shane@detailedreflections

Thanks @Firebuff17  hopefully we see you at the clinic in May!
 
And for the question, the ceramic spray is an easier installation than a full coating in terms of spray on/wipe off. The results will be varied by the prep as always. The glossiness of a coating isn’t necessarily the coating as much as the polishing and prep leading up to it. I could show you cars with no protection that are polished really well that you might think were coated (until you put water on them). The coatings just enhance that look. 
 
This is just my opinion, so take it for what it’s worth. The ceramic spray would be a great alternative to the ceramic boost or ceramic wax that’s easy to apply and durable. It’s not a replacement for a full coating. If you’re going to do all the prep work anyway, why not get the durability of a full coating and top it with the spray coating as a “sacrificial” layer that will all you maximum protection of the look you worked to achieve?
 
Your mileage may vary. 

It’s a bit of a ride, but @Sizzle Chest (Scott) at Auto Dermatology is an awesome detailer that would be worth the trip to go to for services if he fits your needs/budget.
 
Http://www.autodermatology.com
 
 
 

Great idea.  If you pull my name.........pull another. 

Awesome idea. And happy to see something for forum members.
 
Please don’t include me in the drawing though!  Just wanted to recognize what you were doing @Dan@Adams

@shane@detailedreflections Good deal, thanks! I should know in about a month

I admire your hustle at such a young age!  It’s something to be commended. 
 
Being so young offers you a ton of advantages. The biggest is time to gain experience. The second is you don’t need to make big money to “pay the bills” yet in life. 
 
A few things to consider. First, don’t call it a detailing business...yet. You’re looking at more of a car wash/cleaning service. Detailing implies a whole level you’re not ready to provide yet. You will get there. I’m confident of that. 
 
Being in an upper middle class area, you should have some folks willing to give you business just out of respect for your hustle. Do well by them and work will flow in from their circles. 
 
To grow your business, cover expenses for product, your time and to leave some money in the business for expansion (tools, etc down the line). 
 
It will take time, but you will grow. I’ll make you this offer...PM me any time you want with with questions. I’m happy to help you out. I’ve done it for others here on this forum.
 
I would love to find a local kid with your drive. I would open the doors and help you learn more before sending you on your way with your business. There’s enough work to go around for everyone. 

Awesome idea. And happy to see something for forum members.
 
Please don’t include me in the drawing though!  Just wanted to recognize what you were doing @Dan@Adams

It would be nice if Adams had a Regional Forums Section.  Get to know some local people using the products & have ability to check out new products people are using.
 
Dave

I admire your hustle at such a young age!  It’s something to be commended. 
 
Being so young offers you a ton of advantages. The biggest is time to gain experience. The second is you don’t need to make big money to “pay the bills” yet in life. 
 
A few things to consider. First, don’t call it a detailing business...yet. You’re looking at more of a car wash/cleaning service. Detailing implies a whole level you’re not ready to provide yet. You will get there. I’m confident of that. 
 
Being in an upper middle class area, you should have some folks willing to give you business just out of respect for your hustle. Do well by them and work will flow in from their circles. 
 
To grow your business, cover expenses for product, your time and to leave some money in the business for expansion (tools, etc down the line). 
 
It will take time, but you will grow. I’ll make you this offer...PM me any time you want with with questions. I’m happy to help you out. I’ve done it for others here on this forum.
 
I would love to find a local kid with your drive. I would open the doors and help you learn more before sending you on your way with your business. There’s enough work to go around for everyone. 

I’ve updated the title to official thread for the clinic.
 
If you’re attending, please RSVP as it helps our supporters plan so that they can help!  
 
April 27th from 9-???
Lunch provided. 
 
The clinic is in Colchester, CT. 
 
And submit your photos!

Man, what a gorgeous car. Your paint is most likely single stage paint which isn’t the end of the world. Single stage paint can still be polished, just like multiple stage paint systems. It does change a few things though. 
 
We typically use a fine polish. You’ll also change pads often. You’re going to load the pads with paint quicker than a clear coat. So you’ll need a lot of pads. You’ll also note your pads changing color. 
 
