High quality production detailing by Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

High quality production detailing by Mike Phillips


Normally the words high quality and production detailing don't go well together. Production detailing is the type of slop-n-glop work performed by people with little to no training and working under tight time requirements with low quality pads, products and tools.

The problem is not how to create a show car finish in the least amount of time, that's not production detailing that's show car detailing and that's not what I'm talking about.

What I'm talking about is how can a detailer do as few as steps as possible and still turn out a quality detail job that they can be proud of and their customer will love.

And... how can a detailer do this on clearcoated black daily drivers?

The normal procedure historically for doing production detailing is to use a one-step cleaner/wax for the paintwork after the normal steps of washing, drying and claying if the paint is contaminated.

While a one-step cleaner/wax, applied by machine might work well on light colored cars, the issue is this approach will tend to leave micro-marring or a light haze in the clear layer of paint on darker colors and the hardest color of all to work on and that's black paint.

The micro-marring tends to be caused by the abrasive technology together with the pad choice and even caused in part by the machine application as the action of the pad spinning and/or oscillating against the paint leaves a tale-tale sign from the process that shows up to our eyes as a hazy appearance.

Because most daily drivers tend to be trashed in the sense the paint is filled with swirls and scratches, in order to provide enough correction ability to create a visible and even dramatic visual difference, (in the eyes of your customer), some type of abrasive technology is needed together with some type of chemical cleaning ability plus any polishing oils and last but not the least important, some type of protection ingredients be they synthetic, naturally occurring or a blend of both.

Trying to clean, polish and protect a swirled out dark or black colored clearcoat finish is for the most part asking too much from today's available technology. It's pushing the envelope too far at least if one of your requirements is to put out high quality work you can associate with your name.


The problem
Doing more than two steps means investing more time into the exterior process and this is where too many detailers lose profit. As the saying goes, time is money. Doing two, three or more steps to the paint is fine if you're charging accordingly for it but high prices and production detailing are at the opposite end of the spectrum.

To be honest, at this time there isn't a perfect answer. So Here's a two part answer that might be just the ticket for you when you're asked to work on a trashed, black or dark colored daily driver.

The solution
Part of detailing cars is under promising but over delivering. This starts by you not promising to create a swirl and scratch free finish. Period.

Removing all or even a majority of the swirls and scratches out of any daily driver is a multiple step process and you need to charge for this type of work.

Instead, here's a pretty good solution to the problem and that's to do a 2-step where the focus of your attention is in the first step, removing "some" of the shallow swirls and scratches while restoring clarity to the clearcoat and the second step is using a spray-on wax to seal the paint.


Here's the project car, a daily driver, 2013 Chevy Tahoe. This Tahoe looks to be washed incorrectly all of it's life. I did not see any straight line scratches caused by being run through a brush style automatic car wash but there's still plenty of random cobweb or spiderweb scratches to go around.






The owner asked me if I could cleaner her up with a wash and wax. He told me it's a 2013 that spends a lot of time in the garage so it's not that bad.

That's where everyone has their own definition of the word bad.


Besides being words apart on our definitions of the word bad, in a way, it doesn't matter because if the paint is horribly scratched or lightly scratched, in order to do just one machine application of some type of polish or cleaner/wax to a vehicle this size requires a certain amount of time because you can't simply run the buffer over the paint as fast as you can walk around the car.


So let me document the condition of the Tahoe as it arrived...
































Pretty bad...


I cover this in my new how-to book!




On Autogeek.net

How to use the Flex XC 3401 VRG Dual Action Polisher
For both Production Detailing & Show Car Detailing

[Mike Phillips]

First thing first and that's to get this Tahoe clean by washing it using the normal wash approach using running water.

The process I used was pretty straightforward and also the steps I outline in my how-to books for the aggressive wash approach.

Step 1: Wash wheels and tires. In this case I machine scrubbed the tires to remove the brown blooming effect. Followed this by washing wheel wells. (See the Mothers Wheel Well Brushes).

Step 2: Start at the top and work my way down washing the Tahoe using Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt.

Step 3: I decontaminated the hood and front tops of fenders with a Nanoskin Wash Mitt after FIRST washing and thoroughly RINSING off the entire Tahoe.

