mdamore419

H2O Guard and Gloss not only protects the vehicle greatly, but provides probably the best available shine behind Adam's premium waxes, especially on light colored vehicles.  It is one of the few products I have found to add a superior shine even to my white paint.
 
Rinseless Wash will also enhance the shine of your vehicle as it contains wax additives so it will leave a similar finish as detail spray will. 

I got my license last year right before winter and I found Adams sometime in September. I got my dad's car when i got my license, which is 5 years old and has NEVER been "properly" washed. A LOT of car washes and dawn dish soap. Never clayed or corrected. The only products I have used on it since last fall is shampoo and G&G since it was almost winter time anyway. The shine and depth from G&G just blows me away. Driving through rain or snow multiple times and the car still looks clean and shiny from a distance. 

I agree H20 G&G goes after, think of the H20 as maintenance for your PS.

You will definitely want to use the H2O G&G after you apply the sealant.  This will give you the most protection and incredible shine. Just for reference, here are a couple pictures of my 4 year old, non-paint corrected, daily driver with only Liquid Paint Sealant under H@O G&G.
 

Thanks. I was thinking that would be the best way to do it. 

Paint Sealant first, let it cure for an hour, then HGG applied with the wet towel.

If it was me I would do Revive, LPS and then G&G.

You are welcome! Let me know if you need any other info or help.
 
Thanks again for your business!

It will be OK, you know Adam's will make it right in the end.

It looks like eBay was charging the $5.99 shipping per individual item sku, and then each additional item gets the $0.50 additional shipping.
 
I have adjusted the shipping so that purchases are made and combined together now. So it would be the larger shipping charge for the first item, and $0.50 for each additional item. 

I currently lease the house I'm living in, so a permanent solution wasn't an option. Ended up adding a Kobalt cabinet and giving my Adam's products a safe place to stay. What's your solution? 

The answer is - it takes as long as it takes. 

And by that I mean its dependent on a number of factors; starting point of the vehicles (current condition), level of expectation of the customer, size of the vehicle, tools/chemicals being used, experience of the technician, etc. 

Could be hours, could be days, could be weeks. I have the benefit of having started, operated, and sold multiple businesses in the detail services sector now. My first was a full mobile rig in highschool doing very basic 'express' details. My friend and I could turn over multiple cars in a day. They all were greatly improved, very few were perfected, but that was the expectation the customer had. On the other end of the scale I worked as a private contractor doing only high end work - collections, restorations, concour prep. These jobs took no less than a day even when the car was already pristine but could take a full week or more in some cases. There is profit to be had in either sector... you either make a little on a lot or a lot on a little. A lot depends on skill level - I've been at this long enough that I can power thru jobs fairly fast - the benefit of 17+ years of this craft - but you need to determine your speed and price based on what your time is worth. 

That being said, to determine your own pricing you have 2 options: menu or hourly.

Menu is a fixed price - its $XXX.XX for a 'full detail', but you have to define what that means. The biggest challenge for anyone trying to do this as a business and make a PROFIT is establish what that price gets the customer and not go much beyond it. If you find yourself doing 3,4,5 steps and having to spend more time than expected you're going to far. A menu detail is a set number of steps, not a guaranteed result - so you promise the customer you will wash, clay, X# polishing steps, protection and done. If it nets 90% perfect great. If it nets 70% improvement thats what the customer gets. They paid for a number of steps, not a result. This is where most guys get tripped up, spending extra time to deliver a RESULT when they quoted a process. 

Hourly gives you the flexibility to deliver a result. You evaluate the car, provide the customer with an ESTIMATE of the number of hours with the understanding that it might come in lower or higher based on how things go when you get started. This is really only an approach I recommend taking once you are experienced enough to evaluate paint - theres nothing worse than having to call a customer who is expecting perfect in 8 hours and you have to tell him its going to take 20.  As long as you enter these jobs with a reasonable estimate of time involved and a clear agreement between you and the customer that there is grow or shrink room in the budget then its fine. This is truly the ONLY way a professional show prep or concour level job should be bid. 

Thats my 2 pennies worth - take it for what its worth. 

Good point, haha.

Well lets get back to the important question, exactly how many mints came with that order

Hello everyone. I'm sure many of you have heard of the St. Baldrick's Foundation for childhood cancer research. I'm currently trying to raise funds for my team and I'll be getting my head shaved on March 13 as part of the fun and charity fund raising.

I have very few actually steady customers that I detail for, but many many friends are aware of my detailing side jobs. I have a facebook page for it and I have been calling for people to contact me for washes and details. I have stated that prices are whatever they would like to donate and 100% of all money made will be donated. I'm aiming for $500. I have $100 so far.

