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

**guan_shine** · 05-09-2007, 02:12 AM

burned a m5 chrome polish window frame,ended up sended to a window shop to repair.never use any contains acid window cleaner to clean your window,it could burn your window frame easily within a few seconds.

**todd@bsaw** · 05-09-2007, 03:06 AM

Not me but an employee...

He decided to set the cyclo on an upper shelf in the shop (about a foot above head-level) and forgot it was there when he backed out a Nissan Pathfinder he was working on. The front bumper caught the cord and pulled the cyclo down... onto the hood of the Pathfinder!

We paid for the repairs and respray. She still gets her vehicle detailed by us as well as her husbands Yukon. The employee still works for me but does not do detailing...

**SVR** · 05-09-2007, 03:29 AM

Originally Posted by Burlyq

Tried to polish the black part of the window frame, you know the 3 inch strip you usually grab onto when opening a door. Anyhow, I thought I could do it with the rotary and ended up paying for a shop to repaint the strip. Genuis? Lol.

With some cars you can do that with a rotary but not with a strong polish

**SupaFly10579** · 05-16-2007, 03:56 PM

Armor All on brake/gas pedal

**bobbyt** · 07-22-2007, 09:48 AM

For some reason I didn`t notice the wiper blade was still up and out when I opened the hood.

Thankfully it was just a small mark touchup paint cured. That`s the last time I`ll ever make that mistake.

**BigAl3** · 07-30-2007, 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by bobbyt

For some reason I didn`t notice the wiper blade was still up and out when I opened the hood.

i know what you mean...

**KnuckleBuckett** · 10-14-2007, 07:53 AM

Originally Posted by karwaxer

when I first started out I shampooed a headliner, it looked great until about an hour or two later when the whole thing sagged. Had to replace headliner on a 10 year old car.

Been there done that. AWFUL. Embarassing too.

**harvey** · 10-14-2007, 08:29 AM

In the early 50`s I put old Simoniz wax on my father black Pynmouth and then went to the beach with my friends. When I returned the car was white with the dried wax. I tried very hard to wipe it oft.

Ha,

My father was not a happy man.

**Don** · 10-14-2007, 11:37 AM

In the days before Autopia & the internet:

Un-diluted APC on badly stained white interior "leather"

The green side of a scotchbrite scrubber sponge on painted & clearcoated rims

Not washing the wheelwells, but reaching inside with the drying towel to clean the lips of the fenders...

...ditto for the front & rear bumpers and rocker panels - not washing all the way underneath, but still rubbing off all the wet dirt with the drying towel

Using a single-speed rotary on a friend`s old VW Scirocco with a WAY to aggressive compound - grayish/white pinstripes down the sides of the car along the seams.

Part I - Explained to cousin how to wet-sand his NEW paint job on his highly souped up Omni GLH-S...used 600 grit & instead of lightly scuffing the finish, heavily sanded the whole car...

...part II, same rotary and compound as used on the VW listed above...fortunately the painter was also talented with an airbrush & blending

waxing my dusty dark gray metallic Camaro, watching the pad getting filthy, then buffing it off with either a cloth diaper or T-shirt

**Labster** · 10-15-2007, 11:14 AM

I`ve done the price quoting thing...Then got there and had a customer wanting his wife`s completely trashed Accord to look like a show car. It honestly looked like she had driven the car through a briar patch repeatedly and he expected all the scratches to get out. It was for a friend`s parents so I felt bad and finished the job. Learned the lesson to not give estimates over the phone without saying that it is my bottom end price subject to change after seeing the vehicle first hand.

Applying Megs #16 in the sun and letting it sit for 20 + minutes before removing the residue.

Letting RainX window wax sit too long...God that was awful... Ended up having to clay it off...

**felthove** · 10-15-2007, 11:57 AM

Pulling on an extension cord and knocking the legs out from under my 2 headed halogen light stand, causing it to fall on my hood causing scratches and a dent.

**SCutchins** · 10-15-2007, 12:44 PM

I just made my worst mistake this past weekend. I was detailing a guy`s IS300 with a rotary, white pad, 1800rpm. I was leaning over buffing the door and I stood up to stretch my back. I was standing on the damned cord, and when I stood up it pulled the buffer full-force into his driver`s side mirror!

In an instant the rotary burned all the way down to the plastic on the corner.

He was cool about it, we`re going to try spray touch up, and if that doesn`t work then I will pay to have it resprayed.

Moral is to watch out for the cord, and keep an eye on the rotary until it completely stops spinning.

**sspeer** · 10-15-2007, 01:11 PM

Using a citrus based degreaser on my polished aluminum primary on the bike...of course I did it after a ride thinking that it would degrease better if it was still hot.

The degreaser evaporated almost instantly on contact..leaving a nice hazy residue...or at least I thought it was residue

**rearviewmirror** · 10-15-2007, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by BigAl3

oh... when i was a little one i used a scotch brite pad, because the dirt wasn`t coming off the paint. :geez

My friend recently used scotch brite to remove bugs and tar residue from the headlights and gas tank of his then new Yamaha R1. Needless to say, he`ll never make that mistake again.

Biggest detail mistake.. I remember my dad using some towels he got from a machine shop to remove wax from our then new 1987 Ford Bronco. It left the worst swirl marks I have ever seen.