Mike,
just to clarify, are you spraying Iron X onto a dry surface or something that might already be wet, especially if you are doing this after cleaning the wheels.
Just want to make sure I understand correctly.
Thanks.
I spray the Iron X onto a dry surface if I'm already planning on buffing out the paint. This is approach is in keeping wiht my practice of only claying or using tools like Nanoskin products if I'm already planning on buffing out the paint. See my comment down below about how the cars I work on, at least when doing this type of work are already in bad condition and I post the "bad condition" shots below to.
I used to wash the car first to remove any loose dirt so it's
r-e-m-o-v-e-d off the car and out of the way so the Iron X can go right to work without a layer of dirt in the way impeding the chemical reaction.
After using Iron X over time I found leaving the dirt on the car helped to trap the Iron X
ONTO the car so it doesn't simply run off and onto the car. The dirt film helps to provide what's called
dwell time.
PLUS - Often time
I share pictures on the forum and if you look at any of my Iron X pictures I tend to use
very neglected white cars as this shows the bleeding effect in the most dramatic manner.
It's the
picture impact that has so much value.
Now knowing this... for pictures purposes, it also helps to spray the Iron X onto a dirty, dry car.
As I stated in
post #2 - the first sentence after the caption,
Mike Phillips said:
This is how I use Iron X.
You can modify this approach to suit your own tastes.
When cleaning the wheels and specifically
rinsing the wheels and wheel wells, I just be careful not to be a slob about it and get water everywhere.
In this write-up here, note that these pictures were taken at my last Detailing Boot Camp Class so this means I'm teaching the wheels first approach and the students are learning the wheels first then the car order of washing a car.
The Aggressive Approach to Washing a Car
When they were rinsing the wheels off
they actually sprayed some water onto the car. The pictures I didn't take or have taken was the picture of me gently patting the water spray off the hood to remove it so I could get these dramatic pictures.
Start at the top and work your way down
After washing the wheels and tires first, next start at the top and work your way down. This is also explained in detail in my first two books.
Bleeding like a Stuck Pig
The first step for our aggressive approach is to chemically decontaminate the paint using Iron X. Here you can see the white paint on this Camaro bleeding like a stuck pig.
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After the Iron X does its thing --> you <-- can rinse it off and then wash the car.
Me?
If I'm washing a car that is this contaminated this means I'm also going to buff it out or it's going to get buffed out in a class I'm teaching so I don't really care if the Iron X is rinsed off first and then the car is washed or if while the Iron X is still on the car we foam it and then wash it BECAUSE we're going to buff it out anyway.
And the even bigger pictures is these cars I work on personally, or the cars I use for my classes are usually already starting out in trashed condition so it's not like I'm making anything worse. They are already worse.
Here's what we did next to the above car.....
Use the Foam Gun to Foam the Car
Next we use the foam gun to slather the car's body panels with car wash foam.
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And when I say this car was in bad condition before we started here's the picture documentation....
2002 SS Camaro Extreme Makeover! - Pictures & Comments
Photography tip for discussion forums....
First frame-up your shot so your audience knows what the heck you're actually taking pictures of for your article. In this example it's a 2000 SS Camaro with a white basecoat/clearcoat paint finish.
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Photography Tip - Use a reference point when cropping pictures
When cropping out the fluff, do it in a way to still include some type of reference point in the picture so your audience will know what section of the car you're showcasing.
In this example I showing the cobweb swirls, spiderweb swirls and scratches to the right side of the air scoop on the hood so I include enough detail so the audience can easily understand the location of the defects.
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Photography Tip - Zoom in and take a close-up shot of the defects you what to share
After capturing the frame of reference shot, THEN zoom in and get the close-up shot. Without the frame of reference shots the close-ups don't has as much impact.
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In the below pictures you'll see the shot framed-up and then I'll zoom in to highlight the defects.
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The power in the after shot is in the before shot
Showing pictures of a beautifully detailed car is great. Lots of people do it. The intense impact is lacking however if you don't also show your starting point, that is the before shots.
The above pictures show cobweb swirls, spiderweb swirls and scratches as well as provide some tips on how to use your camera to capture accurate examples of defects in paint when writing an article to showcase your detailing talent.
If you're in business to make money, sharing your work via before and after pictures on a discussion forum, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, your own website or blog is a great way to demonstrate to future potential customers that you can be trusted to do the job right when they hire you.
You can also separate yourself from all your competition that cannot or will not document their work using quality pictures.
Good photography skills can be just as powerful of a tool as the skills you possess to use a buffer so practice till you hone your skills and then share your work.
And of course, the car came out amazing....
So my approach works for me. Everyone can find a way that works for them. Some of the approaches I use might not work for other people and I'm okay with that as the saying goes, there' more ways than one to skin a cat.
Plus, some people are NOT working on cars that are neglected for years and basically trashed, so everyone needs to use their own common sense and if in doubt....
Start a thread asking for help on this forum. This forum is a
tool just like Iron X.
Hope that helps...
:xyxthumbs:
(just kidding)
