Pictures & Comments: Sept 2014 Detail Boot Camp Class

[Tato]

The sun shots are fantastic. They fully demonstrate what happened between 4 walls just before, hard to believe it turned out this way, but in front of so many testimonials all I can say is you did an amazing job with the Flex 3401.

This Bootcamp raised the bar Very High!

Thanks for taking your time sharing everything, we all know (at least, must know) the effort put into preparing all those write-ups.

Kind Regards.

[OnsiteDetailing]

Are you serious!

Combining lecture with a lot of hands on and continued narrative DURING the hands on with a rolling explanations as to WHY the students are doing what they're doing is (IMO) the best way to teach.

I was a teacher before I decided to do auto detailing, and I can say that Mike's teaching methods are very effective!

[Mike Phillips]

The sun shots are fantastic. They fully demonstrate what happened between 4 walls just before, hard to believe it turned out this way, but in front of so many testimonials all I can say is you did an amazing job with the Flex 3401.

This Bootcamp raised the bar Very High!

It's always fun to share the results from our classes. I think we post more pictures of real people working on real cars than any other detailing class offered in the world. And in the pictures I document,

1. The before condition.
2. The people doing the work via hands-on training, some who have NEVER used a machine before.
3. The after results.

And been doing this on the forum since 2002, that's 14 years now.

Thanks for taking your time sharing everything, we all know (at least, must know) the effort put into preparing all those write-ups.

Kind Regards.

It's a little time consuming but the power is that as long as this forum is around the pictures will be around and that's what's powerful.


Thanks for the kind words Raphael....

[Dave Hamlin]

This was my second boot camp.

The first taught me enough to be able to do a great detail and speak knowledgably about most aspects of detailing a car inside and out. But over time many questions arose and I was able to get even more out of the second because I could ask better questions.

The second one also further charged my passion for the craft and gave me even more confidence when talking with our customers about what they need done to their car.

I cannot thank Mike enough for what he has done for my career, since attending my first class I have become General Manager of our Carwash business and our sales and customer satisfaction are growing every day. I couldn't have done it without the knowledge obtained from Mike.

Thanks again.

[Mike Phillips]

This was my second boot camp.

The first taught me enough to be able to do a great detail and speak knowledgeably about most aspects of detailing a car inside and out. But over time many questions arose and I was able to get even more out of the second because I could ask better questions.

The second one also further charged my passion for the craft and gave me even more confidence when talking with our customers about what they need done to their car.

I cannot thank Mike enough for what he has done for my career, since attending my first class I have become General Manager of our Car Wash business and our sales and customer satisfaction are growing every day. I couldn't have done it without the knowledge obtained from Mike.

Thanks again.

Wow!

Thanks for the kind words Dave and it was a pleasure having you back for a second class.

If I remember correctly, you work at Evergreen Car Wash & Detail in Evergreen, Colorado? And I think you mentioned the owner, a long time friend, is also going to send out a second employee?


I was also happy to hear that after attending the first class and learning the what, where and why of using one-step cleaner/waxes by machine you were able to speed up the detailing department while increasing the profit per customer. In fact I think you said this one aspect you learned from the first class has created new business and improved existing business profitability that it more than returned your investment in attending the class.



Dave




Thanks again Dave for attending our Detailing Boot Camp Class, don't be a stranger on the forum.

[Mike Phillips]

Car Washing Techniques

The Aggressive Approach to Washing a Car


In my first and second editions of my how-to book I teach two ways to wash a car,

The Aggressive Approach - This is how you wash a neglected car before you're going to machine buff it.

The Gentle Approach - This is how you wash a car you or someone else has already buffed out.

You need to now the difference between the two approaches and when to use them. If you detail cars for money.... you need to educate your customer AFTER you've detailed their car to use the Gentle Approach so they don't undo your hard work and then blame you because swirls and scratches came back.


This Camaro is rough!
I don't think this Camaro has been properly washed and waxed for maybe 10 years or longer as it's pretty rough, not just rough looking but rough feeling to the touch.

So we're going to use the aggressive approach to wash and and also My Classic Car filmed this for their TV show to share with their audience some of the things you learn when you attend our Detailing Boot Camp Classes.

I also used this car as a Training Car for my last class because it's

A: Neglected
B: White


Chemical Decontamination - Removing Iron Particles in the Paint
And I always have a neglected white vehicle to demonstrate the importance of removing iron contamination with a product like Iron X.


Mechanical Decontamination - Removing Bonded Contaminants like Overspray Paint
I also show how to speed up production detailing by mechanically decontaminating the paint during the washing process using Nanoskin products.

One method does not replace the other method you need to do both if you're working on a neglected vehicle.



Without further ado, here's some pictures from the first day of the September 2014 Detailing Boot Camp Class.



Wheels & Tires First
My classes and books always teach to wash wheels and tires first, to find out why see page 15 of either The Art of Detailing or the second edition, The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine




This is a lug nut cleaning brush




Simply place it over the lug nut and clean the lug nuts and the barrels at the same time...




This is a Wheel Woolie used for cleaning in hard to reach areas...




After washing the wheels and tires rinse well....






Start at the top and work your way down
After washing the wheels and tires first, next start at the top and work your way down. This is also explained in detail in my first two books.


Bleeding like a Stuck Pig
The first step for our aggressive approach is to chemically decontaminate the paint using Iron X. Here you can see the white paint on this Camaro bleeding like a stuck pig.










Use the Foam Gun to Foam the Car
Next we use the foam gun to slather the car's body panels with car wash foam.









Wash body panels and glass
Next we use Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitts to loosen surface dirt so it can be rinsed off.

Here you can see Richard, the Cameraman from My Classic Car capturing the car washing process.




Get her clean boys!







Rinse off all the loose dirt and soap suds
Next the Camaro was fully and thoroughly rinsed to remove all the loosened dirt off the car and out of all the cracks and crevices. This is IMPORTANT if you're going to machine buff a car.






Mechanically Decontaminate the Paint with Nanoskin Wash Mitts and Towels
Nanoskin Wash Mitts and Towels work great for removing bonded contaminants. They come in Fine and Medium Grade. One benefit is if you drop either on the ground you can simply rinse it off and continue using it. If you drop detailing clay you must throw it away.

It's important that you first wash and RINSE the car to remove all the loose dirt otherwise you risk instilling scratches. The point being you don't want to rub the polymerized rubber surface of the Nanoskin product over paint that still has dirt floating on it from the wash process so RINSE first - then use the Nanosking products to remove the bonded contaminants.

In this example we use the Foam Gun to foam the car and use the foam as our lubricant for the Nanoskin Wash Mitts and Towels.









Rinse a Second Time
Then rinse the car a second time to remove all the contaminants removed by the Nanoskin products.
(No pictures)


Dry the car
After all the washing and decontaminating is finished dry any standing water off the car to avoid water spots. Here the class is using the Guzzler Waffle Weave Drying Towels.







This car is clean. This car is chemically decontaminated. This car is mechanically decontaminated.

That's how you use the Aggressive Approach to wash a car.

This car is now ready to machine buff.