How long does it take YOU to deatil?

L

lv2xlr8

New member
I was just wondering how long it usually takes you to detail a car and what time you usuaully start?



I'm having trouble deciding when to start since it gets hot in the summer but I want to have enough daylight so I can give it a proper detail.



Any suggestions?



Thanks!
 
Depends on what you are doing. I started on a customer's Accord at 6:50 A.M. today, and didn't finish till about 1 P.M.(I was working slow). It was just a wash, clay, VM, NXT, plus interior, but if you are doing more steps than that and getting more in depth(like swirl removal), it might take me from 7 to 5 or later, but I have not mastered the P.C. yet so hopefully my work rate will improve. Start as early as possible, ideally before the sun is shining, and you should have at least a few comfortable hours.
 
My friend's cherokee:



Wash

Clay

Wash

SSR2.5

Klasse AIO

Endurance gel on ALLLL trim

Glass

Dash



That all took around 6 hours. Normally we'd do an LSP over the AIO and do the carpet too.



But this is a good thread. We are just now about to start detailing professionally and I want to know how long things should take also.



Normally we will probably do:



Wash

Clay

Wash

SSR2.5 and/or SSR1

AIO

LSP (most like S100, #26, Z2, or Z5)

Dress trim, wheel wells, tires

Clean glass

Vacuum w/ woolite

Clean and dress dash



I think that about covers it.
 
wash

clay

wash

3M finesse IT

AIO

SG

Souv



About 7 hours...



But than I do engine cleaning and interior cleaning and thats another hour and half :faint:
 
wash, IP, FpII, interior leather, interior carpet, all vinyl protected and cleaned, tires, wheel wells, glass, sealant wax......PT CRUISER......6 hours on the dot....with about 5 minutes to myself for lunch!.....all with a PC on a orange pad, and yellow pad, and tan pad.....I love menzerna
 
toyotaguy said:
wash, IP, FpII, interior leather, interior carpet, all vinyl protected and cleaned, tires, wheel wells, glass, sealant wax......PT CRUISER......6 hours on the dot....with about 5 minutes to myself for lunch!.....all with a PC on a orange pad, and yellow pad, and tan pad.....I love menzerna
Click to expand...



I never did a PTC, but on a black G35 sedan the same process with 3x of Z5pro takes me 10-12 hours. Too darn long but it looks good. The zaino portion only take 90 mins.
 
Outside detail w/ wash and 2 coats Z2 + tires, wheels and wheel wax = 6 hours. I start around

5:30 a.m. Once it gets to around 11 a.m. it becomes too hot.
 
Well, 9 hours today from 9:00am to 6:00pm.



This was my first time with PC, and so I had a slight learning curve, as well as scorching heat; so that slowed me down also.



Process:

Washed removable carpets/rubber carpets

Hang dry

Wash wheel wells, wheel

Wash car

Dry

IP

FPII

EX-P

(skipped wax because car needed to go, is that okay?)

Interior

Woolite everything in sight-- Trims, leather

Spot treated carpet

Full Vacuume

Re-check surfaces + touchups

Windows

Remove Ex-P



Finito-- 9 hours. Should be able to knocked down an hour next time, and probably another hour if the car doesn't have leather interior.



This was my first 'complete detail' and my first time with the PC. Towards the end, I was blazing though the EX-P fairly quickly. And to get an idea of the heat I faced, the masking tape I used to tape up the trims and crevices ( :chill: , I used the lint technique and brought out a towel specially for that reason), but despite the already lacking adhesive, the sun literally seperated the tape from its adhesive, and left me with a nasty residue)
 
A Tacoma pre runner took me about 11 hours.



That process was: wash, clay, ip w/ orange, brief run w/ op w/ a green pad, rmg and collinite w/ blue pad, interior cleaned, wheels cleaned, tires dressed.



A white mazda tribute took me roughly the same time w/ the same process. except I used a 4" pad for majority of the body area since the bigger 6.5" pad wasn't working out to well. Also washed the truck again and threw on a layer of natty's (same owner for both vehicles, 4 days apart)
 
Wow...lol i feel dumb know i don't spend that much time on my car...then again im a novice but still wow are you guys professionals??



i mean if i really went in detail i could understand 4-5 hours but anything more than that seems like so much



what part takes you guys the longest?
 
I'm certainly no professional, but if I go through the whole process...wash, chemical cleaner, polish, glaze, wax, etc...I could easily see it taking at least 3/4 of a day.



For me, there's no question that polishing takes the longest, and that's with a PC/Cyclo.
 
Yup, I would have to say polishing takes the longest. Claying next. Claying an average size car that hasn't been clayed and is fairly rough takes me about 2 hours. Polishing, about 3 hours. Sometimes I can get it done in 2.
 
My cars are large, but on one that needs full outside detailing - takes me 10-14 hours to feel like it couldn't be done any better. - JM.
 
Interior,

clean:

carpets, Dash, headliner, trim, seats, under seats, storage bins, card trays, cup holders,steering collum, rear window area, trunk, and engine bay.

Dress/condition:

Dash, trim, seats, under seats, storage bins, card trays, cup holders,steering collum, rear window area, all aplicable pieces in the engine bay, and all trim and plastics in the trunk.



exterior

Wash/clean



Tires, wheels, wheel well, Front grill, Exhaust, Door trim, door wells, sunroof area.

Claybar:



Body work, windows, and as needed wheels and exhaust.

Polish:

Find the apropriate polish to remove swirling, then step down to either finish polish or to a light polish then finish polish. This will include taping off the car, windows, tires, wheels, exterior trim.



Clean/polish all metal/chrome/polished aluminium



After Polish wax and sealant:

2 coats of sealant base just on top of the prepped paint, 12 hours appart.

two coats of wax ontop of the sealant atleast 2 hours apart.



Exterior dressing:

Dress all black plastic, ruberized trim, and rubber door/hood/trunk seals.

Seal all polished metal/chrome/aluminium.



around 20 hours with a 1-2 step polish. This audi i am doing now is 2 ssr2.5, 1 ssr 1, 1 pro polish. PIA... I think i will be looking at a cyclo soon. and Menzerna polish line.
 
Polishing DEFINITELY takes the longest.



If you're worried about how long it will take, break it up into 2 days or so. Also, it doesn't really matter how long a detail takes, as each vehicle you detail will be different. The results should speak for itself though, whether you spend 5 hours or 20 hours.
 
Polishing always takes forever. I switched to a rotary thinking it would make the job go by in half the time - nope. It does significantly improve the results, but on cars in good shape it saves maybe 10 minutes with taping figured in, and on bad cars maybe an hour.



I'd say I spend about 5-8 hours on the average car, depending if I can get away with Optimum/Polishing pad and go straight to LSP with no hologramming (Happens if I'm lucky), or if I need to go HT Extreme cut then follow with FPII on a black pad. Sometimes I have a bad rotary day and need to follow up with the Cyclo to leave a trail-free surface, those days really suck.



Choice of LSP makes a big difference too, I've done full details in 2 hours when I use Meg's #66 via rotary, top with OCW, hit the interior with a shampoo and use Natural Look as both a cleaner and protectant. I don't get the quality that I do out of a 10 hour detail, but you'd be amazed what a diffirence you can make in two hours.
 
I had a very dirty Camry come in yesterday and I was able to wash, dress the wheels and clean out the exteremly dirty interior in under 1:30. Had to take a break after cause of 103 heat. As you detail more you get an efficent method down and your speed begins to increase.
 
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