Tips for the mobile detailer by dsms!

I just finished packing up the car for a mobile job tomorrow, in doing so I realized how much I dislike mobile detailing but I also realized some of the things I found to really help me when going mobile and I'd like to share them with you.

I feel some of these points may seem obvious or not even affect you but in a mobile setting they can make a big difference... many of which I have learned from experience!

Attire:

Skip the running sneakers, go with waterproof boots or shoes. Although sneakers may be very comfortable they are not meant for washing cars, if they get wet... they stay wet! First mobile job I did I wore my old trusty newbalance, of course they got wet during the wash and I had to deal with the discomfort of wet feet for 8 more hours.

Pants, first off wear them :doh: Second, try to go with waterproof or a thick material pant. For the same reason as above I like to know if I do get some water on my pants I will not be wet for a while or have a soak through. Also something with a padded knee is great, like dickies work pants which I wear. Bob Willis turned me onto the padded knee dickies and I never wear anything else, even when I wash my own car.

Beware of the light colored shirt! If you wear a white or light colored shirt be very careful when cleaning wheels, some sprayback from a wheel brush will cause you to get black specs all over your shirt and thus look like a little sloppy for the rest of the day. At your own home wearing and old white t-shirt is fine, but on a mobile job you want to look presentable at all times... dirty shirt from wheel cleaning is a no no!

Food:

This is one of the most important things for me when I go mobile. I like to eat small meals every few hours, my body is used to that so I try to keep that same routine going when I go mobile. Keeps my energy up!

First off plan out your meals and drinks beforehand. Dont plan on leaving a clients house for lunch, it takes too much time and isnt worth it.

Skip the lasagna leftovers, dont bring food that can be messy or have a strong odor, you will most likely end up eating on a creeper stool in the customers garage so keep it neat!

Try to avoid heavy foods or greasy foods, anything that may slow you down or cause a serious bowel movement is a really bad idea.

Bring napkins, oddly enough I forgot napkins on a mobile job one day and needed a place to wipe my hands and face after a PB sandwhich... my nice microfiber towels werent gonna work, nor was my shirt. Bring a napkin with your food, just in case!

Foods I reccomend:

Peanut butter on bread (Skippy natural PB on whole wheat is the best) Its fast, not to messy, doesnt have an odor and shouldnt make you sick in anyway, even in a warm garage. PB is a good source of energy and the bread, even whole wheat will provide some much needed carbs when your sweating it up in a garage.

Apples, great source of energy, fast and oderless.

Bagels, I usually keep 1 or 2 plain bagels with me on a mobile job. If you need a quick bite to hold you over bagels are fast and fill you up quickly, plus theres no mess to clean up.

Avoid salty foods! Foods that make you thirsty will increase the amount of water you drink, the more water you drink the more you need to pee... try your best to avoid using a customers bathroom multiple times a day. You are there to perform a service, get in and get out and make it seem as if your the invisible man. Coming in and out of the house, knocking on doors etc should be kept to bare minimum.

I am a strong believer is adequate hydration but drinking lots of water will result in the need to pee more, drink only when you need to.

Bring extra food just in case. Sometimes you need to stay a few extra hours to get a car finished always have a little extra food, or some snacks with you. Being hungry while detailing is not a good idea, your body is working, sometimes your sweating .. keep your energy up and eat.

*Always inquire about a bathroom situation with a customer before beginning work, if they leave the house and lock the door... your screwed. Many times they will leave a door open for me and say use the bathroom whenever you need... that way I dont have to knock and bother.

Pack Efficently:

The best advice I have is to use your two 5 gallon wash buckets to hold bottles, sprayers and polishes... this will help save space opposed to carrying the bottles separately and the wash buckets by themselves, theres a lot of space between 2 buckets, use it.... plus it has handles which makes for easy transport from the car to the garage.

Consolidate polishes into small bottles, 8oz plastic bottles are great, 32oz bottles are not.

If you have 250 MF towels, you dont need them all! Think about the type of job you will be doing and approx. how many towels you will need... now add 5 or 6 more MF to be safe to that and pack it up neatly and in a place where they cannot get dirty or have debris fall on them. Plastic containers are my choice for MF ( I bring a plastic garbage bag with me to separate my dirty MF from the ones I didnt use)

Use the same system for packing up pads, think about the job and what you need. A silver 2 door car wont require you to bring like 20 pads, but always bring extra just in case!

Odds and Ends:

Dont expect a customer to have anything! Bring your own hose nozzel, plenty of extension cords etc.

Think about the simple things you use while at home and keep going over what you need to carry out a detail, if you didnt pack it you may need it.

Music

Many of you have seen me with headphones in while detailing. I do this for 2 reasons, 1 is to drown out the sound of a polisher and 2 is to keep me motivated. Music helps me get into a groove, when you get into a good grove you work faster.

If your spending 8hrs in someones garage, alone, without a sound you can get a little restless.

I prefer upbeat music... Beatles, Stones, Doobies Brother, Miley Cyrus whatever! (Phil you know what im talking about) whatever will get you in a postive zone it doesnt matter!

