shane@detailedreflections

Let’s follow up with a whole bunch more information about what paint correction is, and when it should (and shouldn’t be applied). 
 
Paint correction is not a magic bullet. It’s not something that can be done unlimited times. Paint correction works by removing clear coat in order to remove defects in your paint. 
 
Most of the UV protection of your paint comes in the first 1/3 of the clearcoat. Knowing that, we don’t want to remove more than that over the LIFETIME of the vehicle. Once you reduce the UV protection you accelerate clearcoat failure requiring a repaint. 
 
Paint correction also serves to level the clearcoat on a vehicle increasing the glossy look of the finish. This is why even brand new vehicles benefit from polishing. 
 
Modern paint systems are a three part system. They consist of a primer, base coat (color) and clear coat.  Older paints may be single stage in nature mixing the clear and paint layers. 
 
On top of your paint sits a variety of contamination and defects typically. Contamination on the paint is generally tackled with washing, iron remover and clay.
 

 
When we talk about defects, there’s spider webs which are microscratches, deep scratches which may or not be able to be taken care of without repainting and other forms of defects as illustrated below. 
 

 
When paint correcting we are only working with the clear coat. So as you can see, the deep scratches can’t be fixed. And some that are just in the clear coat shouldn’t be fixed for fear of striking through or removing too much clear accelerating failure. 
 
So you get a car, and you paint correct it. You’ve removed a little clear coat. You use good technique in washing and over time you develop damage (it happens no matter what we do). You polish again. But because you’ve used good technique along the way, you only need a finish polish to take a little clear coat off. Using this methodology you can get a long time with out of your paint and great looks. 
 
The other scenario is you perform a paint correction and you take it through the automatic car wash. You damage your finish over time. You then need a full correction to repair the damage which takes off more of the clear coat.  When approached this way, you’re going to burn through more clear coat or get less corrections. 
 
So the ultimate answer to your question is to correct as infrequently as possible to preserve the clear coat. We use a paint thickness gauge to know what we are doing to a clients paint (or what they’ve done to it already). 
 
We are not opposed to using a fine polish a couple times a year. It leaves a satisfactory finish for most clients without significantly shortening the life of the paint. We will sometimes use a compound in isolated spots to handle concentrated damage as opposed to going all in everywhere. 
 
Hope this is helpful. 

Two panels at a time is a huge bite at once and gives you zero time for slacking. Most coatings recommend a 2’ x 2’ section at a time. We will go a little bigger than that, but not much. Moving a vehicle in and out to check for high spots would be time consuming. Work in smaller sections. Buff thoroughly. We use a suede buffing towel that we throw out when we are done, and then we do a final buff with a microfiber of each section. 
 
When working with coatings, less can be more. I can’t imagine trying to do two panels at a time solo and ensure it’s right. 

If it’s alresdy cured, glaze may mask it but if won’t remove it. If it did, it would be the easy way to strip coatings odd vehicles. It works on fresh or partially cured coating...a fully cured one and you’re wasting your time in my opinion. 
 
You can try some finishing polish and see if it levels it out a bit. Then maybe try to reapply. Worst case is you’re polishing it all out. If you do, I’d polish the entire hood starting with compound and redo the entire hood application. 
 
Great example of what high spots on a coating look like (as an education point for those reading and learning, not as a criticism). 
 
Be thorough. Change towels frequently. Work in small bites. Don’t take too big of a bite of the apple you scramble and end up with this. With experience you’ll know how much you can cover for given conditions. 

It sounds like your truck needs a good clay bar decontamination. Anything sitting on a vehicle for a long time allows time for bonding. Coatings aren’t impossible to have things stick to them, they just make it harder. I’m guessing a little clay on it and it comes right back to life. 
 
Coatings aren’t maintenance free and this seems like a short time span for contamination, but sitting in an uncontrolled environment can certainly cause issues. 
 
Try clay and see what happens. Maybe I’ll write up a thing on reasonable expectations of last step products one of these days and how to best maintain them. 