As always, do a test spot somewhere hidden and see how it reacts before going at the whole vehicle. 
 
Again, gorgeous car!

I admire your hustle at such a young age!  It’s something to be commended. 
 
Being so young offers you a ton of advantages. The biggest is time to gain experience. The second is you don’t need to make big money to “pay the bills” yet in life. 
 
A few things to consider. First, don’t call it a detailing business...yet. You’re looking at more of a car wash/cleaning service. Detailing implies a whole level you’re not ready to provide yet. You will get there. I’m confident of that. 
 
Being in an upper middle class area, you should have some folks willing to give you business just out of respect for your hustle. Do well by them and work will flow in from their circles. 
 
To grow your business, cover expenses for product, your time and to leave some money in the business for expansion (tools, etc down the line). 
 
It will take time, but you will grow. I’ll make you this offer...PM me any time you want with with questions. I’m happy to help you out. I’ve done it for others here on this forum.
 
I would love to find a local kid with your drive. I would open the doors and help you learn more before sending you on your way with your business. There’s enough work to go around for everyone. 

Step Five - Treat your Trim & Tires
 
If you have plastic trim around your vehicle, it needs protecting too. Guard and Gloss will give you one level of protect, but I like to keep it topped off. Grab yourself a foam block and the bottle of VRT. Apply a small amount (nickel to quarter size) to the foam block, and apply it to your trim. Its ok if you get some on your windows and paint. Its water based and will easily wipe off.
 
Your tires should be dry by now. Take a second foam applicator block and your bottle of Tire Shine. I like the stream spray pattern for tire shine. Spray the tread blocks of your tires being careful to not get any on your clean wheels.  An alternative method is to spray the product directly into the foam block. 
 
Using the foam block play "ring around the tire" spreading Tire Shine evenly to the entire tire. Take care to work it into lettering and grooves. I like to take the corner of the foam block and get right up along the wheel or wheel cover. 
 
Step Six - Touch up and Walk Around
 
Now that you're done grab a bottle of Detail spray and a single soft microfiber. This is my favorite part of the wash process. Walk around and admire your work. If you see something, give it a spray of detail spray and a soft swipe with your microfiber. Once I finish one walk around, I usually go back the opposite direction.
 
REVIEW
 
So now that we're done lets review the steps.
 
1)Tires and Wheels
2)Rinse and Wash
3)Clay
4)Protect
5)Tires and Trim
6)Walk around and enjoy... 
 
If you're a casual washer, and your likely to only wash your car once a month, these same steps will apply, with the exception of claying. You should only need to clay once or twice a year. 
 
If you're a more frequent washer then you'll only need to worry about Tires and Wheels, Rinse and Washing, and Tires and Trim. You'll want to redo your protection once every 2 months or so. 
 
When you're not doing H2O Guard and Gloss, you'll want use Detail Spray and the Great White Drying Towel to dry your car. Detail Spray will neutralize the water to reduce spotting, provide lubrication for the towel to not mar or scratch your paint, and provide a REALLY sharp shine! 

Step Three - You want me to rub clay on my car? 
 
Your car is covered in all kinds of things that shampoo and a wash pad won't get off. The only way to do this, decontaminate, your paint is to clay the surface of your car.
 
Spritz your car with detail spray, about 2-3 sprays per panel to help neutralize PH of the water on your car. Pick a panel to start with. For me it is usually my hood or roof. 
 
Take the Visco Clay that you prepared early and begin rubbing it on your wet lubricated with Detail Spray surface. I usually make 1 1/2' sweeps front to back over the paint working in rows front to back of the panel. I usually check my clay at the completion of each row. Follow the instructions on the Visco Clay for use of your clay. 
 
BE CAREFUL to not drop your clay on the ground. If so, consider it dead and throw it in the general direction of your trash can and order a Visco Clay replacement.
 
Step Four - Lets lay some protection on your car... 
 
Now that you've clayed your car, you need something to protect the bare clear coat you now have exposed to the world. 
 
