Where/How did you learn to detail?

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mcpp66

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What little I know I learned from mostly from this site. Did you get good at your craft through formal education or did you just pick this up and practice, practice, practice?
 
I originally learned back in the early 1990's. An old Eagle One VHS that I had turned me on to detailing. I ended up going to school for auto body and took apprentice jobs in shops. I wet sanded and buffed paint with a rotary and wool pads.

Later in life, read recently, I got back in to it and a group of friends helped me catch up on all the stuff I had missed in the last 16 years. I took it slow and got back in on a DA, then moved back in to rotary work. Lots of practice.

My short term goal is to actually take Mike's classes.
 
For me, it was practice, practice, practice. I didn't even know about this forum till not long ago. I learned quite a bit from someone I used to work with years ago. But, come to find out...he didn't know that much to begin with, ha.

I basically read a lot, watched a lot of videos, and was fortunate enough to have plenty of cars to practice on. :xyxthumbs:
 
Kristopher1129 said:
For me, it was practice, practice, practice. I didn't even know about this forum till not long ago. I learned quite a bit from someone I used to work with years ago. But, come to find out...he didn't know that much to begin with, ha.

I basically read a lot, watched a lot of videos, and was fortunate enough to have plenty of cars to practice on. :xyxthumbs:
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That's what I'm doing, practicing practicing practicing. When the weather breaks I'm going to do some cars of friends and relatives to get more experience. Unfortunately I have no car to practice with a rotary on, I'll have to buy some junk panels when I get to that point. I'm a Network Administrator during the day, but I think I want to start doing this on the weekends for extra money. I live in the northern panhandle of WV near Pittsburgh but I don't know of any schools in the area that I can go to. Don't really know how else to go about getting more skilled in this field.
 
Junk panels to practice on is a GREAT way to learn! Plus, you can try many different products and see what you like best. We used to make our own panels and then our instructor would damage them some how and we had to fix it.
 
mcpp66 said:
That's what I'm doing, practicing practicing practicing. When the weather breaks I'm going to do some cars of friends and relatives to get more experience. Unfortunately I have no car to practice with a rotary on, I'll have to buy some junk panels when I get to that point. I'm a Network Administrator during the day, but I think I want to start doing this on the weekends for extra money. I live in the northern panhandle of WV near Pittsburgh but I don't know of any schools in the area that I can go to. Don't really know how else to go about getting more skilled in this field.
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I think probably everybody on here will say they learned from practice. Mainly because you can read, and watch all you want. It's just one of those things where you need to develop your own style, system, techniques, and product choices.

That's what I love about this job. It's never done the same way by any one detailer. There's always new things to try, and new products to test, and TONS of opinions. I like it. :xyxthumbs:
 
My grandfather owned a small detailing business for 40 years... Called Mclutcheons. Best memories of him was buffing his impala ALL THE TIME, best part was when we were finished - he always had this jar of piled to the top of M&M's and would lemme grab handfulls and would say, now dont let that old bag your gramma ma find out LOLOL
 
I started in aviation back in the late 90's..... I went to one of the few highschools in the nation that offered an aircraft mechanics course (did it for 3 years). I did so well in the beginning of the class that my instructor found me a job when i was like 15 or 16 detailing planes at the airport. From there, joined the military.... worked on F-16's as a crewchief.... got out.... moved to Cali (for a woman lol) and worked at the #1 FBO in the nation at the time where I also picked up aircraft on the side to detail (where I learned ALOT - by a very knowledgeable guy) ..... that then turned into an opportunity to partner up and help expand an aircraft detailing company - we had 3 locations in Cali, St. Louis covered, Nashville, and I was opening a location in Indiana before crazy life stuff hit hard. Decided to start over last summer and diversify my clientele to include cars/Rv/buses/aircraft/everything! I had picked up many luxury rides back in the day with the aircraft detailing as well as many RVS.... so some experience was there - but not an immense amount. So I came to this forum to learn some of the more intricate areas of detailing cars and have learned some good things. The most important things I have learned from this forum is how the products work......... I had tested many systems and products on my own over the years just by talking to people and testing panels here and there on my own rides. But this forum and AG's site has taught me quite a bit in WHY and HOW a certain products work and don't work in certain situations. Great Forum and Great site. So to answer the thread properly I suppose - I learned everything I know through the past decade and some through my resume that I just apparently posted lol!
 
