Since today is a snow day and I'd rather not study for the ACT, I figure I'll go on and post this now. Hopefully I'm in the right forum. This will be a long post, but please bear with me, I need advice here, and figured it would be easier if I posted all of my questions in the same place, instead of all over the forum. As the title says, I'm 16 years old, and I currently don't have a job. Many people at school and most of my neighbors know how much I like to keep my cars (1972 VW Super Beetle and '09 GTI) clean, and how I'm good at working with cars. They have said they'd be willing to pay me to detail their cars for them. I figure that would be a great first job for me. My parents don't want me actually employed anywhere, because they're afraid that working a job will cause my grades to slip. That's fine with me, but I still have to pay for gas and stuff like that. So I figured detailing would be great...I could work for myself. I've been reading on here for a week or so now, and there's a huge wealth of information on the topic...more than I could imagine. However, I have a few specific questions. First off, I won't be detailing to the extent that you guys do. Nobody wants the liability of a 16 year old cleaning their engine compartment, and I don't want to be responsible if anything breaks in the engine. Therefore, I've decided to not clean engines. I also don't have the equipment or money to afford the equipment to do paint correction, nor the experience in that area. I'm not expected to do these things though...no one in this area really cares about their car that much. They want the car washed really well, wheels cleaned well, and especially the interior clean. No one would even appreciate my work if I did spend hours on paint correction. So here's my plan. Hand was the outside of the car really well. Clean the wheels really well, so the car looks spotless on the outside. Use a dressing product to make all plastic and the wheels look like new. Clean the grille, crevices, door jambs...etc. I'd charge extra to hand wax the car. Once again, no one would appreciate me doing any more than that, they don't care enough about their cars. Most of them drive Honda minivans or Honda Pilots, actually. I really want to do a good job on the interiors though, because that's where people spend the most time in their cars. I want to thoroughly clean the inside of the car, and make it look like new, if possible. As a result, I'l be charging a lot less than a professional detailer, probably around $25 or $30 for cars and around $35 or $40 for SUV's and vans. I dunno how much extra I'd charge for a hand wax, $15 or $20 maybe? Do these sound fair to you? Now about products. I don't have a ton of money to start out with, so I want products that are affordable but work well. I've read on here about many products, but many of them are way out of my price range, and I'm generally overwhelmed by the sheer number of things out there. Since I don't have a ton of money, I can't just experiment around and see what works...I need the right thing the first time. I also don't have the money now to have 5 different brands of cleaners for wheels, and another 5 for interiors. I want one or two interior products, and so on. We use Turtle Wax Zip Wash (or something like that) to wash our cars and clean our wheels, since they never really get dirty. I figure the washing detergent is fine for washing their cars, but won't cut it on wheels. I need a good wheel cleaner, because I've seen the stuff I'll be up against...baked on brake dust. Yuck. I want something that can get bugs off of the front of cars as well. I suppose I'll also need a variety of brushes. I'll shop around local places for the brushes, maybe I'll come up lucky. Now onto the interior, where I really want to do an execellent job. I think I have a good product for carpet stains, a product called Spot Shot. It comes in an spray can, and has never failed to remove stains from the carpet in our house, including difficult stuff like grape juice. It also got some 37 year old stains out of the carpet in my '72 Super Beetle, so I think it's up to the job. Unfortunately, I don't think it would do well on cloth seats. What would you recommend for getting stains out of cloth/velour seats? I've also already got a shop vac, so vacuuming should be no problem. What would you suggest to get scuff marks off of plastic and vinyl surfaces? And then I'll need to make all the plastic in the car look nice...what is a good product for that? Finally...what is a good leather conditioner to use on leather seats? Anything else you would recommend me to use? Thanks for putting up with my stupid questions, I'd just go out to Wal-Mart and buy stuff but something makes me think that would turn out badly...
Hello and welcome! Pricing is something that really changes from demographic to demographic. Charge as much as people are willing to pay. I used to charge a lot less than I do now, and I was TOO busy. I doubled my prices and got half as much business. But I'm making the same amount of money for half as much work. There's a balance that really comes into play. As far as products, I started reading all of the writeups I could find on a dozen different sites and finding the common ones. It takes a little bit to figure out what works best for you, it's just the way it is. If you're willing to pay a few bucks here and there I'm sure some people will send you samples -- worst thing they can say is no. That way you don't break the bank -- but still get to try out some product and find out what works best for you. For the price, I've been extremely happy with Chemical Guys products. I'm slowly starting to move away from them more for more recognized brands. Read the "Show and Shine" subforum and get an idea of what may work for you and give you the results you're after. FYI, I charge $120 for wash/clay/wax with interior vacuuming and cleaning.
Why don't you buy some decent products to start off with, and charge a little more on your first detail? I'd say that Duragloss makes excellent products for the money, and so does Chemical Guys.
Get some Zep cleaners from your local home depot..cant get any more efficient than that...Purple degreaser and their citrus cleaner. Their glass cleaner is really good too.
