Been thinking about doing detailing on the side....then this happened...

[Levithan9]

6 hours.

That's what it took me to clean my wife's 2015 Light Blue Infinity Q50.

And I didn't even bother to vacuum it out.

Started at 10am. Had to move my truck and car so i could get hers right in the middle of the driveway. My plan was just wash and Collinite 845, clean and dress the rims/tires. BAM !! Easy enough.

I consider myself a simi-pro detailer. I have a Rupes MARK II 15, Flex 3401, more compound, pads, cleaner, you name it, extractor, steamer...and on and on and on the list goes. I enjoy it, and have been thinking of seriously doing it for side money, as doing mechanic work, both professionally and on the side, is just pissing me off lately.

So, i hook up my electric pressure washer, hit the wheels with cleaner, use my speed brush....dam, they came out good.

Next, foam cannon time. More like 30 minutes of dicking around. After mixing my soap and water, i had to find the sweet spot for making foam. I have a gas pressure washer that i've always used, and i remember it took me a little time to get it dialed in "just right" the first time i used it. Since the pressure and GPM is way lower on my electric, took me almost a full bottle to get it tuned just right for foam. Refill the bottle, and FINALLY...foamed the car.

Washed it, then rinse. Next...BIG BLUE TOWEL for the drying. After that, used a leaf blower for final NOOK & CRANNIES FORCED WATER EVICTION AND DEPORTATION !!
I let it sit for about 45 minutes as i made a PBJ and munched on some Doritos. It's about Noon right now.

12:45....came back out, got the Rupes ready to go, warmed up the Collinite in hot water to liquify it. Slapped it on the white pad, and did half the hood. On wipe down, i was like JESUS CHRIST !! Nothing but little rocks on the paint!! ###??

Ok...side note.... My wife works for a Infinity dealership. She's pretty high in the company, or that's what she tells me anyway. So because of her position, she has to keep the car looking at least half-ass decent. So usually she gets the detail guys to "DETAIL" the car ( detail, my ass) and make the tires shiny.

Upon running my hand over the paint, it was nothing but contamination all over it !! SSOOOOOO...now i need to clay bar it. Guess what? That's right, kids...I had no clay. So, off to Autozone to get me some. Good thing, too....it was $5.00 off $18.99.

Finally on my way back...wife calls...get me a Diet Coke.

Turn around at the 1st stop sign in the neighborhood to head back out to get a dam diet coke....

FINALLY...FINALLY...on my way back.

It's now 2pm. I start claying the car, and its bad. Used half a bar. Washed it AGAIN...dried it AGAIN....leaf blew it...AGAIN.

E'f n A...wax time. Started on the hood again. Did half of it, wiped it down..and saw.....wait...what the hell is that....? Are you s--tting me ? Checked the other side of the hood (driver side), and it was clean. It was water spots deep in the clear...but just on the passenger side.

Went in, asked why her DETAILER at her job even has a job. And why are there water spots on one side of the car? "Oh," she says, "Because the sprinkler is on when i get home."
You cant park on the left side of the driveway?
"I don't want to walk in the grass in my heels."
And i don't want to compound your car.

So i get the Flex out, HD SPEED, and yellow pad. Hit the hood, and checked. Nope. Still there.
Ok, now i just want it all to end. ORANGE PAD, MENZERNA FG400, SUPER SPEED 6 ON FLEX, WARP SPEED, MR. SULU....ENGAGE !!
Hit it, wiped it down, and checked. All gone.
Finished that side of the car in like 30 minutes.

NOW...i started on the Collinite 845. Applied it with a white pad on the Rupes at speed 2-3, and did the entire car. I did the front bumper by hand, as it has some odd angles on it, but the rest of the car is pretty flat.

As the wax dried, i dressed the tires with Satin finish tire gel, and removed any water spots on the rims with some Quick Detailer spray.

Removed the wax and buffed by hand. I took a step back, and looked at the car....and that's when i saw it....

AND YEA, AS I LOOKETH UPON THINE VEHICLE, VERILY I SAY UNTO THEE, THAT WITH MINE EYES DID I WITNESS, FOR I SEEITH THE CLOUDS PART, AND A LIGHT AS PURE AS WHITE, SHINITH DOWN, AND BEHOLD, IT DID SHINE UPON THINE VEHICLE....AND IT WAS GOOD !!

