Efficiency tips???

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imported_MBenz

New member
I am what i like to consider a "semi-pro" detailer. Basically detailing is not my main career but during the summer i do about 10-12 cars for various friends and coworkers. Lately there has been an increased demand for my full details and it is looking to be that i am going to have a lot of cars to do when the season comes around.



My biggest concern now is that i am not going to have enough time to detail all these cars. I am a one man operation and possibilities for getting some good help are slim to none. Every car i do is wash, clay, 2 step correction, lps, full interior and engine and it takes me about 3 days to do all of this if i am lucky. I use professional products that are autopian certified and i believe my results are pretty darn good. In the past i have always taken as much time as i needed to ensure that no detail was missed, but i don't have long periods of time to do a car. 2 full days tops.



My big question is, in your experience, what can be done to turn cars around faster and still keep high standards for quality of work?
 
you should be getting that done within 8-10 hours...make it one day and bust your ***, but not for chump change either!



wash, dry - 15 min (remember, you are going to compound it out, so if you instill a couple swirl marks, its not a big deal)

clay - 30-60 min

compound - 2-3 hours

polish - 2-3 hours

wax - 15 min

engine - 1 hour

interior - 2-3 hours



so at a high side 12 hours tops, still definitely doable in 2 days, or one really hard working day (i do it all the time).



some quick tips:



you dont always have to wipe off compound residue (like megs 83 when you are going to megs 80 it right after)

use products taht get the quality job done the fastest/best (if you dont have all day long to break a polish down, dont use long working time polishes)

use the same interior product on everything if possible (megs APC can be used to clean many parts of the interior)

maximize your walking trips (take the glass cleaner, the tire/trim dressing, and the QD with you on the same trip instead of walking back to your supply bin for each)

Go hard at it for the full time of the detail, no daydreaming, no slacking!
 
Have the client wash and clay the vehicle at your place while you are on your way home so that you can start the taping and polishing as soon as you get there.



Yeah, that probably won't work, but I tried, lol.
 
hahaha, you have no idea how many times people ask me if they do some of the prep work will that reduce the price (washing, vacuuming, ect.)



NOPE, just leave it alone! There is a reason you are having me do it!
 
when you are compounding and polishing are you using a PC or a rotary? A PC will take forever to break down some polishes and in alot of cases will NOT produce the same results a rotary can. In either case, a PC WILL take MUCH longer than a rotary. I have seen the difference a rotary vs. pc makes with my own eyes. a Rotary = faster compounding/polishing.



Get a routine down, if you don't know what you are going to do next then you will be much slower vs. knowing what you are going to do and when.



If you are taking 2 or 3 days to do a 2 step, I have a few questions. What on earth is taking you so long? I dont want to sound mean, but are you taking a 3 hour lunch and 1 hour breaks?



What products are you using for the compounding and polishing steps? Like Toyotaguy said, if you are using a product that takes forever to break down then that will increase the amount of time that, that step takes to complete.



To decrease the time it takes you can do:



1. Get a routine

2. Maximize your efforts

use 1 product to do multiple things, or make as few of trips possible to your trunk/supply bin

3. Get or use a rotary if you dont have one.

While #3 isn't a requirement, a rotary isn't that bad, and it will speed up your work infinitely.



Routine for me:

clean tires/wheels/wells

wash car (2 buckets)

dry car (check out neatitems.com for a really BIG mf drying towel...good stuff there)

you can clay while washing, but I do it after.

from there its rotary time

interiors - dash/vents,vinyl leather, vacuum, glass.



wipe the dash down, blow out the vents (all of the dust and debris will land on the floor or the seats, clean and protect the vinyl and or leather seats, then vacuum all that stuff up you just wiped down there and then lastly do the glass.
 
FWIW If I am shampooing carpets, I do that first before I wash the car, as I want to make sure that mess is DRY when the vehicle is delivered to the customer.



I dont have an extractor so that is my reasoning for that above :)





edit:



Get a check list, if you find yourself wanting to do or doing the same thing twice or not remembering what you have already done. this way you are not wasting valuable time re-doing something that you have already done.
 
toyotaguy said:
hahaha, you have no idea how many times people ask me if they do some of the prep work will that reduce the price (washing, vacuuming, ect.)...
Click to expand...



Tell 'em that if they do all the work you'll only charge them half. :D







pc.
 
Refine your process and execute it precisely. It also helps to have the best equipment; powerful vacuum, extractor etc. Time your polishing on each panel. I usually do between one to two minutes depending on what I am trying to accomplish. Don't spend too much time on problem areas. If you can not resolve the problem in a reasonable amount of time, move on and maybe come back to it. Other than that, some people just do not move as fast as others. Obviously the more cars you do, the faster you get.
 
Thank you all for the advice.



I know it may seem like i take for ever to do cars, but i come form a "weekend hobby detailer" sort of mindset and i am having to change up my game a little bit.



I don't expect to be pounding out cars in one day anytime soon, but i see that i can get big benefits from organized routine and most of all, practice.
 
toyotaguy said:
hahaha, you have no idea how many times people ask me if they do some of the prep work will that reduce the price (washing, vacuuming, ect.)



NOPE, just leave it alone! There is a reason you are having me do it!
Click to expand...



No kidding. I don't care if they washed it 30 minutes before I got there, I am washing it again so I know for sure the paint is clean.



Mbenz-why don't you write out your current process? That would make it easier to see where you could make improvements or changes to help speed up the process and still get the results you want.
 
great post MBenz - i'm basically in the exact same situation. it's not too warm in Detroit right now and i only have a couple small jobs lined up (wax jobs to make sure folks last to the spring), and i've found that some bigger jobs seem to take me forever to complete. i do feel the more cars i do, the better/faster i get. there's a difference to me in working efficiently vs faster, and i always strive to do top notch work. so far i've found that the time i spend on interiors is dropping as i know what to look for/have a process and stick to it.

thanks for all the tips already posted - i learned that they really work (like using products that have multiple uses / using good products that WORK) to cut down time.
 
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