Thought I wanted to be an Auto Detailer - Wndows Scratched Please Help

B

bburdette

New member
Hi Guys,
I am very new to auto detailing and possibly wanted to start a business. I wanted first to detail my own vehicle to see how hard the work was, to get some experience and to see how long it would take. I detailed my Ram 1500 quad cab truck this past weekend. I washed it, clayed it, compound, polished and waxed it. Also done the tires and wheels, chrome, and all the plastic trim. I done it all by hand. It took two full days, man was I tired. Now, I am thinking twice about starting a business. Anyway, everything looks great, but the windshield and glass. I cleaned it with clay, compound and window cleaner. At the time it looked good. But as soon as the sun shined through it, it has a white haze that I can`t get out. Did I mess up by using compound? Do I need to go back and polish it? I have tried all kinds of cleaner and alcohol and nothing works. Must be fine scratches left by the compound. Can anyone please tell me what I need to do? Thanks
 
sounds like it could be haze from the compounding step. Try going over it with the polish and see if that helps. if not:

There is some glass-specific polish out there, has cerium oxide. There were some threads a while back, try doing a search and you should find some more info and "how to" posts.
 
bburdette said:
Hi Guys,
I am very new to auto detailing and possibly wanted to start a business. I wanted first to detail my own vehicle to see how hard the work was, to get some experience and to see how long it would take. I detailed my Ram 1500 quad cab truck this past weekend. I washed it, clayed it, compound, polished and waxed it. Also done the tires and wheels, chrome, and all the plastic trim. I done it all by hand. It took two full days, man was I tired. Now, I am thinking twice about starting a business. Anyway, everything looks great, but the windshield and glass. I cleaned it with clay, compound and window cleaner. At the time it looked good. But as soon as the sun shined through it, it has a white haze that I can`t get out. Did I mess up by using compound? Do I need to go back and polish it? I have tried all kinds of cleaner and alcohol and nothing works. Must be fine scratches left by the compound. Can anyone please tell me what I need to do? Thanks
Click to expand...

Tell us which us which category you belong to first ?

GenX: Born between 1966 - 1980
GenY: Born between 1981 - 1995
GenZ: Born between 1996 - 2007
GenA: Born between 2008 - present
 
Oh man, glass polishing is the worst. Don`t feel bad that it didn`t come out as perfect as you thought it would. IMHO glass polishing is someing to avoid doing at all cost. I`ve done it a few times and am never 100% happy with the results. No matter what I alway end up with pigtail scratches somewhere.
 
You likely just have clay or compound/polish residue still on the glass. As mentioned above, you need cerium oxide to make a dent in glass.
 
My money`s on.. the compound dried while you used it. I`ve done it and it looks white cloudy like, and won`t wipe off.
I had to use the compound to wipe off the compound.
Plus try the polish to lessen the compounds affect.
An IPA wipedown after most def. Maybe mix it abit stronger though.
Could some of what you see be on the inside ?
Just don`t panic, you will figure it out.
I polish my glass all the time, cleans very well, and glass is a super hard surface.

:)
 
Hey, don`t be discouraged just because the first time you tried something it did not come out the way you expected. Remember successful people are those who failed multiple times but never gave up. Keep at it. As mentioned it could be compound residue. What compound did you use? Also you may want to look into a entry level DA like the Griots garage 6inch and some pads. Look into a glass polish like carpro ceriglass which uses cerium oxide and rayon glass pads. I have had good results with them but to remove really heavy scratches is just a royal pain and can take an entire day and you may never be able to get the glass back to 100%. Good luck!
 
Yeah, that`s gonna be prone to leaving a haze.

If your polish is the Ultimate Polish, you *might* be able to clear the haze up with that. As others mentioned, I would definitely look into getting a GG6 or other DA polisher - makes life so much easier and more efficient than polishing by hand.

bburdette said:
I used Meguiars Ultimate Compound
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bburdette- Welcome to Autopia! That sounds like a tough early learning experience, but hey...[stuff] happens.

I`d be a little surprised if the UC actually marred up that glass. Some autoglass *IS* pretty soft/fragile, but I wouldn`t expect it on that vehicle.

I`d follow Mary B`s advice and use the "like removes like" approach. Work SMALL areas at a time and let it take as long as it takes.

Less on learned here, right? ALWAYS do a test-spot and make sure that anything you`re doing is fully dialed-in before you go too far down any particular road; catch mistakes early so they don`t turn into actual, let alone BIG, problems.

Don`t let one early experience turn you off this whole thing. Even if it doesn`t end up being your Career, being able to Detail vehicles is a useful skill to develop.

And yeah..plan on buying a polisher. Really. Gotta have the right tools for any job, and that`s one of `em.
 
EdLancer said:
Tell us which us which category you belong to first ?

GenX: Born between 1966 - 1980
GenY: Born between 1981 - 1995
GenZ: Born between 1996 - 2007
GenA: Born between 2008 - present
Click to expand...
Ummm...whats before GenX?

