Confused, cynical and mistrusting the whole industry!

B

bigmutt

New member
Hi,
I`m a new member from San Diego.
Been a do-it-yourself kinda guy all my life, especially with my vehicles. Owned probably over 50 cars & trucks ... and at least 15 motorcycles over the years.
I love repairing, maintaining and beautifying them myself .... for the bonding feeling but also this way I know the work`s getting done correctly.
But this detailing aspect of caring for my vehicles has me feeling frustrated and disillusioned a lot of the time.
There`s few industries that are as rife with incompetence, exaggerated claims and even fraud ... as is the detailing & exterior car care business.
I still don`t know the difference, for example, between sealer, glaze and swirl-remover products;
Likewise with polymer, acrylic and Teflon products.
This is after lots of on-line reading and talking with four different professional detailers.

Does anyone have a credible source of no-nonsense information?
 
bigmutt said:
Hi,
I`m a new member from San Diego.
Been a do-it-yourself kinda guy all my life, especially with my vehicles. Owned probably over 50 cars & trucks ... and at least 15 motorcycles over the years.
I love repairing, maintaining and beautifying them myself .... for the bonding feeling but also this way I know the work`s getting done correctly.
But this detailing aspect of caring for my vehicles has me feeling frustrated and disillusioned a lot of the time.
There`s few industries that are as rife with incompetence, exaggerated claims and even fraud ... as is the detailing & exterior car care business.
I still don`t know the difference, for example, between sealer, glaze and swirl-remover products;
Likewise with polymer, acrylic and Teflon products.
This is after lots of on-line reading and talking with four different professional detailers.

Does anyone have a credible source of no-nonsense information?
Click to expand...

This may help a little. I know there are similar articles by Mike that talk about glazes and polishes too.

3-Categories: Waxes, Paint Sealants and Coatings
 
My biggest piece of advice would be to ignore a lot of that product categorization(oh, really, a multihybrid nano wax with EXTREME gloss enhancement technology? Pass.) and focus more on reviews and real-world results, plenty of which can be found here. There is zero regulation in the marketing and the ridiculous hype in detailing and it took me way too long to understand it. You can definitely learn a lot here.

The paint care cycle is:

1)Wash
2)Decontaminate
3)Polish
4)Protect
5)Maintain.

2, 3 and 4 are as necessary. You will learn the tricks of deciding when it`s time to do those. A sealer does what it sounds like and protects your paint. A glaze fills in minor imperfections, sometimes offers some protection, and is generally something to add to eek out some more gloss by providing a more uniform paint surface. Paint correction(swirl removers) are abrasive products that level your clearcoat in a permanent way.
 
bigmutt said:
There`s few industries that are as rife with incompetence, exaggerated claims and even fraud ...
Click to expand...
Can you give an example? "As Seen On TV" type products, sure, it`s a scam. But there are hundreds of great products that do just what they say. Don`t get discouraged. What are you looking for?


bigmutt said:
I still don`t know the difference, for example, between sealer, glaze and swirl-remover products;
Click to expand...
Simply put...
A "sealer" is likely a sealant. This is a synthetic "wax". The common terminology these days is to call a synthetic wax a "sealant", and a natural wax, a "wax".
a "glaze" is a product that fills minute imperfections like "cobwebs" and very light swirls, but they have no protection abilities. It is an optional step and not needed on near-perfect paint. Even then it isn`t needed.
a "swirl-remover" is a polish, or perhaps a light compound. Or at least it should be. If it`s not a polish or a compound, it`s likely BS.


bigmutt said:
Likewise with polymer, acrylic and Teflon products.
Click to expand...
Polymers, when used to describe a car care product, just means a man-made product or additive. Acrylic is a type of polymer. Acrylic may be part of a polymer-based car care product. When a vendor exposes that the product had acrylic or teflon, they are just elaborating on the polymer type. Many highly regarded products use acrylic. Same with Teflon. It`s just a brand-name of an additive that *may* enhance a car product. Teflon being a bit less trusted than acrylic `round these parts I recon.
 
First off, welcome aboard. This a great forum with a TON of knowledge. The best part is, none of that knowledge is hidden. Simply search or ask some questions. The group of people here are very helpful and will get you pointed in the right direction.

I learned more here in the first few days than I have since I have been driving. When I bought my truck new in December 2015, I wanted to learn how to care and keep it looking better than the day I bought it. My first mistake was letting the dealer `detail` it for me. I started searching online and it brought me here. I was introduced to a whole world of new products and ways to detail it. AG has a lot of information as well and they do a great job of telling what each product is intended for and how to use it.
 
You need to educate yourself, once you do, you eill see through the BS.

If its too good to be true, it is!

I don`t buy anything a regular poster here has not used. If I do I run the risk of getting ripped off.
 