I'm not joking. It was a little cloudy today, and when i did step back to look at the car, the sun broke thru the clouds. I could see all the little flecks of metallic, and the paint looked so wet and clean. Theirs nothing like a clayed, polished and wax finish...it's just so smooth.

So by now, its about 4pm. I also steamed cleaned her leather seats and wiped down the dash, then treated the leather with conditioner. Wipe down the windows...final check...looks good....

And called the Judge out....

She did a walk around...said it really looks nice...then she touched the paint. "What the hell did i do to make it so smooth? and where did the metallic flakes come from? And the leather looks...CLEAN. And why does it smell good inside? WOW..you did a great job. Thank you so much."

As she walked back inside, she said...

WHATS FOR DINNER?

i said.... My last 3 Michelob Ultra beer, and a plea-bargain before the trial.

Please....please...tell me that it's not like this when your hustling your craft for money!!

[oldmodman]

Well.

At least she was happy with the detail work you did. Did you at least get her to pick up the dinner check?

[Hammer77]

Sounds like that was one hell of a day!

[GSKR]

6 hours.

That's what it took me to clean my wife's 2015 Light Blue Infinity Q50.

And I didn't even bother to vacuum it out.

Started at 10am. Had to move my truck and car so i could get hers right in the middle of the driveway. My plan was just wash and Collinite 845, clean and dress the rims/tires. BAM !! Easy enough.

I consider myself a simi-pro detailer. I have a Rupes MARK II 15, Flex 3401, more compound, pads, cleaner, you name it, extractor, steamer...and on and on and on the list goes. I enjoy it, and have been thinking of seriously doing it for side money, as doing mechanic work, both professionally and on the side, is just pissing me off lately.

So, i hook up my electric pressure washer, hit the wheels with cleaner, use my speed brush....dam, they came out good.

Next, foam cannon time. More like 30 minutes of dicking around. After mixing my soap and water, i had to find the sweet spot for making foam. I have a gas pressure washer that i've always used, and i remember it took me a little time to get it dialed in "just right" the first time i used it. Since the pressure and GPM is way lower on my electric, took me almost a full bottle to get it tuned just right for foam. Refill the bottle, and FINALLY...foamed the car.

Washed it, then rinse. Next...BIG BLUE TOWEL for the drying. After that, used a leaf blower for final NOOK & CRANNIES FORCED WATER EVICTION AND DEPORTATION !!
I let it sit for about 45 minutes as i made a PBJ and munched on some Doritos. It's about Noon right now.

12:45....came back out, got the Rupes ready to go, warmed up the Collinite in hot water to liquify it. Slapped it on the white pad, and did half the hood. On wipe down, i was like JESUS CHRIST !! Nothing but little rocks on the paint!! ###??

Ok...side note.... My wife works for a Infinity dealership. She's pretty high in the company, or that's what she tells me anyway. So because of her position, she has to keep the car looking at least half-ass decent. So usually she gets the detail guys to "DETAIL" the car ( detail, my ass) and make the tires shiny.

Upon running my hand over the paint, it was nothing but contamination all over it !! SSOOOOOO...now i need to clay bar it. Guess what? That's right, kids...I had no clay. So, off to Autozone to get me some. Good thing, too....it was $5.00 off $18.99.

Finally on my way back...wife calls...get me a Diet Coke.

Turn around at the 1st stop sign in the neighborhood to head back out to get a dam diet coke....

FINALLY...FINALLY...on my way back.

It's now 2pm. I start claying the car, and its bad. Used half a bar. Washed it AGAIN...dried it AGAIN....leaf blew it...AGAIN.

E'f n A...wax time. Started on the hood again. Did half of it, wiped it down..and saw.....wait...what the hell is that....? Are you s--tting me ? Checked the other side of the hood (driver side), and it was clean. It was water spots deep in the clear...but just on the passenger side.

Went in, asked why her DETAILER at her job even has a job. And why are there water spots on one side of the car? "Oh," she says, "Because the sprinkler is on when i get home."
You cant park on the left side of the driveway?
"I don't want to walk in the grass in my heels."
And i don't want to compound your car.