Grab two borderless gray towels, wet one. Lighting wet down your car. Grab your bottle of H2O Guard and Gloss and spray 2 to 3 sprays per panel, working 1 to 2 panels at a time. 
 
Take the wet borderless gray towel and wipe on/rub in/buff on the panel that has been sprayed with Guard and Gloss. You will notice water running away from your paint. Once the panel has been wiped down with Guard and Gloss, follow up with the dry towel to buff the residue off, and swipe any remaining water. Work your way around the car until every panel has been treated.
 
Once your done with the body of your car, and want to make your wheel cleaning easier next time, apply it to your wheels in the same fashion you did your paint.

Step One - Wheel and Tire Cleaning:
  DO NOT work on wheels and tires that are hot, and avoid direct sunlight as best as you can.   Liberally spray your tires and fender wells down with All Purpose Cleaner. Spray your wheels down with Wheel Cleaner - Allow to dwell.   Use the Fender Brush to scrub your wheel wells. Use the Tire Brush to scrub your tires. By now Wheel Cleaner has started to really work. Using your Wheel Brush, agitate all of the Wheel Cleaner around the wheel. Cover the entire the wheel with your wheel brush.  Allow Wheel Cleaner to finish working. Rinse wheel wells, tires and wheels completely. You want to make sure all product is rinsed from the areas.   Rinse all of your brushes out well and move on to the next wheel, until all wheels are washed.   Step Two - Rinsing and Washing Your Car   This process works best if you are in the shade, and have shade to go to go. Avoid direct sunlight washing the best you can. Sometimes its just un-avoidable. When putting water on your car, always start with the shady/cool side first.    Apply about 2oz of Car Shampoo to your wash pad and place it in the bottom of your bucket on top of your grit guard.    Fill the bucket up with water by first spraying water into your wash pad creating a nice sudsy lather in the bucket. Once you have the shampoo activated in the wash pad, drop your nozzle below the suds and finish filling the bucket with water to about 3.5-4 gallons.   With your soap bucket ready, make sure you have your next steps ready. If this is your first time washing/detailing the car, have your Visco Clay and Detail Spray ready to go.   Start rinsing your car down. Work from the top down. Giving your car a good rinse down will knock all the loose dirt and grime off. Getting as much off as you can helps ensure a safe wash. Remember, start with the shade/cool side of your car, working towards the sunlight.   Once your car is rinsed, take your wash pad out of the bucket, allowing the water to run off back into your bucket. Once most of the water has run off the pad, lightly work your wash pad across the roof of your car. Most times, I hold onto the edge of the wash pad and let the lubrication of the soap do its thing and just move the pad around front of car to back of car in straight lines.    I typically only use one side of the wash pad for the roof of the car. If your car is REALLY dirty, you might want to switch sides for half of the roof.   Once the roof is done, I like to switch sides of the pad and wash the windshield and rear glass with the clean side. If the car is not super dirty, I will go ahead and finish the "greenhouse" of the car, starting with the sunny side/hot first, then moving to the shade/cool side. The greenhouse (a NASCAR term) is the top of the door to the top of the roof, A, B, C pillars.    By this point your wash pad is probably very dirty. Move the fresh wash pad in your bucket out of the way and drop your dirty wash pad into the bucket. Agitate the wash pad against the grit guard to pull all of the dirtiness off of your wash pad. Inspect the wash pad to make sure it's clean. This is where you have a choice. You can continue to use this wash pad to complete the top portions of your car (from the top of the door down to half-way down the door) or rotate to the new pad.   With the wash pad, I like to move to the hood. Flip to the clean side of the wash pad and then start working my way to the back of the car on the sunny/hot side. I typically split my door panels to the halfway mark. Keep an eye on your pad. If it's getting dirty, go back to the bucket, agitate it on the girt guard, cleaning it off and getting fresh soap in the pad.   Now that your car is covered in PH neutral shampoo, its time to get ready for the next steps. Detail Spray ready? Shaded spot ready? Garage ready for you to pull into?     RINSE you're car, again from the top down, shaded side first, making sure all of the soap is being washed off and out of cracks and crevices. Once your entire car is rinsed down, move the car to the shaded spot or garage.