I started many years ago doing new car prep for a Porsche dealer. We actually did it right back then. Took several years off to start a career but the detailing bug bit about 3 years ago. It is amazing how much technology has changed over the years. AGO has taught me volumes and I learn more everyday from you guys.

There is no way that any one person can run a business, juggle family life, run a website, etc and still stay on top of all of the changing products and advancement in this industry. This is where these forums excel. A collective brain so to speak. I for one and grateful for everyone on here for their graciousness and willingness to share their own trade secrets with the rest of us.
 
I got into detailing when I was a kid. My father always spent his weekends detailing the family minivan. So, I'd always be out there helping him.

When I was old enough to have my own car I always kept it clean and waxed. But no where near the detail that I now go into with polishing and the quality of products I use now are much better.

This forum (as well as others) have contributed a ton to my knowledge, but as others have said practice is best. The idea for junk panels is a great idea. It will give you some practice with the different polishers and allow you to get a feel for them. I actually had the ability to work on my family cars and friends cars basically at discounted prices. This enabled me to get a feel for things and to see if this is really what I wanted to proceed with. Turns out it was!

I also work a full time job and do detailing on the side. Just be prepared to work ALOT! During the busy season I work my 40 hr job and schedule details whenever I can. So typically on the weekend I'm doing 4 details, and usually a couple during the week when I get out of work. So between detailing and my full time job I'm working 7 days a week, sometimes 14-16 hr days. If you plan on juggling both be prepared to be tired! Coming from experience it takes a lot to manage both. And to be honest I've noticed myself slacking off more at my day job.

My goal is to eventually take this to a full time gig if I can. But in order to do that I'm going to probably need a dedicated shop. Or to move some where warm! Which I'd love to!
 
My son and I spent the bucks and spent some time with Renny Doyle at his shop in Idaho. Expensive training, but worth it for sure. As a result of the training and work we've been doing, we're being considered to be the detailers for a KC-97 4 prop Aircraft in a local museum. Really looking forward to that one!
 
I started in a local body shop shagging finished cars and that slowly grew from me just washing and drying to me paying more and more attention to the "detail" I was providing... the boss didn't want to go further than just a quick was, dry, and vac so I ended up quitting there and getting a few limo companies (mostly small airport limos) until the state of CO decided that because the owners of the limo companies were writing off the details under my name they needed to charge me big taxes (I was only 17 and knew nothing about how that worked) I stopped that when I had to pay something like 3000.00 in taxes for making something like 6000.00 because I was not a "registered company". Went into mechanics moved to AR for family health reasons started working for a place called "Car Show of Bentonville" as their detailer detailing lots of high end cars and trucks for CEO's of Wal-Mart and Tyson, got married and moved back to CO only to get stuck in dead end jobs. Now I am starting up a pro detail shop in the Denver area growing it slowly...

I learned through trial and error on my cars at first then once I knew what not to do and what to do I practiced more and more... :buffing:
 
I started detailing when I was in 8th grade. My dad bought me a Milwaukee rotary some compound and polish and a few other things. He then proceded to give me a junky Plymouth Breeze and said "Here ya go knock your self out"

Back then I was a pretty bad detailer but as I got older I got much better. When I was introduced to AG my skills and abilities skyrocketed.

So to answer your question it started out as me with a little trial and error then to AG with practice.
 
It started when I turned 16 and got a new car. I literally washed it every single day after school and on the weekends, so much to the point of almost washing the single stage paint off. Back then I had no idea of "wax". I would spend hours and hours a week on it because I loved doing it.

After my paint started to fade my dad introduced me to a buffer, polish and wax. From that point on my "love" became an obssesion. I would think about it in class while i was at school and when I got home I would slap another coat of wax on 'er.

After high school I got a job at a local detail shop and was taught what "detailing" was. Owner took me under his wing and taught me alot.

Then I went to college, worked as a lot tech at a local dealership :(. didn't get to do much other than interrior work and washing. During that time I would pull side jobs off of new car owners and then it went from there. Started learning so much more once I got on the forums. I want to get back into it full time soon and hopefully make a living with it.
 
