You can't polish a car without a car... so we have to start with the invention of the car. Way back in Germany, 1886, Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Mayback patented the first car. The DRP 37435 patent is the official birth of the car. A few years later, Gottlieb founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which became Mercedes Benz.
Let's skip ahead a bit to the Ford Model T, it was painted black for almost 20 years. This paint was based on the lacquer used on earlier horse carriages. By the 1930's an acrylic resin, or enamel was invented, along with an application method using an atomising spray gun. Soon thereafter, a hand made wax was developed in Zurich to protect antiques and lacquers.... well, the inventor soon found that it produced great results on the paint finish of automobiles as well. This wax, made by Anwander is still in use today by Mercedes and Rolls Royce. This wax was brought to America and the formula was changed for mass production and distributed by Turtle Wax Company until Zymol company was founded in 1980. Zymol is sold today. Another popular auto detailing supplier called Menzerna was already developing car care products by the 1950's and again, is still selling top quality products today.
In the 1950's a polisher was discovered by the automotive world, called the cyclo machine and was a huge success in paint restoration and correction. However, just before this, Meguiar's was already making foam pads for the rotary polishers, which are still in use today and are still the best tool for polishing cars. Meguiar's started out as a furniture finishing manufacturer in 1901 and is now on of the leader car care product manufacturers in the world. Also in the 1960's , Klasse ( Car-Lack ) was starting to use polyethylene instead of wax and as of today they produce one of the best car sealants in the business.
By the 1970's, Japan and Europe were using metallic based paints with a clear coat, this clear coat system produced outstanding hardness, gloss and long lasting color. This process migrated to the United States with some problems... many early 70's painted cars were having issues with clear coat failure within 2 or 3 years... it a quality issue.
The 1990's saw a surge in automotive care products and tools, including the random orbital rotary buffer. This machine, produced by Porter-Cable become one of the most used polishing tools in the market, and still is today. By this time, the painting systems had developed into the common 2 stage system with oven drying. This also was the time that a wider variety in paint color started to appear. This is mostly due to an increase in water based paints. This era also introduced us to Detailing Clay, one of my favorite products. This clay bar started in Japan and was used to remove all the contaminants from the paint surface, overspray, dirt, grime, tar, etc. It is also a key product for any professional automotive detailer today.
From 2000 to now has been incredible for the detailing business, many more products, tools and technology has gone into the industry. Micro fibre cloths became widely available and is the primary cloth used by all enthusiasts and professional detailers. Among the established manufacturers of car wax , polish and other various car care products, many new companies started developing and manufacturing their own products. By now, there are over 100 different wax products alone available throughout the world, however, the leaders were still Meguiar's, Menzerna, Klasse, etc. Paint clear coat technology was developing and products such as CeramiClear was made available and was the first to use nanoparticle technology. This product was very durable against day to day abuse, acid rain, UV radiation, etc. The same company also started to produce the coating technology that gave us the pearl, mica, light refracting pigments, color changing effects, aluminium flakes, etc.
The most recent developments include new automotive surface protection that are no wax sealants and fluorine-type clear coats. These new clear coat finishes have been put on luxury model cars, such as Infinity and must be treated differently then most other clear coat finishes. Typical polishing and waxing the newest cars may no longer produce the same results on these high-tech finishes. Consulting the automobile manufacturer is advisable.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy
This website/blog uses third-party advertising companies to serve ads when visiting this site. These third parties may collect and use information (but not your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, you can visit Google's Advertising and Privacy page.
If you wish to opt out of Advertising companies tracking and tailoring advertisements to your surfing patterns you may do so at Network Advertising Initiative.
Google uses the Doubleclick DART cookie to serve ads across it's Adsense network and you can get further information regarding the DART cookie at Doubleclick as well as opt out options at Google's Privacy Center
I respect your privacy and I am committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at this site autodetailingschool.blogspot.com The following discloses how information collected on this Blog.
RSS Feeds and Email Updates
If a user wishes to subscribe to my RSS Feeds or Email Updates, I ask for contact information such as name and email address. Users may opt-out of these communications at any time. Your personal information will never be sold or given to a third party. (You will never be spammed by me - ever)
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Like most blogging platforms I use log files, in this case Statcounter. This stores information such as internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring, exit and visited pages, platform used, date/time stamp, track user’s movement in the whole, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about the user. This blog doesn't use cookies. However, some of my business partners use cookies on this site (for example - advertisers). I can't access or control these cookies once the advertisers have set them.
