First time detailing for pay. DONE!

[Eric7810]

Today I took a shot at doing someone else's vehicle for some coin. I am also very new to detailing, but have been practicing.

Did this 2011 Explorer today for $140. Exterior wash and AIO. I think I really gave him a low ball price, but he's family. Also, I'm just starting off, so I'm hesitant when pricing myself.

PC 7424
HD Speed
Lake Country 5.5 Orange Flat

<a href="https://s48.photobucket.com/user/Eric_7810/media/InkedDSC_9112_LI.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/Eric_7810/InkedDSC_9112_LI.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo InkedDSC_9112_LI.jpg"/></a>

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[Mike Phillips]

First - I found your post in the Moderating Queue and approved it. Our Spam software didn't like all the extra coding you see in your post.


Second - I edited your post and placed opening and closing image tags around the code for two pictures, a third picture was a duplicate of the second picture.


Historically Photobucket had been a nightmare for hosting your pictures. Sooner or later they will disappear anywhere you share them. Do a Google search with these words and you should bring up multiple posts by me on this topic.


Photobucket mike phillips AutogeekOnline



Third - the fastest and easierst way to share a picture on a forum is via your phone and Tapaptalk

TapaTalk for iphone

TapaTalk on Google Play


All forum members get a free gallery here on AutogeekOnline and I use it extensively but my observations over the years are that most people find it difficult to resize their pictures to a sane size and then upload them and then figure out how to insert them into a thread. Thus by using TapaTalk most people can make the magic happen.


Now to your post...

Today I took a shot at doing someone else's vehicle for some coin. I am also very new to detailing, but have been practicing.

Did this 2011 Explorer today for $140. Exterior wash and AIO. I think I really gave him a low ball price, but he's family. Also, I'm just starting off, so I'm hesitant when pricing myself.

PC 7424
HD Speed
Lake Country 5.5 Orange Flat

Results look GREAT!

How many pads did you go through?

[Bruno Soares]

Nice job. Amazing what HD Speed and orange pads can achieve on a previously neglected car.

[fightnews]

Nice job why did u say u won't do it anymore?

It's faster if you use a 6.50" pad Imo

[Eric7810]

Thanks Mike,

I posted it from my PC, and the 'attach photo' menu was failing to post the photo. I used Photobucket and literally thought 'Mike is going to hate this..' LOL Thanks so much for your help, it's been over a decade since I've been a member of a V Bulletin forum.

I used one 5.5 pad, cleaned it on the fly. Did a thorough clean half way through. Took advantage of AutoGeeks sale and got plenty more pads on the way.
I also used four 3.5" orange pads, they seemed to help a lot when getting smaller panels cleaned up.

[Eric7810]

Nice job why did u say u won't do it anymore?

It's faster if you use a 6.50" pad Imo

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a shot!

I didn't say I won't do it again, just that I am hesitant when pricing my work.

[Eric7810]

More pictures, and testing my ability to use this app..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Calendyr]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on starting what will very likelly be something you will enjoy a lot

140$ is very low for doing an exterior detail plus an AIO but if you are starting out, it's perfectly ok. I suggest you try to do as many friends and familly vehicles as you can and take plenty of pictures and videos to build a portfolio. At the same time, it will give you experience in working on various types of vehicles and streamline your process.

From the pictures you posted, you did a good job overall. The before/after shot is good for the paint enhancement. Only issue I can see, if we can call it that, is the tires look like you used Armor All on them. Not sure if you did but that greasy look usually comes from that product If you decide to do this profesionnally, I would suggest you upgrade your tire dressing to something that looks more natural like a Optimum Opti-Bond or CarPro Perl.

Regarding your pad use, I would suggest you get a few more. You can do an whole vehicle with one pad, but this puts a lot of wear on the pad because it heats up over time and it will break the bond between the velcro and the foam. So if you do this, your pads will wear out much much faster than if you used many pads. What I do is I usually use two. I do one pannel, clean it and switch to the other one. So by the time I have completed the second pannel, the first pad has cooled down and is ready to do pannel 3. Some people will tell you to use one pad per pannel, I personally think that is over kill but everyone has their own method.

Hope to see more of your work in the future

[Eric7810]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on starting what will very likelly be something you will enjoy a lot

140$ is very low for doing an exterior detail plus an AIO but if you are starting out, it's perfectly ok. I suggest you try to do as many friends and familly vehicles as you can and take plenty of pictures and videos to build a portfolio. At the same time, it will give you experience in working on various types of vehicles and streamline your process.

From the pictures you posted, you did a good job overall. The before/after shot is good for the paint enhancement. Only issue I can see, if we can call it that, is the tires look like you used Armor All on them. Not sure if you did but that greasy look usually comes from that product If you decide to do this profesionnally, I would suggest you upgrade your tire dressing to something that looks more natural like a Optimum Opti-Bond or CarPro Perl.

Regarding your pad use, I would suggest you get a few more. You can do an whole vehicle with one pad, but this puts a lot of wear on the pad because it heats up over time and it will break the bond between the velcro and the foam. So if you do this, your pads will wear out much much faster than if you used many pads. What I do is I usually use two. I do one pannel, clean it and switch to the other one. So by the time I have completed the second pannel, the first pad has cooled down and is ready to do pannel 3. Some people will tell you to use one pad per pannel, I personally think that is over kill but everyone has their own method.

Hope to see more of your work in the future

Thanks so much for your response and input. I appreciate the compliments as well as the suggestions. I have a few other friends that are interested in hiring me, so any help is great.

The most excruciating part of doing this vehicle was feeling how inefficiently I was working. I feel when I have my own pad replacement/cleaning system down that will really speed things up.

The tire dressing I used was one I get from a local supplier. I don’t think it’s a brand name item. Admittedly, I took the picture moments after wiping it on. Pretty cheap, I have problems with sling-off if I misapply it. Thanks for the suggestion on a better product!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PaulMys]

I think it looks MUCH better. Great job, bud!