Ok, here is some really basic advice, it would be a very long response if I went into detail. Main idea here, do a wash/claybar/wax, say maybe around $75, then just do wash and interior for 50(less if on plan). Should be good for your age and demographic. For your wax, definitely go with Collinite 915(paste version) or Collinite 845(liquid version). Offer that they first get their car claybarred and waxed, then set them up on a bi-weekly plan to wash their cars, maybe offer them a discount if they do they plan, and explain to them what exactly car washes do to the paint, and also that they will strip the wax. Don't even think about paint correction until you get the money to do so, there are too many hidden costs, pads, lights, IPA, different levels of polish, etc. Clay barring the car is very easy, just watch a couple vids on youtube and use barely any-no pressure. You can get Clay Magic blue at autozone. Claying the car will enable the wax last longer, and the car will be easier to wash with some wax on it. Learn the two-bucket method of washing, and use Meguiar's Gold Class instead of that crap that says it contains carnauba beads or something. Off the top of my head: Collinite 915 or 845(eBay) Waffle Weave Drying towels(online detailing store) Meguiar's Gold Class Clay Magic Blue Quick Detail Spray Wheel Cleaner (a safe, non-acidic one) Microfiber towels, some crap ones from autozone and nice ones from an online store for paint Metai polish for exhaust tips Sealant for the rims Tire Dressing(Meguiar's Endurance is a good OTC brand) Trim Dressing, get some quality stuff offline. CG VRP or something Glass Cleaner, Sprayaway or Invisible Glass Rain-x if you want it 3M Seat cleaner and carpet protection Folex or spot shot All-purpose cleaner Wheel Brushes 303 Aerospace for dash and interior trim Leather Cleaner There's a couple more things I'm forgetting but that gives you an idea of what you could use to get started with wash/clay/wax + interior. Sounds like a lot, but you'll quickly make back what you spend.
there are plenty brands come with reasonable price ... As some members suggested above, You must look at DG, CG & Megs ... there have decent products and its not expensive at all. DB also has very good sponsors, you should try to contact them to see how they could help you out ... Gdluck ...
First off, where are you located? Secondly, I would think the best thing you can do is work on your friends cars, parent's car and so on. Just get some experience. For products its simple really. You need different products for different jobs, and different cars/finishes. There are a ton of write ups on here to dig through and see what we use. I like Swissvax, Race Glaze, Gloss It, and Chemical Guys. I just want to add that more people care about the exterior than the interior. Mainly because while they spend more time inside, everyone else will only see their exterior. Most people care about what others think.
i didnt read what others have posted but. here is what i would suggest. use Meguairs detailers line or mirror glaze line. they are good and affordable and you can get gallon sizes around $20 agree about using 845. great sealing wax thats easy to apply and remove and pretty inexpencive, mirror glaze #16 is good too. for inside maybe get one of those bissel things. when you get enough money i would suggest getting porter cable and couple pads, this way you can do some paint correction as well as applying wax will be easier car wash Car Care Products: Car Waxes to Leather Cleaners, Meguiar's the Leader in Car and Surface Care since 1901 dressing Car Care Products: Car Waxes to Leather Cleaners, Meguiar's the Leader in Car and Surface Care since 1901 quick detailer (last touch) Car Care Products: Car Waxes to Leather Cleaners, Meguiar's the Leader in Car and Surface Care since 1901 eagle one all wheel cleaner is good and avaliable instore Meguiar's Direct - Detailer you will need a MF towels. Chemical guys have good towels. maybe get MR clean no rince car wash thing. i want to get it for final rince so you dont have to dry it. you will have to spend some money in beggining but just dont go too nuts
id def say chemical guys as products for cheap and really effective as far as pricing i agree its all about where you live and what they are willing to pay but also put into perspective how much time you are spending. You dont want to charge $30 or $40 if your spending over 2 hours on something because you have to put in the cost of your products as well. So see how long it takes you to do a small car medium car and say a SUV. See how much your time is worth how much of your product you used and put together a number. So The last thing i have to say is dont let age discourage you. I personally am 19 and i started when i was 16. Get a few practice cars such as yours and your parents then start to charge friends and such and word of mouth. Hope this helps a little, goodluck and keep posting if you have questions or anything.
As mentioned above, check out Duragloss and Zep. They both have an excellent, affordable and effective line of products. As others have already stated, your prices seem fairly low. Now that doesn't mean you can't start at that price as an "intro price" kind of thing. If you are including a clay in your wash & wax process, I would definitely bump your prices up a considerable amount. For interior dressing I like to use DG321, smells good IMO, easy to use and fairly cheap. As for where to buy, local stores like Home Depot might carry Zep products, and if you have a local Carquest they carry Duragloss products. Otherwise your only option is online pretty much.
Heres my 2 cents. When I started detailing I offered a wash and vacuum package and a wash/vacuum with a coat of wax. Dead simple, no fancy tools required and you can charge decent money. Wash and Vacuum • hand wash and dry exterior • detail tires and wheels • dress tires • vacuum interior including cargo area/trunk • wipe down all interior surfaces • clean all glass for the wax package, add... • clean all jambs including trunk • apply one coat synthetic sealant ( waxes typically have poor durability and can be a PITA in humid areas) Keep it simple. These two packages are affordable which means you'll probably find yourself busy in short order if your work is good. As for products, Megs Detailers line, Duragloss, Chemical Guys are all available in gallons which makes them affordable. All you really need for equipment is a vacuum as you can do the washing with a hose if need be. You could pick up a cheap electric pwasher from Home Depot.
Thanks for all the advice so far everyone! This is what I plan on doing, pretty much exactly. I have no experience with clay bars, so for now, at least, I'll stay away from that. I would do more comprehensive stuff like minor paint correction, clay, engine bays, etc... but there's really no demand for it around here. I am one of about 8 people in my high school who cares about their car, no joke. They wouldn't appreciate a clay bar job and an expensive car wax job, and wouldn't want to pay that much. Same with my neighbors. If there was no dirt on their car and it was shiny...they would be estatic. As I get more experienced with working with other people's cars and using detailing products, I will most likely offer another package, which includes stuff like a claying, high-quality wax, engine bay stuff.
Just a thought but you can tell your clients to feel their vehicles' paint before and after you clay the vehicle and if they like the smooth surface of their car, then you can upsell it to them. I don't know about you but I like a smooth paint surface.
