tuscarora dave
07-16-2010, 03:35 PM
Hi all you AG members. I was reading an article written by Mike Phillips about the differences in waxes regarding cleaner waxes/sealants VS. finishing waxes/sealants and it led me to starting this thread.
A brief history of what led me to the forums.
By nature I believe, I fancy myself a perfectionist. For years I cleaned and waxed my own cars and over time I had come to enjoy doing so as a hobby. I was polishing my car with OTC products and a 6" wax spreader going through all the different OTC products in search of a higher level of gloss and appearance. One day I walked into a local auto parts store and saw on the top shelf the Meguiar's deep Crystal 3 step car care system (paint cleaner, polish and wax) so I thought I would give it a shot. I took that stuff home and began to work the paint cleaner with my trusty wax spreader. (after a wash of course) After that pass I went straight into the polishing phase. I was about 3/4 through this phase when my wax spreader began to smoke from the vents in the side. I was just finishing the polishing phase when the tool completely burned up and I did the waxing by hand.
The results were stunning compared to what I had been achieving prior to using this 3 step approach. I went out to wal mart and purchased another wax spreader and did another car the following day and the new wax spreader also burned up during the polishing phase. I actually kept on buying more machines over and over until one day I got a decent sized check when a buddy of mine backed his truck into my car and caused around $500 in damages. I immediately deposited that check and went online in search of the most expensive car polisher I could find. I had never heard the term "paint correction" before and I had never even clayed a car at this point. Being so uninformed about proper car care I just figured that the most expensive polisher would be the best polisher. My Google search landed me either here or at detailcity.com where I purchased the Mega Cyclo Kit at just over $400. Man the day that package arrived... I don't think I have been that excited ever since that day.
While placing my order I had noticed the discussion forum tab but didn't click on it until the package had arrived and I didn't know what to do with all the different color pads. I got the required pad info and rushed out to wal mart and bought a bottle of 3M rubbing compound and proceeded to polish all the clear and base coat off of a spot on a friends fender. This of course led me back to the information forums. I have learned a lot from that day and since that day. I have to give a special thanks to Mike Phillips, for had it not been for his great in depth articles over at MOL and now here at AGO I don't think I could have learned so much in such a short period of time. End of brief history.
With the help from all the members (new and long term) here at AGO and over at DC I have been able to learn a lot about automotive paint, compounds, polishes, glazes, waxes and the proper use of the tools and techniques. With the help of these forums I was able to cut the time it took me to do a full paint correction in more than half. I got into the show and shine and studied and I still study all the forum sections to this day. I set out to create as close to perfect finish as possible and have gotten pretty good at it. While out trying to market the show quality finish in the non detailer side of the world I have seen and learned a lot. I think that most of us here have had the pleasure of repairing the not so favorable results of the local dealerships and the local detailing hacks.
So this brings me to the here and now of things. Up until now I have invested several thousand dollars in polishers, products and all the other necessary items involved in doing some great details, focusing on multiple step paint corrections. I see Mike Phillips say that he is a detailer of special interest cars and I aspire to be just that but I realize that that is a result of decades of sticking to it. I also enjoy writing about detailing and the like, so realize that this long winded thread is me simply practicing what I enjoy doing.
What I want to turn my attention to now is what the masses want from the detailing industry. I believe a great percentage of the car owners of the world simply don't care what their cars look like. I also believe that there are a lot of people out there that simply want better service than what they get from the local detail shops. A better result in not much time for not much money. I believe I've got myself into a trap of sorts, wanting to pay so much attention to perfection doing full correction details for money while the real money is in the volume of jobs. I am really glad that I have come to understand a lot about achieving near perfection but I seem to have overlooked the how to's of getting quick and good results. I like to believe that quick results may be more in the products used but I am sure that the process is a bit different to achieve the quick results as well. I have looked at the production detailers as smoke and mirrors type of artists, kind of judging their results and service as inferior instead of looking at the value it that particular niche market.
Is there a middle of the road kind of solution? I find myself at a crossroads, which way do I turn I ask myself. Do I concentrate on the products with heavy fillers just to do cover ups to be able to increase in volume or is that going backwards in the long run? I struggle with wanting to be one of the best detailers in my area and wanting steady income from detailing. There is such an emphasis on the multiple step corrections here on the forums, are there members here that are achieving stunning details in 4 hours or less? If so what products and processes are you guy's using. If there was a topic to this thread other than my rambling on about this and that I would want it to be about what products to use that have fillers that will last the longest between details. Also any thoughts that other members may share about being at this crossroad and which way you have gone and how it effected their detailing endeavors. Thanks for reading this, TD
A brief history of what led me to the forums.
