What should I buy while on a budget

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dctv411

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Recently I have been getting really heavy into detailing and I play on starting my own business. I have a budget of about 500-700 dollars and I would like to know what products you would recommend for each product family I have listed below.



• Agitator Brush
• Compressed air
• Upholstery brush
• Upholstery Cleaner
• MF Towels
• Leather Cleaner
• Leather Condition
• Shop Towels
• Q-Tips
• Dash Brush (paint brush)
• Vent Brush
• Interior Dressing
• APC
• Glass Cleaner
• Wheel Well Brush
• Wheel Brush
• Rim Brush
• Degreaser
• Brightner
• Telescopic Washing brush
• Wash Mitt
• Bucket
• Grit Guard
• Grill Brush
• Pressure Washer
• Drying Towels
• Chamois
• Car Shampoo
• Chrome polish
• Aluminum Polish
• Clay Bar Medium
• Clay Bar Light
• Clay Lubricant
• Compounding Pad
• Clear Coat Compound
• Polishing Pad
• Polish
• Finishing Pad
• Glaze
• Paint Sealent
• Carnuba Wax
• Quick Detailer
• Detailers Tape
• Exterior Tire and Trim Dressing
and DA Polisher
 
Since I see compressed air on there tornador black. (On my next item to buy list!!)

Sent from my SGH-T889 using AG Online
 
Detailing can be a lucrative business and the more satisfied customers you have the more repeat and new customers you'll get.

I've tried to trim your list out a bit


  • MF Towels
  • Leather Cleaner
  • Leather Condition
  • Q-Tips
  • Dash Brush (paint brush)
  • Vent Brush
  • Interior Dressing
  • APC
  • Glass Cleaner
  • Wheel Well Brush
  • Wheel Brush
  • Degreaser
  • Wash Mitt
  • Bucket
  • Grit Guard
  • Cobra Guzzler Towels
  • Car Shampoo
  • Chrome polish
  • Clay Bar
  • Clay Lubricant
  • Foam Pad
  • Compound
  • Polish
  • Paint Sealent
  • Carnauba Wax
  • Quick Detailer
  • Detailer's Tape
  • Exterior Tire and Trim Dressing
  • DA Polisher

If you'd like some product suggestions that perform, take a look at these. I will guarantee they will not disappoint...

Wash - Duragloss #901
Clay - Meguiar's
Compound - Menzerna FG-400
Polish - Menzerna PF-2500
Finishing Polish - Menzerna SF-4000
Sealant - CarPro Reload
Wax - Collinite 845
Spray Wax - Optimum Car Wax
Tire Cleaner - Meguiar's Super Degreaser
Wheel Cleaner - Sonax Full Effect
Tire Treatment - CarPro PERL
Wheel Protectant - Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0
Trim Protectant - CarPro DLux
All Purpose Cleaner - Optimum Power Clean
Glass Cleaner - Meguiar's Glass Cleaner
Glass Treatment - Aquapel
Interior Protectant - Meguiar's M40

Foam Pads

Yellow Cutting Foam - Use this pad to apply compounds or polishes to remove severe oxidation, swirls, and scratches. It is the most aggressive and should only be used on oxidized and older finishes. Always follow this pad with an orange or white pad and a fine polish to refine the paint until it is smooth.

Orange Light Cutting Foam - Firm, high density foam for scratch and defect removal. Use this pad with polishes and swirl removers. It’s an all-around pad that will work on most light to moderate imperfections.

White Polishing Foam - Less dense foam formula for the application of waxes, micro-fine polishes and sealants. This pad has very light cutting power so it’s perfect for pre-wax cleaners.

Gray Finishing Foam Pad - Composition is firm enough to withstand added pressure during final finishing to remove buffer swirls. It has no cut and will apply thin, even coats of waxes, sealants, and glazes.