Back in 1986 when I bought My Chevy Camaro I took it to a Local detail shop here in town and told Mr Grice. That I wanted it to always look like it was new. So he told me about some products and things I would need to do. He had been detailing cars since around 1975 so he knew alot about it. I started hanging around him some and he taught me alot about it for sure. My first Professional Car product was P-34 Pro Gold made by Baf Industries. Then I got there Miracle wax and My first paste wax was Jack's Beauty shine which was a pink carnauba wax. Still have the old can. Mr Grice got me my first Polisher which was a Black & Decker Model 6138 Rotary which I still use and a 16 Pound Orbital buffer made by Gem. He also is the Man who got me started using Solvent dressing for my tires. And I still use it to this day. Over the years I have used just about every product line out there from Auto Magic, Ardex , Malco, Carbrite, Pro, Granitize and alot of others. So Mr Warren Grice is the One who got me into detailing. And also a lot of Hard work and keeping up with new products and not giving up. One other thing has been a big help for me. Is not thinking I know it all and willing to learn from others to.
 
I started in 2009 when I washed my new Camaro for the first time and saw swirls all over the place. I was sick to my stomach. I took it to a local detailer but I was just not satisfied with the results. I found this site, bought a ton of stuff (still buying tons of stuff), read the forums, watched the videos, put what I learned into practice, and prayed that I didn't screw up my Camaro.
 
Necessity was the mother of invention for me. I bought a Mustang in 1997 that I was absolutely in love with and wanted to take the best care of possible. I did a ton of research online and did everything I could do to really make it shine. I took it to a couple detail shops and watched their methods very carefully. Then in 2000 I found the internet and started cruising the websites relating to detailing. I found Autopia and my education went into high gear. Between my fairly decent client base at that time and a steady stream of new products coming out that I wanted to test, the rest, as they say, is history. :)
 
OCDetails said:
Necessity was the mother of invention for me. I bought a Mustang in 1997 that I was absolutely in love with and wanted to take the best care of possible. I did a ton of research online and did everything I could do to really make it shine. I took it to a couple detail shops and watched their methods very carefully. Then in 2000 I found the internet and started cruising the websites relating to detailing. I found Autopia and my education went into high gear. Between my fairly decent client base at that time and a steady stream of new products coming out that I wanted to test, the rest, as they say, is history. :)
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I love your business name by the way - tell alot of people about it... very clever:dblthumb2:
 
Ya know, you guys are making me feel REAL OLD! :bat: :laughing: :laughing:

I bought my very first car in 1968. It was a 1956 Chevy Belair and I could not be more excited about buying my first car.

I'd washed my prized possession every other day and wax it once a week, usually on weekends. I vacuumed the interior once a week and cleaned the windows at the same time. This is where I first learned that cleaning the interior first made the most sense. Once it was clean shut the doors and concentrate on the outside.

I tried different polishes and waxes and have to admit at the time didn't know there was a true difference between them. Apply the polish, wait until it dried and buff with a bath towel or something similar.

I started to do autobody work in the early 70's and dabbled in custom paint work and did some pretty interesting paint jobs on both cars and motorcycles. I sprayed lacquer's enamels, and urethanes. I also sprayed allot of paint made by Metalflake Paint Company which includes:


  • MetalFlake®
  • Glowble®
  • Eerie-Dess®
  • Spindrift®
  • StarPearl®
  • Flip Flop®
  • MicroGlow®
I really enjoyed some of the custom jobs. Laying down a nice Pearlescent Finish with contrasting webbing picking up various major colors on the car products some dazzling results! The "aroma" of these products made me "feel" pretty good while applying them. There was little protection for the bodyman in those days unlike now.

Detailing was sort of a side component of painting but you had to know what to do and when. Wet sanding with the proper grit of paper and what products to use to bring the finish to the desired glow was a real challenge and all had to be performed using a rotary polisher.

If I told you I never screwed up a paint job with a rotary I'd be BSing you. Several times I did learn the hard way and because of this took my time and proceed cautiously learning the required skills as I went along.

As time went on my journey through life changed and I got an Engineering degree so my source of income shifted but I never lost interest in cars. I continue to enjoy the art of making cars and truck glow but on a much smaller and private scale.....and then ended up here..... :dunno: :cheers:

I sure hope some of the more "seasoned" guys chime in here because I'm feeling really alone reading all the other posts...
 
Midnight1700 said:
My son and I spent the bucks and spent some time with Renny Doyle at his shop in Idaho. Expensive training, but worth it for sure. As a result of the training and work we've been doing, we're being considered to be the detailers for a KC-97 4 prop Aircraft in a local museum. Really looking forward to that one!
Click to expand...

If I weren't afraid of flying I'd do that in a heartbeat!
 
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