Tips for speeding up the detailing process

[Mister B]

Roughly how long does it take you to do a detail (interior and exterior)?

It always takes me at least 2 days, sometimes 3 days depending on the level of paint correction I do. Maybe I take too many breaks....

I did this Jeep Grand Cherokee for a relative last week and it took me 2 days. (probably 15 hours or so +/-)

I don't do this as a business, just as a hobby for my own vehicle and family and friends vehicle's once in a while and I would like to cut down my time and be able to finish them in one day.

Does anyone have any tips that would enable me to cut down the time I spend on their vehicles (without reducing quality) and be able to actually finish in one days time?

My normal process is:

Wash
Dry
Remove tar
Clay bar
Tape up trim to avoid compound residue
Compound/Polish (1 or 2 steps via PCXP)
Wax (via PCXP)
Dress Plastic Trim
Dress Tires
Vacuum interior
Wipe down interior
Clean door jambs with APC and microfibers followed by quick detailer or spray wax.
Clean Windows.

Thanks.

 

[daveinsweethome]

only thing i see is the possible use of a good one step polish if it fits the car/customer. two come to mind prima amigo (favorite) and xmt 360 corrects.(nearly dust free when finished down)

 

[dougaross]

IMO - Use a flex3401 instead of PCXP

 

[SeaJay's]

On a full paint correction (3 step) it will usually take me 15+ hours. I like to take my time and don't rush things. I usually take more time that I need, so I ensure I over estimate my time. Just because with my full paint corrections I ensure that every little detail is taken care of. So, those little extras add up.

Even on my normal deluxe detail it takes me 4-5 hours on a normal size sedan.

My process for this is

Vacuum interior
Pressure wash mats
Clean all surfaces
Spot removal on carpets
Dress all areas
Vinyl or leather seats are then cleaned and dressed
Windows
Carpets are then steam cleaned or shampooed if required.

Then I move to the exterior

Pretreat bugs, tar, etc
Wheels/tires/wheel wells
Then if I choose to foam I will if not it gets a good rinse with the PW
Then 2 bucket wash
while car is wet I clay using ONR as lube - dry as I go
Go back and remove any left over tar or sap spots.
Windows
Wax
Polish any chrome, metal etc
dress tires
clean door jambs.
Final walk through

 

[CrownKote]

Roughly how long does it take you to do a detail (interior and exterior)?

It always takes me at least 2 days, sometimes 3 days depending on the level of paint correction I do. Maybe I take too many breaks....

I did this Jeep Grand Cherokee for a relative last week and it took me 2 days. (probably 15 hours or so +/-)

I don't do this as a business, just as a hobby for my own vehicle and family and friends vehicle's once in a while and I would like to cut down my time and be able to finish them in one day.

Does anyone have any tips that would enable me to cut down the time I spend on their vehicles (without reducing quality) and be able to actually finish in one days time?

My normal process is:

Wash
Dry
Remove tar
Clay bar
Tape up trim to avoid compound residue
Compound/Polish (1 or 2 steps via PCXP)
Wax (via PCXP)
Dress Plastic Trim
Dress Tires
Vacuum interior
Wipe down interior
Clean door jambs with APC and microfibers followed by quick detailer or spray wax.
Clean Windows.

Thanks.

Vacuum/Extract interior
Wipe down interior/dress
Clean Windows (interior)
Clean door jambs (with APC, brush, and microfibers followed spray wax)
Clean Wheels/Tires/Wells
Wash (with ONR)
Clay bar
Dry
Evaluate paint condition
Tape
Test spot
Compound/Polish (1 or 2 steps via GG or Flex PE14-2 if heavy cut needs done)
Wax (via GG)
Dress Plastic Trim
Dress Tires
Clean Windows (Exterior)

This is what I do on my Level Three details and up... Moving from the inside out tends to save me time and worry about touching the freshly done exterior...

It takes me about 10 hours to do a Level Three and time goes up from there depending on what condition they want the paint to be in when I am done...

only thing i see is the possible use of a good one step polish if it fits the car/customer. two come to mind prima amigo (favorite) and xmt 360 corrects.(nearly dust free when finished down)

I love it when I can use a onestep! Makes things about 50x easier

 

[Kaleb G.]

The things that set me back are not being organized and taking breaks. Im mobile and do all of my corrections out of my parents' garage. I don't live with my parents, though, and don't have any way of spreading my stuff out in their garage to make it easily accessible.

