hey folks.
thought id bring up the (possibly mincing) world of detailing cars.
basically achieving the best possible finish using the best possible products to hand, along with a good 15 hours of labour.
a year ago i had a friend who enjoyed doing the above on his own car. nearly �600 later i found myself surrounded buy top quality car care/cleaning products.
to date i have detailed various cars…vx220, evos, subarus, lotus s1 and s2, nsx, range rover, a classic porsche, mercs, m3s and lots of other cars…typer, hyundi etc etc.
any way the work i will explain in amoment costs up to �400 to have done by an established company. so far i have been charging upto �180 to complete a car and have decided to take things a bit more seriousley. i have now got a trade policy to cover my work. i still have my job djing which is and will stay my main source of income but the car cleaning hobby has picked upp pace so hey why not give it a go.
i have not yet got a premesis of my own but work between the owners property/garage, my own property and house garage or a good friends trading garage.
below is my write up on a customers car.
Mercedes CLK320 Metallic Black
The procedure.
the following corrects the paint. it rids the paint of swirl marks, water marks, light scratches, holograming, fading of the paint(red cars especially)
First of all I closely looked around the car for any typically damaged parts on the car before commencing with the wash. Main areas to check are the lights for cracks or broken seals, the door and boot seals, front grills on the car, wing mirrors and finally any additions to the car such as sunroof or tow bars.
After my inspection the car reviled to have only one issue, the front lower grille had sustained damage, the grille was not only heavily stone chipped but had also been victim of a collision with debris. This had not only dislodged the grille but had also bent it, luckily the outside air temp sensor had not been damaged. After a good inspection on the grille I decided to remove it, straighten in, clean, prep and spray it back to its original colour satin black.
My first port of call wash a blast over the car with the jet wash, then a hose pipe in the more delicate places, this took 10 minuets as the car was heavily covered in dirt, I paid particular attention to the wheels and arches.
Next the Gilmor foam gun was used to completely immerse the whole car in Poorboys Slick and Suds, I then left the car covered in foam for 5-7 minuets making sure that most of the grime was going to removed upon the rinse. I continued to jet wash the car to remove the suds. I decided to then re use the foam gun again over the car, I left for a further 5 minuets and removed.
Remaining was a car much cleaner than when I started and I was now confident that there was no major grit or debris on the car which would cause problems when using the following two bucket wash system.
The two bucket wash system consists of two buckets, one filled with fresh warm water and the other filled with 10% Poorboys slick and suds and 90% warm water. Using a 100% clean lambs wool mitt I worked half a panel at a time using the slick and suds then removing the dirt on the mitt in the fresh water, I continued around the car in this manner. Upon completing the above I then jet washed the car again to remove the remaining suds.
Using a Poorboys soft weave towel I dried the car.
I now turned my attention to the wheels which were heavily covered in brake dust and road grime. To fully clean the wheels they had to be removed one by one. To clean the wheels I used Wonder Wheels cleaner, this product is normally not used due to the high levels of acidity but due to the amount of dirt I decided to use it. I cleaned front and the back of the wheels, once clean and dry I wax sealed the wheels with Auto Glym Alloy Wheel Sealant. Before each wheel was replaced I degreased and jet washed the wheel arch liners and the brake callipers, I then coated the liners in Auto Glym Vinyl and Rubber Care. The wheels were replaced using copper slip grease on the hub and the torque to the correct manufactures setting. Tyre black was applied to the side walls of the tires.
Once all of the cleaning and drying had been completed I turned my attention to removing any partials stuck to the paint. To do this I used Maguire�s Abrasive clay and speed detailer, to complete the whole car including the glass took 1 and a half hours due to the amount of dirt, dead bugs and road grime attached to the paint and glass. On completion I washed the car again and used a very strong detergent to free the car of any left over speed detailer, again the car was dried.
Now the paint and glass was completely clean and free from any dirt particles I prepped the car in masking tape to protect delicate and rubber/plastic areas from the polish and buffer pads I was about to use. Using a Porter Cable random orbit machine I started the paint correction process.
The paint on a car can be very susceptible to swirls and light scratches, these can be cause by a number of things, incorrect wash methods i.e., abrasive sponges, grime in the water used, dirt on the car not being released from the paint before a sponge or mitt is used, basically anything that could drag on the paint can leave fine marks. If you look closely at a cars paint finish you will see what�s called webbing, this consists of thousands of light scratches in the paint. Also swirls created by off the shelf polish products such as t cut or autoglym, used correctly these products are ok but are only basic and can easily cause more harm then good. The following steps are designed to eradicate 99% of all these scratches and swirls. Very deep scratches can be buffed out but sometimes they can be to deep.
The first step was using a 6� orange pad, Menzana Intensive polish. Working areas of around 2ft square I apply the Intensive, then using the variable speed settings 1-6 on the machine I worked the polish at speed 3 moving the pad � inch per second and passing the same spot 3 times, then I increase the speed of the machine to 6 and move the pad again at � inch per second over the same area twice or until the polish residue has broken down. The remaining residue is buffed off with a micro fibre cloth, the cloth is move in the same direction as the air would flow over the car under normal driving conditions, i.e. forwards.
Using the above system the whole of the car is completed using the Menzana Intensive polish.
The next step is to use the same system as above but with Menzana Intensive Polish II and a green pad.
Finally The Menzana Finishing Glaze is applied using again the same system as above.
During the above three steps a very strong light is used to check the paint for particular bad areas such as scratching or heavy swirling.
The above three steps are very important to achcieve the best resutls and cleanest surface to wax. The 3 steps can tak up to 8 hours to do correctly.
Once all of the three polishing step have correctly been completed I use the two bucket was system to remove any polish particles from the car. The car is the dried using the towel but this time the paint is dabbed dry to prevent any light scratches or swirls. The paint is now ready for wax.
I decided to use the Black Fire wax as it gives the wet look of a carnauba based wax and also all the plus points of using a synthetic wax.
The wax is applied as thinly and smoothly as possible again moving the special soft foam applicator pad in straight lines (as the air would flow) Once the wax has hazed slightly I buff of in the same direction using a new micro fibre cloth. The whole car is completed then left for 24 hours and is then re waxed using the same procedure as before.
The car should be waxed every 4-6 months and upon washing the car, the two bucket wash system should be used along with the dabbing of the towel to dry the car without creating the swirls and scratches that all of the above has eradicated.
now you have an understanding you can consider if ou would like me to do this on your car or cars. ive decided to stick to a rate of �150 to do all of the above as well as a valet inside the car. you may also take a contract for me to wash your car correctly once a week, fortnight or month etc. like i said at the start i am now insured and can work on your car at you home for piece of mind. pm me if your interested. andy