jabo_pf

With the Special Edition Sprays, the trade forum got out of hand.  I had asked people about things, and all they want is special detail spray.  They have 2 bottles of shampoo and brilliant glaze, but they want 4 special edition detail spray.  So I traded 15 of mine, for a mini swirl killer, so roughly 150$ or $10 a Bottle and I paid Freight just so I didn't have to deal with them anymore.  I made a topic about having a positive or negative post about doing deals with people, to hopefully weed out the people that do bad trades.  

Hello,
I have a question to whoever is wanting to trade. I know most of us want to trade for stuff we don't have including me. But I have to be honest some of you want to trade but don't know the value you are trading for. I make trades but expect the trade value of the bottle. If you want to make a profit or scam someone don't do it here. eBay is doing a great job for that. Example if I need a Ceramic Boost and its up for trade. I will trade you for the value of it not 1 item less then that. Come one getting tired of people who are just posting to make it to 50 post to trade that for me is shady. They don't even try to make sense on there post . I have done a few trades here and can say there's a few good people here. I was hesitant to trade at first thought what if I get scammed. Then I said oh well lets see how it goes luckily I have trade with good people. But social media is a big thing because you can report that person and words spreads out. Sorry Guys and Gals just wanted to speak what I have been reading and thinking.  If you felt insulted by this I'm sorry but this get old. I'm in for Adamspolsihes  not to make profit could of done it some many times .

Very good quality, the materials are all top notch. My laptop is ancient and won't come close to fitting but that was expected. 
 Overall I like it very much. I do wish the Adams logo was an embroidered patch instead of the heat transfer or whatever that it does have. 

Didn’t measure, but I estimate about 2-3oz of wash n wax to about 25 oz water.  

I agree. I ordered two of the new gray and white wash mitts during July 4th sale. I ended up getting two wheel wash mitts. I wrote this to Customer Service and sent a picture of what I received:
 
I just opened ORDER #, and noticed that I was sent two wheel wash mitts, not two of the new gray and white microfiber wash mitts. There was no packing slip found in the bucket also. I know you all have been busy with the mystery bucket orders along with the July 4th sale, so I know mistakes will be made and I will always be a Adams customer for your outstanding customer service and product quality. Is it possible to get this corrected? Thanks.
 
The next day, I received a notification that two wash mitts were being sent to me. Now that's customer service.

I agree. I ordered two of the new gray and white wash mitts during July 4th sale. I ended up getting two wheel wash mitts. I wrote this to Customer Service and sent a picture of what I received:
 
I just opened ORDER #, and noticed that I was sent two wheel wash mitts, not two of the new gray and white microfiber wash mitts. There was no packing slip found in the bucket also. I know you all have been busy with the mystery bucket orders along with the July 4th sale, so I know mistakes will be made and I will always be a Adams customer for your outstanding customer service and product quality. Is it possible to get this corrected? Thanks.
 
The next day, I received a notification that two wash mitts were being sent to me. Now that's customer service.

I agree. I ordered two of the new gray and white wash mitts during July 4th sale. I ended up getting two wheel wash mitts. I wrote this to Customer Service and sent a picture of what I received:
 
I just opened ORDER #, and noticed that I was sent two wheel wash mitts, not two of the new gray and white microfiber wash mitts. There was no packing slip found in the bucket also. I know you all have been busy with the mystery bucket orders along with the July 4th sale, so I know mistakes will be made and I will always be a Adams customer for your outstanding customer service and product quality. Is it possible to get this corrected? Thanks.
 
The next day, I received a notification that two wash mitts were being sent to me. Now that's customer service.

Actually, you need to sell both. Gotta pay for the weddings! 

Thank you so much for a fantastic post @jabo_pf  I’m leaning towards taking the plunge. There’s a definite learning curve and cost that goes with that to say the least. I’m confident in our ability to get good at the installation. I have a buddy who lives an hour away that does vinyl wrap installs. Mostly trailers and commercial type stuff, but he could help get us started with technique and be an invaluable resource. 
 
We have quite a mix of clientele. Everything from showpieces to daily drivers that the owners simply don’t want to clean out. I’m happy we have the wide array of clients, but sometimes if it were more of a focused group decisions like this would be much simpler.
 
We aren’t a full time shop, and I guess that’s where my hesitation/risk comes from. We are small, very small. Myself and one other guy and we work by appointment. We are always amazed that two guys and a garage have been able to gain momentum over the little over a year that we’ve been an official business. I told my wife (and I still hear about it to this day) that the first couple of years were not going to make money and were not going to be cash flow positive. I know part of accelerating a business is to reinvest. We are just trying to invest smartly and make sure we aren’t pushing into bigger arenas too quickly, while also making sure there’s an eventual return on the investment. The flip side is that nobody is going to hand us anything. I’m in awe of a lot of the shops out there and what they’re doing. We hope to grow and to one day do the kind of work that makes people want to come to us or follow us to see what we are doing. But we want every aspect of business we enter to have that same philosophy. 
 