So i get the Flex out, HD SPEED, and yellow pad. Hit the hood, and checked. Nope. Still there.
Ok, now i just want it all to end. ORANGE PAD, MENZERNA FG400, SUPER SPEED 6 ON FLEX, WARP SPEED, MR. SULU....ENGAGE !!
Hit it, wiped it down, and checked. All gone.
Finished that side of the car in like 30 minutes.

NOW...i started on the Collinite 845. Applied it with a white pad on the Rupes at speed 2-3, and did the entire car. I did the front bumper by hand, as it has some odd angles on it, but the rest of the car is pretty flat.

As the wax dried, i dressed the tires with Satin finish tire gel, and removed any water spots on the rims with some Quick Detailer spray.

Removed the wax and buffed by hand. I took a step back, and looked at the car....and that's when i saw it....

AND YEA, AS I LOOKETH UPON THINE VEHICLE, VERILY I SAY UNTO THEE, THAT WITH MINE EYES DID I WITNESS, FOR I SEEITH THE CLOUDS PART, AND A LIGHT AS PURE AS WHITE, SHINITH DOWN, AND BEHOLD, IT DID SHINE UPON THINE VEHICLE....AND IT WAS GOOD !!

I'm not joking. It was a little cloudy today, and when i did step back to look at the car, the sun broke thru the clouds. I could see all the little flecks of metallic, and the paint looked so wet and clean. Theirs nothing like a clayed, polished and wax finish...it's just so smooth.

So by now, its about 4pm. I also steamed cleaned her leather seats and wiped down the dash, then treated the leather with conditioner. Wipe down the windows...final check...looks good....

And called the Judge out....

She did a walk around...said it really looks nice...then she touched the paint. "What the hell did i do to make it so smooth? and where did the metallic flakes come from? And the leather looks...CLEAN. And why does it smell good inside? WOW..you did a great job. Thank you so much."

As she walked back inside, she said...

WHATS FOR DINNER?

i said.... My last 3 Michelob Ultra beer, and a plea-bargain before the trial.

Please....please...tell me that it's not like this when your hustling your craft for money!!

When your pressured for survival detailing everday the key is being clean and organized.You don't do it everyday so it normal to be fumbling around.The more you do the faster you will become.

[Justin at Final Inspection]

Yeah like the above post mentioned. Having all your ducks in a row is important and having a system that you repeat on every vehicle.

Imagine needing a tool to fix a car and you don't have it. Now you need to get said tool.

[Levithan9]

Thats true.

I did a Camry radiator the other day at work. Quote was 3.2 hours. Pulled the condenser, the fans, and drained the radiator, and had it out in 45 minutes. Part was already here, so slapped it back in, Vacuum filled the coolant, evac and recharge the ac, start, monitor temp, test drive, done in less than 2 hours.

I have a system and the right tools for auto tech work.

Guess i just need a system for detailing...

[Justin at Final Inspection]

Thats true.

I did a Camry radiator the other day at work. Quote was 3.2 hours. Pulled the condenser, the fans, and drained the radiator, and had it out in 45 minutes. Part was already here, so slapped it back in, Vacuum filled the coolant, evac and recharge the ac, start, monitor temp, test drive, done in less than 2 hours.

I have a system and the right tools for auto tech work.

Guess i just need a system for detailing...

Exactly! The more you do it the more you will figure out what works to shave time but not quality. For instance. Ditch the clay bar and look into a nanoskin auto scrub pad to fit on your Porter Cable. It will do twice the amount of work a clay bar can in half the time. I can go over a full size truck in a matter of minutes vs using an old school clay bar. Plus there reusable and can simply be rinsed off if dropped etc.

That product was a huge time saver for me but didn't sacrifice quality.

[C5Longhorn]

Read how your day went and only have one question, were the other 9 Michelobs consumed during the detail work 😀

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[TMQ]

Lol...that was funny!
Love the writing!

Tom

[PaulMys]

Lol...that was funny!
Love the writing!

Tom

Totally agree, Tom. I was belly laughing reading that post.