Links
This Blog contains links to other sites. Please be aware that I am not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. I suggest my users to be aware of this when they leave this blog and to read the privacy statements of each and every site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Blog.
Advertisers
I use outside ad companies to display ads on this blog. These ads may contain cookies and are collected by the advertising companies and I do not have access to this information. Please check the advertisers websites for respective privacy policies.
Contact Information
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Ryan at contact.franklin @ gmail.com. This privacy policy updated April 2009
This website/blog uses third-party advertising companies to serve ads when visiting this site. These third parties may collect and use information (but not your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, you can visit Google's Advertising and Privacy page.
If you wish to opt out of Advertising companies tracking and tailoring advertisements to your surfing patterns you may do so at Network Advertising Initiative.
Google uses the Doubleclick DART cookie to serve ads across it's Adsense network and you can get further information regarding the DART cookie at Doubleclick as well as opt out options at Google's Privacy Center
I respect your privacy and I am committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at this site autodetailingschool.blogspot.com The following discloses how information collected on this Blog.
RSS Feeds and Email Updates
If a user wishes to subscribe to my RSS Feeds or Email Updates, I ask for contact information such as name and email address. Users may opt-out of these communications at any time. Your personal information will never be sold or given to a third party. (You will never be spammed by me - ever)
Log Files and Stats
Like most blogging platforms I use log files, in this case Statcounter. This stores information such as internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring, exit and visited pages, platform used, date/time stamp, track user’s movement in the whole, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. IP addresses etc. are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user’s computer tied to information about the user. This blog doesn't use cookies. However, some of my business partners use cookies on this site (for example - advertisers). I can't access or control these cookies once the advertisers have set them.
Links
This Blog contains links to other sites. Please be aware that I am not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. I suggest my users to be aware of this when they leave this blog and to read the privacy statements of each and every site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Blog.
Advertisers
I use outside ad companies to display ads on this blog. These ads may contain cookies and are collected by the advertising companies and I do not have access to this information. Please check the advertisers websites for respective privacy policies.
Contact Information
If you have any questions or concerns please contact Ryan at contact.franklin @ gmail.com. This privacy policy updated April 2009
Automotive Detailing Supplies and Equipment
Proper car detailing starts with the right detailing supplies. Whether you are just washing your car on the driveway or an experienced professional auto detailer, you are going to want to have the best of the best to work with. The supplies you use will depend on the level of experience you have.
The variety of automotive detailing supplies on the market is sometimes a little overwhelming, so lets look at some basic jobs you would normally do to a car. This applies to both the do-it-yourselfer and the professional.
As an example, let see what you might need for a basic Wash and Dry. You will need the following supplies to properly wash and dry your vehicle
• 2 wash buckets, with a grit guard or tray for each
• Micro fiber wash mit or Micro fiber covered sponge
• Micro Fiber drying towel
• Tire brush
• Wheel cleaning brush
• Water filtration ( optional )
• Drying Blower ( optional )
Most of the detailing supplies are not available at your local automotive supply store, often you will need to purchase them online or find a wholesaler in your area. Finding all the products and equipment from one location is often difficult, but if you find a local wholesaler that carries a wide variety of brands, you can easily get all the supplies you need.
If you are looking to purchase your detailing supplies for home use and are not getting into detailing other vehicles professionally, then a good start would be to check out some local detailing shops. There are professional auto detailers in every major city, and I bet there are a lot more then you think there are. Most of the detailers in the business love what they do, and if you contacted them to discuss detailing, I am sure they would love it. You should ask if you can buy some of the product they use, you will probably get a better deal then if you went and tried to find everything you need yourself. You will probably find that each detailer has a brand or line of products they prefer over others, this is either from experience or what they learned with. Many experienced detailers usually stick to a specific brand for the majority of their products. They will use other suppliers as well for all the specific function products that only select manufacturers produce.
Other detailing supplies that you can buy at your local automotive hardware store are the simple tools and products. Micro fiber cloths and towel are now very common. A few years ago, you would not be able to find a single micro fiber cloth anywhere but specialty stores. Micro fiber drying towels and polishing cloths are the standard for all your auto detailing jobs, don’t get anything else to wash, dry, buff or clean with. The characteristics of micro fiber make them non-scratch and super absorbent. You can also find decent cash wash soap and brushes at your local automotive supply store too. Never use dish soap on your car, only use car wash soap designed for automotive purposes. Dish soap will strip all the protective layers you apply to your car, such as wax, sealant, trim sealers and detailer sprays. Only use it if is your intention to prepare the car for paint correction and polishing, in that case, you want to remove all those waxes and sealers.
