Paul Dalton's so called 61 steps

baseballlover1 · 09-24-07, 05:48

Does any one know his "61 steps"? Because if i could charge a tenth of what he does i would be happy!

DieselMDX · 09-24-07, 05:56

it is not what he does it is how he does it :-)

also i recon some people on here do almost the same amount of steps he does. He is just a marketing machine that gets his work out there

toyotaguy · 09-24-07, 06:09

its all in the marketing...and he has that down...

not saying he is doing more or less, but its how he portrays his work to the public as to how he can charge so much...

besides...I highly doubt that every detail he does is allowing him to charge the outrageous price he does...most his other details are probably in our average price range, with the exceptions of a few high end clients with lots of disposable income...

calgarydetail · 09-24-07, 06:35

Miracle Detail

there is alist of his prices. They are not that absurd.
And i belive the 5k car wash takes 3 weeks. So yeah hes great at marketing but he also has to be great at detailing to charge 5g for some details

baseballlover1 · 09-24-07, 06:36

yea but, he sais he has 61 steps. I mean... what are 61 steps? i can see it now...

step one put left leg in pants
step two put right leg in pants
step three pull pants up.

calgarydetail · 09-24-07, 06:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by baseballlover1

yea but, he sais he has 61 steps. I mean... what are 61 steps? i can see it now...

step one put left leg in pants
step two put right leg in pants
step three pull pants up.

im sure its alot of polish drivers door...
polish passanger door..
ect. but its the same of the detail so if it works for him....

Mikeyc · 09-24-07, 08:49

I remember seeing a list of all the steps posted on here when his "Top Gear" video first was posted on this site. I think almost 10 of the steps were "rinse car with water."

brwill2005 · 09-24-07, 09:18

All due respect to this guy for being able to charge what he charges. As a professional who does this for a living, it is in my best interest to offer a quality service at a reasonable price. I have to offer value to my customers. If I charge too much, I get less customers. If I charge too little, I get more customers but do not make enough per job. For me, the key is to accomplish a given result with the least amount of steps; not the most. In the ten years I have been detailing, two professionally, I have refined my process to get the same desired result with less steps. This allows me to keep my prices reasonable, but still get quality results.

BigJimZ28 · 09-25-07, 12:16

thanks to Mountee
found this on his website:

THE 61 STAGES

1. Rinse vehicle with 30C purified water
2. Spray citrus degreaser on entire car
3. Repeat rinse
4. Wash top half of vehicle with pure warm water and shampoo
5. Repeat rinse
6. Wash top half of vehicle with pure warm water and shampoo
7. Repeat rinse
8. Spray citrus cleaner inside arches
9. Repeat rinse
10. Decontaminate paint and windows with clay mixed with secret solution
11. Repeat rinse
12. Wash entire car with pure warm water and shampoo mix
13. Repeat rinse
14. Dry vehicle with microfibre towels
15. Apply wheel cleaner and brush
16. Repeat rinse
17. Turn wheels 180 degrees
18. Reapply wheel cleaner and brush
19. Repeat rinse
20. Dry wheels
21. Dry door, engine and boot edges
22. Blow compressed air in cracks and towel dry
23. Measure all paintwork in microns (1/1,000mm)
24. Sand paint to remove orange peel, scratches and swirls
25. Sand paint to remove orange peel, scratches and swirls
26. Sand paint to remove orange peel, scratches and swirls
27. Sand paint to remove orange peel, scratches and swirls
28. Re-measure paintwork
29. Pre-wax cleaner to paintwork
30. Remove pre-wax cleaner with towel
31. Zymol Royale wax applied to paintwork
32. Remove wax
33. Buff windows
34. Windows cleaned inside and out
35. Interior vacuumed thoroughly
36. Clean interior trim
37. Clean and shampoo carpets and mats
38. Clean leather
39. Dry leather with cotton towels
40. Condition leather and buff
41. Clean interior with compressed air brush
42. Pre-wax cleaner to door edges
43. Condition and preserve door rubbers
44. Zymol Royale wax applied to door edges
45. Tyres dried to a satin finish
46. Exterior trim cleaned and conditioned
47. Clean wheels using clay mixed with secret solution
48. Clean and polish wheels
49. Pre-wax cleaner to wheels
50. Zymol Royale wax applied to wheels
51. Final buff with small cloth
52. Windows cleaned inside and out again
53-55. Additional Zymol Royale wax layer application, buffed twice
56-58. Repeat above wax application
59-61. Repeat final wax application

the list is pure BS
steps 24-27 what a joke

jsatek · 09-25-07, 12:48

61 stages are BS. HE forgot to add

62. Turn on the water supply to the hose
63. Fill buckets with water
64. Add soap to one bucket
65. Walk to car
66. Squeeze trigger on power washer gun

Dylan06SS · 09-25-07, 01:04

I can't fault the guy... if I could pull jobs at that price I would.

The main thing to consider is the ignorance of the public in general when it comes to car care/detailing. We can see thru the smoke and mirrors and get a feel for what he is REALLY doing, but the un-autopian can't.

MikeWinLDS · 09-25-07, 01:05

BS or not, he does an exceptional job. As for the steps themselves, can you link to the webpage where he lists all that stuff?