Welcome to one of if not the best forums around. Detailing can be as simple or as complicated as you want. Everyone here was a great help to me when I first got started.
 
bigmutt said:
Hi,
I`m a new member from San Diego.
Been a do-it-yourself kinda guy all my life, especially with my vehicles. Owned probably over 50 cars & trucks ... and at least 15 motorcycles over the years.
I love repairing, maintaining and beautifying them myself .... for the bonding feeling but also this way I know the work`s getting done correctly.
But this detailing aspect of caring for my vehicles has me feeling frustrated and disillusioned a lot of the time.
There`s few industries that are as rife with incompetence, exaggerated claims and even fraud ... as is the detailing & exterior car care business.
I still don`t know the difference, for example, between sealer, glaze and swirl-remover products;
Likewise with polymer, acrylic and Teflon products.
This is after lots of on-line reading and talking with four different professional detailers.

Does anyone have a credible source of no-nonsense information?
Click to expand...

Ask Ron!
 
Welcome, Bigmutt !!!
This is a safe harbor from all the continual bombardment from many of those people you perfectly described...
We dont bombard or anything even close to that here.

Rather, we discuss openly and freely, our experiences, our failures, or triumphs, here with no worry about being treated differently because of the level we are in this huge world of Detailing..

We are so Blessed by the incredibly talented, and hardest working bunch of the most giving people who ever operated this Forum - Behind the Scenes - and don`t ever even ask for a thank you...Thank YOU, Autopia !!!!!!

We have seen many come and go, and some of us have been through at least 3 other Forums like this that eventually ended up here, when those Forums all went away...

You are going to find some really awesome new guys and gals that have come to learn and then go work really hard in their garages or shops..
They have all made huge steps forward in their learning intellectually and the physically hard work that goes with this craft..
I am amazed every day to see what they have learned and then reported back to us with incredible pictures and write ups...

These kids are Really Good !!!!!

So, get ready if you decide to stay on, to learn all you want from wherever you want to start... No problems, no pressure, no anxiety spoken here.. :)
Yes, it`s really true !
Enjoy !
Dan F
 
Welcome! You found the Holy Grail of detailing sites. Folks here are willing to share credible knowledge. Most have no allegiance to any one brand and, like you, can sometimes be confused and amazed by the people selling products that promise the moon and the stars. Use the search function often and if that does not work post or pm (private message) a member of your choosing. We may not all have the same political views but every one of us loves a shiny car. Welcome to the Show.
 
The How-To guides on Car Detailing How To Information is where I educated myself on detailing. My biggest problem to start with was that there was so much advice, and not really consistent or well explained, that I didn`t know where to start. These how-to guides laid it out nice an simple in a manner that gave me to confidence I needed. And after that, this forum can then take your education to the next level.
 
bigmutt said:
Hi,
I`m a new member from San Diego.
Been a do-it-yourself kinda guy all my life, especially with my vehicles. Owned probably over 50 cars & trucks ... and at least 15 motorcycles over the years.
I love repairing, maintaining and beautifying them myself .... for the bonding feeling but also this way I know the work`s getting done correctly.
But this detailing aspect of caring for my vehicles has me feeling frustrated and disillusioned a lot of the time.
There`s few industries that are as rife with incompetence, exaggerated claims and even fraud ... as is the detailing & exterior car care business.
I still don`t know the difference, for example, between sealer, glaze and swirl-remover products;
Likewise with polymer, acrylic and Teflon products.
This is after lots of on-line reading and talking with four different professional detailers.

Does anyone have a credible source of no-nonsense information?
Click to expand...

I`d take sometime to do some research on the different brands such as their history, origin etc. I think there are many brands out there today who simply sell you their marketing, rather than a quality product.
 
Bigmutt:
My best advice about getting started in personal car-care is to invest in car washing equipment and car-care washing chemicals/products. I say this because most vehicle owners tend to wash their own vehicles and this is the car-care procedure that anyone will do repeatedly on a regular basis.
In your area, you may have water-restrictions, so rinse-less washes may be the way to go. There are many methods to washing a car and like anything, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Like other suggested, look in the how-to section.
Not sure what to buy? Look at the store attached to this forum. They have trusted and great products/chemicals and washing kits to get you started. You can also ask the knowledgeable staff who work there for their recommendations.

One thing you will find out is that as you get better at car-care, you will spend more time and money on this hobby. Vehicles, whether new or used, represent a sizable investment on the part of the owner. Keeping them looking in new or almost-new shape is a good return-on-investment (ROI) of both your time and money spent on car-care equipment and products.

My last advise is if you do not want to do it yourself, take your vehicle to a reputable professional detailer in your area. You can find them by looking on this forum for your area. While many may poo-who the idea of letting someone else take care of your car and the associated (seemingly) high-cost to have your vehicle professionally detailed, those are the vehicles that turn heads and hold their value over time of ownership. Will you get every dollar back on what you spend on professional detailing? NO!, BUT it will make you vehicle much more desirable and have a higher resale value once you decide to sell it, especially if you sell it outright yourself.
 
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