The variety of automotive detailing supplies on the market is sometimes a little overwhelming, so lets look at some basic jobs you would normally do to a car. This applies to both the do-it-yourselfer and the professional.
As an example, let see what you might need for a basic Wash and Dry. You will need the following supplies to properly wash and dry your vehicle
• 2 wash buckets, with a grit guard or tray for each
• Micro fiber wash mit or Micro fiber covered sponge
• Micro Fiber drying towel
• Tire brush
• Wheel cleaning brush
• Water filtration ( optional )
• Drying Blower ( optional )
Most of the detailing supplies are not available at your local automotive supply store, often you will need to purchase them online or find a wholesaler in your area. Finding all the products and equipment from one location is often difficult, but if you find a local wholesaler that carries a wide variety of brands, you can easily get all the supplies you need.
If you are looking to purchase your detailing supplies for home use and are not getting into detailing other vehicles professionally, then a good start would be to check out some local detailing shops. There are professional auto detailers in every major city, and I bet there are a lot more then you think there are. Most of the detailers in the business love what they do, and if you contacted them to discuss detailing, I am sure they would love it. You should ask if you can buy some of the product they use, you will probably get a better deal then if you went and tried to find everything you need yourself. You will probably find that each detailer has a brand or line of products they prefer over others, this is either from experience or what they learned with. Many experienced detailers usually stick to a specific brand for the majority of their products. They will use other suppliers as well for all the specific function products that only select manufacturers produce.
Other detailing supplies that you can buy at your local automotive hardware store are the simple tools and products. Micro fiber cloths and towel are now very common. A few years ago, you would not be able to find a single micro fiber cloth anywhere but specialty stores. Micro fiber drying towels and polishing cloths are the standard for all your auto detailing jobs, don’t get anything else to wash, dry, buff or clean with. The characteristics of micro fiber make them non-scratch and super absorbent. You can also find decent cash wash soap and brushes at your local automotive supply store too. Never use dish soap on your car, only use car wash soap designed for automotive purposes. Dish soap will strip all the protective layers you apply to your car, such as wax, sealant, trim sealers and detailer sprays. Only use it if is your intention to prepare the car for paint correction and polishing, in that case, you want to remove all those waxes and sealers.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Can you be a Professional Auto Detailer?
I have been asked so many times that I thought I would just answer the question online. How do you get into auto detailing and how can you do it? It really is not that hard, you just have to know where to start and where to look. I hope I can help you in the right direction if you are thinking about or have already decided to get into the automotive detailing business.
First, we should look at what is auto detailing. Car detailing is really another way to say professional car care or car wash. It does not just cover a simple car wash, it involves many areas of car cleaning. You will see terms such as car polishing, detailing, clay bar, waxing, paint protection, paint care, paint surface repair, scratch repair and removal, surface refinishing, swirl marks and removal, etc, etc. The list goes on and they are all related to automotive detailing.
I would like to show you key areas in professional detailing as follows: Exterior surface care (the paint), Exterior trim care, Engine bay and Interior care. I hope to give you a good idea of the work and detail that is involved in properly detailing a vehicle. By no means is this list complete and there are far more details that go into each process, but you can only discover those details once you get into the work.
Exterior Surface Care ( paint correction )
Before we start, you should probably go look at your own car ( or do it later, whatever ). What I want you to do is just clean off a small area, say 2 feet by 2 feet, unless it is clean enough already. Then I want you to run your hand across the paint surface ( preferably a hand without a ring on it, I don’t want you putting a scratch into it ). I want you to notice how the paint feels... is it silky? is it a little rough ? do you feel small "chunks" or grit on the surface?
So, did you go check? If not, that is fine, You should probably do it later though. I will bet that %95 of you that actually took the time to check your car's paint surface that you probably found it to be a little rough to the touch, especially if you have a car that is any older than 3 months. And I bet that some of you with a brand new car still feel the roughness of the paint.