I finally was able to pick up the car today. Here’s the final list of changes:
 
-Wrap in Oracal Matte Sunset Shift wrap. 
-Wrap roof, a posts, mirrors, partial hood, spoiler, front splitter and lower rockers in gloss black
-Paint calipers in what ended up being a four stage paint to match
-Gloss black emblems
-Powder coat the wheels black
-6mm wheel spacers on the front and 15mm spacers on the back. 
-Ceramic Coat with a Vinyl/PPF coating everywhere, wheels and calipers in accompanying product.
-Drop a mild tune in the car to wake it up a bit.
 
These are quick shots with the phone. A good video and photo shoot will be happening. The wheel pic was after driving it home, so yup...they’re dirty. These brakes bleed dust everywhere. 

I finally was able to pick up the car today. Here’s the final list of changes:
 
-Wrap in Oracal Matte Sunset Shift wrap. 
-Wrap roof, a posts, mirrors, partial hood, spoiler, front splitter and lower rockers in gloss black
-Paint calipers in what ended up being a four stage paint to match
-Gloss black emblems
-Powder coat the wheels black
-6mm wheel spacers on the front and 15mm spacers on the back. 
-Ceramic Coat with a Vinyl/PPF coating everywhere, wheels and calipers in accompanying product.
-Drop a mild tune in the car to wake it up a bit.
 
These are quick shots with the phone. A good video and photo shoot will be happening. The wheel pic was after driving it home, so yup...they’re dirty. These brakes bleed dust everywhere. 

It sounds like your truck needs a good clay bar decontamination. Anything sitting on a vehicle for a long time allows time for bonding. Coatings aren’t impossible to have things stick to them, they just make it harder. I’m guessing a little clay on it and it comes right back to life. 
 
Coatings aren’t maintenance free and this seems like a short time span for contamination, but sitting in an uncontrolled environment can certainly cause issues. 
 
Try clay and see what happens. Maybe I’ll write up a thing on reasonable expectations of last step products one of these days and how to best maintain them. 

The Odor Bomb may work well enough for you, it may not.  Wet dog smell is frustrating at best.  
 
On a molecular level, the only way to eliminate odors is with an ozone generator.  This is the tool that hotels and apartments use to eliminate odors.  You can get some small inexpensive ones on amazon, but I'm not sure how they work.  We have a commercial unit that we use.  We typically charge $50-100 to run the ozone depending on other services purchased at the time. You may find a local detailer with one.  That will leave the car with an almost stale smell that will take a few days to go away even with the use of air fresheners. 
 
 
I think one of the secrets to letting things work before the ozone level is how long they've sat for.  The enzyme cleaners are great.  We use them for any human fluids type of messes, or really any other biological situations we come across.  The charcoal can't hurt either.  That's a solid idea without going to the length of the ozone machine.

Thanks!  I’d have to dig the articles out again. But if you search my history you’ll find them @BuBruce86. I will day this, growth is harder than you think to obtain. And when it takes hold can be difficult to manage. Bear that in mind as you learn the ropes.
 
The cars are the easy part. The business isn’t easy. 

Thanks!  I’d have to dig the articles out again. But if you search my history you’ll find them @BuBruce86. I will day this, growth is harder than you think to obtain. And when it takes hold can be difficult to manage. Bear that in mind as you learn the ropes.
 
The cars are the easy part. The business isn’t easy. 

Generally I agree with your sentiment 100%. I’ve openly disagreed on things Adam’s has done in the past on this forum, as well as directly to Adam himself of various representatives of the company. Admittedly, I can be pretty critical. 
 
That being said in this case I feel your sentiment is misguided, despite being well intentioned. 
 
“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” That’s the saying anyway. 
 
We are currently experiencing a pandemic on a world scale that is unlike anything we have ever seen. Economies are crippled. Death tolls continue. Infection rates rise. Resources are drained. 
 
This is something that has an impact on nearly every town, county, state, nation and continent. Everything is a fluid situation in a constant state of flux where needs change daily, or even by the minute. 
 
