Detailing Made Simple. Article by Barry Theal

true not all paints are created equal. for soft paints like yours its the same approach of test pads and products to find the combo that works. with soft paint you already know that you'll need less aggressive compounds, polishes and pads. when you working with barry do you remember what pads and polishes you guys used?
 
Great information Barry. Not everyone has inside info behind the scenes like you. Glad you're taking charge of this topic.
 
This is the exact reason why we supply who we supply and why we are successful at it(see sig).





We made things very simple for our customers, provided items we KNOW work on a daily basis(we are the areas premier restorative service) and simply trampled all the rest of the hype surrounding products whilst providing objective information as to why - as opposed to just repeating or making something up. It beyond ticks me off when I see competitor customers getting pulled into something just because a product was "staged" in a photo but end up with just mediocre results despite their best efforts to find "the next best". All the vets know its the detailer that makes it happen, not the magic in a bottle(but obviously quality has to be there).



With a strong formal education that included a myriad of chemistry and biochemistry classes I am fortunate enough to be able to read right through all the hype even before reading the data sheets and really kind of "knowing beforehand" what label was written to hype something or not.
 
JuneBug said:
Uno, try using a little bit less, and clean the pad with compressed air after each section. If it's really crappy paint, just wet sand with 2000 or 1500, Uno will polish that up with no probelms. BTW, I find myself going the sand paper route a lot more than the old wool/rotary, followed by foam or MF pads. Most of the time you seem to be trying to level a bad scratch or brutal swirls like from a car wash brush, it's easier - and IMHO safer, to just sand. I know a couple of the scientific types did some experiments a while back with a paint guage and have the numbers to back this up. I forget where I read it, but after trying it I agree.
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I think that was (most recently) Todd - he did an article on sanding, vs rotary, vs DA for clear removal, and in the end sanding took off surprisingly little (a lot less than one might think). I sand a lot too.



RE: UNO, I've tried using less, to the point of using almost none. I am sure my technique must be off because I still get more cut out of 105 by a pretty decent margin on almost all paint. I do like UNO, I just don't seem to get the heavy cut some guys do. I'll keep playing with it.
 
Great info Barry, I definitely fell into this trap early on in the game.



I have over 12 types of waxes now, and I really only go towards 2 for my final steps. Like many have said before me, I really enjoy buying and trying new products, especially polishes and lsp.



For cleaners I try and keep it simple, go to Home Depot and buy the Zep line up for APC's.
 
Picus said:
I think that was (most recently) Todd - he did an article on sanding, vs rotary, vs DA for clear removal, and in the end sanding took off surprisingly little (a lot less than one might think). I sand a lot too.
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The problem with the technical detail of that article and the "idea" everyone got it and how that pertains to us is that: defect removal = material removal and that wasn't really what I took when I looked from a "newb" perspective. Powergloss with the lightest of light pressure on a rotary for a single section pass really could remove less material than 106FA for example. The problem between the rest of the methods was the standardization of them. We know that pads can do "work" meaning a finishing polish can almost cut like a medium polish if paired with the correct pad, but as such that polish MIGHT take twice as long on a DA, potentially removing more material - the opposite can be said of the same.



The problem with this is there is no way(cheap way) for each of us to measure every single individual defect before applying our corrective treatment of choice or deciding which of the methods(DA, rotary, sanding) to employ for its individual removal. There is also no standardization of anything in our industry, and would be ridiculously expensive to do anything of an "equalizer"



That said, I sand because its faster :). I remember reading someone saying "I chose to sand [a scratch] because it would remove less material than polishing" but in reality chances are the person removed MORE material because of the sanding marks that needed to be releveled AFTER the scratch was releveled...
 
As a newer detailerwho only 4 years ago started taking to very serious. Keeping it simple can be a tough thing to do. All these compaies are now comming out with the next best and greatest products. Someone can get sucked into it very easily.



This is where reading, reading and then putting what you read to use. It is the detailer that makes a detail great or just good. Someone can go broke trying out the latest greatest. Starting simple, learning how thing work, What chemichals will do what. Once you find something that works for you, keep using it untill it works great.



Now if you just like spending money and trying new things. Waxes, sealants and all the new products that is just fine. Most of the people that do this are the weekenders. If you doing this for money one should put all the effoert into refining there skills and best using what they have to the best of there abilities. If you cant get it to work the way that fit your needs, i would then change products.
 
Professional detailing has two factors:

1) Time is money

2) Good results yield paying (and returning) customers



If pro-detailers can save time with a "new" product and still end up with reasonably good results, chances are that product will get used and repurchased by the detailing community.



That said, I think most long-time Autopians have been sucked into purchasing the proverbial "flavor-of-the-month" product.



There are some tried-and-true products that the detailing community did use in the past, but VOC regulations made them obsolete to produce or were reformulated and never produced the same results as the old pre-VOC formula did. This is one reason that "new" products" are being produced.





I still think that pro-detailers tend to find a product that that works for them, and if it's reasonably priced, will use it for some time. I also think that they have a plethora (love that word!) of products because each product has its application for specialized situations and materials found on today's vehicles. I find it hard to accept that "the-one-size-fits-all" product concept to pro-detailing is a viable reality, but maybe I am wrong. It may sell to the do-it-your-selfer who does not wish to make a huge investment in a variety of products, but as stated at the top, it's all about having paying (and returning ) customers for detailers who make their living at doing so.



That's the reason they KNOW how to wet-sand and use a rotary. It's the fastest way to correct major paint problems, satify the customer's expectations, and stay profitable. (Barry, you are one of the best at this!)
 
Lonnie said:
If pro-detailers can save time with a "new" product and still end up with reasonably good results, chances are that product will get used and repurchased by the detailing community.



That said, I think most long-time Autopians have been sucked into purchasing the proverbial "flavor-of-the-month" product.
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I think we all love new products, but there are lots of companies that are hype machines. Once you've been around the block a few times (and learned the hard way), you learn to trust certain companies, and sit back and let others do the beta testing.
 
yakky said:
I think we all love new products, but there are lots of companies that are hype machines. Once you've been around the block a few times (and learned the hard way), you learn to trust certain companies, and sit back and let others do the beta testing.
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Another alternative to that is to let someone else do the BUYING, and then see if they're willing to trade samples for something else. Trading is pretty open in some other forums, but I haven't seen it done much here.
 
You can have different themes:



Detailing Made Fun-for those who like to buy many products and do not care about the expense. (those who do not care about simple) They may like a good cigar, beer, scotch. It is not about cost.



Detailing Made Profitable-for those that will cut every corner, buy only in 55 gallon drums, overcharge



Detailing Made Very Easy - visit your local drive through car wash
 
Bunky said:
Detailing Made Profitable-for those that will cut every corner, buy only in 55 gallon drums, overcharge
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Please eleborate because this makes no sense. The amount of chemicals as shop purchases has NO relation to quality. And then throw in the overchanging component into the equation and it continues to boggle my mind even more?
 
I think he was using an extreme example, like saying Barry could do little mini-themes or something... one of which would be 'detailing to maximize profit'. Of course most of us wouldn't go that route, same as most of us wouldn't go the "detailing made easy" route. I don't know, that's just how I interpreted it. :)
 
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