british detail video

[grisby]

They were making fun of that video on a mucle car forum that I frequent, so I posted a comeback saying that is the proper way to do a car and that is how I do mine (minus the hand waxing) so now I am waiting for a feedback from that group. I don`t think they will be agreeing with me on this one!!

bill g

[jdoria]

Well, yes and no. A lot of hype didn`t get him started with all those clients. I suspect a lot of networking and connections did (not to mention he obviously does a good job... it doesn`t really matter what products he uses). Kudos to him for what I suspect was a lot of hard work, and he looks like he enjoys what he does (hell, I know I would if I got to work on those cars every day).

you are correct - he was given the ball and he ran with it, he would be successful regardless of his business path.

Anyone know about those little rotary pads he has? I would prefer to polish with a smaller pad like that. Is it as simple as putting an Edge D/A pad on the end of a rotary?

Maybe Aaron from the Edge could answer if the make up of a D/A pad is the same as a rotary?

[Brenton]

The little rotary pads look a bit like Farecla. Perhaps I am wrong, though.

The detailer was pretty unassuming. Looks like he built his rep doing good work, in a good shop, with a lot of help from the Big Green Wall.

[sade04]

hes not using 2 buckets to wash

[CalgaryDetail]

I have been contracting with banks for a long time. I have met and worked with many C level employees. (CEO, CIO, CFO, CTO)
Its all hype! They create the hype that gets the employees going. Hence the large salary for them and this Brit, he created the hype and is selling it!

I think thats a whole diffrent issue, those are abrivations for positions. kinda like a police oficer is a cop. I think its a little bit of hype with the wax and the detail but if your willing to pay why not. Hell if i could cahrge 500 bucks a detail and make money i sure would lol. I also think he may use those expensive products becsaue of what he cahrges. Im sure if i had a million dollar car i would want only the best and people feel more expsive is best (not always true) however if you know nothing of detailing it looks good. And at 500 bucks and up for a job he better use the most expsive lol jk.

[JeffW]

hes not using 2 buckets to wash

Noticed that, too. It might be a grit guard, though?

[G35stilez]

This was discussed over at Autopia recently...

You may critique (I did, too), but this gentleman has built a LUCRATIVE practice. His client list blows mine and most here, away (vehicle wise).

I`d let him work on my vehicle in a second; And although he may not do anything that `beat up`, but the ones that were swirled, he corrected flawlessly, IMO.

Regarding the Zymol Vintage; it costs about $1500 in the states, has free refills for life, and yes, you are supposed to apply it by hand, no applicator.

[Spilchy]

The dude has chops and the ability to detail - no doubt. But you don`t need Zymol to achieve the EXACT same and in some cases, better results.

I was not impressed with his wheel cleaning. He failed to reach deep into the wheel. Plus, I`m not sure of the tool used to wash the car, but he failed to rinse thoroughly, let alone rinsing it in the shampoo bucket. If he just does a wash, then whose to say he didn`t marr the surface? The technique can use some tweaking.

But, he has a brilliant marketing campaign with the whole Zymol thing and found a niche of insanely wealthy clients who will float his business.

Most people are clueless about detailing and the wealthy will pay to have the "best" put on their car because it is the most money. For example, I care for 5 cars that a doctor owns. Each get washed a few times a month, a wax every 2 months and a full detail 3 times a year. He has a vintage Mercedes. I applied Souveran to one side of the trunk and Nattys Blue to the other. I asked which he liked better. He said "There are two different waxes on there?" I chuckled and finished with Souveran because he said "Just use the more expensive wax then." He even told me to use the most expensive products I have for everything and he`ll pay more. He salivated when I told him about the ultra fine powder-like abrasives in the ceramiclear menzerna polishes that will burnish the surface of his cars to an ungodly glass-like finish. He was eating it up!

I`ve seen fabulous work performed on vehicles on this board and elsewhere. I am confident those who are skilled with the rotary and possess the Detail City spirit of car care can achieve the same results - pro or not.

My hat goes off to him for building a tip top, lucrative business model. Good job!

[Brenton]

I`m not sure anyone is really criticizing him. We`re just poking some fun.
And at his full detail price on 1 car I could live quite nicely.

[Sjdickso]

I am from the UK and saw this the other night, The guy seems to know what he was on about but like you all said i was shocked at some of the prices he qouting for goods bought. I dred to think where he gets his MF cloths from?!?


And his washing techniques (no two bucket method) No proper wash mitt?

The Wheel cleaning wasnt that impressive.

Thats just my opnion.

The zymol wax he is using is about 5K in the UK, and is warmed and applied by hand.

[Anthony A]

They were making fun of that video on a mucle car forum that I frequent, so I posted a comeback saying that is the proper way to do a car and that is how I do mine (minus the hand waxing) so now I am waiting for a feedback from that group. I don`t think they will be agreeing with me on this one!!

bill g

Actually IMO that is not the proper way to wash a car. I found several flaws in his process and technique that I would never do when washing my car.

1, he did not use the two bucket method. Big no no.

2, he used the same mitt or sponge for the top of the car as well as the bottom.

3, he cleaned to big of an area before rinsing the mitt. I do a swipe or two than flip the mitt and do aother swipe or two than rinse the mitt in the rinse bucket. His way you are just spreading dirt around the paint and it is a major cause of marring.

4, I can`t quite make out what he wash using to wash but it doesn`t look like sheepskin to me. Sheepskin is all I use

5, He was washing in a random manor. I always go in straight lines front to back. This way if something does get caught in the mitt it will not leave a swirl but rather a straight line marr and this is less noticeable.

6, he used a MF to dry that was good but his technique was terrible. I blot he was all over the place wiping in every direction.