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
BudgetPlan1 said:
Ummm...whats before GenX?
Click to expand...
That would be Baby Boomers born between 1945-1965 (I think) and before that are the Greatest Generation (according to Tom Brokaw`s book about those of WWII and the Great Depression, which they truly were, considering what they when through).

By the way, if you think age is just a number, you will (or have) found out how "that number" will affect (or has affected) your Social Security payment and when you can start collecting what you`ve paid in (or more correctly, what others are paying in now, since your payments have been made to the previous retiree`s. But we will NOT go there now, will we? Just sayin`....)
 
Doesn`t UC use SMAT like M105 ?
Basically the abrasives don`t break down like DAT. So if SMAT uses aluminum oxide then it can scratch up the glass.
 
Eh, can`t resist posting this after all :o

IMO there`s no functional benefit to trying to age/generation-shame somebody who comes here asking for advice. One of those..."guy walks into a bar, gets an unpleasant reception, walks back out and never returns" things. I`m one serious Grammar-[fascist] and I`m all about Critical Thinking, but beating everybody over the head with that kind of [stuff] doesn`t plow the back-40.

I don`t want bburdette taking offense and blowing off Autopia because we come across like a bunch of [INSERT derogatory noun of choice].

OK, back on-topic:

EdLancer said:
Doesn`t UC use SMAT like M105 ? Basically the abrasives don`t break down like DAT.
Click to expand...
That`s my understanding of it, though I`ve never used UC.

... So if SMAT uses aluminum oxide then it can scratch up the glass.
Click to expand...

IF it`s abrasive enough, and I don`t know if it is/isn`t. I`ve used M105/M205 on glass and it never marred it, but I guess that doesn`t prove anything.

Guess the Ultimate Solution might be to redo the glass with a Cerium Oxide/etc. approach, but oh gee what a hassle at this point. Hopefully it was just residue and cleaned off OK.
 
Accumulator said:
Eh, can`t resist posting this after all :o

IMO there`s no functional benefit to trying to age/generation-shame somebody who comes here asking for advice. One of those..."guy walks into a bar, gets an unpleasant reception, walks back out and never returns" things. I`m one serious Grammar-[fascist] and I`m all about Critical Thinking, but beating everybody over the head with that kind of [stuff] doesn`t plow the back-40.

I don`t want bburdette taking offense and blowing off Autopia because we come across like a bunch of [INSERT derogatory noun of choice].

OK, back on-topic:


That`s my understanding of it, though I`ve never used UC.



IF it`s abrasive enough, and I don`t know if it is/isn`t. I`ve used M105/M205 on glass and it never marred it, but I guess that doesn`t prove anything.

Guess the Ultimate Solution might be to redo the glass with a Cerium Oxide/etc. approach, but oh gee what a hassle at this point. Hopefully it was just residue and cleaned off OK.
Click to expand...

No, I was just trying to associate work ethics to the Snowflake generation because the OP mentioned how much hard work detailing is ! ...LoL
I`ve trained at least two generations of military recruits, man I`ll tell you things aren`t what they used to be !

Watch Lad`s Army and Bad Lad`s Army for the current trend ! ...LoL

 
EdLancer- Heh heh, those of us from...uhm, another time..do seem to have a different mindset about certain things, huh? And given your having trained those recruits, I do get/understand/sympathize with your mindset and your take on, uhm...younger folks in general. Hey, I`ve always enjoyed training under guys like you as I appreciate the, uhm.. squared-away approach to serious matters.

Heh heh, those of us who have a feel for this place can go back-and-forth the way you and I do without anybody getting offended, but..eh, I`m just all touchy-feely sensitive with regard to how we come across to Newbies here ;)
 
I took his association of second guessing starting a detailing business more due to the fact that he messed up on the glass polishing/ knowledge gaps as opposed to it being hard work. Then again doing any compounding/ polishing by hand is hard work and if you are going to be offering paint correction by hand you probably are not going to be very efficient providing correction to your customers if that is the route you plan on taking.

Continue to build your detailing knowledge/ experience on here by asking for advice, reading articles and watching videos and practicing on your own vehicles and maybe family vehicles and definitely get yourself an entry level DA with some good quality pads.

EdLancer I get people think Gen Y/ Millenials have not as much work ethic however I would like to provide examples of the number of Millenials who have developed lucrative businesses that were started bu Millenials:

- Pinterest
- Facebook
- Instagram
- Theranos
- Dropbox
- Airbnb
- Snapchat
- Asana
- Lyft
- Uber
- Blue Apron

and many many more. Though the work ethic or energy is focused in different areas than many say baby boomers or gen x`ers. Just because Millenials challenge the old school you have to work 16 hours a day to be effective and prove yourself in the workplace does not make there value any less important than Generations before them.

Now I am a Gen Y/ Millenial based on my year of birth however I hold a lot of values of Gen Xers as I was raised by a military man myself but still I see the value in the Millenials I work with and what they bring to the work place which I can see a shift in the last 5-6 years that I have a lot more balance and time to spend with my family then previously and I really attribute that to the shifting of the work force and its not a bad thing.
 
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