The 'less obsessed' Adam's Approach.
 
First off, I am not a writer, and I'm sure there are PLENTY of errors. I'm also not a detailer to the level of Mr. Wolf, Pitale, Tyger, or MANY MANY other here's. If you see something that you feel might need to tweaked, shoot me a PM.
 
Let's face it. Some folks just aren't wired like the rest of us. Some come here just looking for quick, easy, and visible results to car care. Not everyone is going to the lengths of strip washing, claying, paint correcting, and what not. Some come here looking for quality products because they want a complete system of quality products Wal-Mart or the local auto parts store can't provide. But they still have the mentality of quick and easy. 
 
My goal is here to simplify the system, and help you build you're first shopping cart.
 
For starters, you'll want:
 
1- Adam's Daily Driver Detailing Kit. (Link)
Includes:
1 - Visco Clay Bar
1 - 16oz Detail Spray
1 - 16oz All Purpose Cleaner
1 - 16oz Car Shampoo
1 - 16oz H2O Guard & Gloss 
2 - Borderless Gray Towel (for H2O Guard & Gloss Application)
1 - Fender Brush
1 - Wheel Brush
2 - 10" Wash Pad
1 - Bucket w/ Grit Guard & Gamma Seal Lid
 
I would add the following:
1 - Adam's New Spray Nozzle or Fire Nozzle (Not required if you spring for the Foam gun)
 
1 - Tire & Trim Combo (Link)
Includes:
      1 - 16oz All Purpose Cleaner
      1 - 16oz VRT 
      2 - Foam Block Applicators
1 - 16oz Wheel Cleaner (Link)
1 - 16oz Tire Shine (Link)
4 - Single Soft Microfiber Towels (Link)
2 - Great White Drying Towels (Link)
1 - Deep Clean Tire Scrub Brush (Link)
 
OPTIONAL (For fun...)
Adam's Foam Gun
 
Wash Process:
 
FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS & WARNINGS AS PRINTED ON THE BOTTLE. The instructions in this write up are not all inclusive. Watch Adam's Daily Driver Detailing Video. It's full of great instructions is a great overview of the process.
 
Before you start, have a plan and be prepared. Have everything staged and ready to go! Don't start the step until you've got everything ready to go.

Man, what a gorgeous car. Your paint is most likely single stage paint which isn’t the end of the world. Single stage paint can still be polished, just like multiple stage paint systems. It does change a few things though. 
 
We typically use a fine polish. You’ll also change pads often. You’re going to load the pads with paint quicker than a clear coat. So you’ll need a lot of pads. You’ll also note your pads changing color. 
 
As always, do a test spot somewhere hidden and see how it reacts before going at the whole vehicle. 
 
Again, gorgeous car!

Hey guys and girls! 
 
Earlier this year we hosted a detail clinic at my home/shop. It was well received and I’ve been talking to my guys about having another one. We decided that rather than cramming one in this year when we have a bunch of work lined up, we would do it next spring.
 
We wanted to pick a date early for two reasons. First is so everyone has ample time to plan and manipulate their schedules for a good turnout. Second was so that we could do the planning portion and make it even better than last years. 
 
So right now it looks like April 27, 2019 is the date of the clinic. We may shift gears a little bit and instead of traditional last step products, we may focus on one of our entry level coatings for a lucky attendee. 
 
For the interior portion, we will go through how we handle interiors. Well, Marquis will go over how he handles them. But this year we will add some interior protection as well. 
 
We will also install a full car glass package on an attendees car!
 
As the date gets closer, I’ll reach out to our vendors and see if we can get some sample product for people to go home with. We will have new shirts available and sweatshirts can be ordered before or after. 
 
Just like this year, we will make this a hands on clinic. So our tools become yours for the day. Our products are all available to sample and ask questions about. And most of the work we do will be performed by the attendees. 
 
We welcome and encourage questions and try to make this a very friendly event where everyone leaves with some bit of knowledge. We had members from this forum attend this year so they can share their experiences.
 
The clinic is held in Colchester, CT!  Since I forgot to add that!
 
