Feeling my age

[jwgreen6]

I'm 55 and have been detailing part time for the past 4 years or so. Today I washed, dried, compounded, polished and waxed my 2001 Grand Prix. Took me 4 hours and turned out really nice, but I'm feeling my age.

How old is too old to detail cars? I'd like to make a few bucks detailing, but what good is it if I need 2-3 days to recover from each job?

What do you "mature" detailers do to keep the ravages of time in check?

[Kamakaz1961]

I am 54 (in about 5 weeks) and I just finished working on a Large Cadillac Escalade SUV. The long version. It took about 9 - 10 hours. Washed, Clayed (nanoskin blue), compounded the front 1/3 (the rest just needed polish), polished, sealant and waxed.

I stretch my legs, calves and most of my body before I start. Additionally, I hydrated myself quite a bit. I think the hydrating is the key.

I really thought I was going to feel the pain. However, I am ok. I think the best thing to do is keep hydrated. I went through 6 - 8 cans of Dasani soda water.

From one OLD man to another, I think that is the key. The time before it took a little longer to recover and I worked on a 2007 Shelby GT significantly smaller than the Escalade. I did not keep hydrated and cramped up a few times.

This time I knew I was going to work on a beast and I wanted to make sure I was hydrated.

Here are a few pics of the job I did this weekend. NOTE: He had his center caps stolen a few days ago. KEEP HYDRATED

[ryandamartini]

I'm 55 and have been detailing part time for the past 4 years or so. Today I washed, dried, compounded, polished and waxed my 2001 Grand Prix. Took me 4 hours and turned out really nice, but I'm feeling my age.

How old is too old to detail cars? I'd like to make a few bucks detailing, but what good is it if I need 2-3 days to recover from each job?

What do you "mature" detailers do to keep the ravages of time in check?

It's not just your age. Properly doing detailing is hard on anyone. Any full time detailer who works a full day and goes home not feeling anything..is lying.. heh.

This is a major concern for me looking at going into the field full time. I'm 26 but I realize having many family members in the trades how much it can toll your body.

For polishing / compounding, I'm looking at the Rupes system for the lack of pressure you have to put on the machine as well as how smooth (non taxing) their tools are.

I use Megs wheel brightener on any wheel that is safe for it to be used on (less time on knees).

I use a steamer to blast out spots on carpet, upholstery, glass, and in general it saves me a lot of physical effort.

I use tools specifically meant for pet hair removal, etc.

Right now I'm working on a telescoping "brush/not-a-brush" to save my back.

It's all about using your head whenever possible. If I get to the point of needing a shop, you bet your cookies Im getting a lift so I can polish at chest-level all the time! No more contortionist positions on the floor / stool.

For me it's not about being the quickest but I can do a few cars and not feel it in my body.

Just some ideas.

[2011 Kona Blue]

I'm 55 and have been detailing part time for the past 4 years or so. Today I washed, dried, compounded, polished and waxed my 2001 Grand Prix. Took me 4 hours and turned out really nice, but I'm feeling my age.

How old is too old to detail cars? I'd like to make a few bucks detailing, but what good is it if I need 2-3 days to recover from each job?

What do you "mature" detailers do to keep the ravages of time in check?

Sir, I just want to get this straight. You washed your car, dried the car, compounded the car, polished the car and waxed the car, all in 4 hours?

[Breese147]

Hydrate the day before not the day of. I also eat a snack between steps something under 200 cal. Stretching and foam rolling really helps too! I also work on rolling chair when doing side panels. Throw the extension over your shoulder not only prevents marring on the paint but also significantly helps on the weight of the polisher on vertical panels!

[Kamakaz1961]

Sir, I just want to get this straight. You washed your car, dried the car, compounded the car, polished the car and waxed the car, all in 4 hours?

That is very doable. My buddies 2007 Shelby GT was done in about the same time (about 4 hours).

The flex 3401 will make that so.

[Swingnamiss22]

I am 54 (in about 5 weeks) and I just finished working on a Large Cadillac Escalade SUV. The long version. It took about 9 - 10 hours. Washed, Clayed (nanoskin blue), compounded the front 1/3 (the rest just needed polish), polished, sealant and waxed.