7, It appears he washed in the sun. Never would I even consider this.

8, applying "the rock hard wax" by hand. This is obviously Zymol BS. I have yet to find a towel or app that is more abrasive than my hand. You are definitely asking for marring doing by hand and no app.


Now to be fair it takes me 3+ hours to wash and dry my car ad he is a "pro" and time is money and 3 hours to wash a car for him probably isn`t practical. Also he might have just wanted to clean the car and paid little attention to marring because he was going to polish it out later anyway. Having said that this guy would not get within a hundred feet of any car I owned.

[heffergm]

Actually IMO that is not the proper way to wash a car. I found several flaws in his process and technique that I would never do when washing my car.

1, he did not use the two bucket method. Big no no.

2, he used the same mitt or sponge for the top of the car as well as the bottom.

3, he cleaned to big of an area before rinsing the mitt. I do a swipe or two than flip the mitt and do aother swipe or two than rinse the mitt in the rinse bucket. His way you are just spreading dirt around the paint and it is a major cause of marring.

4, I can`t quite make out what he wash using to wash but it doesn`t look like sheepskin to me. Sheepskin is all I use

5, He was washing in a random manor. I always go in straight lines front to back. This way if something does get caught in the mitt it will not leave a swirl but rather a straight line marr and this is less noticeable.

6, he used a MF to dry that was good but his technique was terrible. I blot he was all over the place wiping in every direction.

7, It appears he washed in the sun. Never would I even consider this.

8, applying "the rock hard wax" by hand. This is obviously Zymol BS. I have yet to find a towel or app that is more abrasive than my hand. You are definitely asking for marring doing by hand and no app.


Now to be fair it takes me 3+ hours to wash and dry my car ad he is a "pro" and time is money and 3 hours to wash a car for him probably isn`t practical. Also he might have just wanted to clean the car and paid little attention to marring because he was going to polish it out later anyway. Having said that this guy would not get within a hundred feet of any car I owned.

I can understand being a perfectionist, but to be honest (and I say this as an enthusiast) you`re way beyond what I`d consider the point of diminishing returns.

I`m happy to have my car looking better than 99.5% of those on the road... substantially better. It`s a daily driver, so treating it like a show car just doesn`t make a whole lot of sense to me, especially in terms of time. My wife misses me enough as it is.

[Anthony A]

I can understand being a perfectionist, but to be honest (and I say this as an enthusiast) you`re way beyond what I`d consider the point of diminishing returns.

I`m happy to have my car looking better than 99.5% of those on the road... substantially better. It`s a daily driver, so treating it like a show car just doesn`t make a whole lot of sense to me, especially in terms of time. My wife misses me enough as it is.

All the steps I follow in my wash regime are preventive. This allows me to minimize my polishing. I can get by with once a year or every two years without using an abrasive because of this. For example this year my spring detail will be very easy. I will clay and I probably will not have to go any higher than Menzerna FP II on the horizontal surfaces although I might even be able to get by with just Vanilla Moose. The vertical surface will get clay and VM. This is a very light approach and I will be able to get away with it because I follow the extreme approach to washing that I do. I have lots of time but I have a limited amount of clear coat so I spend the time it takes to conserve my clear.

For the record I know I go to the extreme. I am not a pro I am an extreme enthusiast and enjoy every minute I spend on the car.

[G35stilez]

Actually IMO that is not the proper way to wash a car. I found several flaws in his process and technique that I would never do when washing my car.

1, he did not use the two bucket method. Big no no.

2, he used the same mitt or sponge for the top of the car as well as the bottom.

3, he cleaned to big of an area before rinsing the mitt. I do a swipe or two than flip the mitt and do aother swipe or two than rinse the mitt in the rinse bucket. His way you are just spreading dirt around the paint and it is a major cause of marring.

4, I can`t quite make out what he wash using to wash but it doesn`t look like sheepskin to me. Sheepskin is all I use

5, He was washing in a random manor. I always go in straight lines front to back. This way if something does get caught in the mitt it will not leave a swirl but rather a straight line marr and this is less noticeable.

6, he used a MF to dry that was good but his technique was terrible. I blot he was all over the place wiping in every direction.

7, It appears he washed in the sun. Never would I even consider this.

8, applying "the rock hard wax" by hand. This is obviously Zymol BS. I have yet to find a towel or app that is more abrasive than my hand. You are definitely asking for marring doing by hand and no app.


Now to be fair it takes me 3+ hours to wash and dry my car ad he is a "pro" and time is money and 3 hours to wash a car for him probably isn`t practical. Also he might have just wanted to clean the car and paid little attention to marring because he was going to polish it out later anyway. Having said that this guy would not get within a hundred feet of any car I owned.

How much road driving do you think that Maserati MC12 went through?

Yes, the graphics weren`t high resolution, however, I highly doubt the car sits outside or is driven very much at all.

Furthermore, he was doing this routine right BEFORE he was to detail it. I`ll admit, I could care less to do 2 buckets, 2 mitts and a `3 hour` wash routine when I`m just going to clay polish and seal afterwards. He`d be wasting time.

[Anthony A]

How much road driving do you think that Maserati MC12 went through?

Yes, the graphics weren`t high resolution, however, I highly doubt the car sits outside or is driven very much at all.

Furthermore, he was doing this routine right BEFORE he was to detail it. I`ll admit, I could care less to do 2 buckets, 2 mitts and a `3 hour` wash routine when I`m just going to clay polish and seal afterwards. He`d be wasting time.

Yes I know he was going to polish after the wash so he probably didn`t care too much about wash technique. I made mention of this in my first post. Still doesn`t change the fact that his technique is poor IMO. I don`t find anything outstanding about his abilities from what I have seen.