Wetsanding Training Class - Real CARS - 100% HANDS ON - Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

Wetsanding Training Class - Real CARS - 100% HANDS ON - Mike Phillips


Here's one of the cars my February class will be wetsanding at the upcoming 3-day Car Detailing Bootcamp Class


1939 Oldsmobile 2-Door Sedan Streetrod













This is the real deal. This car is going to the paint shop next week to be re-painted. She'll probably come out of the paint booth sometime the last week of January, about the time of Mobile Tech Exp in Orlando.


The paint will have 3-4 weeks to dry and shift. And then my class will learn the art of hand wetsanding and machine wetsanding on a REAL car. Actually, it's more than that, a LOT more than that, my class will learn how to wetsand a real custom streetrod like you see on all the "Car Guy TV Shows".

It doesn't get any more real than this.


There are no other classes on Planet Earth that you can attend where you get to learn on the real-deal. All the other classes, you work on a car hood or fender, or a cookie sheet. Nothing wrong with learning on demo hoods but I'm telling you straight-up, a demo hood, a fender or a cookie sheet will NEVER give you the full training experience that you'll get by learning how to approach the process from start to finish on how to wetsand a custom car with custom paint.



Last I checked with Andre, there are now only 5 spaces available for the upcoming February class.

Here's info,


February - 3-Day Car Detailing Bootcamp Class at Autogeek

Friday, February 21st
Saturday, February 22nd
Sunday, February 23rd

Click here to sign-up for this class



Or call Andre and get signed-up over the phone at

1-800-869-3011 x1244


See you here....

[Mike Phillips]

For those that might not know just how many tools, products and techniques I cover in my 3-day class, here's the short list....


First day - Friday
We will start at 6:30am and go until 6:30pm and the class will detail 6 cars. We'll cover 3 types of tools, each tool set will get 2 cars.

This first day we focus on paint correction and ceramic coatings using multiple types of tools


First 2 cars - Short Stroke Random Orbital Polishers - Griot's/Porter Cable/Meguiar's - using BLACKFIRE Compounds and B&S Pads

Second 2 cars - RUPES Tools/Pads/Compounds

Third set of 2 cars - Griot's BOSS Tools/Pads/Compounds



Misc topics covered as we work through the 6 cars

1. Topical and sub-surface glass polishing
2. Chrome polishing
3. Plastic trim restoration
4. Waterless wash
5. Rineselss wash
6. Detailing clay
7. Clay towels, mitts and pads
8. Cosmetic engine detailing

Class wraps up. Meet & Greet at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel just a few blocks from Autogeek




Second day - Saturday

I go easy on the class and we start at 7:30am. Today we will detail 4 cars.


Extreme washing - We cover a LOT of tools, topics and products.

1. Traditional wet wash engine detailing with degreasers
2. Topical glass polishing
3. Headlight correction
4. Wheels and tires including machine scrubbing tires and plastic claddding
5. Iron removers
6. Foam guns
7. Nanoskin towels and mitts
8. Proper cleaning of canvas convertible tops
9. Proper cleaning of vinyl tops
10. Car dryers

After the above, we're back into the air conditioned garage


First 2 cars - FLEX Tools with SONAX products and Lake Country Pads + Ceramic Coatings

Second set of 2 cars - High quality production detailing.

By now, you will have used over 16+ different tools. Now instead of doing multiple steps of paint correction followed by installing ceramic coatings, you'll learn how to correctly use a one-step or AIO product. For this I tend to bring in normal, abused daily drivers so you learn on the type of car you will probably be working when you return to your hometown, be it your own cars or customer's car.


Besides the above, we'll fit in,

1. Topical and sub-surface glass polishing
2. Chrome polishing
3. Plastic trim restoration
4. Waterless wash
5. Rineselss wash
6. Detailing clay
7. Clay towels, mitts and pads
8. Cosmetic engine detailing

Third day - Sunday

By Sunday, everyone is tired. We start at 8:30am sharp.

1. Wetsanding
2. Panel prep
3. Taping off
4. Sanding theory
5. Hand sanding techniques
6. Machine sanding techniques
7. How to use a rotary buffer to remove 100% of the sanding marks
8. How to use any type or brand of orbital polisher to remove holograms
9. Sealing the paint

Then we move onto,

1. Hot water extractors
2. Steam machines
3. Finishing steps
4. Any topic or technique that we didn't cover on Friday and Saturday

Class is over at 5:00pm

• Certificate Awards
• Book signing

By the end of the 3-day class, you will have just survived the most hands-on experience you will find on Planet Earth.

By the end of Sunday, the class will have detailed anywhere from 12 to 15 cars.

There are NO other classes on Planet Earth where you will work on this many cars and learn this many tools, products, techniques and procedures.


I guarantee it. -Mike Phillips



The above is a snapshot of what our NORMAL 3-day class looks like.


AND - as I shared in the first post of this thread, I bring in real custom cars for my students to learn wetsanding.



Below are the dates for our normal boat and car detailing classes here at Autogeek.


February – 2-day Boat Detailing Class

Saturday, February 8th
Sunday, February 9th

Click here to sign-up for this class




February - 3-Day Car Detailing Bootcamp Class at Autogeek

Friday, February 21st
Saturday, February 22nd
Sunday, February 23rd

Click here to sign-up for this class




May - 3-Day Car Detailing Bootcamp Class here at Autogeek

Friday, May 1st
Saturday, May 2nd
Sunday, May 3rd

Click here to sign-up for this class




September - 3-Day Car Detailing Bootcamp Class at Autogeek

Friday, September 25th
Saturday the 26th
Sunday the 27th

Click here to sign-up for this class




NOTE: We normally hold the first 3-day car detailing Bootcamp class the last weekend of January but because we'll be at Mobile Tech Expo we've moved it to February after the boat detailing class.



Questions? Need help getting signed-up?


Call Andre at,

1-800-869-3011 x1244

[Mike Phillips]

More...


There is a LOT of confusion over the topic and process of wetsanding car paint.

Here's the deal, 99% of all wetsanding is performed to CUSTOM PAINT JOBS. It is NOT done to the factory paint on the car in your driveway. The reason for this is custom paint jobs are THICKER so there's more paint to sand and buff without the risk of sanding or buffing through the paint.

Most people have seen my article here about how thin FACTORY paint is,


Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips







If you really want to dive deep into the topic of wetsanding, then read this article I wrote on the topic back in 2009 - 11 years ago. Way before anyone on Facebook or YouTube ever thought about wetsanding a car.


Wetsanding - Fresh Paint vs Factory Paint

And yes, this is yours truly sanding down the 1956 Lincoln Titanic in 1999 - just a few years after the Internet was invented or at least was introduced to the unwashed masses. That's 21 years ago.





My article fully explains everything you need to know about the DIFFERENCE when it comes to wetsanding FACTORY paint and CUSTOM paint. I recommend you read it before you take the advice from ANYONE and wetsand the factory paint on your car.

Wetsanding - Fresh Paint vs Factory Paint