Blue Finessing Foam – Pad has soft composition for applying glaze, finishing polish, sealants, and liquid waxes. Flat pad provides full contact with paint surface to minimize the pressure applied by the user.[FONT=&quot]
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• Agitator Brush Any medium brissle brush
• Compressed air
• Upholstery brush Any medium brissle brush
• Upholstery Cleaner save money get APC (all purpose cleaner) it has more than one use.
• MF Towels Rolled edges on your budget
• Leather Cleaner pinnacle leather cleaner & conditioner (2 in 1)
• Leather Condition see above
• Shop Towels local hardware store
• Q-Tips
• Dash Brush (paint brush) crafts store or swissvax
• Vent Brush see above
• Interior Dressing optimum tire gel (dont let the name fool you read the description) saves alot of money has many uses
• APC Megs d101
• Glass Cleaner stoners
• Wheel Well Brush mothers 3pc set
• Wheel Brush daytona
• Rim Brush wheel/rim = samething see above
• Degreaser megs
• Brightner ??
• Telescopic Washing brush
• Wash Mitt wookies/sea foam
• Bucket lowes/home depot
• Grit Guard any
• Grill Brush brush from the mothers 3pc listed above
• Pressure Washer
• Drying Towels Guzzler
• Chamois Chamois scratch/mar paint i wouldnt use one
• Car Shampoo Mothers Gold/Maybe some ONR for rinseless washes
• Chrome polish
• Aluminum Polish
• Clay Bar Medium Meguiars
• Clay Bar Light see above
• Clay Lubricant If you get ONR you can dilute it down and not need a standalone product for lube
• Compounding Pad
• Clear Coat Compound
• Polishing Pad
• Polish
• Finishing Pad
• Glaze
• Paint Sealent
• Carnuba Wax
• Quick Detailer ONR again so thats 3 uses on one product (wallet friendly)
• Detailers Tape Megs
• Exterior Tire and Trim Dressing Optimum (again many uses see above)
and DA Polisher Megs again

Built for your budget and bobby covered the rest. should save you money and one product will have multiple uses.
 
dctv411 said:
Recently I have been getting really heavy into detailing and I play on starting my own business. I have a budget of about 500-700 dollars and I would like to know what products you would recommend for each product family I have listed below.
Click to expand...



• Agitator Brush
Plenty to choos from there. Look at the Mother's stuff.
• Compressed air
Compressor alone is going to blow the budget.
• Upholstery brush
Mother's perhaps for a budget brush
• Upholstery Cleaner
Megs APC or APC+ Mix it down for different uses
• MF Towels
Woah there.... this alone will get expensive. Like the 530's, stock up on Costco Eurow 350's for general use. Make SURE to look at Microfiber Tech for the case prices!
• Leather Cleaner
• Leather Condition
Pinnacle or Megs
• Shop Towels
Costco Eurow's and Microfiber Tech also CG's
• Q-Tips
Generics
• Dash Brush (paint brush)
• Vent Brush
Soft bristle nylon and grab some makeup brushes
• Interior Dressing
Plenty of Meg's that'll work as well as 303 Aeropace Protectant and Optimum
• APC
Megs
• Glass Cleaner
Stoners, available OTC literally everywhere
• Wheel Well Brush
Mother's or any other long handle brush
• Wheel Brush
• Rim Brush
DI wheel brush kit or Daytona kit (Daytona's are a good bit more money)
• Degreaser
Megs
• Brightner
Like whitewall stuff or metal brightner? BlechWhite and/or a good mild acid wheel cleaner
• Telescopic Washing brush
????
• Wash Mitt
Griot's
• Bucket
Lowes are CHEAP and GOOD :)
• Grit Guard
It's Grit Guard for a reason
• Grill Brush
stated above
• Pressure Washer
Anything with a Honda engine! ;)
• Drying Towels
• Chamois
Whatever you can afford, some like plush others like waffle and others blow it off and use 460's or less.
• Car Shampoo
Megs Gold for the budget or Duragloss from NAPA
• Chrome polish
• Aluminum Polish
OTC stuff will do fine
• Clay Bar Medium
• Clay Bar Light
Megs or Griot's - Griot's has 3 levels.
• Clay Lubricant
ONR all the way!
• Compounding Pad
You'll need Yellow, Orange and White at the very least plus some Microfiber pads
• Clear Coat Compound
Megs 101, 105. 300 and Megs 205
• Polishing Pad
White, Blue, Black at the very least (and possibly MF pads but not needed)
• Polish
Megs 205, Optimum, WG
• Finishing Pad
Black, Red
• Glaze
Megs, Griot's, WG,
• Carnuba Wax
Take your pick - Collinite is good, and cheap too.
• Paint Sealent
Megs M21
• Quick Detailer
ONRWW can work, it's a GREAT product to have around!
Meg's has a couple choices that finish better
• Detailers Tape
3M OTC
• Exterior Tire and Trim Dressing
WG Vinyl & Rubber, 303 Aerospace Protectant, Megs Purple +1
and DA Polisher
Griot's GG6

Having said all that, lemee say this;
You will blow $500+ on the DA and pads, plus pad cleaner, pad conditioner etc. before you get outta' the box. :)

That list is going to set you back a oouple grand (without a compressor or pressure washer) to do it right.:cool:

Later,

Cardaddy
 
Since you have DA polisher listed, does this mean you're currently doing your work by hand?

