thinking of getting into detailing, need advice

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scottman25

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Hello everyone.
I am new to the site but have been reading it for some time. i am 29 yrs young or old, depends on how i feel when i roll out of bed lol. anyways, i work full time for costco. I have always kept mine, my families vehicles nice and the paints waxed and clean and i have always used meguires. but lately it seems as though it does not last. maybe im not doing it right or maybe i need to step up my products.

after doing a badly oxidized ford escort that i bought for my girlfriend(its still not done) i am currently having to take it to work because my prius broke down. and i have about 5 co workers bugging me now to detail their cars after seeing how bad this car used to be, to the shine it has now. so i must be doing something right and now my neighbors want me to do theirs, so here is the equipment i have.

i am on a budget but am trying to make do with what i got.

For exterior:
I have a 7 in rotary polisher i got off ebay 2 years ago and i like it. i also have a wool pad, red pad for heavy cut, yellow for medium, blue for light, green for polish and a black finish pad

i just bought a harbor freight da polisher and did the grease mod to it. and have modded the backing plate to get me by. i also got the three HF pads.

my products so far i have

3m perfect it rubbing compound which i used on the escort.

meguires ultimate polish( this stuff worked great on my green truck but left haze on the escort so i dont like it)

meguires ultimate wax(so far i like it but dont know how long it lasts.)

noxon chrome polish.

meguires hot shine for tires( I like this stuff)

turtle wax trim shine

rain x

for interior:

I got an Aztec hot rod carpet extractor which is awesome, paired with zep citrus degreaser/cleaner.

tuff stuff,

stoner trime shime

stoner invisible glass

thats all i can think of right now

Im thinking of getting the lake country ccs six pad set with 5" backing plate for my DA. but i dont know what colors to get to use.

I just picked up meguires m205 in place of the ultimate polish.

so my question is if I am going to be starting out on the side like this, what would you recommend in the way of waxes and polishes that is overall a good product to use on cars from white to black. and what clay bars should i pick up. around here mothers and meguires bars are readily available.

eventually ill move on to a good rotary and a good DA but for now this will do.

any help, advice, feedback is appreciated.

thank you,

Scott

P.s. i will include some before pics of the escort. and after pics at some point.
 
There must be about 50 threads about this on the forum, read them and you will get a lot of answers.

You already have a good base in terms of products. Here is what I would personally add:

Washing:
Pressure washer with a foam bottle attachement
2 Buckets
1 or 2 grit guards
Good quality wash mit (for paint)
Decent quality wash mit (for wheels)
Car shampoo (meguiar's is good but there are tons of others also)
Fender brush
Nut brush
Wheel detailing brush
Sponge
Iron-X
High power All-Purpose cleaner or degreaser for tires
Water Based tire gel (I use Optimum Opti-Bond but other products are good too search the threads regarding this)
Clay bar or clay bar alternative like Nanoskin Sponge or Mit


Corrections/Polishing:

Pads for DA, pretty much regardless of brand except if you go with Meguiar's, they have their own color codes but I don't use them...
Heavy Cutting: Yellow
Light cutting: Orange (one most people use most for compounding)
Polishing: White (one most people use most for polishing)
Green: Light polishing
Finishing: Black or Red

For the brands of pads, 2 most popular seems to be Lake Country and Buff and Shine. They use the same color codes.

I can't help you for rotary, I don't use one. But I think the 3M compound is ok for that. You could use M105 for it, don't know if it's better or not. Same goes for M101 and M100. I believe M101 is a better product but I am unsure.

For polishes, M205 is a finer product than Ultimate Polish. Once you have used it a few times you will see if you like it. Lots of people also like Menzerna products here. So if you don't like M205 you could look into that.

You will also want a good all in one. I would recommand Meguiar's Reconditioning creme. It's a compound, polish and wax all in one.

Finishing:
I suggest you get a good sealant and a good spray wax. Also might want to get a good wax but I don't really believe in them unless it's a car that won't be driven.

For sealant, Menzerna Power Lock is very good. Won't stain plastic and rubber parts, looks good and have good durability.

For spray wax there are a lot of choices. I decided on Meguiar's X-Press Spray Wax. It's actually a sealant.

For waxes, I can't help you.

Other things you will need:
Tons of microfiber towels. Think at least 50 of them.
Microfiber drying towel (larger size)
Leaf blower (to dry car and blow water out of cracks and crevices)
High power portable vacuum cleaner
Bunch of brushes to detail interior (I use 1" x 1" paint brushes from dollar store and they work great)
Leather cleaner
Leather conditionner
Good All-Purpose cleaner (I like Meguiar's APC+)
Glass cleaner (Meguiar's is really good and very inexpensive)
Steam machine
Dressing (I love Meguiar's Hyper Dressing)
Bunch of sponges for applying tire gel and dressing
A good degreaser (Someone mentionned Zep product outperforms pretty much everything else and is very inexpensive)

I am probably forgetting stuff, but this should cover most things.
 