Step 4: Dried car using Guzzler Waffle Weave drying chamois and then moved the car into the garage.

While I used the aggressive approach to wash this Tahoe that doesn't mean I was careless and grinding new scratches into it, if you've read my how-to book you know it means I washing it THOROUGHLY because I'm taking a machine to it.


Work Stands Save Time
Werner Aluminum Work Stands are necessary anytime you're washing tall vehicles like SUVs. It's faster to have two one on each side instead of moving a single stand back and forth. Again, doing profitable production work is about saving time not wasting time.






I took a screen shot showing the time I started to wash and the products I used.





Here's a screenshot showing the time I finished including rinsing out all my tools, buckets, putting away all my wash tools and also putting away the water hose.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's how the paint looked after washing and drying and then moving the Tahoe into the garage.

Again, my definition of the word bad is probably a little more specific as it relates and is in the context of what it would take to undo the damage.

I would call the paint condition on this 2013 Tahoe in category 5 as defined in my how-to book.

Page 37 - Paint Condition Categories


5: Severely Neglected
Paint in this condition has deep swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation. Paint in this condition has normal day-in, day-out wear-n-tear plus no real regular maintenance. Vehicles in this category are rarely washed on a regular basis and when they are washed they are washed improperly or taken through automatic car wash.

Cobweb Swirls and Scratches
Paint that is severely neglected means that when viewed in bright, overhead sunlight, there are so many swirls and scratches that the paint has an overall hazy appearance which blocks your view of the true color.


Water Spots
Paint that is in the severely neglected category can have Type I, Type II and Type III water spots on all horizontal panels and even the vertical panels if caused by a sprinkler or some type of water spray.


Severe Oxidation
Paint in this category has oxidized to the point where the surface has a uniform dull appearance to the horizontal surfaces and to some extent the vertical panels. Clear coats do oxidize but usually slower than single stage paints and don't normally get the whitish, chalky appearance with a rough texture common to old, neglected single stage lacquers and enamels.

I'll let you all judge for yourself what category you would put the paint condition into.

Page 37 - Paint Condition Categories

[Mike Phillips]

Here's the after shots.


There are no "process shots" as I was moving fast to get this job done in under or at 4 hours.

I finished the job at 9:15pm. I started at approximately 5:10pm as I noted in post #13 of this thread last Friday night after I finished the job. Timestamp of the post is 9:30pm, shorty after the owner left with the Tahoe and I spent a few minutes cleaning up my mess and putting away the tools.

What are you going to detail this weekend?


Here are the after shots, these were taken with the owner and his wife standing off to the side. They were on a tight time schedule. I told them it would take me 4 hours and they could pick it up at 9:00pm for the most part we both kept to our words.

[Mike Phillips]

Here's what I used...




Process

Wiped Tahoe dry after moving into garage.

Opened all doors and hatchback and wiped down all door jambs.

Hand applied Tuf Shine Tire Clearcoat so it could dry while I buffed out the paint. Wiped chrome wheel covers with glass cleaner to remove any Tuf Shine overspray.

Machine applied Optimum Polish using a combination of 5" and 6.5" Hybrid White Polishing Pads on speed setting range of 4-5. Also made a quickie pass over the side glass and then polished the glass clear during wipe-off.

Wiped polish residue off paint.

Hand applied Optimum Car Wax, this is a spray-on wax so it's fast and easy.

Blew out the inside of the car using the Tornador Car Cleaning Gun. Ran out of time or I would have vacuumed but the interior was actually rally clean and the Tornador with all doors open made fast work of what little debris was on the floors, console, dash and seats.

Done.

Not my best work and not even the kind of work I like to do but I wanted to offer an alternative to trying to use a one-step on black clearcoated cars that was still very fast while providing pretty good results.

I can guarantee you there are still swirls and scratches throughout the paint. I did not promise the owner I would or could remove them all in the time I had and they new this and understood this. All they wanted was the car cleaned up.

Note I did spend extra time on the hood and it was about 90% scratch and swirl free as this is the major gloss panel on this vehicle as described in the second edition of my how-to book and as recommended in my how-to book you should always pay a little extra attention to the major gloss panels and gloss points because your customer will plus this is the part about over delivering that makes your work look good and even better than the guy down the street.

[rouxster]

...