I do this on Friday's and Saturday's on my off time. Any ideas to get more people coming? It's for a good cause!!
 
Thanks for any suggestions and help.
 
BTW, if you'd like to make a donation, follow this link: 
 
https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/811028/2016

I have a cold water faucet in my garage that only connects to a hose and I have used it in the garage when it was cold outside or at night a few times this year. If you are careful and don't use the full pressure, you won't hit most of the stuff around the car. Whenever I am finished I will leave the garage doors open so that the water that missed the car will dry faster and prevent mold or mildew. Since the faucet is cold water, I will fill my buckets with extremely hot water to make up for the cold water coming out of the hose. As long as you're careful you should be able to wash in the garage. 

Hey Randy, welcome to the forum!
 
My go-to recommendation for daily drivers:
 
1. Wash wheels and tires first, then Two Bucket Wash
2. Rinse and proper drying method, or use the rinse water plus Detail Spray as a lubricant to clay the vehicle.
3. Even brand new vehicles can need a clay bar treatment - rail dust from riding in a train across the country, sitting on a dealer lot, etc.
4. Treat all exterior rubber and textured black plastic with Super VRT.
5. If swirl marks or scratches are present, machine polish.
6. Liquid Paint Sealant on all body panels, avoid applying to rubber and textured plastic (bumper inserts, wiper cowl) to avoid staining - approx. 6 months of protection with one application.
7. Allow LPS to cure 1 hour after buffing off before adding any products on top.
8. Brilliant Glaze (optional)
9. Buttery Wax, Americana, or Patriot (optional)
10. Maintenance with H2O Guard & Gloss every 4-5 washes.
11. Tire Shine or Super VRT on tires.
12. Undercarriage Spray on plastic fender liners.
 
I'm sure others will chime in if I missed anything, I tried to type fast

I have a cold water faucet in my garage that only connects to a hose and I have used it in the garage when it was cold outside or at night a few times this year. If you are careful and don't use the full pressure, you won't hit most of the stuff around the car. Whenever I am finished I will leave the garage doors open so that the water that missed the car will dry faster and prevent mold or mildew. Since the faucet is cold water, I will fill my buckets with extremely hot water to make up for the cold water coming out of the hose. As long as you're careful you should be able to wash in the garage. 

Has anyone made a thread that explains what towels to use with what products... this is the most confusing thing to me.  Something like.
 
Rinseless Wash = Double Soft Towel, Edgeless Towel, etc.. ?

Episode 2 of our new weekly series is live and ready for your viewing! This weeks question came to us from Byron H. (aka ndkid on the forums) about how to properly use DWC as a means to remove iron contamination from painted surfaces.
 
Enjoy and remember to submit your questions by emailing shinedoc@adamspolishes.com - if we use your question in a video you get a $25 online gift card like our boy Byron did!
 

I try to use between 1-2 sprays on each window. Usually the streaks come off on the side windows but they always seem to be bad on the windshield and back window. Next time I will definitely try using a clay bar on all of the windows first because I can tell there is a lot of contaminants on the windshield. 
 
I have to agree with you, I'm not complaining too much about the warm weather either. always nice to wash a car 2 days before Christmas around 5 pm and not be cold at all when you are finished.    

I try to use between 1-2 sprays on each window. Usually the streaks come off on the side windows but they always seem to be bad on the windshield and back window. Next time I will definitely try using a clay bar on all of the windows first because I can tell there is a lot of contaminants on the windshield. 
 
I have to agree with you, I'm not complaining too much about the warm weather either. always nice to wash a car 2 days before Christmas around 5 pm and not be cold at all when you are finished.    

This was brought up recently in another thread - its not the glass cleaner, or Detail Spray, or diluted Rinseless, whatever you are cleaning windows with most likely.
 
What happens is the humidity or temperature change happens too quickly and it shows up as streaks on the glass.  I just had this happen to me on the house windows this weekend, looked perfect when I first did them, a couple hours later it was showing streaks.
 
Its extremely humid in our neck of the woods and unseasonably warm this time of year (I see you're in Pittsburgh, I'm in Jersey), so you are dealing with the pressure in the air plus the excess humidity. 
 
Now if it was doing this on a normal and dryer day, it might be different.  Just my opinion but I think the problem here is the temperature/humidity.

Applying it 3 weekends in a row might be a bit much, as it should easily last through a handful of car washes, but wow that truck looks great.

I just want to remind you guys and gals who live in the areas where it will soon be getting very cold, that now's the time to bring your chemicals indoors and out of the cold. The cold's not good for these products so try and get them inside to an area where it's at least 45* or higher.  A closet, a heated cellar, a cabinet.  But out of the cold.  
Let's face it......................winter sucks.