RayS

Amazing what you find when you start going through your pictures. What is more amazing is when you look back a year and 10 days and see such a difference in a vehicle. When I bought my truck, I was using a competitors products and while I knew it was a good product, I was pretty sure my truck could look better. I have a picture of the first full detail I did when the truck was barely a month old. The method used on truck for the August 16, 2017 picture is basically the same method used on the August 26, 2018 picture. The time of day was within 30 minutes of each other and it happens that the truck was parked in the same spot. The truck was a full detail, wash, clay, fix all the funky spots, seal, wax and I was happy. I received some compliments on the truck, the water beaded, I had no complaints. The question was how and by using what, could I get it to look better. I knew I was good at detailing, yet I saw way too many vehicles that told me there were better products, methods and Detailers, so I knew I had room for improvement. The question was what did I need to change, learn and work on to up my game. I started researching, reading, asking questions, more reading and watching a few video's. It came down to 3 consumer grade products and I made the choice to go with Adam's because of the information available on the product site and this forum. I started with a few basic products to test the waters and was impressed with the ease of use and outcome. Over the next several months I continued to read, learn and listen to the users, "this forum", to continue to improve on the quality of the job. Now we jump forward a year, add 7,000 miles and 12 months of being parked outside and multiple months of using Adam's and you end up with a depth and glow that blows away the original products that I was using. I am looking forward to seeing what another year with bring with talking with the forum members, experimenting and working on improvements. I am confident that if I continue to use the Adam's products and learning from Expert and Master Detailers on this forum, I'll be able to achieve a higher level. A big thank you goes to all the members who share their stories, provide feedback and to the Adam's team for the products they produce.

That will be a huge transition, but I'm sure it will be a welcome one. Good luck on the build.

The current trend of the Leatherette as GM calls it almost feels like leather even though it really isn't, but the importance is that it still dries out and needs moisture added. Chris is spot with the statement about using it on things that are not 100% leather. I have vinyl, leatherette and real leather between the vehicles and I use LC on all three materials and like the results across the board. The first time I used it on each vehicle, it did take a couple of passes reapplying with the towel to get it to even out. Subsequent applications have required less effort and product since they had some moisture in them. I have multiple leather jackets and leather saddle bags and I would not use it on them, but they have different usage and conditioning method. For the interior of a car, it works very well and is comparable in price, effort and longevity to other products that condition and moisturize interiors.

Welcome to the Forum Mundog. If you find your way down to Columbia drop a note and we'll see if we can meet up. Semper Fi <-> Semper Paratus

"Bandit: For the good old American lifestyle: For the money, for the glory, and for the fun... mostly for the money. " Fortunately, the movies will live on. Rest in peace Bandit.

I have no concern about a New and Improved version which seems to be on about every other product in the grocery store, big box store, etc.. Just because something is now being sold as New and Improved doesn't mean you can't continue using the old product until it is gone or that the old product is obsolete or defective. In some cases there are enough differences to pick and choose where to use a V1 vs V2 product. Ceramic Boost comes to mind, I use Ceramic Boost in many places and V1 works perfect for the lawnmower, underside of the mowing deck, bathroom sink basins, steel workbench and a slew of other places. I'm sure there are other products that are New and Improved that you probably wouldn't even know there is a difference. While I primarily do Red cars, I wouldn't want to have Shampoos for Red cars and a different one for black cars. To be honest, after I looked at about the 10th different option under Soaps and Shampoos from a competitor, I had no clue what I should be getting and there were probably 45 more to look at on the same page. The competitor could be the best thing since sliced bread, but if I can't figure out what to get quickly and easily, I'm not getting anything. There is no perfect answer and it is probably more difficult for the professionals. When I made the switch to Adam's it was after a lot of research and I knew the initial investment would be high, but I also got the results expected. I credit a lot of the results to the people on this Forum along with the products and video's. I also will state that I use products that are not Adam's, some because I think the other product work better for me and in some cases because I still have some of the other product left.

