Waterless Car Detailing - Please Help !

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Investortn

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I am seriously considering going into business for myself as a detailer. I worked at just about every detail shop in town during my teens and early twenties and considered myself very good at the trade. I am very price conscious and would like to do this with only the necesarry start up money. I have ruled out leasing a space at a garage or wash bay . I like the idea of mobile detailing, but to buy a trailer and portable water tank, pressure washer, etc. would be quite expensive. I have been reading about "Waterless Detailing Products" and am very interested in these , but am skeptical at the same time. It has been 10 years since I worked in this business and this method was not around at that time ( atleast I was not aware of it). Maybe I am reading some of this info incorrectly but I am under the impression that people are using no water at all to detail vehicles. Is it possible to achieve a FULL Detail without the use of water ? Obviously if a vehicle
has 3 inches of mud caked on it then the need for water seems imperative. Also, what products would you all recommend ? I am looking for a product line that will get the job done where I can get the best bang for my buck. There are so many products on line that I would rather take some recommendations as opposed to testing some of these products out by trial and error. I would like to market myself as kind of a "Green Detailer" so a product line that is environmentally safe is what I am looking for . If I can do complete details without the use of water as well then I have constructed a pretty nice marketing strategy for this already and I think that I could be pretty succesful. Please help me out and let me know everything you can shed light on regarding Waterless Detailing. Thanks so much . I look forward to hearing from you guys . Thanks a lot !
 
Waterless washes IMO are best used on lightly dirty cars. No rinse products like DP No Rinse and Optimum ORN are likely best for detailing with water restrictions and where a hose/tank are unlikely. You do use some water, just not a traditional rinse.

Autogeek use to offer a green line with Environ in title but cannot remember the name specifically.
 
Thanks for the response ! It sounds as if I would be able to achieve a full detail as long as the vehicles weren't extremely dirty, correct ? My whole purpose for this is to not have to buy a pressure washer and water tank and to market myself as a "green detailer" who can do waterless washes. If this is far-fetched please advise. When the time comes that i might need to use some water what is the most efficient and cost effective way of doing this without using a huge tank, pressure washer, or someone's spigot ? Thanks for your help. I'm ready to get this off the ground.
 
Investortn said:
Thanks for the response ! It sounds as if I would be able to achieve a full detail as long as the vehicles weren't extremely dirty, correct ? My whole purpose for this is to not have to buy a pressure washer and water tank and to market myself as a "green detailer" who can do waterless washes. If this is far-fetched please advise. When the time comes that i might need to use some water what is the most efficient and cost effective way of doing this without using a huge tank, pressure washer, or someone's spigot ? Thanks for your help. I'm ready to get this off the ground.
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Read carefully, waterless washes, say like Poorboys Spray and Wipe would be different from products like optimum no rinse.

One is in a spray bottle. Optimum, you mix with a couple gallons of water and wipe on the car and then dry. ONR may be used for much more than say Spray and Wipe.
 
Thanks for the response Ryan. I will continue to do my research.
 
I use ONR because San Antonio is under water restrictions, and it's going to get worse here before it gets better. I use it weekly on my family's cars (5 in total) and so the cars never get that dirty. With ONR, you wipe an area then, with a microfiber towel, wipe the area dry. I've gotten used to ONR and have gotten decent results from it.
 
I happen to be a big fan of Poorboy's Spray & Wipe and while I don't use it on seriously dirty vehicles, I have seen it done.
The rinseless washes such as ONR and DP RW&G. I have used on much dirtier vehicles.
With either a waterless or rinseless wash, I usually take a really grungy vehicle to the DIY spray wash to knock off the heavier crud.
For those that shudder at the though of using a car wash because it is hard on your LSP, they won't even remove all the road grime. How can they remove wax/sealant.

Doing the detail for a paying customer, you may get some resistance to taking it to a car wash and you may also get some resistance to the use of a waterless wash.
At least the rinseless washes use a bucket and would probably be more acceptable to your customers.