What is that that you are feeling? It is called "rail dust" in the detailing world. Rail Dust is simply pollution, junk and grim that bonds and sticks to your paint and exterior vehicle surfaces. It is fairly easy to remove, this is how. Pick yourself up a Clay Bar kit, you should be able to find one at any local automotive supply store with the other car care and car wash products. The kit will come with a piece of clay and some spray, which is the lubricant used in conjunction with the clay bay. The spray will often be a quick detailer, which can be purchased separately without the Clay Bar. How you use it is simple, spray a small area, flatten the clay bar into a small disk and rub it down with the clay bar ( you will feel the rail dust coming off of the car , almost gritty sounding ). Once you feel it run along the paint smoothly, wipe dry with a micro fiber cloth. I forgot to mention, you should get a pack of at least 20 to 30 micro fiber cloths, they will be used on everything for you car from now on, all the car washing, drying and detailing will all be done with micro fiber cloths. Everything else is just not good enough in my opinion. Now, back to the paint. Once you completed a section, run your hand across the paint again, and if you have an area right next to it that you did not do, compare them. See a difference now? The clay bar treated side will be silky smooth to the touch and you will probably love it already.... now you need to spend the hour or 2 to finish the rest of the car. This will also work to remove tar if you have any of it on the surface. If you have large amounts, you might want to get some sort of dedicated tar remover. You can use the clay bar on all surfaces, including your chrome, metal, glass, trim, etc. It’s primary function is to remove the pollution from the paint and exterior surfaces ( all surfaces )
Ok, now that you have removed the rail dust from the paint finish, you can go to work at polishing it. If you don't use a clay bar, you can use a chemical polish, such as a paint cleaner, and polish that in and buff, by hand or by machine. That will also remove the rail dust and pollution deposits from the surface, but I prefer the clay bar method. Polishing your car is simple, yet can be complicated when you first start out. Many people will tell you that it is an art. I am telling you that it is just common sense ( but I guess common sense is sometimes not that common ).
What will need to professionally polish your car is a powered polisher ( yes you can do it by hand, but it takes a really long time, it's a pain in the "you know what", and you get a far better result with a machine ). You should start out with a random orbital polisher, or more commonly known as a DA ( Dual Action ) polisher. Dual Action, because it both oscillates and rotates, preventing common "swirl marks" you have probably seen or heard about when someone details or polishes a car. One of the most common ones is a Porter Cable DA , and the most common model right now is a 7424 , do a Google search and you will find a large list of suppliers of automotive detailing equipment like this. You will also need a few polishing pads to start with. You really only need 2 or 3, 1 for cutting ( which is the polishing part ) , and 1 for finishing ( which is the post-polishing part ) , we will discuss that later. You can also get a 3rd one that would fit in between which would sometimes be referred to as a buffing pad. You can get most , if not all of this stuff from Eshine.ca ( in Canada ) , for US residents you have for more suppliers of detailing products then I can list. Canadian residents are more limited in their choices if they do not want to have to worry about duty and shipping charges across the border.
Next, you will need the polishing compounds. This is where the list gets huge, so I am not going to cover everything, just the basics to get your car ( or your customers car ) looking pristine. You are going to mix and match your polishing pads with the polishing compounds, each combination will yield a different cutting ability. A light pad ( buffing or finishing ) with a light compound ( like Meguiar’s speed glaze ) will yield a very minimal cutting power. A cutting pad combined with a heavier compound, such as Meguair’s medium cut compound, you will get a significant amount of cutting power that will remove heavy scratches. I warn you now, that either combination can eat through your paint if you do not use the powered polisher properly. There are a few good video’s on YouTube that show this well, check out part 4 and 5 on how the polisher works. I would start with a simple medium or mild cut compound and a speed glaze. If you feel you might use something else and you have the budget, then go for it.
Lastly, you will want to protect the finish you just spent several hours correcting with the polish. You can either use a sealant or a wax. The difference is both in durability and personal preferences. I prefer a sealant on darker colored vehicles, it works just as well on any other color too. A paint sealant will last anywhere from 2 months to a year, where as a wax usually only lasts up to 6 weeks with normal washing. You will need to re-apply a wax more often. Klasse makes one of the best sealants, but also the hardest to work with. It is very durable , up to 1 year, but is extremely difficult to apply. Klasse sealant must be applied very sparingly, use 1 to 2 drops on an applicator, rub into the paint quickly and then quickly buff dry with a micro fiber cloth. Do only a small 2 foot by 2 foot section at a time and with as little of product as you can. A little goes a very long way with that stuff. There are other great products out there that work well and last long too, such as Wolfgang’s Deep Gloss Sealant.