I have the outside sealed, so when I notice either the inside or outside needing to be touched up, I do them both. The outside with Boost, if it is still beading, and the inside with BG. I have found the habit of doing both at the same time gives me the clearest possible view. If the outside isn't beading, then I clean and reapply sealant which is between 3-6 months according to which vehicle and the weather.

There are some beautiful cars in there and outstanding pictures - good job. I did notice one car about 30 or 40 pictures in, that is the weirdest looking Vette I've ever saw. It sure looks nice and it was Red, but I think it was heavily modified if it was a true Vette. Thank you for sharing @awdsome_jess

@shane@detailedreflections I'll give you a suggestion in lieu of sheetrock that is easy to install, keep clean and is reflective. https://www.lowes.com/pd/47-75-in-x-7-98-ft-Smooth-White-Hardboard-Wall-Panel/3015239 You can use spray in insulation, which you can rent the machine for a day from most large hardware stores or get a contractor to come by and do it. Then cover the walls with the white wallboard and you can do the ceiling, also. By the time you add the sheetrock, mud, paint and time the wallboard is a good alternative for a workshop. @Rich I'm in the process of getting bids for adding a Carport onto my house to extend the shaded area outside of the garage. While I don't have the cold like you do in PA, having a cover is needed most of the year. This is the model I have a bid on for a 46x26 with the largest opening being 32'. The companies designs are nice and the contractor I'm working with has been working the company to get the plans and they are very reasonable. My carport is going to be large, so I'll be in the $12k to $15k range with matching roof lines, using the same roofer that did my house with architectural shingles, etc. etc.. http://www.archiexpo.com/prod/ecocurves/product-87136-1978673.html

We have replaced the off the shelf blue window cleaner with Adam's Glass Cleaner and for the mirrors we use Brilliant Glaze. The inside of the glass shower door gets Glass Sealant and hit with Glass Boost about once a month. Detail Spray on the Black and Stainless appliances reduces the fingers prints. Ceramic Boost in the bathroom sinks - I was wondering why the water beaded so much, now I know. Odor Neutralizer: Shoes, Cat Box, Dog Bed and many other places.

The sticker wall is neat and I'll get mine sent in, thanks for posting this @falcaineer. Now, my curiosity has taken over with the bicycles that are hanging over the sticker wall. It appears there are some real classics up there - who knows what the story is? In don't want to hijack this thread, so do we need one for: "Things to see at Adam's HQ" so we know what to put on our list when we get to visit? I found notes in various threads, but not a dedicated thread.

I found that for Suede Coats and Seats that are real Suede that brushing them in four directions lifts the material and makes it look uniform. My preferred pattern as you are facing the seat is Left -> Right, Bottom -> Top, Right -> Left, Top -> Bottom with the last one being light pressure. If it does not look uniform, repeat the entire pattern. Sometimes, on older seats it will take 2 or 3 passes to get them to look right.

I spent some time on a 1994 Lexus SC400 today. The car has 285,000 miles and the paint is the original paint. We found a couple of places where the clear coat needs repair and it is a known item for the car and there is a repair kit available. We'll look at doing the repair in late September or early October and a redo of the shine in November. Overall, we're rather pleased with the way it came out given the age and miles. We are out of Red vehicles and are actively looking for some to buy and correct mechanically and/or visually. We do this as a hobby and while we never turn down a profit on a vehicle, it is not our objective, we just don't want to end up at a loss. If anyone knows of a Red vehicle available for purchase in the South East (South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina) that would be a challenge and viable or has a Red Make/Model that they'd like us to try and find and do, let me know. Most of the vehicles end up going to high school students, college students or young couples starting out so we make sure they are mechanically sound and safe. Adam's: Colorado (mine), Malibu (wife's), Range Rover, CX-5, Lexus sc400, Suzuki Intruder VS800, Sears Riding Mower, Mustang (pending repaint) Pre-Adams: Monte Carlo SS, CX-7, MR2 (2 of them), Mustang, Cruze, S-10, Impala