Thinking about picking up a cart to set up each time I go home.

My makita has made correcting a lot faster. I still use my pcxp for finishing, though.

 

[Mister B]

On a full paint correction (3 step) it will usually take me 15+ hours. I like to take my time and don't rush things. I usually take more time that I need, so I ensure I over estimate my time. Just because with my full paint corrections I ensure that every little detail is taken care of. So, those little extras add up.

Even on my normal deluxe detail it takes me 4-5 hours on a normal size sedan.

My process for this is

Vacuum interior
Pressure wash mats
Clean all surfaces
Spot removal on carpets
Dress all areas
Vinyl or leather seats are then cleaned and dressed
Windows
Carpets are then steam cleaned or shampooed if required.

Then I move to the exterior

Pretreat bugs, tar, etc
Wheels/tires/wheel wells
Then if I choose to foam I will if not it gets a good rinse with the PW
Then 2 bucket wash
while car is wet I clay using ONR as lube - dry as I go
Go back and remove any left over tar or sap spots.
Windows
Wax
Polish any chrome, metal etc
dress tires
clean door jambs.
Final walk through

WOW, I don't think I could ever do all that in 4 - 5 hours. (I wished I could)
I spent like 3 hours sweeping the inside of the Jeep and wiping down all interior plastic with Quik Interior Detailer and then cleaning all the door jambs.

I'm obviously wasting a lot of time somewhere and/or need different tools and processes.

 

[Kaleb G.]

Mister b, you do great work, which is more important than the time it takes to do it. I definitely understand wanting to spead up, though. I hate having to keep other people's cars for more than a day.

 

[SeaJay's]

WOW, I don't think I could ever do all that in 4 - 5 hours. (I wished I could)
I spent like 3 hours sweeping the inside of the Jeep and wiping down all interior plastic with Quik Interior Detailer and then cleaning all the door jambs.

I'm obviously wasting a lot of time somewhere and/or need different tools and processes.

Really?! I always thought I was pretty slow! lol. Which is fine by me. I don't rush things. I like to take my time and ensure I'm doing the job right.

I have sped up some over the past year or so. I'm detailing a lot more I think that's why. I have a system and I just do the same thing each time. You eventually get better at it.

 

[CrownKote]

On a full paint correction (3 step) it will usually take me 15+ hours. I like to take my time and don't rush things. I usually take more time that I need, so I ensure I over estimate my time. Just because with my full paint corrections I ensure that every little detail is taken care of. So, those little extras add up.

Even on my normal deluxe detail it takes me 4-5 hours on a normal size sedan.

My process for this is

Vacuum interior
Pressure wash mats
Clean all surfaces
Spot removal on carpets
Dress all areas
Vinyl or leather seats are then cleaned and dressed
Windows
Carpets are then steam cleaned or shampooed if required.

Then I move to the exterior

Pretreat bugs, tar, etc
Wheels/tires/wheel wells
Then if I choose to foam I will if not it gets a good rinse with the PW
Then 2 bucket wash
while car is wet I clay using ONR as lube - dry as I go
Go back and remove any left over tar or sap spots.
Windows
Wax
Polish any chrome, metal etc
dress tires
clean door jambs.
Final walk through

Really?! I always thought I was pretty slow! lol. Which is fine by me. I don't rush things. I like to take my time and ensure I'm doing the job right.

I have sped up some over the past year or so. I'm detailing a lot more I think that's why. I have a system and I just do the same thing each time. You eventually get better at it.

That sounds about right... For my Level Two (what your "Deluxe" is) It takes me between 4.5-6 hours dependent on vehicle size and soil level...

 

[Mister B]

Really?! I always thought I was pretty slow! lol. Which is fine by me. I don't rush things. I like to take my time and ensure I'm doing the job right.

I have sped up some over the past year or so. I'm detailing a lot more I think that's why. I have a system and I just do the same thing each time. You eventually get better at it.

Yea, I suppose the more you do the faster you get and you get a system down. I've only done like 6 vehicles for family and friends over the past 8 month's or so.

 

[Mister B]

Mister b, you do great work, which is more important than the time it takes to do it.

Thanks

I definitely understand wanting to spead up, though. I hate having to keep other people's cars for more than a day.

