I've been giving my boss some ideas on improvements as far as tools and such go. We recently switched over to the Makita from the Dewalt and I've been talking to him about getting a higher quality microfiber in bulk. As many know dealership standards are leagues below our line of work, but for a reason. 95% of the people who purchase a new car don't know about proper detailing or don't care, and aren't willing to pay for it. Basically the idea behind a dealership detailing gig is to get the car presentable and send them out the door. We don't really have the time to sit there and achieve 100%. It's just another way of doing things. We generally reuse wash water because we just simply don't have the time to refill and go, as we get paid by the vehicle and have a pretty heavy schedule throughout the day. It gets annoying when we open up hatches etc. after drying with a chamois and water streaks and runs all over the place, making it hard to get windows clean etc. It's very fast paced work so wherever we can cut time we go for it. That's where ONR comes into play. I've been experimenting with it at a QD (or a bit less) dilution and found that I can cut almost 15 minutes per car by using it as a waterless wash (not just rinseless). Many of the cars at the dealership are just dusty from sitting in the lot and by using this method we can drastically cut down time throughout the day and I find that it is rather safe, especially in comparison to the reused wash water (almost threw up saying that). It has many benefits from saving water, cutting down wait and detail time, putting out a better product, making the workers more money, and actually saving the business money. It replaces a hell of a lot of products too- QD, Window Cleaner, Clay Lube, Wash, Interior detailer, etc. I find that ONR diluted at clay lube dilution, or perhaps even more diluted, makes a better glass cleaner than the kind Ardex puts out (and possibly Sprayway). If you do leave a streak, I find it comes off a lot easier than a regular glass cleaner. You can make about 5 gallons of glass cleaner for less than $3, whereas he pays $80 now, and save on all that shipping. It works for dusting down interiors at this dilution too. QD dilution wipedowns work well for the showroom cars and are probably safer than using a regular QD due to ONR's emulsifying properties. Some of you know that it works well on bird bombs too, which are very common in huge open parking lots filled with cars. I had a small bottle of it at work that sat on the shelf for a while until one of my coworkers asked about it, I showed him how it works, and he was completely blown away. I can't say enough good things about ONR. Hands down the best detailing product out there right now. Ordered a gallon today to see how it really stacks up in the business (which I'm projecting to work extremely well based off of the small bottle) and hopefully we will be using it for good. It's nice to know how truly good and versatile this product is. Amazing to say the least. Thanks Optimum!
well i hope it works out for you. i would have given my left nut for a steady supply of ONR when i worked at the dealer. well definitely not my left nut, but something valuable.
I would have just laid on the ground and refused to believe that happened. Don't I owe you some soap?
thats basically what happened, except there was two feet of snow on the ground, so i just let my body go limp and collapse only to enjoy a nicely snow padded landing. you dont owe me shit, but i cant stop you from peddling your companies products off on me if you want me to test them.
Even though it makes sense, most managers wouldn't have gone for it b/c "it's not the way we've always done it". Kudos to you for getting your manager to see the quality improvement but also the cost savings as well!
Thanks Richy! I know exactly what you mean. Some ''old school'' techniques still have their place, but someone who isn't constantly trying to improve themselves has no place in business. It *might* not be as good as a regular ONR wash but it's definitely a step up. In this case is just makes sense. I'm not sure how much an improvement on soap cost and usage it'll make but it should be offset by quality and the cost of other products (QD and Glass Cleaner especially).
Update: Used it exclusively the first day on all paint colors, even flat black Audi, came out better than usual. Increased my profits 30-40%ish for the day. Much easier to use as well.
thats great man i am glad its working for you. i love onr in the winter or even when you just want to do a quick wash.
Thanks Danny. The more I play around with it on cars that I have the room to experiment on, the more I realize how crazy of a product it is. It is very capable, even when used unconventionally.