Keep the music at a neutral volume, always be able to hear if a customer walks in or starts talking to you.

Stay organized all the way through!

I re-organize or pack up my gear as I complete each step of the process. I put away my wash, clay, mitts etc. right after i complete my wash process, I wont be touching any of those items for the rest of the detail.

After correction I pack up all the polishes, buffers and pads... I wont need them again

Doing this helps keep the work area clean and makes packing up your car to go home easier at the end of the day... or if you are coming back for a second day and choose to leave items there, make sure everything is neat and orderly. Do not leave anything messy in someone elses garage.


So far these are some things I have learned from and found to work well for me, I hope I was able to give some tips.

 

Dave those are some great tips and coming from you it is even better...Thanks

 

thanks :thumb:

 

some great info there thank you . in fact tomorrow im going to detail my truck . and i useally were my sneakers . but your right they get wet .then your misrable for the rest of the detail. so ill use my work boots.. and stay dry..

 

Some nice facts Dave!

I actually have been practicing some of these ideas for the past 2 years.

I will re-read it and try to see if I can get anymore ideas from it.

 

thanks a lot for the tips dave...really appreciate it...it will help me for sure

 

Those are some great tips Dave, I definitely learned a few things for mobile jobs that I haven't already experienced myself already. A big thanks to you!

 

fantastic tips man thank u very much

 

Thanks for sharing. I am practising many of your tips such as the food, pack efficiently, odds and ends, and staying organised. Even the food I packed is similar!

Music is a good idea, I am on ear plugs now and will try them in future. I am abit different with attire, tried sneakers and waterproof boots but went back to sneakers. I am a small guy and has the habit to stand one foot on the door latch to polish the roof. I also prefer to remove foot wear when doing the interior. Fortunately our humid climates won't give me a wet feet for long..

One thing to add, a good placement of your equipments in your mobile veh can save time and energy. I like to keep my movement minimal when collecting and keeping my stuff. I packed them base on my detailing procedures, my washing brushes, clay, solvents and equipment are closely place. Same goes for my buffers, lights, sanding tools, buffing cloth, polishes, pads, spur tool, ipa, waxes, applicator pad. Lastly is all my interior stuffs, glass tools and ext. dressings.

 

Dave..great post..thanks for taking the time to do it. I made up a list and follow it..I found on my first mobile job I had under-estimated what I needed. I went back to my old adage "I'd rather have and not need it versus need it and not have it".

 

Great write up, with very good tips, thanks.

 

Great post thanks for the tips

 

Excellent tips. I guess I am used to wet shoes and pants.

I created a checklist by task so I knew what to bring when I do detailing elsewhere. I am also putting stuff in standard 16 oz bottles to consolidate space.

 

Great tips, I'd like to see more posts like this one

 

Nice write up. :thumb:

 

Great post Dave. Since the majority of my work is mobile I picked up a few tips. Good stuff

 

Very nice write up. For me personally I have to disagree on the wardrobe. It may not be the most professional but it helps me get the job done.

Normally in summer months I do wear tennis shoes with moisture wicking socks, so that if they do get wet they dry out faster. Also, I normally wear basketball shorts, nothing too saggy looking, but definitely covers up the knees when standing. And then a sleeveless nike dry fit shirt. When I go into a customers bldg to gather keys or whatever, I will wear a t-shirt that has my business logo on it or whatever. And always a sweat band! I hate when I'm inside a car and sweat drips over a section you have already cleaned! And last I wear moisture wicking under wear! Usually under armor. I can't stand cotton sticking to my boys! Sometimes I'll bring an extra pair of socks just in case.

In winter months, I usually wear shorts, wind pants and long socks. my sleeveless shirt, a long sleeve shirt and a t-shirt and then a sweater.

I like the way your stuff looks, but it would make ME uncomfortable, but you gotta do what works best for you. Just thought I'd share what I do.

I agree on the food, keep it light and simple and make sure you have plenty to drink. As far as going pee, there have been a few times where I've had to go and a restroom was just not available, so I close my trailer up and pee in a 32oz bottle!! And then hide it! Dump it when I get home and reuse when necessary.

 

I enjoyed the food bit. It's important to remember not to have a wicked Indian meal or the liking the night before a detail. Nothing like having a CODE BROWN an hours into the job!

 

i thought i was the only one who did that, those gatorade bottles sure come in handy!

 

I like your food tips! And I trust them too, since I know you and your family are health nuts (exercise and eating). Good info!

One thing I learned very recently on an E92 M3 I was working on that you commented--expect the worst. I was in a parking garage.. and the ONE over head light that was about 3' from his car was out. I had only brought one 1000w set of halogens.. and in parking garage with almost NO light on a cloudy day with only one set of lights. Was hell!

Also I'd like to add a tip:

Leave "butter fingers (not the food)" at home. I've broken a camera lense filter, making my camera temporarily inoperable to finish capturing the detail, and I've broken a brinkman dropping them. :doh: