DTrem13

You got it, Sir. My thoughts are with you and your families.

This quote is awesome. It's so true. I love it. JBlack: That's all I plan on doing right now, is just a couple cars here and there. Then people may know my work by seeing it on cars I've done and through word of mouth. I plan on starting with my Grandma's car, and hopefully she will tell some people, and it will just continue to branch away. I don't plan on doing this to where I stop enjoying it because that's why I plan on doing this: because I enjoy it. It's a good feeling to see a car with some cosmetic damage and have the ability to make her shine and pop like she never has before.

I wouldn't do this 'job' to the point where I would no longer enjoy it. I'd simply go as far as to make a little side cash, gain experience doing this and perfecting my techniques, and enjoy doing it. I get tired polishing my car for 5 hours. I couldn't imagine having to do that for multiple days in a row! How often do people screw up when doing this? Just curious as I'm sure it's happened before. Any personal stories?

Thanks! I think for now I'm gonna stick with family and friends, and if I do a good enough job hopefully they will tell their friends and it will branch out a bit.

Thank you Mook! I have a few questions: At that price, does your service sell? I don't know of a lot of personal detailers around where I live (maybe it's because I never really looked), so I really don't have much to judge a price off of. So I'm not sure if that price would be a shocker to most people. Also, can you define LSP for me? I've heard the term before. Just never knew what it meant

That is amazing!!! You should definitely be proud of that accomplishment, sir. That is something to be proud of forever. Congrats on your new self!

I'm sure most of us do this already. So I'm just on the hunt for some opinions and advice. With me spending so much on keeping my car clean, I figured I'd use my skills on other vehicles and make a little bit of side cash. I'm doing my Grandma's HHR next week (when my new Americana pad & Brilliant Glaze/red PC pad arrive) and possibly a couple others soon. So far I'm just thinking about doing a basic car wash and wax (with all the extras, tires, trim, fenders, etc.) and maybe clay and interior. I don't think I wanna get into paint correction yet until I can really perfect my technique. For those of you who do this, how much do you charge for a car wash? I'm charging my Grandma $25 (I'll probably go higher for other people, but ya gotta take care of your grandparents ) for a basic wash and dry plus tire dressing, fenders, Brilliant Glaze & Americana and an extra 10 to take car of the interior. Since it's just a small HHR, I'm anticipating it to take between 1.5 and 2 hours (unless I do the interior, then maybe a little more time.) How much would you guys charge a regular customer for that? Any input will be helpful, whether it's related to my scenario or not. Thanks everyone!

Hello to Eric!

Yes, I am. But I didn't think there was that many of swirls where it would need more than a pass of SHR and a pass of FMP. I also remember seeing a bunch of threads that state they can never get their black paint 100% swirl free. So I just settled with that. It really doesn't look bad at all. At least in my eyes

I really can't. And I'm not that worried about it either. It's just the applicator that's shot (Which I already ordered a replacement, along with other stuff today .) And the mold on the wax was easily removed. So everything seems to have worked out

LOL I did that to Matt! Isn't it wax paper though? Kinda felt like it. Anyway I threw it out when I bought it. Whoops. Is this something I should contact Ashley about? It is kinda my fault, even though I never would have thought this would have happened.

Thanks Chris!

Thanks everyone for your input. The reason why I store the pad inside the container is because that's how it was initially packaged. So I assumed that that's a good way for it to be stored. But it does make sense why I shouldn't now. Is there a way I could rid the mold from the wax itself? I can bite the bullet on an 8 dollar applicator, but I'd rather not spend 70 bucks on a new Americana wax if I don't have to.

I just went to open my container of Americana and just check it out because I'm planning on using it in a couple days, and I notice that there's mold on the wax, and on the pad. Also the pad is starting to break down. It sat for about a month and a half or so with the lid always on tight in a shaded area (my room.) Has anyone ever had this problem before?

Thanks! I know the pics aren't the greatest, but I'm not much of a photographer. I'm debating on doing this on the side a little bit, but I don't wanna get into paint correction until I'm sure I'm doing it right. Since I've only done this car, I'm not sure because I can't get every swirl out of the paint, so I may do Mom's silver Malibu one of these days to see if it's my technique or just the color of the vehicle.

Hello. I finally had a day off yesterday to polish my car the right way. The first time I did it I think I went too fast and didn't apply enough pressure. Also I only used Swirl and Haze remover. Without Fine Machine Polish it didn't look as good as I wanted to. Here's what I did. 1 Bucket (until I get my second grit guard! I have other buckets I can use) car wash with Gilmour foam gun. Jumbo Wash Mit. Sheet rinsed & dried with Great White Drying Towel. Blaster Sidekick for the finishing touches and blowing out the cracks/badges. With my PC: I tried 1 pass of FMP on a small area. Didn't remove all the swirls (not too many in the first place) so I upped to 1 pass of SHR & 1 pass of FMP. Didn't see any added results so I settled with 1 pass of FMP. I figured that since it's a black car, it won't be 100% swirl free. Applied Machine Super Sealant afterwards. Really easy and quick to apply! While waiting to cure. I used Undercarriage Spray and All Purpose Cleaner on my wheel wells, and tires, and Green Wheel Cleaner on my stock wheels. Using the Fender Brush and Wheel Brush. I applied a coating of SVRT afterwards. In and Out Spray on my grill. Metal Polish #2 on my exhaust tips. Here are the pics! /