Do all you Pro's use the same stuff the weekend enthusiasts use?

[Nth Degree]

Great points made.



I think there are more products that pros use that work great for the enthusiasts than the other way around. The price of many boutique products make them less viable for volume and speed/ease of use of some products may make them impractical as well, no matter how great the results are. If a product requires a significant amount of time/energy to get the best results it isn't worth it.



Likewise, with the cost of products, it isn't always about the $$$/ounce. Always important to consider the dilution ratios and effectiveness of the product. Perfect example: Meguiar's Hyper Dressing vs. UTTG. For the price of a 12oz bottle of UTTG you can spend about $5 more and get a gallon of HD which will dilute to, on average, 2.5 gallons. At first the math would indicate an obvious choice. Once you realize how far just a little UTTG goes and how well it performs the difference isn't as obvious.

 

[rustytruck]

If you pay retail at Autogeek you will never make money. You never hear about what the pros use because most guys buy their stuff from small regional chemical manufacturers. I get my stuff from one of these companies. Sometimes I laugh when I see guys paying hundreds for a little tub of wax. I see guys who claim to be professional detailers showing pictures of their new order of supplies arriving and it contains a bunch of 16oz bottles with fancy labels. To each their own I guess.

 

[Jean-Claude]

If you pay retail at Autogeek you will never make money. You never hear about what the pros use because most guys buy their stuff from small regional chemical manufacturers.

Not true. There are different ways to operate and make money.

 

[IHA Mark]

If you pay retail at Autogeek you will never make money. You never hear about what the pros use because most guys buy their stuff from small regional chemical manufacturers. I get my stuff from one of these companies. Sometimes I laugh when I see guys paying hundreds for a little tub of wax. I see guys who claim to be professional detailers showing pictures of their new order of supplies arriving and it contains a bunch of 16oz bottles with fancy labels. To each their own I guess.

I'm going to have to disagree with you here, especially on the making money part. I am by no means a boutique product buyer, I buy most of my products in bulk like ONR, APC, tire dressing, but when it comes to paint correction, protection, and some interior products, paying extra money can make a huge difference.



I used bulk distributor products (Car Brite) for almost 2 years when I worked for a dealership, and I can tell you that bulk dist. products are for the most part incredibly inferior to name brand or high end detailing products.



Take Opti-Seal for example, sure it costs around $30 for a bottle, but I can do around 40 vehicle with 8 ounces! Not to mention it has incredibly quick ease of use, plus a great look.



I buy almost all of my products from either AG or 3D, and my costs on my most expensive details NEVER goes above $10, for the most part I run a $4 - $7 chemical cost. I take advantage of sales, BOGO, free shipping offers, and buy in bulk (32. oz or larger) whenever possible.



I guess another side of this is what type of detailer you want to be. If you are running a volume shop, churning cars out en mass for a bottom dollar, you definitely need to pinch every penny possible. But I personally think that if people are paying a premium price for my services (and in my market I'm at the very high of the market, even though it probably seems cheap to some of you), they are going to receive work done with premium products, as long as those products actually create a better result.

 

[Accumulator]

..SRP has its place, but IMO not in any pro setting.

Hey, maybe that's something we can disagree on! What other AIO conceals the way SRP does?



If you do know of something, school me.. maybe there's a viable/cheaper alternative that I just don't know about.

 

[Dan]

Hey, maybe that's something we can disagree on! What other AIO conceals the way SRP does?



If you do know of something, school me.. maybe there's a viable/cheaper alternative that I just don't know about.

I get more concealing with Poliseal or Speed than a single coat (or two) of SRP. No pro is going to want to do multiple concealment layers.

 

[Accumulator]

I get more concealing with Poliseal or Speed than a single coat (or two) of SRP..

Ah, OK! See, I didn't know that those conceal to the extent that (reasonable use of) SRP will! Thanks for the info.

 

[ahheck01]

So guys who make a living with this, what polishes, compounds, sealants, wheel cleaners, car shampoo, carpet shampoo, leather clearner, APC, Clay bar, wax, etc etc. do you all use for your business?

 

[Ron Ketcham]

So guys who make a living with this, what polishes, compounds, sealants, wheel cleaners, car shampoo, carpet shampoo, leather clearner, APC, Clay bar, wax, etc etc. do you all use for your business?

If I recall, about the only major, detail supply with a route truck, in your area, carries Auto Magic and CarBrite.

Very basic chemistry with their product lines.

3D, ValuGard, Pro, Ardex, etc, can ship to you.

Get samples, talk to their people, test out, look at prices, but don't think that cheaper is always better.

Dilution rates that may be advertised, well, they don't always work and you end up using more of the "cheaper" product to do the same work as a quality product. You just have to find that which works for you.

 

[Jean-Claude]

So guys who make a living with this, what polishes, compounds, sealants, wheel cleaners, car shampoo, carpet shampoo, leather clearner, APC, Clay bar, wax, etc etc. do you all use for your business?

I'll give this a quick stab.

1/2: I keep a pretty full line of Menzerna, Meguiar's and Optimum polishes/compounds on hand. The full gambit of foam pads, wool pads and microfiber pads. -2 3401's, 2 GG DA's and a Makita Rotary

3: Powerlock, Optimum stuff, Poorboys, Collinite 845 and a ton of different high end waxes.

4. Wheel Brightener, a locally made product, Sonax and p21s

5. 1z Perls and I have a custom shampoo made for me.

6. 303 and some different APC's, though I find my hot water extractor is most important for dirty carpets....at least more so than any cleaner in particular.

7. Leatherique, 1z and a number of other products I can't recall off the top of my head though nothing locally made(which tends to be a petroleum based tire dressing made out to be for leather)

8. p21s and Meguiar's

9. I import my clay and purchase in bulk

10. read #3



I am sure I am leaving stuff out but I am out and about and not staring at my line of products.

 

[ahheck01]

I'll give this a quick stab.

1/2: I keep a pretty full line of Menzerna, Meguiar's and Optimum polishes/compounds on hand. The full gambit of foam pads, wool pads and microfiber pads. -2 3401's, 2 GG DA's and a Makita Rotary

3: Powerlock, Optimum stuff, Poorboys, Collinite 845 and a ton of different high end waxes.

4. Wheel Brightener, a locally made product, Sonax and p21s

5. 1z Perls and I have a custom shampoo made for me.

6. 303 and some different APC's, though I find my hot water extractor is most important for dirty carpets....at least more so than any cleaner in particular.

7. Leatherique, 1z and a number of other products I can't recall off the top of my head though nothing locally made(which tends to be a petroleum based tire dressing made out to be for leather)

8. p21s and Meguiar's

9. I import my clay and purchase in bulk

10. read #3



I am sure I am leaving stuff out but I am out and about and not staring at my line of products.

Huge thanks for taking the time! If you get back to the shop and feel inspired to elaborate, I would love that too.