Yea, that is my main reason for wanting to speed things up and get it done in one day.

 

[BobbyG]

Hey Brian,

The Cherokee would take me about 8 to 9 full hours to complete.. You do this as more of a hobby so your plan of attack and time management will be a bit different than for someone that does this full time. I'm sort of a hobbyist so time isn't a top priority.

Everything you mention above looks in order however I would jot down the amount of time it took you for each step including breaks. Once you establish some times it should give you an indication of where you need to focus your attention in order to reduce the length of time is takes to complete.

Here's an example

Wash - 30 minutes
Dry - 30 minutes
Remove tar - 20 minutes
Clay bar - 30 minutes
Tape up trim to avoid compound residue - 4 hours
Compound/Polish (1 or 2 steps via PCXP) - 6 hours
Coffee Breaks - 2 hours

Tape

In the example above I would target the tape and paint correction and determine why it took so long especially taping. Taping should take 2 hours at most.

Paint correction

Paint correction time could be reduced by making adjustments to pad and product combinations. You may need to start with a more aggressive pad thus reducing the compound phase. Using a 1-Step product like Meguiar's D151 will give you an incredible finish and reduce time in the process

Coffee Breaks

I think you need to cut down on your caffeine intake...

 

[SeaJay's]

Yea, I suppose the more you do the faster you get and you get a system down. I've only done like 6 vehicles for family and friends over the past 8 month's or so.

You'll definitely get faster then. It took me probably 20 cars at least to finally realize that I was 1) not prepared, as in my stuff was all over the place, not organized so I wasted a lot of time looking for things, and 2) not following the same procedure. I kept changing it up to test things out.

So after that I sat down, wrote down each step and figure out a way that I thought would best flow. I have since stuck to it and have probably knocked 40 minutes or so off my detail time. I still take my time but I'm just quicker and know the areas to look for and how to tackle things in a quicker fashion.

Just keep practicing and you'll find a rhythm. Once you have a process down that works, look at it and see where you can trim the fat, i.e. wasting time looking for things, not having the right products on hand to tackle the job, etc.

 

[Mister B]

Moving from the inside out tends to save me time and worry about touching the freshly done exterior...

That is a good tip. I usually do the interior last (because it is my least favorite) and I'm always QDing the freshly polished exterior of dust. I should probably start doing the interior first.

Thanks

 

[Mister B]

Hey Brian,

Everything you mention above looks in order however I would jot down the amount of time it took you for each step including breaks. Once you establish some times it should give you an indication of where you need to focus your attention in order to reduce the length of time is takes to complete.

Good tip. I'll have to do that next time.

 

[gatoman39]

IMO - Use a flex3401 instead of PCXP

+1
Huge difference. Forced rotation cuts the time for correction/polishing. I have both so being able to use both machines and not swap backing plates etc, helps, but may not be economical for most.
For me being organized is huge. The detailing cart has really helped me be more efficient.
Having everything centralized and not searching or fumbling around saves a lot of time. If you have products and tools strewn across a garage, you're going to waste time hunting for things repeatedly.

 

[BobbyG]

I am just full of tips today.............I said TIPS!! :laughing:

Plan your attack!

What I mean by that is plan the way you approach the job. There's nothing that wastes more time than running around all disorganized wasting precious time..

I do the interior first. Once it's done the doors stay closed until the end so I can give the door jams a final cleaning and wipe down.

I treat each phase separately so I'm not going back having to redo something which consumes time and money.

Having a plan then sticking to it forces you to manage your time more efficiently.

Having your products and tools at the ready...

• Full Interior
  • Vacuum
  • Wash carpets
  • Wash seats
  • Headliner
  • Doors
  • Dash
  • Instrument panel
  • Trim
  • Leather / Plastic and vinyl treatment
  • Glass
• Wheel Wells
  • Scrub and rinse
• Tires & Wheels
  • Wash tires
  • Wash wheels
• Engine Compartment
  • Spray and clean
  • Dry
  • Wipe down
  • Rubber and plastic treatment
• Trunk
  • Vacuum
• Full Exterior
  • Wash
  • Clay
  • Tape
  • Paint correct
  • Seal
  • Wax
  • Trim treatment
  • Chrome
  • Glass
  • Door jams
  • Seal wheels
  • Treat tires

This is how I do it and I'm sure opinions will vary....
Lastly - Sit and take a break....