Not only do I own Detailed Reflections, but my true career (the one that really pays the bills) is being a firefighter in a community of 50,000 people. We have seen the feelings change from “we have plenty of gear” to “one to one replacement” so we don’t run out. So far to date, my community has over 200 cases of Covid-19. We have transported approximately seventy of these patients. I myself (and my crew) have had four direct contacts with Covid-19 positive patients to date that we know of. With every contact comes the need for more products to decontaminate ourselves and our equipment. This has created a shift where smaller local businesses have shifted their production to support their communities instead of the bottom line. We have an adhesive company a couple towns over that made hand sanitizer for every member of our department. This allowed them to keep their employees working, and helps the community. It’s the proverbial “win-win.”
 
Everyone now is being divided (right or wrong) into essential and non-essential. Non essential businesses are sometimes able to sustain themselves by offering something they don’t always. The need for general sanitization products versus car care products is clear currently. I can state that as the owner of a business that relies on car care products and the availability of them to keep going. 
 
Adam’s is putting their community before the needs of it’s existing “customers.” If our communities fail, the businesses fail. And companies disappear completely. You’re going to see a few crisis’ arise thanks to Covid-19 outside of healthcare. You will see a financial crisis, unemployment crisis, mental health crisis, potential housing crisis (credit will be trashed, savings wiped out, mortgages in default). It’s going to take time to climb out way out of this. The way we do that is by understanding that the needs of everyone have shifted significantly during this time. 
 
If you live in a lesser affected area, it doesn’t mean the companies in your area aren’t supporting those in areas of impact. 
 
For the greater good of society, and to end this as quickly as possible Adam’s has done the right thing. They should be applauded, not reminded that they need to get back to car care products and customers. 
 
I mean no disrespect to your thoughts, just sharing the views from the other side of the fence. I don’t want to bring Covid-19 home to my family because I couldn’t get what I needed to remain safe. And I don’t want to have to change how I interact with members of the community I serve out of fear or lack of proper supplies. Right now we all need to support each other. For the greater good. 

Generally I agree with your sentiment 100%. I’ve openly disagreed on things Adam’s has done in the past on this forum, as well as directly to Adam himself of various representatives of the company. Admittedly, I can be pretty critical. 
 
That being said in this case I feel your sentiment is misguided, despite being well intentioned. 
 
“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” That’s the saying anyway. 
 
We are currently experiencing a pandemic on a world scale that is unlike anything we have ever seen. Economies are crippled. Death tolls continue. Infection rates rise. Resources are drained. 
 
This is something that has an impact on nearly every town, county, state, nation and continent. Everything is a fluid situation in a constant state of flux where needs change daily, or even by the minute. 
 
Not only do I own Detailed Reflections, but my true career (the one that really pays the bills) is being a firefighter in a community of 50,000 people. We have seen the feelings change from “we have plenty of gear” to “one to one replacement” so we don’t run out. So far to date, my community has over 200 cases of Covid-19. We have transported approximately seventy of these patients. I myself (and my crew) have had four direct contacts with Covid-19 positive patients to date that we know of. With every contact comes the need for more products to decontaminate ourselves and our equipment. This has created a shift where smaller local businesses have shifted their production to support their communities instead of the bottom line. We have an adhesive company a couple towns over that made hand sanitizer for every member of our department. This allowed them to keep their employees working, and helps the community. It’s the proverbial “win-win.”
 
Everyone now is being divided (right or wrong) into essential and non-essential. Non essential businesses are sometimes able to sustain themselves by offering something they don’t always. The need for general sanitization products versus car care products is clear currently. I can state that as the owner of a business that relies on car care products and the availability of them to keep going. 
 
Adam’s is putting their community before the needs of it’s existing “customers.” If our communities fail, the businesses fail. And companies disappear completely. You’re going to see a few crisis’ arise thanks to Covid-19 outside of healthcare. You will see a financial crisis, unemployment crisis, mental health crisis, potential housing crisis (credit will be trashed, savings wiped out, mortgages in default). It’s going to take time to climb out way out of this. The way we do that is by understanding that the needs of everyone have shifted significantly during this time. 
 
If you live in a lesser affected area, it doesn’t mean the companies in your area aren’t supporting those in areas of impact. 
 
For the greater good of society, and to end this as quickly as possible Adam’s has done the right thing. They should be applauded, not reminded that they need to get back to car care products and customers. 
 