No, it is not just you... Leaving it connected is the easiest solution to the problem that I have found. I have brass quick connects for all my hose and sprayer attachments, including the spay nozzle for the standard foam gun. By using the quick connect, I leave the stray nozzle and gun head attached to each other and just unscrew the bottle. Cleaning it is still same, I just use a different spay nozzle that has 12 spray pattern. If you don't have a quick connect or quick shutoff, you can pick them up at your local Ace Hardware. I am purchasing a premium foam gun since I do a decent number of vehicles and giving the standard foam gun to my son-in-law who might use it once very few months. There is nothing wrong with the standard foam gun as far as the usage goes, it is just the connection with the plastic pieces requires a bit of force.

We use Tide Free and Gentle liquid. There are no perfumes, softeners or anything else we have found that messes with whatever is being washed. I also recommend the Adam's Microfiber Revitalizer and Brightener and just follow the directions.

I have used Ceramic Boost 1.0 on top of wax and by itself a few times. While I agree with @shane@detailedreflections that as far as doing a whole vehicle it probably doesn't make the most sense, I have done one to try it. However, the rims, back of the outside mirrors, front clip and other places that get a lot of bugs or brake dust, it seems to make cleanup that much easier. If you have a truck with Flat Black running boards, it makes them stand out and clean up much easier also. The place that I found it to be exception as a complete standalone product is on the lawn mowers (rider and push), both the outside and under the decks. When I'm done mowing, all I have to do is hit them with the blower and the grass and dirt comes right off. On the motorcycle, I use it on the underside of the fenders, again it makes it easier to clean off anything that gets on there. I'm sure an actual coating would be a step up, but I can't see investing in a coating for the lawn mower when CB 1.0 does the trick. A friend up north also said it works good on snow shovels and keeps the sticky wet snow from actually sticking. I have not had to try it in South Carolina, so I cannot confirm that it works, but it sounds reasonable based on the lawn mower experience. If you get a bottle by choice or via Mystery box, keep it and experiment, you'll find uses even if they are unconventional.

Being in the south we deal with heat and humidity and I have found that the humidity has more of an effect than the heat does on the products, especially the cure/flash time. This has been rather noticeable with the waxes, a bit more with HGG and really affects CB 1.0 timing. I have purchased multiple Acurite Humidity and Temperature Monitors, Model #00309SBL, to help tabulate the differences. I have one in the room where I store my chemical's, one in the garage and one is being kept on the detail cart. The unit I went with is from Acurite and is Lowes #396632 and is $9.98 (plus a 10% discount if you are a veteran), here is the link at Lowes: https://www.lowes.com/pd/AcuRite-Digital-Weather-Station/1000162483 The unit tells you the high and low Humidity and Temperature for a 24 period, so you will always know how high low the conditions were for your chemicals. The one on the detail cart will provide you the information where you are working. Here is where I put it on my cart and a closer look of the display. I plan on charting the timings for curing along with the temperature and humidity to get a better of idea of how many or few panels I can do at time to get a consistent product outcome. Note to weather buffs: My PWS is KSCWESTC15 - Western West Columbia For anyone interested, you can see the weather conditions in my back yard here: https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KSCWESTC15

I have gone BG then Americana and about a week later, topped it off with BG again and WOW is all I can say. As others indicated it doesn't last a long time, but the combination is fantastic.

Nice job on both. The rims on the Audi are about the same as the Range Rover. If you go over them with Ceramic Boost the brake dust will not collect nearly as much. Just make sure the rims are cool to the touch before you do them to prevent streaking. If you didn't use Brilliant Glaze as the final step, try it on a future wash, it will make the white really pop, but is only lasts a few days.