Thank you again everyone for following along, being a sounding board and for always provided much needed criticism and feedback. We appreciate it!
 
 

I have Xpel on my 2016 Crew Cab Silverado. I had the front bumper, headlights, fogs, mirrors, half the hood and fender, A-pillars, and leading edge of roof. I also had the vehicle polished (One step) as it had been sitting on a dealer lot for 6 months and needed it before applying PPF. The vehicle was then had OptiCoat applied that lasts for 5 years. I paid $2000, but I know I got a discount since I bundled some services. As with a white vehicle, the same probably applies to black as well. I had to take my truck back as I had a few places on the bumper where bubbles didn't come out after two weeks, and there was a few pieces of trash under the film. And this came from a reputable place that has been detailing for 20 years.
 
The pro to me if I was a client is that you would be offering a one stop shop. I found one local place that had higher prices for polishing and coating, but didn't do PPF. The owner told me he would do the polishing, drive the truck to another shop to have a cheaper PPF (SunTek, not Xpel) installed, and then have the truck brought back to apply CeramicPro. I didn't like the idea of two places doing the work, as if I didn't like the workmanship, who would be to blame. Also after polishing, the vehicle would have to be re-prepped since it would have been drove about 10 miles to the PPF shop.
 
The con for you would be the initial investment and possible learning curve. I have seen your work posted on this forum, and I would say you have the knowledge and experience to learn quickly. Take some classes and get certified.
 
If you have a higher end clientele, I would say go for it, as it shouldn't take long to pay off for your investment, as I know my dealer charges roughly $3-5K to wrap the whole car depending on size. Xpel shows prices for templates for each vehicle they offer. Based on my experience, they are quite high based on their website, but my dealer seemed to charge less than the template price and that included installation. I wish you luck on either way you proceed, and keep posted on the awesome work you are doing for your clients. 

Sell it on eBay. Somebody I know made mad money doing that.

Recently while helping a client select a polisher for their needs, it got me thinking that it's not an uncommon question of "what size polisher do I need or want?" I figured since I have some time today, I'd try to write a little bit about the different polishers and their pros and cons since we are fortunate enough to have some experience with various sizes.  We've worked through what we thought versus what it really is...sometimes these were the same.  Other times...we were way off the mark.  So without more intro and babbling, let's get into it.  Hopefully the folks at Adam's and the admins don't mind a post like this...If you do, feel free to take it down!
 
There's quite a few options out there for polishers.  Rotary, dual action (DA), 12mm, 15mm, 21mm, micro...the list goes on and on.  As you're considering making the leap into polishing it can be a bit overwhelming.  Everyone who's picked up a polisher for the first time has had multiple thoughts of "can I do this?" or "am I going to ruin my paint?" The good news is that the DA polishers are safer for paint than the rotary polishers.  Rotary polishers have unparalleled power, but getting them to finish without noticeable trails is difficult or next to impossible without vast experience.  Add in the sizes, and you can't help but question if you're giving yourself a recipe for disaster.
 
We use Rupes polishers in our business with the exception of a single Cyclo we have set up as a powered carpet brush.  Actually, Cyclo is now part of Rupes, so you could say we are Rupes exclusive seemingly.  The Adam's Polishers are great and VERY similar to the Rupes.  For most users, they're a great way to save a few dollars or to even get a second polisher to really round out your abilities.  Let's take our polishers (sizes) in the order we use them from most to least...
 
So which polisher do we actually use the most?  Our absolute "go-to" polisher when we start a project.  It's actually not out biggest and most powerful polisher.  Both of us will grab the Rupes 15mkII as our initial tool.  The 15mm throw has the absolute best blend of correcting power and maneuverability.  The 5.5" pads cover good surface area while not having such a large rigid spot due to the backing plate that we can still work curves and edges with them.  The 15 is generally more then enough polisher in terms of power and is very versatile with the types of pads and polishes/compounds.  Use a compound on a wool pad and you have some serious cutting horsepower at your fingertips.  We constantly play with pad/polish/speed combos based on our goals and what's going to work in terms of time/effort/budget for our clients.  If we could have only one single polisher, without a doubt we would pick the 15 every single time.  It really is that good.  We aren't going to get into speed recommendations as it's largely variable based on the polish/compound/pad/polisher.  The variables are endless and an entirely different conversation.
 