A DA polisher will enable you to work faster and do better work but if you're primary doing "production detailing" then you want to keep any of your paint steps focused on either using a cleaner/wax or two steps.

A two step would be like using a good medium cut polish that finishes out really nice and then applying a wax or the Meguiar's Microfiber Pad DA Correction System where the second step is a polish/wax.

A one step would be like using Pinnacle XMT 360, Optimum G-P-S or Meguiar's D151, some type of all-in-one cleaner/wax.


See this article, it's a topic I teach in all my classes and at Mobil Tech Expo...

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



:)
 
I'm gonna have to agree with Cardaddy. I was very pleased with the cost of the DA machine alone.............then I started ordering pads. A couple months later I've probably spent three times more on pads than the machine. Couldn't be happier though! :)
 
That's a lot listed and several post hit most of them. But I will say take a good look at the link Mike directed you to as well as his other how to links. Also, grab Renny Doyle's book as well as Mike's. Will be two of the most versatile tools in your detailing arsenal. There are so many products you could buy but what makes you money is knowing how to run a business. So take you time and do your homework and be realistic with you goals. Make a plan as rough as it might be at first and build on it from there.
As for saving money on detailing supplies, I would check all the baragain outlets in your area, like Big Lots and Ollie's. They bargain outlet Ollie's in my city always has something detail oriented that I can use. Don't look for brushes in just the automotive section of stores. Look in kitchen and home/garden sections. I found some tampico brushes in the kitchen section at Ollie's and bought several. Tampico is a natural plant fiber and is very durable and resistant. You can use one for interiors, one for lower ext. sections and wheel wells and tires. The fibers rinse cleaner than most synthetic(plastic/nylon) fibers.
For leather cleaner and true APC I would just stick with OPC(Optimum Power Clean). For regular APC task like wells, wheels and tires, try out Simple Green's Pro HD(purplish/blue) formula. About $15 a gallon and can make up to about 16 gallons. It is as safe as OPC, Just not recommended for leather, suede, unfinished wood, plastic instrument panels, opals or pearls. I use it for dirtier task that I don't want to waste OPC on. Also, it is a deodorizer so great for interior use or anywhere stink occurs in/on a vehicle. Simple Green has a great selection if chemicals for automotive/detailing uses, and are very economical. They even have a spray on metal polish I will be trying sooner or later.
Speaking of metal polish, the simple green one is an option for light cleaning and polishing. For heavier metal polishing and tarnish removal I would recommend Flitz. I can be used on pretty much any hard surface including paint and plastics. And it has a protectant/wax in it that last 3-6 months in wet conditions. I've heard good things about Optimum metal polish as well. All of Optimums products deserve a look/try. One of the most eco friendly(both $/Earth) product lines available.
Like Mike was stating with the PC, it would be one of the best places to spend your money as it is one other most multipurpose goods you can have. I use mine for polishing, waxing, sanding, scrubbing interiors(with brush attachments), and several uses around the house that parallel auto uses. My 7424(NON-XP) has been going strong since 2005.
Also, take a look at Harbor Frieght. Many good deals on tools that will get you by until you save money to buy better named brand tools.
Hope this all adds to helping you.:)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using AG Online
 
I agree that you take baby steps before you start thinking about multi-step, show car detailing.

I'd start with a PC DA polisher, 5.5" flat pads, and a good AIO product like Mike mentioned (I would add Duragloss 501 in that list), ...or if you really think that you are beyond using an AIO...the Wolfgang twins (or Meg's Microfiber DA system) are perfect for anyone wanting to get going on a budget and are easy-to-use products that produce CONSISTENT results.
 
spiralout462 said:
I'm gonna have to agree with Cardaddy. I was very pleased with the cost of the DA machine alone.............then I started ordering pads. A couple months later I've probably spent three times more on pads than the machine. Couldn't be happier though! :)
Click to expand...

Yup, and so was my wife! (with the cost of the machine) ;)

Then 3 orders later I popped for a $450 pad order! :laughing:
Since then, even more orders, a couple more pads (need MORE still) and still don't have all the supplies and especially towels I need. :rolleyes:

Considering I've yet to charge anyone for services, (hobby for me, and teaching the kid to detail, hopefully for money) I'm all to well aware of that $2K figure. I wish it were a theoretical figure as I fear that amount is far less than what I spent long before AG came along. Since then, it just gets worse. :eek:

Which reminds me, been doing taxes this week and ain't it a shame you cannot claim a loss on "hobbies"? :laughing: (By God they'll let you claim a PROFIT!) :(
 
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