it.

You'll find more aggressive cleaner/waxes in Marine Lines if you want more aggressive but keep in mind the more aggressive you go with the cutting factor the harder it will be to finish down to customer pleasing results. It's a trade-off for cut and results when it comes to any one-step products.

:)
 
Great post here, there is such a huge difference between detailing showcars and DD, I prefer showcars over DD, yes it's a 3 step process. Compared to a 1 step but most all showcars are already very clean. It may take a little longer but the money is also much better and showcar owners seem to tip better as they understand what goes into detailing. My advice to anyone who is just starting out, stay away from showcars until you understand paint and all the differenet products involved. You screw up a paint job on a showcar...well you may want to move to a different state because your business will have just died. Start out with your own car and try different things, detailing is a form of art and its not for everyone, you have to have a passion and patients. Learn as much as you can, ask questions, and remember no question is a stupid one., ask people that are experienced, if their cool they will show you different things. Remember this.....you can never stop learning this art no matter how much experience you have. Best of luck and shine on.
 
When the customers want to go cheap on me I just tend to Wash it with a soap that have gloss enhancer and as well just a glaze such as CG gloss revive glaze or wet mirror finish thats about it.

Those who want a high end of a job (takes me about 4-5 hours) I just tend to wash, clay, glaze, sealant, and wax.
 
I am now just really in the transition between detailing for family and friends after they witnessed my vehicle and all the cleaning supplies I have. Even though it was for family and friends people were very uncomfortable with me not charging them anything so in turn they always wanted me to give them a quote, of course I would after a majority of them told me to quote them like a regular priced detail shop would. Now of course I would not know that since I have never worked for one, but even though I would price a good price (I would call local shops and act like I wanted to get my vehicle detailed and took the medium of all the shops I called and set the low price based on what my family or friends wanted) but I would end up killing my self because of this exact reason, from all the hard work I would put in, no one except one or two of the people never noticed all the extra hard work I put in because a majority of my family that I cleaned for which were women usually only had something to say along the lines of, "Oh my gosh Ryan you made it so shiny!!!" And I am sitting here thinking, I think I went to far with my work. But I can tell my self everyday that I won't do this anymore but if I don't catch my self before I actually start a vehicle I then begin and just can not stop. The problem is as if it is a true mental disorder, perhaps I should diagnose my mental disorder as "PTSD - Paint , Trim, and Shiny Disorder" bad example but you get where I am going. It is something I really need to work on before I start advertising my somewhat new business that is not meant just for friends or family. :-/
 
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My wife just wanted me to wash/wax the car. I did that, but now when I wash the car I keep feeling "grit" in the paint and I wish I'd clayed it to begin with.

I'm biding my time and waiting for her to be out of the way so I can get it done right.
 
Love it that's why I stopped going to car shows.If there paint is shiney that's all they care about .If it's full of swirls and you approach them in a friendly matter about detailing there car,they will tell you that they just waxed it and a majority of car club shows don't know what a swirl is.
 
GSKR said:
Love it that's why I stopped going to car shows. If there paint is shiney that's all they care about .

If it's full of swirls and you approach them in a friendly matter about detailing there car, they will tell you that they just waxed it and a majority of car club shows don't know what a swirl is.
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Absolutely correct Jeff.

In my life I've NEVER had any luck trying to talk to the car owners at cars shows about their totally swirled out bitchen rides. It's like the title of my article states,

They don't know the difference between a swirl or a squirrel


The guy that buffed out this car did it himself...


1957_FI_003.JPG


1957_FI_005.JPG




:)

:)
 
Yeah I stopped going to car shows after like two times.

I love cars, but I’d rather admire one perfectly polished out ride than see like 300 cars swirled out.

It’s kind of a sensitive subject if it gets brought up. Not worth getting into.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
 
So true Mike.

People look at my car and they go, "Wow, I want my car to look like that!" Then, I think, . . . really? Are you sure?

If you only knew the time it took and what I had to do to get my car looking like that!

Be careful what you wish for.

:-)
 
Jerry0 said:
So true Mike.

People look at my car and they go, "Wow, I want my car to look like that!" Then, I think, . . . really? Are you sure?

If you only knew the time it took and what I had to do to get my car looking like that!

Be careful what you wish for.

:-)
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Yeah.... I would agree with you Jerry. Most people don't know how much time and perspiration is required to achieve a swirl-free finish and the other side of that coin is most people don't know what it takes to maintain the swirl free finish.


I wrote this article on January 28th, 2010 - that would be approximately 7 months after I cam to work for Autogeek after leaving Meguiar's. I never meant for this to be a "funny detailer's joke" but it kind of turned out that way.

I share these pictures in a majority of my Power Point Presentations for my detailing classes but also for all my classes including Mobile Tech Expo,


Most people only want 4 things and they probably don't even know they want these 4 things.

1. Shiny Paint
2. Clear Glass
3. Black Tires
4. Fresh Clean Interior


They don't know the difference between a swirl and squirrel.


For clarification...



This is a Squirrel

ScottsVetteScratch011.jpg



These are Swirls

CobwebSwirls001.jpg





So HUNDREDS and probably thousands of people have seen this Squirrel/Swirl article via the forum and also in all the classes. Bob Eichelberg, the President of FLEX North America has been to a number of classes and events around the world with Renny Doyle and he says Renny shares this saying all the time, that is most people don't know the difference between a squirrel and a swirl.


So without trying, it has become common knowledge in the detailing world.


Yancy told me he created a T-shirt with this saying and then a picture of a squirrel and a swirl but it never made it to production. I'd wear one.



:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
Most people only want 4 things and they probably don't even know they want these 4 things.

1. Shiny Paint
2. Clear Glass
3. Black Tires
4. Fresh Clean Interior
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I love this thread as most people have no clue that swirls even exist.

Another feature that most people are looking for is some type of protection on their paint for the winter.

Some guys have the attention span of a dog. You can easily lose them if you mention the word SQUIRREL during a lecture.


:)
 
One of my all time favorite articles.

I use the swirls and squirrels pictures and anology in almost all of my Power Point Presentations for Mobil Tech Expo each year since 2010.

So many detailers have seen these pictures and know the story - always get good laughs.


:)
 
Mike Phillips said:
One of my all time favorite articles.

I use the swirls and squirrels pictures and anology in almost all of my Power Point Presentations for Mobil Tech Expo each year since 2010.

So many detailers have seen these pictures and know the story - always get good laughs.


:)
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A guy brought a Ford GT into our dealership for the airbag recall on Tuesday.

Mind you, we have one on the showroom floor with an asking price of 238k....

Anyway, it is dark blue, and as he is standing in the parking lot with an audience talking about it, I walk up to admire it.

SWIRL city!! Does he care about the paint? Nope. Just the fact he has a GT with no visible dirt on it is ok with him.

Crazy how some people are either clueless, uninformed, or simply do not care.

Even with a car worth almost a quarter million.
 
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