One other comment. Being a detailer for pay isn't quite as simple and easy as it looks.
 
Hi Investortn,

I have been operating a fixed detailing center for the last 2 years will be going the "Green" mobile detailing route soon and have been surveying the different options available. IMO, I will be getting a good steam cleaner to clean off the mud and crud but I am still lost on which product to go with. I have researched a lot on Freedom. I would like to hear from the others who have used this product as well as others. Feed back please Good luck to you.

Danny Nordin
Zany Details
Brunei Darussalam
 
Investortn said:
I have been reading about "Waterless Detailing Products" and am very interested in these , but am skeptical at the same time. It has been 10 years since I worked in this business and this method was not around at that time ( at least I was not aware of it). Maybe I am reading some of this info incorrectly but I am under the impression that people are using no water at all to detail vehicles. Is it possible to achieve a FULL Detail without the use of water ? Obviously if a vehicle
has 3 inches of mud caked on it then the need for water seems imperative.
Click to expand...


Great questions...

There's a section of our forum that we're always constantly building up to be a resource of information, it's called the

Detailer's Library

It has a number of different forum groups in it and one of them is called,

Hot topics and Frequently asked questions

In this forum group I just wrote and posted two related articles, one even has a picture of a truck with 3" of caked on mud!

FosterMudFlats011_887203.jpg




Here you go...


How dirty is too dirty to safely use a rinseless wash?


And here's another one...

The difference between a Normal Car Wash, a Waterless Car Wash, a Rinseless Car Wash and a Spray Detailer

:)
 
I haven't found anything that ONR hasn't worked on yet. But then again, I haven't had a mud racer to work on.
 
CharlesW said:
While both are good products, they are not waterless washes.
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True, as you need about 2 gallons of water or so - I just wonder if a product like DP Waterless Auto Wash is going to be enough for the average dirty car. In my mind, products like ONR and DP Rinseless Wash and Gloss are safer. Maybe I'm wrong on this one, I don't know. :dunno:
 
CieraSL said:
True, as you need about 2 gallons of water or so - I just wonder if a product like DP Waterless Auto Wash is going to be enough for the average dirty car. In my mind, products like ONR and DP Rinseless Wash and Gloss are safer. Maybe I'm wrong on this one, I don't know. :dunno:
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I don't think you are wrong in your assessment.
I do use a lot of waterless product as well as rinseless product on our vehicles and if the vehicle is extremely dirty, it gets the pre-rinse at the DIY wash before I use either product.
I will do a rinseless wash on a vehicle that is much dirtier than one I would clean with a waterless product.
I can't comment on the DP since I have never used it.
 
CharlesW said:
I don't think you are wrong in your assessment.
I do use a lot of waterless product as well as rinseless product on our vehicles and if the vehicle is extremely dirty, it gets the pre-rinse at the DIY wash before I use either product.
I will do a rinseless wash on a vehicle that is much dirtier than one I would clean with a waterless product.
I can't comment on the DP since I have never used it.
Click to expand...

OK. Gotcha. :xyxthumbs:
 
I think one thing that would make the rinseless products a better choice for a professional detailer is customer acceptance.
Taking a spray bottle and a rag* and wiping someone's car down may be a little too much for a lot of people.
(*Rag, $10 MF, all the same to the general public.)

At least the rinseless wash has the bucket and wash mitt that they are more familiar with.

Addendum: And I realize this is an old thread, but it is a very current subject
 
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Thanks for the great resources Mike. I was just wondering, in a mobile setup, could I get caked on mud (not as bad as the truck above) using a good steam/vapor cleaner. If so, would you be able to recommend a few good one you've personally seen in action, used or have heard from others?

I would like to eliminate using a pressure washer if at all possible. :dblthumb2:

Danny Nordin
Zany Details
Brunei Darussalam
 
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