Mobile Detail - Black Honda Civic

[RaysWay]

This was an exciting detail as it was my first detail to be acquired with the help of my new business cards. After some discussion with the new client, we settled on a one-step polish and interior detail. She mentioned that she travels a lot and hates coming home to her dirty car. When she is home, she likes to spend time at the beach with her dog which does a number on the interior. She also really wanted to protect her paint since it was about 6 months since she washed it.

She scheduled me for Sunday morning and was out of town until the following day. I wanted to get the car as clean as possible, so when she arrived back home the next day she would be greeted with a clean and shiny car. I arrived at her farm at 9 am. I didn`t take too many pics since I had another detail scheduled at 3pm and didn`t want to waste time.



This would be a tricky detail since it was parked on very sandy grass.



Typical black paint swirl marks.





Optimum Power Clean and Optimum Ferrex were used on the wheels and tires. Optimum Car Wash with a Montana Boars Hair Brush on a stainless steel handle was used to clean the exterior.



To my surprise, my bottle of HD Speed was empty! So after a test spot, I decided to use Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover on a RUPES 15ES Mark 2 and LHR 75E. The Metro Blaster Sidekick came in hand to blow off any dust or sand off while polishing.



Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover works great outside and Lake Country HD Orbital pads are AWESOME. I`ve learned that certain pads don`t work well outside since they`re more sensitive to heat than others. The HD Orbital pads might be my new favorites for long throw polishers.



The sun approved the results every time it came out from behind the clouds.



McKee`s 37 Gloss Tire Gel was used on the tires and the paint was protected with BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection and BLACKFIRE Glass Cleaner on the...glass

Once I finished the exterior, I moved to the inside and spent what felt like the next 3 days vacuuming sand and hair. The rubber pet brush and Autobahn Max Vac did a great job.





For the rest of the interior and door jambs, my Vapamore MR-100 knocked it out of the park. I couldn`t imagine doing work like this without my steam cleaner. Any crevice was cleaned out easily with the steam cleaner



For the tough stains on the seats, I used Wolfgang Carpet and Upholstery Restorer to clean/agitate before finishing with the steam cleaner. Again, I don`t have after shots because it started to rain as I quickly wiped the interior down with Poorboy`s Leather Stuff, but it came out perfect.



The best part of this detail was receiving a text from her afterwards letting me know that her parents were inspecting the car after I left and wouldn`t stop on how shiny the car was and how it looked better than new. Now her dad wants a quote on his farm truck

Detail MVP`s

RUPES LHR 75E



I used this little guy to polish most of the exterior besides the hood and roof. The small 3 inch pad was perfect for all the curvy small panels on the car without forcing me to keep alternating between different pad sizes. This is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

Lake Country HD Orbital Pads



Any time I polish outdoors, I find myself using MUCH more pads. The heat of the panels on the car makes pad durability a big factor. I kept trying different pads until I used my first HD Orange Orbital Pad on this detail. It held up great and gave me great results and worked great on both the RUPES LHR 75E and 15ES.

BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection



Super easy to remove even outdoors. Super gloss and super slick. There`s not much more that needs to be said about BFWFAFPP.

Vapamore MR-100



If you are thinking about your next big detailing purchase and don`t have a steam cleaner...GET ONE! This marks about the ~40th detail I`ve used my steam cleaner on and it`s paid for itself tenfold. I`ve only ever used distilled water with it and it makes cleaning interior panels and door jambs EZPZ. While others might opt for more powerful units, I really don`t think you need much more power than this unit for automotive detailing. Any more heat or pressure and it becomes much easier to melt panels. For detailers that love using their foam cannons to impress customers, this does the same thing for interiors. When a client sees you steam cleaning their interior, they know their interior is going to look great.



Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, let me know!

Ray

[Marc08EX]

Great job and write-up Ray! Much improved!

Can`t believe you finished all that in 6 hours. You are a machine!

How many section passes did you do when using WG TSR?

And I love my 75E as well!

[RaysWay]

Great job and write-up Ray! Much improved!

Can`t believe you finished all that in 6 hours. You are a machine!

How many section passes did you do when using WG TSR?

And I love my 75E as well!

Thanks, but I think I finished at closer to 5 hours. Work hard then relax hard I treated myself to bacon wrapped scallops to refuel after this one.

I only needed 2 or 3 passes with WG TSR. Any more and the heat of the sun + being worked longer would make it more difficult to remove with a microfiber towel. This was medium-soft paint and I had to keep switching towels to make sure I wasn`t scratching the finishing while buffing off the polish.

