cwp2016nd

I did some more testing on my Miata this past weekend. I got it down where I kept the pad rotating and working. I still prefer the rotary function with the smaller pads, but I was able to maintain rotation with both the 1" and 2" pads in dual action mode. 
 
What I did wrong before was use pressure. Even the slightest bit of pressure and it stalls, but if I keep it perfectly flat on the panel (as flat as possible) and just hold the polisher there it will keep spinning. Worked out great and I will now build my arsenal of 1-2" pads for it. 
 
Thanks guys. 

303 Fabric protectant works pretty well. I've also heard great things about Carpro Fabric. Gtechniq and Gyeon both have their own version of it and I can't say I've seen negative feedback on them. 

If you ever want to take the ferry ride and see if we can figure out what’s going on with that nano of yours, my door is open. And a beer. 

I’m with @shane@detailedreflections on this one. Either the tool is defective or it’s technique. Never had any stalling issues. And I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want you to use the rotary function with the 2” pads. I used it quite a bit because there are times you can’t use a random orbital with a 2” pad due to the surface being in a tricky spot. 

One can hope! While the Rupes Nano I own is very cool, there are certain things about it I would like to be improved upon. If Adam's released one I would definitely try one out. 

Yesterday, fully detailed this beauty. 2013 Porsche Panamera Turbo. May do a write up another day, but I'm still sore. My hat's off to all you black car owners. 
 
LSP: Ceramic Paste Wax (only). Great stuff.
 

 

 

 

 
 
And finally.....
 
Pure reflection!! ?
 

It turned around much better than I expected! The area around the driver side integrated rubber mat had some permanent staining, but other than that the color came back pretty well. Even the seats changed color from grey to blue! 
Thank you Sir. I definitely busted my butt on this one. It has just about 200,000 miles on it and I can guarantee you it has never been thoroughly cleaned before. The wheel wells had a LOT of dried mud stuck in them as well as the door jambs. The wheels/tires/wheel wells/door jambs alone took me over 1.5 hours! 
Thank you! 

I will certainly post plenty of pictures when I complete the job 

It is a 2017 GTI. I should be doing the entire car this upcoming Sunday provided the weather is decent. He has some light scratches all over the car as well as scuffs from whoever did the debadging. A one step polish, sealant and glaze he should be good to go! 

As everyone knows, this is a tried and true product throughout the detailing community. I put it up against an acid based wheel cleaner and it did very well! I would say they had equal cleaning abilities. The acid based was ready to aggitate immediately while the Adam’s I waited until the color change was done. BUT, the Adam’s had more lubrication while scrubbing. Here’s a nice bleeding picture as well as a dramatic before and after ?
 
The tires were dressed with tire shine. 

Agreed! AIO is perfect for that.

Polishing some panels from a Harley Davidson. Here is one panel. Lots of boot scuffs and marring on the paint. In good shape now.

Outside detail of this Mazda CX-9. There were some pretty deep scratches that I couldn't get out, but overall I was happy with the outcome, as was the owner.
 
Before

 

 
After
 

 

 

Nice work Ian.  I love the brake blood shots!

I use the standard pump sprayer with Iron Remover. I don't see a need for the foaming action to be honest. The Iron Remover clings fairly well and provides a long working time to break down ferrous metal contaminants. Be prepared to get gallons of it either way you go. The F350 I just did used almost the entire 35oz sprayer worth of IR. 

That carpet came out great!!

Since the truck is white, the difference isn’t as dramatic in pictures as it truly is in person. I restored shine and gloss back to the paint as well as cleaned up all the baked on pollen stains. 
 
Before pictures, iron decontamination, bumper polisher, trim restorer and after pictures in that order. 
























 

Since the truck is white, the difference isn’t as dramatic in pictures as it truly is in person. I restored shine and gloss back to the paint as well as cleaned up all the baked on pollen stains. 
 
Before pictures, iron decontamination, bumper polisher, trim restorer and after pictures in that order. 
























 

Since the truck is white, the difference isn’t as dramatic in pictures as it truly is in person. I restored shine and gloss back to the paint as well as cleaned up all the baked on pollen stains. 
 
Before pictures, iron decontamination, bumper polisher, trim restorer and after pictures in that order. 
























 

It sure looks sharp! Job well done Sir. 

I’ve been trying to fit this into my schedule for a couple weeks, but got it done today. Gave a substantial discount as the guy is like a second father to me. 
 
So....2007 LBZ Duramax in rough shape. It hasn’t had a detail in close to 6 years and it’s always parked outside. Interior was full of dog hair and so rear windows with drool lol. Engine bay was filthy and of course I forgot to grab before and afters. So enjoy the final product.
 
Interior was vacuumed and the seats were cleaned with leather and upholstery cleaner with a horse hair brush. The seats were then conditioned with Adams Leather Conditioner. Interior glass was cleaned with Adams Glass Cleaner and the windshield had Brillant Glaze applied. 



 
The exterior was given a personal with Adams Car Shampoo from a foam cannon. The front end was soaked in Waterless Wash to loosen up the bugs. The truck was then clayed with Adams Big Blue clay bar that I still have. 

