What's Your Car Washing Time?

A

Anthony O.

New member
I didn't wash many cars last week because of the rain storms we had so my cars today were a bit junked out more than usual.



I decided to time myself on a Porsche 911, now even though the car is small it was pretty dirty and after a week of daily driving plus a few thunderstorms it was pretty dirty. Lots of mud in the wheel wells and a nice layer of crud on the lower portions of the Seal Grey Porsche.



Here is what I did:



Cleaned the wheels, tires and wheel wells

Exterior body wash

Rinse

Blow dry

Dress tires

Dress wheel wells

Dried body with WW and I also aplied OCW to all paint, wheels and ext. glass

Open front deck lid and dry that out

Dry out door jams

Vacuum interior, front and back

Int. windows

Apply dressing to front seats

knock down tire dressing



Total time = 42 minutes



Curious of the pros and their times.



Anthony
 
On a full size STS just doing the outside takes me about 30 mins



Wash wheels, tires, Wheel Wells

Body wash

Rinse

Dry with WW

Dress tires

Dress Wells

Wipe Door jambs and inside trunk

Clean outside windows

QD the paint
 
I've only timed myself doing my car, a 1996 Acura Integra 2dr...





-Poorboy's Spray and wipe from paint to wheels (inside and out) to doorjams

-Paste Wax with Natty's

-Apply tire and wheel well dressing

-Clean windows inside and out

-Wipe down interior

-Polish exhaust





~30 mins





Anthony, you are quick! I will time myself next time around. What does blow drying consist of?
 
LOL I was thinking a few shots of espresso with some extra sugar added ;) maybe use that to wash down a few ephedra pills.
 
I take about 40 minutes to just simply wash the exterior and do the door jams. I don't QD the paint or anything either. Don't do any interior work either. Damn, I feel slow. :(
 
We also take about 45min. (one guy washing) Two of us do two cars in about an hour. We get $45 per car so a $80-$90 per hour gross isn't too bad but we groos more detailing and not washing.
 
We can do the exterior portion (1 guy) in 40-45 minutes.



Simple washes are just less than 10% of our business.



Like Joe, we net a bit more from complete details...



Jim
 
I would say the rule of thumb for me prepping a car for a full detail is about an hour. This consists of:



Clean Tires, Wheels and Wheelwells.

Clean/Degrease all Doorjambs

Wash Exterior

Wipe down with California Water Blade/WW MF

Blow all Cracks and Crevices including Doorjambs

Clean Floormats/Extract

Blow Under Seats and Door Panels



The hour usually doesn't matter if it's a Porsche or a F150 Quad Cab. For some reason, it always comes out about the same unless the vehicle is generally clean to begin with. If it's pretty clean, I can easily cut the time in half.
 
Hobbyist here but here's what I do in 45 minutes:



clean wheels

clean tires (separately from wheels)

exterior body wash (two-bucket method for each side, total of 4 buckets, two-passes per panel, quick rinse after each panel to aovid streaking and spotting)

final rinse

pat dry with two WW MF towels (one for paint, another for glass)

blow dry panel seams, jambs (doors, trunk, hood), emblems/decals, head/tail lights, side mirrors



Add 10-15 minutes for QD. I like to take my time doing this. :D
 
Anthony Orosco said:
I didn't wash many cars last week because of the rain storms we had so my cars today were a bit junked out more than usual.



I decided to time myself on a Porsche 911, now even though the car is small it was pretty dirty and after a week of daily driving plus a few thunderstorms it was pretty dirty. Lots of mud in the wheel wells and a nice layer of crud on the lower portions of the Seal Grey Porsche.



Here is what I did:



Cleaned the wheels, tires and wheel wells

Exterior body wash

Rinse

Blow dry

Dress tires

Dress wheel wells

Dried body with WW and I also aplied OCW to all paint, wheels and ext. glass

Open front deck lid and dry that out

Dry out door jams

Vacuum interior, front and back

Int. windows

Apply dressing to front seats

knock down tire dressing



Total time = 42 minutes



Curious of the pros and their times.



Anthony
Click to expand...



What kind of Vaccum are you using? I estimate some times I can take just 20 minutes vaccuming alone, and to do everything you do would take me about 85 minutes.
 
Holy Post Freaks Batman!!



I didn't think this would get much attention :shocked



OK, GSR- I use a leaf blower to remove most of the standing water from the nokks and crannies and blow of as much water as I can in general but I pay close attention to the water holding areas.



The vacuum I use is a small Home Depot model, I think it's like a 5hp.



My pressure washer helps out a great deal also as does the OCW that is applied to this Porsche after every wash. It reallyhelps in the whole washing and drying process.



I have this down to a system pretty much and when I need to get a car done quickly or I have alot of cars I try to make all of my movements count. For example as I am drying the door jams I will with one hand move the seat forward so I don't need to later when I vacumm back there. Vacuum the interior from the center and work your way out. I then move the seat back while at the same time I begin vacuuming around the steering and dash area, then down to the carpets and the door panel is last as I exit.



I would normally not do it this fast, more like 55 to 60 minutes and I usually get around $40 to $55 for a wash.



Anthony
 
I spent thee hours washing, claying and "detarring" a Dodge Ram 2500 yesterday. The owner of the vehicle has a driveway sealcoating business and the stuff was everywhere! :wall



Total detail time was 8 hours ( lots of scratches and marring that needed to be buffed out).
 
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