Top 3 Questions!

[Solomonn]

Hi Mike. You've been a tremendous journey in my months of learning about detailing from the forums and your inputs are simply invaluable.

I'm planning to start a small scale production car detailing (as I'm still studying) and have much planned. However, there're just so many products in the market which I'm very sure you have much knowledge of.

So my questions are:

1) What are the basics (shampoo, equipments, etc) that I need when starting up a production car detailing which will be MOBILE.

2) Are machines like a pressure washer and foam gun needed for production car detailing?

3) Are traditional clays or clay sponges (that claim to last longer) better with the right techniques used?

I'd appreciate anyone who can chime in!

Cheers,
Solomon Toh.
Singapore.

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike. You've been a tremendous journey in my months of learning about detailing from the forums and your inputs are simply invaluable.

I'm planning to start a small scale production car detailing (as I'm still studying) and have much planned. However, there're just so many products in the market which I'm very sure you have much knowledge of.

I'd appreciate anyone who can chime in!

Cheers,
Solomon Toh.
Singapore.

[/quote]



Great questions.... let me take a stab at a few and I'm sure others will chime in and help out...

So my questions are:

1) What are the basics (shampoo, equipments, etc) that I need when starting up a production car detailing which will be MOBILE.

Being in Singapore, you're going to want to search out and locate a reliable place to purchase your products, maybe that's the AG store? I don't know but you need a reliable resource for quality products.

A good APC and a good plastic, vinyl and rubber dressing will take care of a lot of the inside and outside cleaning that plus a LOT of microfiber towels.

Remember to keep it simple and this includes when talking to customers,

Under promise and over deliver. In other words dont' boast about what your going to do, (talking), show what you can do.

2) Are machines like a pressure washer and foam gun needed for production car detailing?

Kind of depends upon your market and any water restrictions you might have to follow. I'll say both pressure washers and foam guns are not "need to have" but more "want to have" again, depending upon your market which includes the volume of cars you're going to be washing each day, the condition of the paint on these cars and the location.

Pressure washers are great for blasting dirt off of anything but you also have to deal with man-handling the pressure washer itself and the water hose and wand hose.

I don't personally use pressure washers a lot and I don't think I would if I were doing production detailing but again, the condition of the cars, (dirt level), and the location and the volume of work would be factors that affect that decision.

I only use the Foam Gun when I wash modern or new cars and I never use it when washing classics, street rods, customs etc. For these I use Waterless Wash.

3) Are traditional clays or clay sponges (that claim to last longer) better with the right techniques used?

This is just my opinion, so for what it's worth...

If I were doing production detailing I would be doing the mechanical decontaminating step during the washing process to save a step and some time. Plus tools like the Nanoskin Wash Mitts do out last clay and you can wash them off if you drop them on the ground and when you're doing production detailing you will tend to drop a lot of things as you work fast.

I teach production type car washing in my detailing boot camp classes, here's my most recent write-up that does a pretty good job of showing what to do.

Although for production detailing I would skip the Iron X treatment as this is a premium procedure for higher paying customers and nicer cars. (usually)


The Aggressive Approach to Washing a Car


Thank you for bringing this to the forum...

[Solomonn]

Great questions.... let me take a stab at a few and I'm sure others will chime in and help out...

Being in Singapore, you're going to want to search out and locate a reliable place to purchase your products, maybe that's the AG store? I don't know but you need a reliable resource for quality products.

A good APC and a good plastic, vinyl and rubber dressing will take care of a lot of the inside and outside cleaning that plus a LOT of microfiber towels.

Remember to keep it simple and this includes when talking to customers,

Under promise and over deliver. In other words dont' boast about what your going to do, (talking), show what you can do.


Kind of depends upon your market and any water restrictions you might have to follow. I'll say both pressure washers and foam guns are not "need to have" but more "want to have" again, depending upon your market which includes the volume of cars you're going to be washing each day, the condition of the paint on these cars and the location.

Pressure washers are great for blasting dirt off of anything but you also have to deal with man-handling the pressure washer itself and the water hose and wand hose.

I don't personally use pressure washers a lot and I don't think I would if I were doing production detailing but again, the condition of the cars, (dirt level), and the location and the volume of work would be factors that affect that decision.

I only use the Foam Gun when I wash modern or new cars and I never use it when washing classics, street rods, customs etc. For these I use Waterless Wash.


This is just my opinion, so for what it's worth...

If I were doing production detailing I would be doing the mechanical decontaminating step during the washing process to save a step and some time. Plus tools like the Nanoskin Wash Mitts do out last clay and you can wash them off if you drop them on the ground and when you're doing production detailing you will tend to drop a lot of things as you work fast.

I teach production type car washing in my detailing boot camp classes, here's my most recent write-up that does a pretty good job of showing what to do.

Although for production detailing I would skip the Iron X treatment as this is a premium procedure for higher paying customers and nicer cars. (usually)


The Aggressive Approach to Washing a Car


Thank you for bringing this to the forum...

Mike, thank you so much for your input. Always love to hear from you.

Here are my other questions:

1) What APC and good vinyl/plastic/rubber cleaner do you recommend that's sold on AG?

2) Is IronX a "short cut" for decontamination?

3) Is clay lubricant really needed when claying? Could I use fresh car shampoo like shown in several videos on YT?

Thanks again!

[dcjredline]

1. Meguiars APC from the detailer line
2. Iron X is a chemical decon step that is usually followed by clay or towel (mechanical) decon.
3. You can use soap for clay step, the clay lube is just a tiny bit better choice for compatibility.

[Solomonn]

1. Meguiars APC from the detailer line
2. Iron X is a chemical decon step that is usually followed by clay or towel (mechanical) decon.
3. You can use soap for clay step, the clay lube is just a tiny bit better choice for compatibility.

Thanks for your reply!

I was thinking that IronX is done before mechanical decontamination or acts like a substitute to it.

There's a thread on this forum where a guy shows the before and after decontamination using a detailing clay bar where the clay was extremely clean after IronX-ing the vehicle.

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks for your reply!

I was thinking that IronX is done before mechanical decontamination or acts like a substitute to it.

Chemical decontamination is not a substitute for mechanical decontamination. You need to do both for a proper detail but production detailing is an exception because you also have to make a profit or you go out of business.

Chemical decontamination with a product like Iron X removes iron particles from the paint. Chemical decontamination is not formulated for or intended to remove traditional above surface bonded contaminants like

• Overspray paint
• Tree sap mist
• Industrial fallout
• Airborne pollution

There's a thread on this forum where a guy shows the before and after decontamination using a detailing clay bar where the clay was extremely clean after IronX-ing the vehicle.

That just shows the paint only had iron contamination.

Take my word for it... one does not replace the other.

For production detailing you go with mechanical decontamination because it's going to give you the most bang for your buck. Read this article


The 4 primary benefits of using detailing clay to clay paint



Chemical decontamination is important but when your customer base doesn't know what it is and won't pay the extra cost to have the procedure performed then skip it.

If you want to add chemical decontamination onto your menu list with an extra charge and educate your customer on the benefit then that is an option.

Bookmark this thread and show your customers...

Iron X - Bleeding like a stuck pig

[Mike Phillips]

Here's another article on the topic of chemical decontamination.


What is Iron X and why should I use it?

[Solomonn]

Here's another article on the topic of chemical decontamination.


What is Iron X and why should I use it?

Thank you Mike!!