Exterior Automotive Trim Detailing
This is really to focus all the non-painted exterior surfaces of you vehicle, the trim. This would include the rubber door seals, door trim, bumper trim, chrome and metal surfaces, etc. These areas are often forgotten about, once they are detailed properly, it will really make the exterior look great. You will need an all-metal polish ( to be applied by hand ) that you can use on chrome and other metals. You will also need some sort of trim detailer and the best one I have seen is called Black Wow. Again, with Black Wow, a little goes a long way too. A dressing that you would use on your interior and engine bay will work well on all your exterior trim too, Meguiar’s Hyper Dressing. It is probably one of the better all-purpose detailers and can be applied to all your exterior trim, tires, rims, and engine surfaces.
Engine Bay Detailing
Your engine bay can look like it was new again, just look at this example from the photo gallery from a professional detailer. You can really see a huge difference on the engine bay ( and the rest of the car too ). This engine bay ws detailed with a simple degreasing agent ( several times I might add ) and then treated with a good wash and light brushing. Then it was dressed with an all-purpose detailer on all the surfaces. I think it looks great and the process was fairly simple. You only need an all-purpose cleaner like Kleenol ( there are others and I have found most work very well ), just make sure that you get one that is water based so that you can dilute it for each application. You will also use the same car wash soap you use on the exterior and the same all-purpose dressing you would use to detail the interior/exterior trim and tires with. Simple, quick and done.
Interior Auto Detailing
The interior of your car is a very heavy traffic area, it’s a small space and a lot of dirt and grim come into your car from the outside. It can get dirty very quickly , but also cleans up fairly easy too. The first thing ( which you probably already do ) is to thoroughly vacuum the interior and truck area. Make sure to remove all the floor mats, garbage and everything else that is not tied down. Next , you will want to clean the stains. Another great use for your all-purpose cleaner. Dilute it to proper solution and start cleaning the upholstery , carpets, dash, leather, etc. Next would be the windows, you will need a good non-streaking glass cleaner, do not use vinegar and water or Windex, both are crap and Windex or other similar products do leave a residue behind. Next, is your dressing. You will want to detail the leather , vinyl, plastic and other trim with a protectant / dressing. Your all-purpose Hyper Dressing will be great to use here. Your interior should now be fully detailed and probably smell great too. Another great product for interior surface finishing is Meguiar’s #40 . It has a great shine to it and smells great. I use it on plastic and vinyl surfaces too, most detailers do. It does not do well I found on reflective surfaces ( like the gloss finish of a stereo system deck ), or on the clear plastic of your gauges.
Can you be a professional detailer?
Yes, now you can. I have covered a lot of what goes into a professional detailing service, mostly high level, but you get the idea. Once you know what is involved, you can start with your own vehicle at a very minimal cost. If you really enjoy it, you can take it further and expand it into a successful home based business. You will need to check into your local government for home business guidelines before you decide that is the route you want to take.
Some other online references you might want to review would be some other auto detailing sites or online forums.
Thanks for reading and I hope your venture into the Automotive Detailing Business goes well, or if you decide to just work on your own car, there will be one more great looking car on the road today.
Until Next Time.
First, we should look at what is auto detailing. Car detailing is really another way to say professional car care or car wash. It does not just cover a simple car wash, it involves many areas of car cleaning. You will see terms such as car polishing, detailing, clay bar, waxing, paint protection, paint care, paint surface repair, scratch repair and removal, surface refinishing, swirl marks and removal, etc, etc. The list goes on and they are all related to automotive detailing.
I would like to show you key areas in professional detailing as follows: Exterior surface care (the paint), Exterior trim care, Engine bay and Interior care. I hope to give you a good idea of the work and detail that is involved in properly detailing a vehicle. By no means is this list complete and there are far more details that go into each process, but you can only discover those details once you get into the work.
Exterior Surface Care ( paint correction )
Before we start, you should probably go look at your own car ( or do it later, whatever ). What I want you to do is just clean off a small area, say 2 feet by 2 feet, unless it is clean enough already. Then I want you to run your hand across the paint surface ( preferably a hand without a ring on it, I don’t want you putting a scratch into it ). I want you to notice how the paint feels... is it silky? is it a little rough ? do you feel small "chunks" or grit on the surface?
So, did you go check? If not, that is fine, You should probably do it later though. I will bet that %95 of you that actually took the time to check your car's paint surface that you probably found it to be a little rough to the touch, especially if you have a car that is any older than 3 months. And I bet that some of you with a brand new car still feel the roughness of the paint.