I mean no disrespect to your thoughts, just sharing the views from the other side of the fence. I don’t want to bring Covid-19 home to my family because I couldn’t get what I needed to remain safe. And I don’t want to have to change how I interact with members of the community I serve out of fear or lack of proper supplies. Right now we all need to support each other. For the greater good. 

Thanks @RayS.  I'm looking forward to the time coming that we can put a coating on your vehicle for you.  You're welcome to sit in on the process when the time comes if you'd like as well.
 
Ray brought up a good point that I overlooked, and it's a major one for me.  I do view customers as different from clients.  So there's two different acquisitions that happen.  The first is potential customer to customer.  Then you have to acquire them again to make them a client.  There's a difference between the two, and it's significant even though both provide revenue.
 
A customer is generally a one time transaction.  They have a dirty call, and they have a service done and you never see or hear from them again.  These are people who may have zero or limited experience with a detailing service and are trying it out for the first time.  Or someone who has a special need ("someone got sick in my car and I can't get it out.")
 
Your job is to convert that customer to a client.  A client is someone who has a repeated relationship with you.  They come back over and over for service, and they're also your biggest champions when it comes to word of mouth.  These are your clients who provide you with continued revenue.  That continued factor is important.  Do a coating for a client?  You want to see them once or twice a year.  Customers are usually the ones who will be the pickiest about things for some reason.  That's where managing expectations comes in.  
 
Treat everyone the same.  Don't change work for who you perceive the person in front of you to be.  Treat people well, treat people the same.  You're trying to build relationships.  We have clients who are now friends.  That acquisition can be difficult, and the distinction needs to be made so you can understand what you'll have for renewed revenue and workload.  After all, servicing the new customers/clients is additional revenue to maintaining the old ones.
 
 

You ask some good questions.  Congratulations on the effort to make a business. I’ll share a few thoughts and maybe it turns into some discussion of further points. I’ve written about a lot of these topics here before if you search my history. That way hopefully it’s not too repetitive. 
 
The biggest thing I can say is that detailing for a business will likely take away some of the fun that it can be as a hobby. It introduces stresses that weren’t there before. Now you’re worried about client acquisition, retention, profit margin, product supplies. These are factors on every single job. Neglecting them is being a negligent business owner. 
 
For pricing you have to do market research. Find out what others are charging in your area. You don’t have to follow their pricing to the letter, but it gives you an idea. We are small, but we are not the cheapest guys around. That being said, I can sell our expense on the fact that we are heavily invested in equipment. Eight polishers, an extractor, dreamer, a lift, blowers, paint thickness gauges, etc. All things that add to our “value.” If you don’t have the proper equipment, don’t take the job.
 
Your pricing will also be set by the customer you’re attempting to acquire. Do you want a car wash customer in for a “wash and vac?” That’s not our target. It’s not our target because I don’t feel the return on my investment is there. Add up the costs of labor, supplies, etc and I can’t charge enough to make my money back and reasonable profit. 
 
Understanding profit comes from multiple jobs. On a standard detail (one step polish and interior), I’m making money...but after I pay the guys, supplies, etc there isn’t always a lot left on the table. But this work is necessary to spread the word of mouth that brings in money generating work for me. It also keeps my guys working and interested in keeping on. If they’re not making money, why are they going to work?  So these jobs to me while being slightly profitable are a “cost of doing business.”
 
Where I make money as a business owner is really on coatings. There’s good margin in them and room I don’t sweat the hours that go into them. That being said, we don’t just use consumer coatings and call it good. We are accredited/certified in professional level stuff. It took time to get there. A lot of it actually. 
 
Do not over sell your experience. You have to manage expectations of your clients. And when you oversell your ability, you set yourself up for failure. Better to underpromise and over deliver. 
 
Be mindful of how you buy as a business owner. Want to make more profit?  You can do it two ways. Raise your prices so you make more. Or you can reduce your costs. This is better buying or better process. This creates more margin without the client feeling the impact of that decision. Don’t limit yourself to a single supplier. It’s poor business unless that vendor is offering some significant perk for being exclusive. 
 
You most likely know this, but your hourly rate target needs to be inclusive of a lot of variables. Your labor, material cost, overhead expenses and money on the table for the business to retain earnings and to have cash available for when something breaks (we just smoked a polisher last weekend and had two new ones in two days). Your hourly rate target is likely higher than you think. 
 
Advertising is tough. We don’t advertise. We are word of mouth, or you can search us. Word of mouth is huge. So is having a professional appearance. Our website alone has landed us more than one job and we’ve retained these people as clients. That being said, I won’t get into a price war with the competition. Our prices are fair (but not cheap), and it’s what I feel we need to make to make this venture worthwhile. If a customer plays the “so and so can do it for this...” my typical reply is that if that’s what fits their budget it sounds like they’re a good fit for what they’re looking for. Often times the biggest bargain shoppers are the pickiest. Then you get the other end of the spectrum. We have a referral client picking up a C8 corvette. It’s coming from the dealer directly to us and he hasn’t asked me for a price yet. The referrals carry the weight of the asking price.
 
We started by doing our own cars. Then friends would ask if we could do theirs. And so on. It’s taken time to grow. 
 
I can’t say this enough, and it’s a common mistake...DO NOT undercut pricing to get started. You teach your customer that you can do it for less. If you don’t value your work, who will?
 
 

The brand doesn’t matter. 0000 is the grade of the steel wool in terms of abrasiveness. Be generous with the glass cleaner when using it. We use this often. 
 
Now they make glass pads and polishes. But you can also try a finishing paint polish to see if it’s helpful. We have the glass pads and polishes and we do use them. But it’s time consuming and slow progress. It is not impossible though. 

You can polish them out. You can try correcting or finishing polish on a pad and a machine if you want. 
 
They do make glass polish and glass polish pads. That will give you the best results since they’re specific products for the job.  
 
Another option is #0000 steel wool and see if that lifts anything out of it. 

I finally was able to pick up the car today. Here’s the final list of changes:
 
-Wrap in Oracal Matte Sunset Shift wrap. 
-Wrap roof, a posts, mirrors, partial hood, spoiler, front splitter and lower rockers in gloss black
-Paint calipers in what ended up being a four stage paint to match
-Gloss black emblems
-Powder coat the wheels black
-6mm wheel spacers on the front and 15mm spacers on the back. 
-Ceramic Coat with a Vinyl/PPF coating everywhere, wheels and calipers in accompanying product.
-Drop a mild tune in the car to wake it up a bit.
 
These are quick shots with the phone. A good video and photo shoot will be happening. The wheel pic was after driving it home, so yup...they’re dirty. These brakes bleed dust everywhere. 

Thanks @RayS.  I'm looking forward to the time coming that we can put a coating on your vehicle for you.  You're welcome to sit in on the process when the time comes if you'd like as well.
 
Ray brought up a good point that I overlooked, and it's a major one for me.  I do view customers as different from clients.  So there's two different acquisitions that happen.  The first is potential customer to customer.  Then you have to acquire them again to make them a client.  There's a difference between the two, and it's significant even though both provide revenue.
 
A customer is generally a one time transaction.  They have a dirty call, and they have a service done and you never see or hear from them again.  These are people who may have zero or limited experience with a detailing service and are trying it out for the first time.  Or someone who has a special need ("someone got sick in my car and I can't get it out.")
 
Your job is to convert that customer to a client.  A client is someone who has a repeated relationship with you.  They come back over and over for service, and they're also your biggest champions when it comes to word of mouth.  These are your clients who provide you with continued revenue.  That continued factor is important.  Do a coating for a client?  You want to see them once or twice a year.  Customers are usually the ones who will be the pickiest about things for some reason.  That's where managing expectations comes in.  
 
Treat everyone the same.  Don't change work for who you perceive the person in front of you to be.  Treat people well, treat people the same.  You're trying to build relationships.  We have clients who are now friends.  That acquisition can be difficult, and the distinction needs to be made so you can understand what you'll have for renewed revenue and workload.  After all, servicing the new customers/clients is additional revenue to maintaining the old ones.
 
 

Shane, Great answer, and well though out. To the OP, a couple of things that I have felt I needed, I ordered from Amazon Prime, as long as they are fulfilled by Amazon, they come pretty quick.

@BRZN has you covered pretty well. 
 
Most ceramic coatings do become tacky as you apply them. It’s the actual product being left behind after the carrying agent (the one that makes it so it can be applied) begins to evaporate out. Adam’s historically hasn’t been too bad as far as that goes, but there are some brutal ones that come to mind that we’ve worked with (Ceramic Pro Wheel and Caliper is brutally tacky and difficult to buff off). 

We always coat the roof like the rest of the vehicle. It doesn’t need any special treatment. 
 
Don’t be afraid to overlap. If you’re not sure, overlap a little. You won’t hurt anything in the durability of the product. 

Thanks guys. This was such a fun project to put together. It went through so many changes in my head about what I wanted it to be. There were stages of doubt in what it would become at times (some pics looked brown). 
 
Thanks to good partnerships, we kept to the vision and executed it well I think. The results exceeded my expectations.
 
The next nice day I want to see it driven down the road to see how it looks in motion. 
 
I’m also planning a photo/video shoot with a friend of mine (who is way better artistically than myself with a camera) and I’ll put together a nice video edit. We are going to shoot in multiple locations. 
 
Thanks for following this build!

I finally was able to pick up the car today. Here’s the final list of changes:
 
-Wrap in Oracal Matte Sunset Shift wrap. 
-Wrap roof, a posts, mirrors, partial hood, spoiler, front splitter and lower rockers in gloss black
-Paint calipers in what ended up being a four stage paint to match
-Gloss black emblems
-Powder coat the wheels black
-6mm wheel spacers on the front and 15mm spacers on the back. 
-Ceramic Coat with a Vinyl/PPF coating everywhere, wheels and calipers in accompanying product.
-Drop a mild tune in the car to wake it up a bit.
 
These are quick shots with the phone. A good video and photo shoot will be happening. The wheel pic was after driving it home, so yup...they’re dirty. These brakes bleed dust everywhere. 

I finally was able to pick up the car today. Here’s the final list of changes:
 
-Wrap in Oracal Matte Sunset Shift wrap. 
-Wrap roof, a posts, mirrors, partial hood, spoiler, front splitter and lower rockers in gloss black
-Paint calipers in what ended up being a four stage paint to match
-Gloss black emblems
-Powder coat the wheels black
-6mm wheel spacers on the front and 15mm spacers on the back. 
-Ceramic Coat with a Vinyl/PPF coating everywhere, wheels and calipers in accompanying product.
-Drop a mild tune in the car to wake it up a bit.
 
These are quick shots with the phone. A good video and photo shoot will be happening. The wheel pic was after driving it home, so yup...they’re dirty. These brakes bleed dust everywhere. 

I finally was able to pick up the car today. Here’s the final list of changes:
 
-Wrap in Oracal Matte Sunset Shift wrap. 
-Wrap roof, a posts, mirrors, partial hood, spoiler, front splitter and lower rockers in gloss black
-Paint calipers in what ended up being a four stage paint to match
-Gloss black emblems
-Powder coat the wheels black
-6mm wheel spacers on the front and 15mm spacers on the back. 
-Ceramic Coat with a Vinyl/PPF coating everywhere, wheels and calipers in accompanying product.
-Drop a mild tune in the car to wake it up a bit.
 
These are quick shots with the phone. A good video and photo shoot will be happening. The wheel pic was after driving it home, so yup...they’re dirty. These brakes bleed dust everywhere. 

I finally was able to pick up the car today. Here’s the final list of changes:
 
-Wrap in Oracal Matte Sunset Shift wrap. 
-Wrap roof, a posts, mirrors, partial hood, spoiler, front splitter and lower rockers in gloss black
-Paint calipers in what ended up being a four stage paint to match
-Gloss black emblems
-Powder coat the wheels black
-6mm wheel spacers on the front and 15mm spacers on the back. 
-Ceramic Coat with a Vinyl/PPF coating everywhere, wheels and calipers in accompanying product.
-Drop a mild tune in the car to wake it up a bit.
 
These are quick shots with the phone. A good video and photo shoot will be happening. The wheel pic was after driving it home, so yup...they’re dirty. These brakes bleed dust everywhere.