I stretch my legs, calves and most of my body before I start. Additionally, I hydrated myself quite a bit. I think the hydrating is the key.

I really thought I was going to feel the pain. However, I am ok. I think the best thing to do is keep hydrated. I went through 6 - 8 cans of Dasani soda water.

From one OLD man to another, I think that is the key. The time before it took a little longer to recover and I worked on a 2007 Shelby GT significantly smaller than the Escalade. I did not keep hydrated and cramped up a few times.

This time I knew I was going to work on a beast and I wanted to make sure I was hydrated.

Here are a few pics of the job I did this weekend. NOTE: He had his center caps stolen a few days ago. KEEP HYDRATED

Nice job. I have a question for you. I am about to tackle the same job here shortly but it will be my own vehicle. What polisher and pads did you use to complete the job? How did you do the top of the vehicle with the ridges. I want to ensure I'm prepared when I start so everything goes well. Thanks in advance.

[dcjredline]

Work out work out work out... at least 3 times a week. It seems counterintuitive but it really does help. I am 43 and work as an industrial mechanic with a bunch of 20yo's and at the end of a 10 hour shift they are all beat, not me I am pretty fresh and can still skip steps going upstairs to the shop to get ready to go home. When they catch up they are out of breath and everything. It makes a huge difference.

[jwgreen6]

Sir, I just want to get this straight. You washed your car, dried the car, compounded the car, polished the car and waxed the car, all in 4 hours?

Yep. Started at 2 pm rinsing, washing the tires and rims, foamed the car, scrubbed by hand, rinsed and dried. Compounded and polished with my DeWalt DWP845X. Applied wax with my Cyclo, wiped by hand, finishing around 6 pm. I spent another 30 - 45 min washing windows, dressing tires (I love spray-on dressing for quick-n-easy), dressing the plastic trim and final clean-up from polish sling (doh!) so maybe it was closer to 7 PM when I finished. I didn't do anything with the interior.


I am 54 (in about 5 weeks) and I just finished working on a Large Cadillac Escalade SUV. The long version. It took about 9 - 10 hours. Washed, Clayed (nanoskin blue), compounded the front 1/3 (the rest just needed polish), polished, sealant and waxed.


Kamakaz1961 -- Funny thing you posted about working on an Escalade. I have 4 coming up in two weeks. I hope I didn't bite off more than I can handle. I agree that keeping hydrated is important and may be a key to my "feeling my age". When I work on a project like this, I tend to get on task to the point of ignoring the basics of taking care of myself.

The DeWalt DWP849X was a handful. I think I'll stick with my Cyclo.

[2011 Kona Blue]

Yep. Started at 2 pm rinsing, washing the tires and rims, foamed the car, scrubbed by hand, rinsed and dried. Compounded and polished with my DeWalt DWP845X. Applied wax with my Cyclo, wiped by hand, finishing around 6 pm. I spent another 30 - 45 min washing windows, dressing tires (I love spray-on dressing for quick-n-easy), dressing the plastic trim and final clean-up from polish sling (doh!) so maybe it was closer to 7 PM when I finished. I didn't do anything with the interior.




Kamakaz1961 -- Funny thing you posted about working on an Escalade. I have 4 coming up in two weeks. I hope I didn't bite off more than I can handle. I agree that keeping hydrated is important and may be a key to my "feeling my age". When I work on a project like this, I tend to get on task to the point of ignoring the basics of taking care of myself.

The DeWalt DWP849X was a handful. I think I'll stick with my Cyclo.

You sir are the man and it takes me almost 3 1/2 hours to just compound a mid size car only. It takes me another 3 1/2 hours to polish and 3 1/2 hours additional to wax. All while using my Porter Cable 7424 XP DA!

This doesn't even include me washing and clay with nanoskin mitt. I'm 40 years old with no disabilities and after hearing how fast you detail, I really suck. Ha ha ha.

[rcoops77]

Eat well and treat your body like a temple. It's the only one you have. Detailing cars is a work out. I'm 37 and keep fit. I exercise and play sport. I spent 3 hours detailing a car and I tell you what.. I had a sweat on!

