The owner of this Explorer contacted me and wanted it detailed this weekend, as it's the first time it's been above freezing in a while I've begun to offer more services this year (unfortunately still no paint correction) and she wanted the outside washed/clayed/waxed and the inside cleaned. I was thrilled, as this would allow me to try out some new products I've got...but unfortunately she was an hour and a half late dropping off the vehicle and it's a school night, so after 5 hours all I got done was the exterior, vacuuming, and a bit of dashboard cleaning before I had to return the vehicle. We were kinda expecting this from the beginning, so the owner didn't have a problem waiting on me to finish it up later. The only time our schedules worked out for me to do it is next Sunday, so you'll see more finished pics then For now...here's what I got. Exterior: Tires got Westley's Bleche-White, wheels got Megs Wheel Brightener and were cleaned with various brushes. Wheel wells and running boards got Zep Citrus 10:1 and a long-handled brush. Vehicle was pre-soaked with Zep Citrus through a fertilizer sprayer (poor man's foam gun), and washed using the two-bucket method with Megs Gold Class soap and the DI sheepskin mitt. Dried with a leaf blower and Vroom drying towels from Target. Door jambs were cleaned with Zep Citrus 10:1, various brushes and sacrificial Costco MF's. Next the vehicle was clayed with clay from the Megs kit with ONR for lube, then sealed with Menzerna Powerlock applied via Zymol applicator pad. Tires were dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant and buffed for a matte finish. Interior: (not finished yet but this is what I'll do) Vacuumed with shopvac, stains on seats spot-treated. All plastics wiped down with Zep Citrus 10:1, and Megs APC 10:1; 4:1 used on tough spots. Carpets and seats spot treated with Zep Citrus. Windows cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass. Sacrificial Costco towels and assorted brushes used on the interior. If I end up doing anything else I'll add it next Sunday. On to pictures! Before: I don't know what that white residue was...I suppose the owner uses a lot of hand lotion? Clay after the hood...the roof was bad and so was the rear but the rest was surprisingly uncontaminated for a 7-year old vehicle. The afters didn't come out too well, I'll get some better shots next Sunday if the car still looks decent. The paint wasn't in great shape but it still looked a ton better with a coat of sealant on it. Either severe etching from a bird bomb or the paint is starting to oxidize here... That's all I got for now, I'll update Sunday with finished interior pics and maybe some better exterior shots. Any suggestions/tips are of course welcomed, this is only my second year doing this so I'm still a bit of a newbie. Thanks for reading, Clark
I use a $6.00 hand pump sprayer from Lowes for Zeps, Opt PC, and my Megs APC. best $18.00 Ive spent. Looks great!
I've got one of those I've been using to pre-soak vehicles for ONR washes in the garage...I might have to go back and pick up a couple more, I really like it. And thanks
get the hand pump sprayer used to spray pesticide or weed killer (on with hose) best 15.00 you will spend LOL
The white stuff you see on the steering wheel is probably concealer. Is it a female driver that wears lots of make up? That crap goes everywhere, but luckily it's easily removed with warm water!
that stuff on the steering wheel is what i call hand filth. its basiclly just a build up of dirt and grease from peoples hands. ive actually noticed very very small amounts of it start to build up on mine at times on areas where my hands are on the wheel frequently.
It's little bits of paper, like you get when you tear something out of a spiral notebook. I seem to notice much more of this hand filth on cars driven primarily by women...this car being no different. It seems that the filth is typically white in cars driven by women, but a darker greyish black on cars driven by men. I suppose it has to do with the different hand products and make-up and stuff that women wear.
Alright, so finished it today! It really wasn't horrible, I spot treated a couple areas on the carpet and seats and messed around a bit with the floormats to figure out my Bissell LGM. It was definitely worth the $60 I paid for it...I already love it. The floormats didn't turn out perfect but they allowed me to get my eye in on the machine a bit...and the customer didn't actually pay to have the mats done so I wasn't gonna spend a long time on them. Now I've gotta figure out a good rate to charge for carpet/cloth seat cleaning...does $20/hour sound like too much? That's about what I've been making off of my details, give or take depending on the vehicle. Anyway, onto finished pics! Lots of scuffs and weird spots on the plastic, those obviously wouldn't come out. Here's a couple exterior shots, it's been a week since I did the outside so it's dirty again. Mats before... Mats after, they're still wet here. What came out of the mats: And there ya go, finally finished...my first full detail of the year. The client's co-workers apparently are interested in having me do their cars after seeing hers, so hopefully I'll be getting some more business soon! As always, thanks for reading, and any feedback is welcomed. Clark
Thanks! It works well, today was the first day that I used it but already I love it and I can tell it was a good investment.
