$1000 Budget.....

It's great that your dad is bankrolling your venture into detailing.



Just my $.02 here....and no offense, but you say you're new to the site, but not new to detailing, but many of your questions make it seem like you are somewhat new to detailing. I mean I could answer them and consider myself just a novice enthusiast, not a professional detailer. So that being said, it seems to me you need to educate yourself before spending dad's cash on a boatload of products. The web is full of procedures and techniques for detailing. This site alone has an amazing amount of good information and feedback, not only about the process, but of product reviews.

If you 'pay your dues' and invest some study time, a number of really good products will catch your eye and just maybe save you some experimenting (although some experimenting is just plain fun).

Maybe ask Dad if you can spread his $1k investment over time, keeping track of expenses. He's be nuts to say no, especially if you explain that rather than just throw a bunch of money at all kinds of products, you want to move more slowly and buy the better ones.
 
i'm w/ abbeysdad...definitely read up and practice with the machine(s) before charging people. you do NOT want to be sued for damaging someone's vehicle...



welcome!
 
I used to use a B&D (believe it was a 6138) variable speed rotary. As I don't use a rotary much these days, I car the el cheap harbor freight $29 on (on sale now for $17). If I was going to use one on a regular basis I'd get one of the recommended ones on these forums. For orbital or DA almost everyone is using the Porter Cable or the Cyclo. I know Dewalt makes a DA and Metabo I believe makes some rotary DA hybrid. I can't recall anyone using those monster 11lb 15lb aluminum orbitals.



As for chemicals I use a variety of companies for bulk stuff like dressings, cleaners, soaps and such. Meguiars is always a good choice Auto Detailing Supplies has pretty good prices and economical shipping (16.95 is max I think). I have prefered products and may have several to choose from on any day. I also tend to try a lot of stuff out as it's fun. For paint though I have a much larger selection of products and get them from sponser sites here or on DC forums.



MF towels I like the premium towels but haven't been able to justify the expense and buy bulk. I use the Costco and Samsclub ones which are around $10 for 25.



I woudn't buy anything I didn't know I'd be using and would buy bulk quantities of any products until I was sure I'd like it.
 
Business License, Insurance, DBA, Business cards........

I dunno man....you say 6 cars a month.....I wouldn't call that a business. No offense to you.

Say you wanna do some strangers vehicle, are you gong to be ready and have the right equipment? Will you be doing this at your place or theirs? If theirs....hoses and extension cords will be needed as well. If you screw up a paint job, who will pay for a repaint?



Again, no offense. Alot of posts are good in this thread. People here won't steer you in the wrong direction. Take some time to learn more about it, as was said before. Don't go using a rotary if you do not know how to use it. Detailing is more than a wash, vac, and some wax, but you said you are not new to detailing, so you knew that.



Good luck in your venture.....
 
toyotaguy said:
where in so cal are you?
Click to expand...

The valley.....More close to San fernado, in sylmar, close to pacoima, mission hills granada hills you know where im talking about right?



what part are you in?
 
Hey, thank you all fpr all this info this is more then enought to help me choose the right products....and i have decided to get a porter cable
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top