[rcoops77]

Stay active. No need to go overboard though. A good walk a few times a week will make the difference.

[jwgreen6]

Eat well and treat your body like a temple. It's the only one you have. Detailing cars is a work out. I'm 37 and keep fit. I exercise and play sport. I spent 3 hours detailing a car and I tell you what.. I had a sweat on!

I haven't used my gym membership much lately :doh: so NOW is as good as a time as any, eh?

[Kamakaz1961]

Nice job. I have a question for you. I am about to tackle the same job here shortly but it will be my own vehicle. What polisher and pads did you use to complete the job? How did you do the top of the vehicle with the ridges. I want to ensure I'm prepared when I start so everything goes well. Thanks in advance.

I use a Flex 3401 VRG and I use the 6.5" Lake Country Hybrid Pads. I used (in this case) the Blue Pad for compounding and the White Pads (2 in this case) for polishing. Where I save a boatload of time was I did not polish the roof of the SUV. It had very little scratches and IMO even if it did I would just do a polish not a compound. This SUV is about 2 months old. I did clay the roof with the 6" Blue Pad BY HAND as your fingers can feel the grooves of the roof real easy that way. additionally, the whole SUV was with that 6" sponge pad. Additionally, know one really looks at the roof as it is so high. I double coated the roof with a sealant.

This alone saved quite a bit of time because the pad sponge is twice as large as the regular sponge. The hood and front side panels were already showing signs of needing compound and polish. The sides and the back only needed polishing as there were very minor scratches.

That saved time in itself. Another time saving feature is that I do not tape. If you are careful and with a quality compound/polish IMO taping is not necessary and in this case, his SUV was mostly covered in paint and had very little plastic or rubber areas.

The sealant was with the (New) 6.5" Red hybrid pad for sealant and the Gold 6.5" Hybrid Pad for the wax.

The Hybrid Pads IMO are designed for the Flex 3401 and can tackle a job in no time.

I hope I helped in answering. The product I used was an equivalent product to Menzerna FG400 (not a brand AGO carries) for compounding and equivalent to SF4500 for Polishing. The compound product was not as good as FG400 and the polishing product was better tan SF4500. The Menzerna products alone saves time too.

I hoped I helped and if you need anything else please let me know.

CJ

[Swingnamiss22]

I use a Flex 3401 VRG and I use the 6.5" Lake Country Hybrid Pads. I used (in this case) the Blue Pad for compounding and the White Pads (2 in this case) for polishing. Where I save a boatload of time was I did not polish the roof of the SUV. It had very little scratches and IMO even if it did I would just do a polish not a compound. This SUV is about 2 months old. I did clay the roof with the 6" Blue Pad BY HAND as your fingers can feel the grooves of the roof real easy that way. additionally, the whole SUV was with that 6" sponge pad. Additionally, know one really looks at the roof as it is so high. I double coated the roof with a sealant.

This alone saved quite a bit of time because the pad sponge is twice as large as the regular sponge. The hood and front side panels were already showing signs of needing compound and polish. The sides and the back only needed polishing as there were very minor scratches.

That saved time in itself. Another time saving feature is that I do not tape. If you are careful and with a quality compound/polish IMO taping is not necessary and in this case, his SUV was mostly covered in paint and had very little plastic or rubber areas.

The sealant was with the (New) 6.5" Red hybrid pad for sealant and the Gold 6.5" Hybrid Pad for the wax.

The Hybrid Pads IMO are designed for the Flex 3401 and can tackle a job in no time.

I hope I helped in answering. The product I used was an equivalent product to Menzerna FG400 (not a brand AGO carries) for compounding and equivalent to SF4500 for Polishing. The compound product was not as good as FG400 and the polishing product was better tan SF4500. The Menzerna products alone saves time too.

I hoped I helped and if you need anything else please let me know.

CJ

Thanks for the response. I do have the Flex 3401 and my truck has light swirls. It's the gold mist color and I will be purchasing the hybrid pads. So 6.5 pads work fine for this truck as I was going to split it up between 5 and 6.5 inch pads but if 6.5 works i'll just buy those for now. Again thanks for the response.