 
After the truck was clayed, I applied Adam’s all in one Polish with my 15mm Swirl Killer with a white pad.  The tires were scrubbed with Adams Rubber & Tire Cleaner and a blue tire brush. The wheels were cleaned with Wheel Cleaner and a red wheel brush. Engine bay was cleaned with All Purpose Cleaner and dressed with VRT.
 

I think you can do it in your timeframe. You have with busy grind and not a lot of time to jump around with inefficient processes or distractions. But it can be done. 
 
Bring in someone else to work with you, and you can do it with time to spare!  
 
Two of us and this is a five hour job. Maybe less. One and you’re in the right range. 

I have some time this morning before the day starts and last night @falcaineer expressed an interest in a write up on how we establish pricing. 
 
Pricing has a ton of variables to it. Your local market will have a large influence on how much you can charge for your service. But outside of that, it should also be a calculated number. 
 
Before we get too far into the numbers though, you have to decide if you’re just detailing for some cash on the side or detailing for business. Both involve taking dollars for a service, but one has far more flexibility to it. 
 
When simply detailing for some cash, it’s more of a friendly arrangement. Maybe you’re covering some product you ordered or used?  Maybe you want some beers for later?  Maybe you just want to help a friend?  If this is the case, it’s a straight equation. The cost of materials plus whatever you want to be compensated for your time. And there you have the simplest pricing structure. 
 
If you’re detailing for business, you are into a far more complex set of calculations. You have some overhead (or a lot). I work out of my personal garages, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have considerable expenses. We have equipment tha we’ve invested in (and expect a return on), electricity, labor, product, etc. 
 
One thing to consider is recurring costs. These are for maintenance items. Towels wear out, wash mitts, disposable towels for coatings, etc. We assume a certain amount of “waste” on every job we do. This covers consumable products...chemicals and such. We tried tracking product used each job and it’s a logistical nightmare full of estimations and errors. We just assume a set amount based on the job. We could share the numbers, but it’s a mute point since the number varies based on the job and what products you individually like to use. That’s part one of the calculation. 
 
Up next are your labor costs. How much do you want to get paid per hour?  Don’t think in terms of how much the business is making for this. It’s a straight hourly rate for yourself and anyone working for you. I know how much my guys cost me, and I know what I’d like to make. Keep in mind that the guys ALWAYS get paid...I don’t. I often choose to reinvest what I would get paid back in the business. If a job takes longer than anticipated, the guys still get paid their full rate for however many hours they work. It’s not variable and not optional.
 
You should have a good estimate for how long a job will take. Sometimes they’ll go quicker, sometimes longer. But I know we shoot for about three hours with two guys on a “one step” job. So the rate is calculated as (employee A + employee) x three. And there you have your labor costs. That’s part two. 
 
Next up is how much do you want the business itself to make?  The business alone is an interested party to all transactions. The business needs to retain earnings for growth, expansion and other overhead (product orders and such). You can calculate this as an hourly need or a percentage of each job. The two should be close either way. That’s part C. 
 
Now add up part A, B and C and you’ve arrived at the minimum required rate per hour to be viable. You will not always hit the rate. Accept that. Things will come up. And some jobs you’ll make more than the rate. It should average out over time and jobs. 
 
So now you do the math and realize that your hourly rate is too high and you’ll never get that in your area with your experience. What do you do?  How can you impact your numbers?
 
You can raise prices a little bit and see if you have resistance from clients. More importantly though you can do something that won’t impact your clients. Look at your purchasing and see if you can buy smarter. Buying in bulk usually offers discounts. Negotiate with your vendors for better pricing. This will lower your costs and give you more profit without impacting your clients. We still do this constantly without even looking to avoid a price increase. Better buying means more money for the business. As a business owner you owe it to yourself, your clients, employees and business to buy smart and maximize your profit dollars to ensure success. 
 
You should also also research what other detailers in your area are offering for services and pricing. We don’t let them dictate our pricing, but we do want to know so we can expand on what makes us different. Things like equipment, exclusive products, training, services, etc. 
 
We have an internal policy that we don’t get into pricing wars and drive the price of our service down. We offer a fair service at a fair price. If we let clients dictate our pricing, we give them total control and train them that they can tell us how much something costs without them knowing the background information. If we don’t value our time, who will?  
 
Which brings up the last point...there’s a difference between a customer and a client. A customer is someone passing through. They’ll use you one time and then they’re off into the sunset. They won’t promote your business for you and won’t maintain a long relationship. A client will sing your praises, recruit other customers and clients and constantly be a stream of revenue for your business. Customers and clients both have a place in your business model. 
 
And that’s the long-ish version of calculating pricing...

Ditto! 
 
I recently bought a 32oz bottle of highly regarded compound for $1.11 an ounce while Adam's heavy compound is $2.50 per ounce. 
 
When you're detailing quite a few cars an 8oz bottle doesn't go very far. If you're an enthusiast I can understand. I asked a while back about bigger bottles and they mentioned the "pro-line" was supposed to be out around April. I guess that never happened. 

Ditto! 
 
I recently bought a 32oz bottle of highly regarded compound for $1.11 an ounce while Adam's heavy compound is $2.50 per ounce. 
 
When you're detailing quite a few cars an 8oz bottle doesn't go very far. If you're an enthusiast I can understand. I asked a while back about bigger bottles and they mentioned the "pro-line" was supposed to be out around April. I guess that never happened.