The 75E doesn`t get the love it deserves I think.

[jtford95]

Looks great. The steam cleaner looks cool for the price. I could use a new one

[Ronkh]

Some serious shine for 1 step !!!!

Hope she happy.

[RaysWay]

Looks great. The steam cleaner looks cool for the price. I could use a new one

Which one do you have now? I`m going to try and borrow the Mytee Vapor Steam Cleaner this weekend for a rayview.

[JustJesus]

... She mentioned that she travels a lot and hates coming home to her dirty car. When she is home, she likes to spend time at the beach with her dog which does a number on the interior. She also really wanted to protect her paint since it was about 6 months since she washed it.


Ray

Ray. Let me start off by saying I haven`t drank my coffee. Just got into work a bit ago.

I started reading that part and had to do a double take. I thought I was reading the personals on a dating site or something! haha..


Okay, serious now.

It`s REALLY good to see you "back in business" and with new business cards, even. Nice to see you posting this.

Car looked fantastic. That one shot, yeah, it looks better than new.

Thanks for sharing

[Migue]

Looks great, and in 5 hrs...wow you were hauling a$$ (?)

[donbeezy]

5-6 hours? jeez thats beasty! my 15m2 and mini is all i use now. mini definitely worth the $$

[512detail]

very nice Ray

yes I agree- having a steam cleaner is a must!

I love my little McCulloch steamer

[RaysWay]

Ray. Let me start off by saying I haven`t drank my coffee. Just got into work a bit ago.

I started reading that part and had to do a double take. I thought I was reading the personals on a dating site or something! haha..


Okay, serious now.

It`s REALLY good to see you "back in business" and with new business cards, even. Nice to see you posting this.

Car looked fantastic. That one shot, yeah, it looks better than new.

Thanks for sharing

LOL Well with the amount of sand in there, I can bet she likes long walks on the beach! Ya getting the detailing rust off is taking some work. On the bright side, I`m getting less sore after every detail. Mobile detailing is a completely different beast with its own pros and cons. I`m enjoying learning from both.

Looks great, and in 5 hrs...wow you were hauling a$$ (?)

I think having all the right tools really helps. The Montana Boars hair Tri-Angle brush is a huge time save and does a great job. Also the steam cleaner is a big times saver too.

5-6 hours? jeez thats beasty! my 15m2 and mini is all i use now. mini definitely worth the $$

I agree. Looking back if I was starting from scratch, that might be the first polisher I`d purchase, then a rotary, then a 5 or 6 inch DA.

very nice Ray

yes I agree- having a steam cleaner is a must!

I love my little McCulloch steamer

Thanks Brandt, which McCulloch do you have? I keep considering buying a more powerful one in case I ever want to upgrade.

[Pats300zx]

Looking good Ray !!!

[LEDetailng]

Nice looking work. Glad to see your Pathfinder is in action as your mobile rig.

Ran out of Speed!!??. Inexcusable, you have a warehouse sitting right next to you

I placed an order with you on the phone last month for a 32 oz of Speed. I love the stuff.

Can you post a picture of your business card? Would love to see your design.

[Stokdgs]

My Other Brother Ray !

That is absolutely beautiful work !!!
That poor baby never looked that good in its life!!

Congrats on getting new work - you put a huge amount of work into your business and its great to get it back in $$$..

Your write ups with all the pics and details - deserves the Detailer of the Year Award...

Thank you for all this hard work..
Dan F

[RaysWay]

Nice looking work. Glad to see your Pathfinder is in action as your mobile rig.

Ran out of Speed!!??. Inexcusable, you have a warehouse sitting right next to you

I placed an order with you on the phone last month for a 32 oz of Speed. I love the stuff.

Can you post a picture of your business card? Would love to see your design.

I know! I actually realized later I had squeezed the rest of my 32 oz bottle into an Autopia Squeeze Bottle and left it at home. But I did remember to leave the empty bottle of HD Speed in my supply container.

This is a "first draft" business card. I wanted to see how the spot gloss UV would look and I like it. The next batch of cards will have a different backside that mentions the word "mobile detailing", "insured", and "LLC" with some of the services offered. Website is still under construction.



This back side was experimental and I didn`t really like it. The pictures are too small to really see what`s going on.

My Other Brother Ray !

That is absolutely beautiful work !!!
That poor baby never looked that good in its life!!

Congrats on getting new work - you put a huge amount of work into your business and its great to get it back in $$$..

Your write ups with all the pics and details - deserves the Detailer of the Year Award...

Thank you for all this hard work..
Dan F

Thanks Dan