Machine applied Optimum Polish using a combination of 5" and 6.5" Hybrid White Polishing Pads on speed setting range of 4-5. Also made a quickie pass over the side glass and then polished the glass clear during wipe-off.

...

I see a lot of people using using white pad to apply polishes and waxes. I don't see many people using red pads. Why is that so? I was planning on using a red pad to apply 845. Is that too soft of a pad? What are some examples of polishes that would be used with a red pad?

[Mike Phillips]

I see a lot of people using using white pad to apply polishes and waxes.

Be careful as some white pads are "polishing" pads while some white pads, for example the Rupes white pads ore "finishing" pads.

I don't see many people using red pads. Why is that so?

The big picture is to match the pad to the process. If you're applying a "finishing" wax or sealant, the word finishing implies NO CLEANERS or ability to clean or abrade the surface, then you should be using a very soft finishing pad or waxing pad.

If you're applying a cleaner/wax and trying to do some type of correction, or likewise for a medium cut, fine cut or ultra fine cut polish, then be sure to match your pad softness or aggressiveness to the goal you're trying to reach.

I was planning on using a red pad to apply 845. Is that too soft of a pad?

No that would be a perfect pad to use with the Collinite #845 assuming the paint is in perfect or polished to like new condition.

The reason you don't see me using red pads is I already have enough blue pads and soft white pad opened and in the garage that I try not to bring out more and more pads or management thinks I'm trying to start my own business.

What are some examples of polishes that would be used with a red pad?

Any fine cut or ultra fine cut polish...

[ken tuep]

This is very similar to the majority of the jobs I do. Most of my customers don't want to pay for a full detail, and a quick wash, and aio, topped with a spray wax is were its at.

A vacuum/ tornador and wipedown inside including windows. Done! Quick and pays well.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online

[Dr_Pain]

Good Lord Mike! You are a BEAST!

To make it under 4 hrs you had to have forgotten to do the roof, or as I said in runrun's thread you had to have created a dual Flex cyclo polisher. 13" of polishing power in one pass ROFL!

Great turn around....... and I bow out of trying to match that!

[Mike Phillips]

Good Lord Mike! You are a BEAST!

Well I didn't take any breaks and believe it or not I move pretty fast, my artificial leg is not what slows me down when moving around a detailing project.

To make it under 4 hrs you had to have forgotten to do the roof,

And just to be honest, you're partially correct in that I did not buff out the roof but not because I forgot it but because I was limited to only 4 hours.

I washed it VERY good. Actually washed the entire Tahoe very good, it was ####-n-span clean after washing and drying.

When I got up on the Werner work platforms to wash the roof the first thing I noticed is that the paint was filled with massive larger water spot rings over the entire roof.

So not only did I not buff it out but it doesn't look like anyone else ever has either.


So to be fair I wanted to buff the roof out using the Optimum Polish and then seal with the Optimum Car Wax but I didn't have the time after taking care of the entire rest of the outside.

I did buff the top outside visible edges and also told the owner that I didn't get to the roof and he was okay with this.

Remember, all he wanted was for me to clean her up. He's going to trade it in as soon as the 2015's arrive.

As an aside comment, I owned a 2004 Honda Pilot in black, bought it new in 2004 and for the first year I kept it up like a show car. After the first year, especially living in the Mojave Desert where it's windy and dusty, (sand everywhere), and finding out it was too much work to maintain a show car finish on a grocery getter. I did good the first year but after a year the excitement of the "new car" wore off as did my passion for machine polishing every square inch of an SUV.

I could do it for a 1957 Chevy, but not a daily driver, go to Costco grocery getter and towards the end of owning it I reduced my time waxing the roof to about ever other car wash/detail session. This means I would always wash it really well but only wax the roof every other wash.


The above all said, if I could have had the car till 10:00pm I could have easily knocked out the roof. Easily.

Had I had the time for the roof I still would have finished in 5 hours or less... no problem.

So I did what I could with the time I had and still made my customer happy and his wife too. Keep in mind in the next few weeks or months, the next time this Tahoe is washed I can guarantee you it will be taken through an automatic car wash.

This is why it's important to know your customer and don't promise to put a show car finish on a daily driver. It's a waste of your time, money and resources and your customer won't appreciate it anyways.