Does the next polisher we grab go up or down in size?  Surprisingly, it goes down.  We grab our Rupes Mini with a 4" pad.  This little guy has considerable power for a little machine.  You can work the polisher with one hand if you need to, and the small size makes it the great bumper getter.  Swirly A-post?  No problem.  The mini will tackle it with it's correcting power without having a pad that's significantly oversize for the work area.  Mirrors are another great spot for the mini, and even inside door sills for those who need to get everything perfect!  The smaller machine is more maneuverable and has far better than pushing a bigger polisher with a longer throw and a larger backing plate around where it can find body parts to bang off of potentially causing damage to the vehicle.
 
We have a Rupes Nano in our selection, which brings us to number three.  We LOVE our nano since it can be configured a million ways.  Soft boars hair brush as a rotary to clean embroidery?  Got ya covered.  Small DA to a quick spot correction?  Say no more.  It supports a 1-2" pad.  When configured on the 3mm throw with a 1" pad, it's VERY easy to stall the action of the polisher.  It's almost not powerful enough to correct in that situation.  We do use it for light spot corrections on a scratch removal or similar though with the longer throw and it has adequate power.  It won't correct like a full size machine, but we've managed to take out wet sanding marks with ours.  Which is another useful component, We will configure it with the 3mm throw and have little 2000/3000 grit sanding disks that stick to a backing plate and we will use to spot wet sand.  The DA pattern makes the marks easy to remove, but it's easy to take significant clear coat off.  I wouldn't suggest this without a paint thickness gauge.  Actually, I'd be hesitant to take sandpaper to any vehicle without it.  The Rupes Nano also has a stiff bristle brush for the quick stubborn spot you're trying to scrub.  Couple the brush with some cleaners and/or steam, and you'll be surprised at what you can pull out.
 
So how does our Rupes 21mkII end up at the bottom of the list?  Well, it's powerful which is great.  But it's large.  So large it doesn't work curves that well.  It's fantastic for larger doors without body lines, hoods, roofs.  But bumpers?  Might as well put it down and swap your equipment out.  It has it's place for correcting large flatter surfaces quickly...but after using it, it's not an ideal polisher by itself.  The 21mm throw with a 6.5" pad means you're generating some real power in the correcting area of the polisher.  It also means you have a huge backing plate to bump off of body panels and lines and the way it rolls over edges isn't ideal.  It's a great tool, but we'd consider this an additional tool rather than primary.  We will commonly use it when we are correcting together.  One of us on the 21 doing the big flat areas, the other on the 15/Mini hitting the details.  It has a place though.
 
So the last polisher...the Cyclo.  The Cyclo was actually where I got my start right here through Adam's.  I still have that polisher and it's since been converted to a powered carpet brush for floor mats and such.  It works great as a correcting tool.  You can change the orientation to change the covered surface area and make it versatile.  Unfortunately, the body of the tool is still large and you have two pads to maintain and keep up with.  It's a great tool, but in favor of some other offerings available now...it's become used less and less as a correcting tool.
 
So what's the ideal setup?  A pick two?  It really is the 15/mini combo.  Between those two polishers you can really do a lot and achieve fantastic results.  I'm a firm believer that the weekend detailer can achieve the same results as the pro.  The biggest difference between the two is that the pro is usually trying to meet a time deadline (for a client and/or profitability), so the pro generally has more tools at their disposal that would be less likely for a weekend detailer to invest in.  Our garage is setup with multiple polishers, a car lift, MBR, sidekick, air compressor, shop-vac, hot water extractor, steamer, etc.  The other difference is that a pro does enough work generally to have a pretty set process and order of events for how things go.  
 
I'm consistently blown away by the work represented on this forum.  Hopefully this thread will help someone make some decisions and take the leap into polishing themselves.  If this thread is well received, I'll consider continuing to write about different topics as they strike me or people ask.  
 
Enjoy and happy detailing!

Isn't that about all Honda makes? JK

Isn't that about all Honda makes? JK

I heard he evaporated in a crazy car crash......  Racing through the Swiss Alps in a LaFerrari, and launched off a cliff, doing well over 200 mph.  He was racing a Bugatti Veyron, and winning, when he swerved to avoid a mud puddle, he didn't want to dirty the freshly detailed supercar.....the beautiful car took flight, and exploded into smithereens.....big insurance claim!
 
Hahahahaha!  Well, hello friends!  Seems as our little business grows, the days are long, the travel frequent, and the downtime is fleeting.  As our little family grows, my 'off time,' when I used to hang on the Forum, is now filled with soccer or basketball, homework, etc. ( The Forum is where I went to chill out, not so much to work.)   Crazy to think, when we started Adam's Forums in 2008, we had 0 kids, 3 employees, and plenty of free time!  
 
