New and need help with product selection for a side gig

[Dwhite0960]

Well I am late posting to the new portion of the forum i jumped the gun and made a post already about wax and glaze and got great results. With that being said im Daniel a broke down paramedic that needs to find a way to lessen the blow of the new to us lexus for the wifey lol. I am goin to try and get a da orbital polisher for Xmas this year instead of useless junk like I typically ask for. I am going to try and pick up just a few side jobs a month to do when working the 24 hr shift (public permitting). I am not interested in trying to much correction on anyone's car or truck besides my own until I am certain I have got the proper process and results down. I have a old Monte Carlo that hasn't been washed in years that resides in the walnut tree grove so it will be a awesome first victim and great photo opportunity for possible business down the road if I do this right. The most in depth I think I will get for now is the typical was and wax and if they are foggy doing a revive hand polish. What products would the seasoned veterans around here recommended as " staples " for the begging arsenal. Now I don't have a load of disposable income due to a low paying job and a new to us lexus lol. Also I know clay is very important how many uses do you expect out of each bar? I have gained a addiction to this adams polishes way of detailing already and have yet to try anything, the reputation truly speaks volumes here compared to any other product I have seen. I have watched all the videos as well as I had down time yesterday at work in the morning. Im all ears and once again thank you all for your response it is truly awesome to see such support for a newbie, hopefully one day I will be buying by the gallon and getting that amazing cyclo. I am trying to post another picture of the new ride, this is the obsession for making sure I take care of her paint. God bless. Daniel

[pirahnah3]

Welcome to the forums Dan, glad to have you here. Thank you for taking care of people as well. 

 

As to the requireents, just start with getting things in the 16oz other than say All purpose cleaner. 

 

As to the uses in a clay bar...its a variable, should be a few full full clays but it all depends on the levels of contamination you are removing. 

 

My personal list for requirements is as follows:

Glass cleaner

Detail Spray

All purpose cleaner

Rinseless Wash. 

H2O GG

Glass Towels

Single softs or borderless Greys 

 

That would be my bare minimum. There has been alleged rumors of a revamp of the 2 step process for a bit so you might be able to squeek around those and into the new depending on how long you want to wait. 

 

As to other items that are great and make detailing better. 

Double soft towels (Just so nice and plush!) 

Deep wheel cleaner (A fav of mine!) 

Wheel Woolie 

Speed Stick for cleaning the wheel barrels 

Dilution Bottles At least 2 possibly more. 

Clay bar 

Leather cleaner (If you have leather seats) 

Liquid paint sealer 

Grit Guards 

Towels Towels Towels You will never have enough. 

 

Some additional items that as you can afford or catch sales to think about adding 

Lug brush

Towels

extra pads for a polisher if/when you get one 

Interior detailer (Yes this is way down here for me, I love the scent of detail spray so much I do my interior regularly in it) 

Metal polishes if you have any chrome (Doesnt look it so you can prob skip)

Other wax product such as buttery, Patriot, or Americana 

Briliant Glaze 

Waterless wash (If you like rinseless wash then I might even skip this pesonally I just make down my rinseless into a 16:1)

Towels

Storage for things

Towels

There will always be more things. 

[Dwhite0960]

Jim, thanks for your help I would to clarify a few things if you wouldn't mind. On the all purpose cleaner what size are you thinking besides the 16oz. What would I use the rinse less on initially, I feel the paint and daily drive in the area of gods country as we call isn't a great candidate for a rims less wash from what I gathered watching the videos. If you have some tricks with the rinse less please by all means tell me your secrets lol. If I washed and Clay the car would they need another wash before the h2o gg application? Also what kind of protection could I expect from the h2o. I am for sure getting the glass sealant the videos are stunning no more rain x junk. Thanks again Jim

[mc2hill]

A few changes I would make to Jim's list.

Welcome to the forums Dan, glad to have you here. Thank you for taking care of people as well. 

 

As to the requireents, just start with getting things in the 16oz other than say All purpose cleaner. 

 

As to the uses in a clay bar...its a variable, should be a few full full clays but it all depends on the levels of contamination you are removing. 

 

My personal list for requirements is as follows:

Glass cleaner

Detail Spray

All purpose cleaner

Rinseless Wash. 

H2O GG

Glass Towels

Single softs or borderless Greys 

 

That would be my bare minimum. There has been alleged rumors of a revamp of the 2 step process for a bit so you might be able to squeek around those and into the new depending on how long you want to wait. 

 

As to other items that are great and make detailing better. 

Double soft towels (Just so nice and plush!)   Nice to have

Deep wheel cleaner (A fav of mine!)               Must have

Wheel Woolie                                                  close to Must have

Speed Stick for cleaning the wheel barrels     I use the Wheel Woolie move

Dilution Bottles At least 2 possibly more.         Must have

Clay bar     

Leather cleaner (If you have leather seats)    close to Must have    

Liquid paint sealer                                           Must have

Grit Guards                                                     Must have (1 Gamma Seal bucket is a good idea)

Towels Towels Towels You will never have enough. 