What is that that you are feeling? It is called "rail dust" in the detailing world. Rail Dust is simply pollution, junk and grim that bonds and sticks to your paint and exterior vehicle surfaces. It is fairly easy to remove, this is how. Pick yourself up a Clay Bar kit, you should be able to find one at any local automotive supply store with the other car care and car wash products. The kit will come with a piece of clay and some spray, which is the lubricant used in conjunction with the clay bay. The spray will often be a quick detailer, which can be purchased separately without the Clay Bar. How you use it is simple, spray a small area, flatten the clay bar into a small disk and rub it down with the clay bar ( you will feel the rail dust coming off of the car , almost gritty sounding ). Once you feel it run along the paint smoothly, wipe dry with a micro fiber cloth. I forgot to mention, you should get a pack of at least 20 to 30 micro fiber cloths, they will be used on everything for you car from now on, all the car washing, drying and detailing will all be done with micro fiber cloths. Everything else is just not good enough in my opinion. Now, back to the paint. Once you completed a section, run your hand across the paint again, and if you have an area right next to it that you did not do, compare them. See a difference now? The clay bar treated side will be silky smooth to the touch and you will probably love it already.... now you need to spend the hour or 2 to finish the rest of the car. This will also work to remove tar if you have any of it on the surface. If you have large amounts, you might want to get some sort of dedicated tar remover. You can use the clay bar on all surfaces, including your chrome, metal, glass, trim, etc. It’s primary function is to remove the pollution from the paint and exterior surfaces ( all surfaces )
Ok, now that you have removed the rail dust from the paint finish, you can go to work at polishing it. If you don't use a clay bar, you can use a chemical polish, such as a paint cleaner, and polish that in and buff, by hand or by machine. That will also remove the rail dust and pollution deposits from the surface, but I prefer the clay bar method. Polishing your car is simple, yet can be complicated when you first start out. Many people will tell you that it is an art. I am telling you that it is just common sense ( but I guess common sense is sometimes not that common ).
What will need to professionally polish your car is a powered polisher ( yes you can do it by hand, but it takes a really long time, it's a pain in the "you know what", and you get a far better result with a machine ). You should start out with a random orbital polisher, or more commonly known as a DA ( Dual Action ) polisher. Dual Action, because it both oscillates and rotates, preventing common "swirl marks" you have probably seen or heard about when someone details or polishes a car. One of the most common ones is a Porter Cable DA , and the most common model right now is a 7424 , do a Google search and you will find a large list of suppliers of automotive detailing equipment like this. You will also need a few polishing pads to start with. You really only need 2 or 3, 1 for cutting ( which is the polishing part ) , and 1 for finishing ( which is the post-polishing part ) , we will discuss that later. You can also get a 3rd one that would fit in between which would sometimes be referred to as a buffing pad. You can get most , if not all of this stuff from Eshine.ca ( in Canada ) , for US residents you have for more suppliers of detailing products then I can list. Canadian residents are more limited in their choices if they do not want to have to worry about duty and shipping charges across the border.
Next, you will need the polishing compounds. This is where the list gets huge, so I am not going to cover everything, just the basics to get your car ( or your customers car ) looking pristine. You are going to mix and match your polishing pads with the polishing compounds, each combination will yield a different cutting ability. A light pad ( buffing or finishing ) with a light compound ( like Meguiar’s speed glaze ) will yield a very minimal cutting power. A cutting pad combined with a heavier compound, such as Meguair’s medium cut compound, you will get a significant amount of cutting power that will remove heavy scratches. I warn you now, that either combination can eat through your paint if you do not use the powered polisher properly. There are a few good video’s on YouTube that show this well, check out part 4 and 5 on how the polisher works. I would start with a simple medium or mild cut compound and a speed glaze. If you feel you might use something else and you have the budget, then go for it.
Lastly, you will want to protect the finish you just spent several hours correcting with the polish. You can either use a sealant or a wax. The difference is both in durability and personal preferences. I prefer a sealant on darker colored vehicles, it works just as well on any other color too. A paint sealant will last anywhere from 2 months to a year, where as a wax usually only lasts up to 6 weeks with normal washing. You will need to re-apply a wax more often. Klasse makes one of the best sealants, but also the hardest to work with. It is very durable , up to 1 year, but is extremely difficult to apply. Klasse sealant must be applied very sparingly, use 1 to 2 drops on an applicator, rub into the paint quickly and then quickly buff dry with a micro fiber cloth. Do only a small 2 foot by 2 foot section at a time and with as little of product as you can. A little goes a very long way with that stuff. There are other great products out there that work well and last long too, such as Wolfgang’s Deep Gloss Sealant.