By nature I believe, I fancy myself a perfectionist. For years I cleaned and waxed my own cars and over time I had come to enjoy doing so as a hobby. I was polishing my car with OTC products and a 6" wax spreader going through all the different OTC products in search of a higher level of gloss and appearance. One day I walked into a local auto parts store and saw on the top shelf the Meguiar's deep Crystal 3 step car care system (paint cleaner, polish and wax) so I thought I would give it a shot. I took that stuff home and began to work the paint cleaner with my trusty wax spreader. (after a wash of course) After that pass I went straight into the polishing phase. I was about 3/4 through this phase when my wax spreader began to smoke from the vents in the side. I was just finishing the polishing phase when the tool completely burned up and I did the waxing by hand.
The results were stunning compared to what I had been achieving prior to using this 3 step approach. I went out to wal mart and purchased another wax spreader and did another car the following day and the new wax spreader also burned up during the polishing phase. I actually kept on buying more machines over and over until one day I got a decent sized check when a buddy of mine backed his truck into my car and caused around $500 in damages. I immediately deposited that check and went online in search of the most expensive car polisher I could find. I had never heard the term "paint correction" before and I had never even clayed a car at this point. Being so uninformed about proper car care I just figured that the most expensive polisher would be the best polisher. My Google search landed me either here or at detailcity.com where I purchased the Mega Cyclo Kit at just over $400. Man the day that package arrived... I don't think I have been that excited ever since that day.
While placing my order I had noticed the discussion forum tab but didn't click on it until the package had arrived and I didn't know what to do with all the different color pads. I got the required pad info and rushed out to wal mart and bought a bottle of 3M rubbing compound and proceeded to polish all the clear and base coat off of a spot on a friends fender. This of course led me back to the information forums. I have learned a lot from that day and since that day. I have to give a special thanks to Mike Phillips, for had it not been for his great in depth articles over at MOL and now here at AGO I don't think I could have learned so much in such a short period of time. End of brief history.
With the help from all the members (new and long term) here at AGO and over at DC I have been able to learn a lot about automotive paint, compounds, polishes, glazes, waxes and the proper use of the tools and techniques. With the help of these forums I was able to cut the time it took me to do a full paint correction in more than half. I got into the show and shine and studied and I still study all the forum sections to this day. I set out to create as close to perfect finish as possible and have gotten pretty good at it. While out trying to market the show quality finish in the non detailer side of the world I have seen and learned a lot. I think that most of us here have had the pleasure of repairing the not so favorable results of the local dealerships and the local detailing hacks.
So this brings me to the here and now of things. Up until now I have invested several thousand dollars in polishers, products and all the other necessary items involved in doing some great details, focusing on multiple step paint corrections. I see Mike Phillips say that he is a detailer of special interest cars and I aspire to be just that but I realize that that is a result of decades of sticking to it. I also enjoy writing about detailing and the like, so realize that this long winded thread is me simply practicing what I enjoy doing.
What I want to turn my attention to now is what the masses want from the detailing industry. I believe a great percentage of the car owners of the world simply don't care what their cars look like. I also believe that there are a lot of people out there that simply want better service than what they get from the local detail shops. A better result in not much time for not much money. I believe I've got myself into a trap of sorts, wanting to pay so much attention to perfection doing full correction details for money while the real money is in the volume of jobs. I am really glad that I have come to understand a lot about achieving near perfection but I seem to have overlooked the how to's of getting quick and good results. I like to believe that quick results may be more in the products used but I am sure that the process is a bit different to achieve the quick results as well. I have looked at the production detailers as smoke and mirrors type of artists, kind of judging their results and service as inferior instead of looking at the value it that particular niche market.
Is there a middle of the road kind of solution? I find myself at a crossroads, which way do I turn I ask myself. Do I concentrate on the products with heavy fillers just to do cover ups to be able to increase in volume or is that going backwards in the long run? I struggle with wanting to be one of the best detailers in my area and wanting steady income from detailing. There is such an emphasis on the multiple step corrections here on the forums, are there members here that are achieving stunning details in 4 hours or less? If so what products and processes are you guy's using. If there was a topic to this thread other than my rambling on about this and that I would want it to be about what products to use that have fillers that will last the longest between details. Also any thoughts that other members may share about being at this crossroad and which way you have gone and how it effected their detailing endeavors. Thanks for reading this, TD