detailing in the sun. (seriously?)

**guess23959** · 07-20-2012, 06:35 PM

we all know that you cannot do detailing in the sun because it will make the product being used, dry fast and it will ruin the paint. i am seeing commercials now of products being said that can be used in the sun: turtle wax, and now meguires AND mothers. i mean im sure it's for real if the announcer on tv is saying it, but what about YOUR products: menzerna, blackfire, 3m, and all the others you all use, traditional shade i presume or are they starting to upgrade products for detailing in the sun? im sure it will be alot easier to detail and eliminate the usage of a high powered light, but i was just wondering what everybody's opinions are about the new products that are ok for detailing in the sun?

**AjNavo61490** · 07-20-2012, 06:39 PM

I mean, some CAN BE used in the sun, but they work better in the shade IME...

**rider9195** · 07-20-2012, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by AjNavo61490

I mean, some CAN BE used in the sun, but they work better in the shade IME...

I have used many products in the sun. They act a lot differently and you must change your technique. Using certain products in the sun will not ruin your paint as long as you use them correctly.

Poorboy's World products are designed to be used in the sun and do work better than traditional products.

**ArkayoDeetayo** · 07-20-2012, 07:40 PM

While it is not recommended to use products in the sun, you can...just minimize your work area, so if you are use to working 2x2, then try 1x1 etc, but Poorboys is a great brand to look at if you are moving towards that direction

**kmsdetailing** · 07-20-2012, 09:36 PM

Since I had a customer's car to do in the Sun and could not order in time from AG, I headed to the Poorboy's headquarters in NY. I was greated on the phone and told he had the products in stock and I can purchase them directly from him.

So, that day I took the 1 hour drive to Poorboy's location to pick up the wash and wx for the next day. Wouldn't you know the Weather Channel was wrong? No way ;-)

Without the sun, I didn't try the Poorboy's but I'm going to use it on my test car; this is where I try all the products first before I apply them to my car or customer's cars.

I will post pictures tomorrow and let everyone know what it's like.

Speaking of the weather. I should be able to sue the Weather Channel since it cost me time and materials everytime they're wrong ;-

Also, what do you guys do about sweating and not getting on the customer's car? I found a headband from the 80s and so far it's working but it's sure annoying.

**The Moose** · 07-21-2012, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by kmsdetailing

Since I had a customer's car to do in the Sun and could not order in time from AG, I headed to the Poorboy's headquarters in NY. I was greated on the phone and told he had the products in stock and I can purchase them directly from him.

So, that day I took the 1 hour drive to Poorboy's location to pick up the wash and wx for the next day. Wouldn't you know the Weather Channel was wrong? No way ;-)

Without the sun, I didn't try the Poorboy's but I'm going to use it on my test car; this is where I try all the products first before I apply them to my car or customer's cars.

I will post pictures tomorrow and let everyone know what it's like.

Speaking of the weather. I should be able to sue the Weather Channel since it cost me time and materials everytime they're wrong ;-

Also, what do you guys do about sweating and not getting on the customer's car? I found a headband from the 80s and so far it's working but it's sure annoying.

I will wear a hat sometimes. and for wiping off face sweat, either a rag in your back pocket, or a tennis wrist band should do the trick. I'm a sweaty guy so I'm always aware of this problem.

As for detailing in the sun... DIRECT sunlight probably sucks, but I have done my cars many times out in the driveway since I dont have a garage to work with yet.

Nick has made a lot of posts about washing and stuff outside in the Florida weather, i'm sure he'll be able to chime in.

**guess23959** · 07-21-2012, 07:28 AM

poorboys huh. ill have to look into that. im still new to not detailing in the sun. i was always taught to do it under a tree or in the garage so when i saw these commercials i was puzzled for sure! i mean its a good product to be able to detail in the sun because my garage has very poor lighting, and the trees around my place drip sap so its sketchy. now it'll be good to do it right in my own driveway. only problem is that it might take me longer from doing 1 panel at a time to now doing small sections.

**tuscarora dave** · 07-21-2012, 09:55 AM

It's nothing new, at least not in the past 5 years anyway. I remember getting started mobile detailing somewhere around 5 years ago. I started out using products from a local dealership detailing products supply store. While they weren't the friendliest products in the sun, they did work and I've never ruined any paint jobs doing it.

I looked at Poorboy's for quite some time before becoming willing to pay shipping. I didn't have two nickles to rub together when I started detailing so shipping charges were a big deal to me then. I finally put enough money together to place a big order of gallons with Poorboy's and it changed the way I did things for sure. They really are sun friendly products but there's a trade off in some areas such as the polishes and compounds being mostly diminishing abrasive technology. Back then, that's all I knew so it wasn't a big deal for me. PB products made things easier for sure.

Optimum is another product line that is sun or shade friendly. Optimum compounds and polishes work really well in the direct sun and are non diminishing abrasives so they finish a lot more consistent than the Poorboy's products do. The optimum products use a more finely milled abrasive than a lot of other brands, so they take a little longer to achieve the cutting of paint but they do cut with a very nice finish.

As someone else mentioned in this thread, adjusting technique, size of work area and amount of products being used can prove to be a winner for working in the direct sun without damaging paint. I have worked through these adjustments while learning to use Meguiars M-105 and M-205 in the direct sunlight. This was a very frustrating thing to do with lots of failures until I found the "magic bullet" procedure to pull it off. Once I figured it out (thanks to Kevin Brown and a ton of adjustments) I'll never turn back to DAT products.

One thing for sure is that having started my detailing journey in the direct sun as a mobile detailer, working in a shop now it's so much easier to correct paint in comparison.

**BobbyG** · 07-21-2012, 10:59 AM

Using products in the sun is perfectly acceptable and any product can be used in the sun providing the surface temperature isn't too high. It's all in the temperature, not the sunlight itself...

Detailing in direct sunlight in both morning and afternoon will have a dramatic affect on surface temperatures.

This chart illustrates how much of an effect both sun and finish color have on surface temperature mid afternoon...

**guess23959** · 07-21-2012, 02:56 PM

wow, youd think with black that it would be frowned upon. sheez i guess i gotta get out from underneath my rock and stop doing things traditionally. thx guys for all the feedback! :-)