 

Some additional items that as you can afford or catch sales to think about adding 

Lug brush                                                       Must have - great for cleaning emblems and gas                                                                                                  filler doors

Towels

extra pads for a polisher if/when you get one 

Interior detailer (Yes this is way down here for me, I love the scent of detail spray so much I do my interior regularly in it)                              Must have - light cleaning + protection

Metal polishes if you have any chrome (Doesn't look it so you can prob skip)

Other wax product such as buttery, Patriot, or Americana 

Brilliant Glaze 

Waterless wash (If you like rinseless wash then I might even skip this personally I just make down my rinseless into a 16:1)

Towels

Storage for things

Towels

There will always be more things. 

 

 

Jim, thanks for your help I would to clarify a few things if you wouldn't mind. On the all purpose cleaner what size are you thinking besides the 16oz. What would I use the rinse less on initially, I feel the paint and daily drive in the area of gods country as we call isn't a great candidate for a rims less wash from what I gathered watching the videos. If you have some tricks with the rinse less please by all means tell me your secrets lol. If I washed and Clay the car would they need another wash before the h2o gg application? Also what kind of protection could I expect from the h2o. I am for sure getting the glass sealant the videos are stunning no more rain x junk. Thanks again Jim

 

Get a gallon of APC.  It can be diluted 1:1 for cleaning tires, wheels, paint, etc. and 1:4 (1 part APC 4 parts water) for light interior cleaning (non-leather surfaces).  Some tires & wheels will need it full strength.  Use DWC for wheels with lots of brake dust build-up.

 

I know some detailers that ONLY do rinseless washes.  Get a half-gallon pump up sprayer for using for pre-rinse, and that will get off lots of the big stuff.  

H2O G&G can be used in the Rinseless wash process while the car is still wet, then you dry it as normal, and have added 2+ months of protection (and charged for it), but not added any time to your detail.

 

Yes, if you clay the car you will need to wipe it down before applying H2 G&G. 

 

[Dan@Adams]

From one Daniel to another

 

That's a beautiful Lexus you have there...I'm not sure I mentioned that in your posts from the other day!

 

As for the "staples" for the beginning detailing arsenal, especially if you are going to start detailing on the side, here are the main ones that I would panic over if I didn't have any backups, lol:

 

- Chemicals: Car Shampoo, APC, Deep Wheel Cleaner, Detail Spray, Tire Shine, SVRT, In & Out Spray, Glass Cleaner, Total Interior Detailer, Leather & Interior Cleaner, Leather Conditioner. On a typical, fairly dirty car that is brought to me, I will end up using approximately the following: 1-2oz of Car Shampoo, 1/3-1/2 of a 16oz bottle of Deep Wheel Cleaner to spray down all four wheels if they are super dirty with brake dust, 1/2 of a 16oz bottle of Detail Spray if I'm claying the car, 1/8 - 1/4 of a 16oz bottle of Tire Shine depending on how large the tires and sidewalls are, and then small amounts of Glass Cleaner, TID, LIC, and Leather Conditioner - with those 4 products, a little bit goes a long way. SVRT and In & Out Spray will both last fairly long since since you aren't using a lot of product when applying those either.

 

- Materials and accessories: Two 5 gallon wash buckets with Grit Guards - one for wash and one for rinse, a few wash pads or wash wedges, short wheel brush, Turbo Stick or Wheel Woolie, Trim & Lug Nut brush, a few foam block applicators or Pro Tire Hex Grip Applicators, and a minimum of 2 or 3 sets of machine polishing pads if you will eventually start to offer paint correction on vehicles. I like to use at least 2 wash pads or wash wedges when cleaning a vehicle - one fresh one for the top half of the vehicle, and another one for the bottom areas like side skirts and bumpers that tend to get more dirt buildup. I almost always need at least 2 orange foam or orange microfiber polishing pads when I am doing paint correction in one afternoon, because the pads will eventually build up too much polish and will need to be cleaned out to continue to be effective. Cleaning and drying a pad during the middle of a detail isn't usually an option for me, unless I will have the car for several days, because I don't want to spend extra time always cleaning and drying pads during the middle of the day. I wait until the end of the day and give all of the pads a thorough cleaning and then let them air-dry for a day or two.

 

- Polishes and Waxes/Sealants: Not everyone is going to want you to spend the time to machine polish their vehicle, so you will want to have enough supplies to polish and wax by hand or by machine. One bottle of Revive Hand Polish with a hex applicator will last you through several vehicles, as will Brilliant Glaze and Liquid Paint Sealant with one of our Red Hex applicators or a black microfiber applicator. If you go the wax route, a bottle of Buttery Wax will last just as long as the BG and LPS, and you can probably get 20-30 cars out of one tub of Americana or Patriot Wax if you apply them nice and thin like they are designed to be applied. With machine polishes like Paint Correcting Polish and Paint Finishing Polish, you are only using a few pea-sized drops per 2'x2' area, so you will also be able to do many cars with one bottle of each.

