what's the worst mistake you've made while detailing?

[Mindflux]

Originally Posted by tstead

finding out that my wife had already gone to sleep and was "in the mood" while I was in the garage

That's like 'seeing' the Loch Ness Monster. People claim it's happened but nobody's for sure about it.

[connorb850]

My worst mistake was made on my own car (thankfully not a customers). I was polishing a side skirt with my PC and somehow the backing plate had worked itself loose. Well the backing plate/pad went flying off at full speed and the PC ran straight into the plastic side skirt, leaving a nasty gouge. I was pretty upset about it, but at least it isn't too visible on a lower panel. Needless to say, I check the tightness of the backing plate more often.

[fueler]

my worst mistake was using supplies from local Pepboys and other stores, such as Meguiars, Turtle Wax, armor all, black magic, mothers, ETC. All that stuff is garbage. I now know to use a real professional auto detail supply and everything is unheard of to the regular pep boys shopper.

[BigAl3]

Originally Posted by fueler

my worst mistake was using supplies from local Pepboys and other stores, such as Meguiars, Turtle Wax, armor all, black magic, mothers, ETC. All that stuff is garbage. I now know to use a real professional auto detail supply and everything is unheard of to the regular pep boys shopper.

what's wrong with meguiars, AA, and mothers? they make some excellent OTC stuff and if you think they are lesser in quality, you're sadly mistaken...

[Clean Dean]

After removing decals off the window of a Caddillac DTS a few years back, I left the razor scraper on the front seat. You guessed it I sat on it and cut the leather !!! Luckily I know a leather repair professional who is exceptional, and I paid him to come out ASAP. He did an outstanding repair and the customer was satistfied with the repair. I still detail for this customer, and will never make that mistake again !!!

[grippymonkey]

Originally Posted by colche

taking so long to discover autopia!!!

(practically everything i did beforehand)

this is a good one to quote. glad I found this place! luckily I haven't made any serious mistakes that cost me money. I have learned from a few things though, and there is always better methods to learn.

[Butrball12]

Pre Autopia: California Water Blade on my brand new IS300... add in a tiny particle of sand and you have a HUGE mess

After: Detailed my brothers black S2000 and after having it 99% corrected wiped it down with a microfiber that had a tiny twig stuck in it under fluorescent lighting.... redid the whole job

NOT MY FAULT!... i restored a pink miata back to its glorious red... and then he wrecked it on the way home...

Forgot the pressure washer had no slack in the hose and was hitting my girlfriends rear bumper the whole time i washed the front end.... had to hear about that one for a long time

[unleashedfury]

Where to start...

Lets see....

Automatic Car Washes.... FAIL

Using Dishswashing liquid like dawn or such to remove wax... FAIL

I burnt paint on my all black Dodge Sundance Duster trying to remove a scratch... Scratch was gone It was replaced by a huge faded spot.

Using a Scotch Brite Soft Pad to try and remove Dirt Grime Grease And Gopher Guts off of my Side Skirts.

Thinking that with Touch up Paint one color fits all..

Misaligning Body Panels after collision.. This comes under taking a job I couldn't correctly do. The aligning pins where all bent to hell. When I couldn't get the door to close right I was wondering Why???

An Old school trick that some of the older guys might now. Using 2000Grit Sandpaper **WET** on windshield wipers to clean them.. Works well But don't forget to clean them when your done. Left Nasty scratches on my windshield.

Applying way too much wax..

Using a claybar, and Not enough clay lube.

Thinking that one size/style buffer bonnet will work all for all applications.

Then I got into a shop and learned the proper techniques. Made me realize as a know it all teenager at the time.. I really didn't know it all..

[Concourswanna b]

Bought a windshield chip repair kit from G's Garage for my '94 Bimmer e-34. I affixed the base plate and was ready to use the resin/filler, and decided the plate needed one last good "tap" with my fist, just to be sure it was attached to the glass. Of course, cracks spider-webbed out away from the chip.Tried the resin anyway, and it worked great... for filling in the chip, but not the extended cracks I had created. Live & learn.

[creina1221]

About 10 years ago, when I first started, I learned all the rotary buffer errors the hard way.

I learned how to use a rotary on used dealer cars that we had an account with. The first one I did, I caught the antenna. I paid out of my pocket for this. About a week later, I was doing the rocker and not paying attention, the cord wrapped around the spindle hitting me in the face and across my arm. I had a notable welt for amost a week. About 6 months after this with no mishaps, I buffing 2-3 cars per day, I graudated to customer cars.

With that being said, I'm error free for almost 10 years.

[efnfast]

I wouldn't necessarily call it a mistake, more over a

When I first started machine polishing I bought some 80 and 83. I had no idea about proper polishign technique, but i thought you had to 'work down' in terms of pads and product. So this was my first detailing regime:

orange/83
green/83
white/83

orange/80
green/80
white/80

then wax


For the life of me, after that I could not figure out how the heck anybody managed to detail their vehicles - I mean, 6 steps, holy heck, that's a lot!

[5spdfrk]

One that I can think of off hand is i was looking at my factory painted/clear coated wheels and noticed a smudge that looked like it came from a tire hitting it on the roadway or something else rubber. It wouldn't come off with various cleaners and elbow grease, so I figured I would use my dremel and buffing tip to clean it off. Well like a newb with a rotary, I burned the clearcoat and left a nice little black burn mark over the hard to see smudge i was trying to remove! lol Lesson learned...less speed and don't hold it in the same place too long!