We are open to suggestions and questions!

Caring for white is really no different from any other paint. The prep is what brings about the gloss. Really the only color that needs special care (and even then it’s not special, just can’t cut corners) is black since it shows everything. 
 
Polish it down. Protect it up. 

I’m not sure I entirely understand the question being asked, but I’ll give it a go. 
 
Your last step product on a car that doesn’t see weather or isn’t driven often is entirely a stylistic choice. You can achieve a fantastic, protected finish with traditional products. Maintenance is minimal if it’s not used often. Ceramics are less maintenance if you want to go that route. It’s preference. Some people like to wax their cars. 
 
If you’re happy with what you’ve been using, what’s your reason for change?  The best gloss comes from great prep as opposed to products used in last steps. 

It’s a bit of a ride, but @Sizzle Chest (Scott) at Auto Dermatology is an awesome detailer that would be worth the trip to go to for services if he fits your needs/budget.
 
Http://www.autodermatology.com
 
 
 

I’m going to go against the grain and say it’s not an installation issue. My thought process is that if it were an installation issue the glass wouldn’t have the same spots on it. Adams doesn’t coat glass (unless you use ceramic spray coating), but the glass exhibits the same type of deposit or etching on it. The same effect on different surfaces leads time to believe it’s some kind of deposit.
 
Is the filtration system in need of maintenance?  
 
Also a filtration system isn’t necessarily a deionizer. The deionizer is what leaves spot free finishes since spots are either deposits or ionic in nature typically. 
 
Your detailer might be willing to knock the spots down and reapply the coating, but I don’t believe this to be an installation issue. 

The SK kits are really good for the weekend warrior. You can’t go wrong with one of those and they’re more balanced than a PC machine. 

Start with a clay first.  Cadillacs have a pretty hard clear coat, and it doesn't take a lot to make it shine.  But the first best step before any good detail is to clay the paint first to remove any wax or products already on the car.   Give it a good wash.  Then I apply One Step machine polish and polish it up good, If you don't use polish, you won't be correcting the paint.  Get some Revive if you don't have a machine for polishing.  Polishing is really the best next step, so I recommend you order some Revive.  Then apply the LPS and boost it with the HGG.  Like Falcaineer said, you won't get much longevity out of the Buttery Wax. Your choice. 

A couple of things. Your post would be much easier to read with some paragraphs. Reading a wall of text like that makes it possible to miss some points. 
 
A “one step polish” is literally just that. It’s a polish only and typically a diminishing abrasive that goes from a medium aggregate to a fine aggregate. This will remove imperfections. It will not finish down like a true finishing polish or cut like a compound. This is for your clients who want improvement, not perfection. 
 
An “all in one” is essentially a polish and protection in one. Usually less powerful in cut than even the one step polishes. All in one products are full of compromises because it’s doing multiple jobs. It will never function as well as separate dedicated products. Protection isn’t long lived. We use an all in one as an economy one step polish. We upcharge for different steps and better protection. 
 
If you’re going into polishing for money, there’s a few points I feel need mentioning. First is to get yourself a paint thickness gauge of some kind. It’s invaluable in knowing what you’re working with and how aggressive you can (or more importantly can’t) be. Once you take money from someone for a service, you’re a professional. An “oops” has to be fixed. An oops in polishing can mean repainting at your expense. Know what you’re working with to work confidently.
 
The next point is to not underestimate the cost of the proper tools. We have more polishers than most and you don’t need to go to that extreme, but you will need more than one polisher to do most jobs without cutting corners. 
 
Also from a business standpoint don’t underestimate the expense and number of pads you will need and will burn through. You can’t stop working on a clients car because you smoke a pad. You need a bunch of them. We have six or seven different pads (different cuts, wool/foam, etc) and we keep a bunch of each. This expense needs to be figured into your pricing and you need to sit on stock. 
 
Polishes can be kept as simple as compound, correcting and finishing. The line we use gives us seven or eight options  so we can typically find just the right amount of cut. 
 
Practice polishing a bunch before you take money and invest in the proper equipment to do it as a business.