 

- Microfiber: Lots and lots of microfiber towels! I made microfiber towels their own bullet point because they are that important to me. I really dislike if I'm 80% through a job and my Single Soft or Double Soft Towel is too built up with polish or wax residue and I don't have a fresh clean one to grab to finish the job. These pictures are probably about half of my towels - I have a bunch of Borderless Gray towels that are waiting to be washed:

 

 

 

Yes, I have a problem and my pictures are a little extreme But I do like to have at least 2-4 of each towel type. The nice thing is that a lot of our towels do come in 2-packs, like the Waterless Wash Towels, Edgeless Utility Towels, and so on. I always like to have at least 2 clean Great White Drying Towels as well, in case I want to wash two vehicles over a weekend.

 

I hope those are some good pointers for you. Please let us know if you have any other questions

[pirahnah3]

I agree with all of the above, I only made my list as the extreme budget in mind. Basically, you must have the first list to really do anything, really kinda need to get to that second list sooner than later and on the third set my personal choices and comments. 

 

I do agree with most of Michaels comments to mine as well and again I was purely thinking budget. 

 

As for Towels....Dan, are you sure you have enough? I did put it on my list at least 4 times lol. 

 

Honestly I forget who said it on here but the easy way to build up is to just add 2 towels to every order. Whatever your noticing you need alot or are thinking you might. They really stack up after a bit and then you can start to dedicate certain towels to certain jobs. Personally I am finally getting to that point (at least 8 orders later I might add lol) 

[Dwhite0960]

Well it would appear I need to find a second job to take on this new hobby lol. It stinks you need everything but use so little due to the great products hits on the front end. I might of got 2 cars lined up for a couple weeks for what I call the hand detail so that should help with the first order pretty nicely. I was looking at 250 or so for what I want for what I picked out for basics. I'm sure first of the year will be a few hundred more if I get the polisher. Would the pc be good or is there any others in the price point that are considered just as good. I'd like the best but we got to start at the bottom one step at a time. Thanks again fellas

[Dan@Adams]

At the $150 range price-wise, the Porter Cable 7424XP is pretty hard to beat. It's a durable, well constructed machine that will be reliable for many years of detailing.

[jeffh]

Welcome to the addiction lol. I just started using adam's products in September and yes it adds up quick look at the adam's kits for a little savings, when the mystery box comes around again that can be a good value but it's a mystery to what you get. I know everyone does the 2 bucket wash but to start maybe the daily driver kit would work that's the way I started but like I said I'm new and I'm just doing my daily drivers.

[Dwhite0960]

Well I might have found a great deal on a foam gun for the pressure washer today. It is new but on the Internet locally a detailed apparently has lost his love maybe I can score some basic equipment to use with the great products i buy soon. The cheaper the equipment the more products which equals better results in the long I hope. Yall have been wonderful and so kind and very helpful. Once I get going i will post some more pictures up in the detail area. I am sure we will all talk again no worries. Thanks again and keep the great ideas coming.

[Odds and Ends]

While all of the previous posts are great food for thought, I think you would best serve yourself (and your budget) by trying to determine what types of services you are willing to do for a "side" gig.  You said you weren't looking to get into full corrections, and I think that's wise, but what exactly do you think you will be doing most?  Once you determine that, do for the products that you will need first and foremost to perform those services.  Then, as you start to make a little "side" cash, reinvest a portion of that income on more/different products. 

 

You can never have too many towels.  I have a couple dozen each edgeless utility, single softs, and borderless blues, probably 30 waterless wash, another 30 or so doublesofts, tons of other "crappier" towels that I've had for years and 3 great white drying towels.  Even with that many towels, I still end up doing laundry 2, sometimes 3 times per week.  Keep in mind that this is my 24/7/365 job, but I think you get the point.  The last thing you want to do is go do a job and not have enough clean towels at the ready.

[Dwhite0960]

Hey Darryl thanks for your input. I am getting a da polisher around xmas unless I bite the bullet before then and I will practice on my junker first then the pickup and if I feel confident with the polishing methods I will go after the lexus. Until im comfortable doing something I won't touch anyone's car in that particular method. I would think a ext wash and basic wax/sealant with a basic interior will be the most frequent. My plan is to get them in for a good detail a couple times a year and do maintence washes every few weeks. Pricing is going to be my biggest guessing game as you guys know the products and can steer my fairly well where im heading. Im just trying to get some no uncle cash, I don't forsee me making this a full time business even if I get very good at corrections, just want to supplement my income a touch and not take the fun out of the love and art of a good detail. Thanks again for your advice and kind words.