There are multiple manufacturers of Bedliner available, so I have substituted Line-X, RhinoLiner (Zeibart), etc., for "Bedliner" Some of the shops will offer hand taping, usually for an extra charge. This is accomplished using the same method that body repair shops use for a local repair or respray. The shops that offer this are usually the same ones that will do Rocker Panels or the fenders behind the tires and you can even find shops that will do the wheel wells and tow hooks. Just so you know "Bedliner" on your tow hooks is a lot better than Plasti-Dip, even though I am a fan of Plasti-Dip. "Bedliner" can normally have a color pigment added to match your truck, which is nice for the Rocker Panels, tow hooks and such. Any of these methods runs the risk of contaminants and light marring, but so does anything that touches your vehicle. I do agree that the blankets that already have hardened "Bedliner" on them being dragged across your vehicle, is not the best approach.

I have been getting vehicles between 10 and 30 years old some good, some bad and some beyond cosmetic repair, so I would be very interested in this to see what the limits and outcome is.

Overall the site looks nice and as recommended by @BigBlue2007 add the details on type of services, address and phone number. You are dealing with a lot of farmers in the area, so you are going to get a wide variety of requests. Also, I recommend you spend some time going through the information that @shane@detailedreflections has provided, there is some really good info. There was one price that stood on your web site: Scratch Removal - $20 per scratch. My brother-in-law in Chilton has a full size pickup, crew cab, long box that has a scratch from the headlight to the taillight. First, I doubt that it can even be removed and I know it can't be done within 15 minutes or so. Myself, I wouldn't call it a scratch, but he's a farmer so it is just a scratch according to him. I would recommend changing the statement to Scratch Removal, quoted upon request or something similar, but I would not give a price upfront. Do you have all-weather service or an indoor facility? I know how cold it gets in Appleton and it really sucks to have your car get wet and every door freeze shut, so an all-weather service or indoor facility would be a good incentive to use your business from October-April. If you have mobile services, what is your service area, either list the City/towns or the counties. If it is the counties, think about the distances that could be covered with Outagamie, Calumet and Winnebago. I will also recommend an extension to your services. There are a lot of campers and motorhomes in the area that are stored for upwards of 8 months a year and last summer my father-in-law, also in Chilton, could not find a service to clean his before heading up there from Florida. Just having a clean, washed and fresh smelling motorhome/camper is something you may find many snowbirds and year round residents interested in doing in the spring.

I have multiple practice vehicles, but I don't tell the children that I use their vehicles for testing. The kids are always happy, they get free detailing along with touch ups and I get to learn about the products and usage methods. My wife's car also gets some testing, only because she get any new products used on her car first, but I'm real careful on that one. As for the variances in the paint, I am finding more variance between the years than between the manufacturers. We have red vehicles from 1994 - 2017 and many manufacturers, Chevy, Ford, Lexus, Mazda, Range Rover, Subaru and Toyota. Nearly every vehicle is Red, so that does help level the field for learning the products and comparing the differences. I'm not sure you would get the same comparison if you were trying different chemicals/techniques on a White and Black panel to compare.

Until I used Iron Remover on all the vehicles, I didn't how much iron, rail dust, etc., was on each vehicle. The Malibu wasn't bad, the Colorado had a bit more, the CX-5 a bit more and the Range Rover is always nasty. I know part of the problem with the Range Rover is the brake pads, they have got to be change to something better, but the amount that accumulates on the vehicle is crazy. I 've also found that a bottle does seem to go a long way. As for the wife's involvement, she's a co-dependent. She tells me when there are sales, she makes sure the orders are always $100 or more to prevent the shipping charges. This is also why I make sure my wish list always has plenty of products in it. Unless I tell her I need someone, she picks items off the wishlist that are on sale and orders - I have a wonderful wife, and yes I keep her car spotless.

If you are looking for something that will make either vehicle really pop for that special evening, get a bottle of Brilliant Glaze. It only lasts a few days at best on the exterior, but for a Saturday Date night or special event, on top of the wax or HGG, it gives the Wow effect. Also, check out the video on using it on the inside of your windshield. For the outside of the windshield, the Glass Sealer and Glass Boost work very well and while the bottles look small they will last you a long time. Good luck with your vehicles and don't forget to share your pictures.