Exterior Automotive Trim Detailing
This is really to focus all the non-painted exterior surfaces of you vehicle, the trim. This would include the rubber door seals, door trim, bumper trim, chrome and metal surfaces, etc. These areas are often forgotten about, once they are detailed properly, it will really make the exterior look great. You will need an all-metal polish ( to be applied by hand ) that you can use on chrome and other metals. You will also need some sort of trim detailer and the best one I have seen is called Black Wow. Again, with Black Wow, a little goes a long way too. A dressing that you would use on your interior and engine bay will work well on all your exterior trim too, Meguiar’s Hyper Dressing. It is probably one of the better all-purpose detailers and can be applied to all your exterior trim, tires, rims, and engine surfaces.
Engine Bay Detailing
Your engine bay can look like it was new again, just look at this example from the photo gallery from a professional detailer. You can really see a huge difference on the engine bay ( and the rest of the car too ). This engine bay ws detailed with a simple degreasing agent ( several times I might add ) and then treated with a good wash and light brushing. Then it was dressed with an all-purpose detailer on all the surfaces. I think it looks great and the process was fairly simple. You only need an all-purpose cleaner like Kleenol ( there are others and I have found most work very well ), just make sure that you get one that is water based so that you can dilute it for each application. You will also use the same car wash soap you use on the exterior and the same all-purpose dressing you would use to detail the interior/exterior trim and tires with. Simple, quick and done.
Interior Auto Detailing
The interior of your car is a very heavy traffic area, it’s a small space and a lot of dirt and grim come into your car from the outside. It can get dirty very quickly , but also cleans up fairly easy too. The first thing ( which you probably already do ) is to thoroughly vacuum the interior and truck area. Make sure to remove all the floor mats, garbage and everything else that is not tied down. Next , you will want to clean the stains. Another great use for your all-purpose cleaner. Dilute it to proper solution and start cleaning the upholstery , carpets, dash, leather, etc. Next would be the windows, you will need a good non-streaking glass cleaner, do not use vinegar and water or Windex, both are crap and Windex or other similar products do leave a residue behind. Next, is your dressing. You will want to detail the leather , vinyl, plastic and other trim with a protectant / dressing. Your all-purpose Hyper Dressing will be great to use here. Your interior should now be fully detailed and probably smell great too. Another great product for interior surface finishing is Meguiar’s #40 . It has a great shine to it and smells great. I use it on plastic and vinyl surfaces too, most detailers do. It does not do well I found on reflective surfaces ( like the gloss finish of a stereo system deck ), or on the clear plastic of your gauges.
Can you be a professional detailer?
Yes, now you can. I have covered a lot of what goes into a professional detailing service, mostly high level, but you get the idea. Once you know what is involved, you can start with your own vehicle at a very minimal cost. If you really enjoy it, you can take it further and expand it into a successful home based business. You will need to check into your local government for home business guidelines before you decide that is the route you want to take.
Some other online references you might want to review would be some other auto detailing sites or online forums.
Thanks for reading and I hope your venture into the Automotive Detailing Business goes well, or if you decide to just work on your own car, there will be one more great looking car on the road today.
Until Next Time.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Auto Detailing | Car Care Products | Supplies
How to find the supplies and resources for automotive detailing
What this blog was created to combine all the resources and information about automotive detailing for beginners and professionals. I am going to cover a wide range of subjects from the products, dealers, techniques, equipment, going mobile and how to do it all yourself.
First , we are going to start with some basics. The equipment that you will need. Then I am going to go into some of the products you are going to use, we'll look at a variety of brands and how they compare to each... then we'll see what we need to cover after that.
I will be following up with a post soon on our first topic on being a professional auto detailer.
What this blog was created to combine all the resources and information about automotive detailing for beginners and professionals. I am going to cover a wide range of subjects from the products, dealers, techniques, equipment, going mobile and how to do it all yourself.
First , we are going to start with some basics. The equipment that you will need. Then I am going to go into some of the products you are going to use, we'll look at a variety of brands and how they compare to each... then we'll see what we need to cover after that.
I will be following up with a post soon on our first topic on being a professional auto detailer.
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