Ultimate polish very mild and if it is leaving hazing, my guess is that it has been paired with an aggressive pad or it could well be that your paint is super soft. Typically, UP would be use to remove hazing left by a stronger polish.
 
i used the rotary to get rid of most of the oxidation using the 3m rub compound and wool pad, then i stepped onto the DA polisher with the harbor freight compound pad and 3m rub compound. and it looked great, i followed up with the ultimate polish with the Da blue pad and it after wiping down, it left this hazy look, no scratches or anything but looking with a light it was this haze around the light so i took the compund to it again and then this time used the m205 and it looks great then followed up with a black finishing pad and the ultimate wax, it now feels like a sheet of glass.
 
scottman25 said:
Hello everyone.
I am new to the site but have been reading it for some time. i am 29 yrs young or old, depends on how i feel when i roll out of bed lol. anyways, i work full time for costco. I have always kept mine, my families vehicles nice and the paints waxed and clean and i have always used meguires. but lately it seems as though it does not last. maybe im not doing it right or maybe i need to step up my products. If you have not been claying regularly then this is probably why. Over time those contaminates will affect the bonding of any wax or sealant you use.

after doing a badly oxidized ford escort that i bought for my girlfriend(its still not done) i am currently having to take it to work because my prius broke down. and i have about 5 co workers bugging me now to detail their cars after seeing how bad this car used to be, to the shine it has now. so i must be doing something right and now my neighbors want me to do theirs, so here is the equipment i have. Indeed.

i am on a budget but am trying to make do with what i got.

For exterior:
my products so far i have

3m perfect it rubbing compound which i used on the escort.

meguires ultimate polish( this stuff worked great on my green truck but left haze on the escort so i dont like it)

meguires ultimate wax(so far i like it but dont know how long it lasts.) I believe this is a full synthetic wax, fyi.

for interior:

Im thinking of getting the lake country ccs six pad set with 5" backing plate for my DA. but i dont know what colors to get to use. If you will be broadening your horizons and will be seeing different makes and model vehicles, it is safer to go with flat pads than CCS.

so my question is if I am going to be starting out on the side like this, what would you recommend in the way of waxes and polishes that is overall a good product to use on cars from white to black. and what clay bars should i pick up. around here mothers and meguires bars are readily available. Build up your inventory slowly. Use what you have to maximize profit and allocate a certain percentage of those profits toward inventory expansion. Don't be one of those people who get so excited that they are "in business" that they don't realize that "profit" is the engine that makes it all worthwhile. You already have polishes for major corrections so over time build up a small inventory of cleaner-waxes and AIO products for those jobs that simply do not need a significant amount of correction. For clay products I prefer Mother's over Meguiars.

any help, advice, feedback is appreciated.

thank you,

Scott

P.s. i will include some before pics of the escort. and after pics at some point.
Click to expand...

....
 
Sounds like you have plenty of products to get started. Be sure to read the label of any compound or polish you're using and see what the manufacture recommends.

It's all about the abrasive technology that determines the type of results you get. Some "Pro" product, designed for use at body shops are also only designed or intended for use with rotary buffers. So check that if you're seeing haze after using a DA Polisher with a compound or polish formulated for use with rotary buffers.

Besides that... don't get caught up into doing show car detailing for daily drivers. Find a good cleaner/wax that you like to use and get to know how to get the best results from it.


See this article,


A few tips on starting a part-time detailing business
Match your services to your customer



:)
 
thank you guys its appreciated. im thinking of using the mothers California cleaner wax, after putting that on do i need to wax on top of it or leave it alone. i've always waxed after wards.

for my carpet extractor. whats a good cleaner to pair with that, im using zep citrus degreaser. i heard of woolite being thrown around quite a bit
 
You can top a cleaner wax with a finishing wax or a spray wax. I recommend Optimum Car Wax. It is in spray form so it is easy to apply, smells pretty good, and above all has the durability of a non-spray wax. I have seen 5 mos. with daily drivers I have detailed.
 
also im thinking of getting lake country foam pads. but i am getting mixed reviews on these that they fall apart other love them. i want something that wont break the bank but a the same time is a decent pad. i like lake country's prices but do they last?
 
right now all i have is meguires ultimate wax. and so far i really like it. but its not a matter of what i like, i want something that performs, holds up and that i also like. and when i start my co workers cars, they will like it too.

i will look into the optimum
 
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