Now, a decade later, were are blessed with 41 employees, 3 kids, and a pretty dang busy business. We now attend over 40 shows each year, and I see many of you around the country!
 
It's good to be here on AF, and I feel our guys, Dan Tyger, Chris Toth, and Dan Wolf, are handling this forum responsibility well.   I'm humbled to have you reading my words, and using our goods.  ADD has the best of me, so I try to keep communication to a few mediums, emails, in person, and phone calls.   If you want to connect with me on any matters that cannot be resolved here on AF:
 
Adam@AdamsPolishes.com
Office: 720-473-7100
Or, find me at the most of the shows scheduled on our Event Calendar!
 
Thanks friends, and here is a snapshot of who I am hanging with at every possible second:

Absolutely, the SK is so much more comfortable  to use and it will correct quicker than the PC.

Merry Christmas
Happy Hannukah
Happy Kwanza
Whatever you celebrate,  take the time to thank your God for whatever blessings you have.  And we all have at least one blessing........life itself.  I hope the world finds peace this year, the killings stop, the hatred stops, and that we can finally live in peace.
I hope you'll all be blessed with good health, love, and happiness. 
 
As for me and my family, Darlene and I wish you all a very Merry CHRISTmas.  We will be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  God's blessings for all of you. 

Here's a few...

Where is the picture of the 60th that is hiding under the covers?

Where is the picture of the 60th that is hiding under the covers?

Just like it says, here is some pics of an awesome 65 Shelby I had the pleasure of bringing back to life. It has been in many a show, been restored 30 years ago, and was just sold so the new owner needed to have a little love done to it before it hit the track with other Shelby's. All Adams products used to bring back the shine !  Enjoy
 

My grandma recently (September) purchased a new car, a 2017 Chevy Cruze Hatchback.  I told her when she bought it that I would detail it for her before winter, the one thing I've learned is that Grandma's don't forget haha!  I went and picked it up from her on Sunday and brought it back to her today.  I just wanted to share a few before and after pics along with making some mention as to the products I used for the detail.  I definitely didn't take enough before pictures, but that always seems to be the case........

Products Used:
Adam's All Purpose Cleaner - Used for wheels, tires, and inner fenders (Also used Adam's Wheel Brush and Adam's Tire Brush)
Adam's Strip Wash - Probably overkill for a car that had never been washed or waxed before, but I wanted to start with a clean slate.
Adam's Clay Bar - All painted surfaces, and front windshield
Adam's VRT - Tires, plastic trim, engine compartment, grille
Adam's In & Out Spray - Engine Compartment and Grille
Adam's Invisible Under Carriage Spray - Inner Fenders
Adam's Paint Sealant - All Painted Surfaces
Adam's Detail Spray (during the drying process, during the clay bar process, and used on the touch screen on the interior to prevent / cut down on smudges)
Adam's Glass Cleaner
Adam's Glass Sealant - Front Windshield
Adam's Brilliant Glaze - Inside and outside of all glass (done after glass sealant on front windshield)
Adam's Interior Detailer 
Adam's Leather Conditioner - Console
Adam's Odor Neutralizer
Plenty of microfiber towels and applicator pads
 
 




 

For those of you that missed out, they sell the exact same seat on amazon prime for $79.95 lol. I guess that Adams sticker was worth $10.

I also got the seat and wasn't overly impressed, made a few small modifications and now really like it. Didn't like the cheap/small wheels, just didn't seem to roll very smoothly. Picked up a 4 pack of 4" rubber casters at Lowe's for $20 and the seat rolls effortlessly now. Also trimmed a foam pad and stuck it to the top for a little padding. The pull out drawer is kind of silly, but if u take it out it's a good place to stash a few spray bottles on their sides for easy access. Another company makes an additional bottle holder set made just for this seat that holds 16 or 32 oz bottles, the holder clips onto the outside of each plastic tray, may have to order me a set to try, only $10

Ceramic Boost is not needed unless you do a coating. GG is primarily used when you have a paint sealant on your paint and not a coating.
As Wolf said, get a Swirl Killer Mystery Box . You can't go wrong with that deal. I would personally hold of on buying any polish unless its the one step as you may get heavy compound, paint correcting, and finishing polish in your box as the $70+ products. If anything, buy pad kits for the 15mm( http://adamspolishes.com/shop/kits/4-polishing-kits/adam-s-gen5-6-pad-bundle.html) as its better to have an extra set to switch out when the polish loads up or pad gets hot.
As for the rest of the products you want,