Full OTC detail - what do you use?

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Phishy4

New member
I was in a far away land (Tenessee) with none of my gear, and I got approached about doing a couple cars on the fly for some friends of my parents. It didn't actually pan out (probably for the better) but I had started to run through the list of what I'd need to get to pull it off, where to get it, etc.



So you've gotta pull off a detail, you've got nothing and you've gotta buy it over the counter (maybe just assume you can get buffer pads, that was one part I hadn't worked out), what's on your list?
 
Unless they have a DA and pads, I'm not doing anything :). Otherwise it'd be megs UC, DCP, Megs or mothers clay kit, and Megs ult wax or 845 depending on what they have in stock. If you're dressing as well then Megs ult dressing.
 
That would mean by hand which would be rough.



-NXT or Gold Glass Wash

-Some sort of APC, not sure what I'd end up with

-A2Z Wheel Cleaner

-Target MF Covered Sponges and MF Towels

-ICE Liquid Polish+Clay Kit

-Depending on the color, either Mothers Cleaner Wax or Duragloss 501 or ColorX.

-Megs UQW or Aquawax

-Trim would suck as I hate all OTC trim products, lets say I find a boat store that has 303...lol

-Tires - Mothers FX Tire Shine
 
I quick trip to Walmart would fill the OTC needs. I'd tend to choose mostly Meg's for OTC products.



The list needn't be long, depending on their expectations.



A jug of car wash, wash mitt, buckets, a clay kit, a bunch of MF towels and a few hand applicators. I'm not too crazy about polish without a buffer so I'd go with Meg's Cleaner/Wax and do a one-step. A bottle of APC, a bottle of glass cleaner and a bottle of UQW. The APC should deal with the wheels, tires, wells, etc. The UQW will take care of all the exterior including glass and vinyl trim so no other dressing should be needed aside from the tires. UQW will also help to hide swirls not correctable by the cleaner/wax. A bottle of QID for the interior cleaning and depending on the condition of the carpeting a bottle of Quik Out if needed.



Detailing without a buffer is like iceskating without skates.That said, assuming he cars are not really too bad you should be able to get the car looking pretty decent.



Now you're going to be into these OTC products to the tune of over $100 so you'd need to charge accordingly. Might a better solution be to help them find a good local detailer? Would cost you less money and certainly less time. Alternatively, you could give them the list of OTC items and teach them how to use them.



Shopping List:

Car Wash: Gold Class or NXT Tech Wash

Clay: Any kit, Meg's Smooth Surface , Mothers, etc.

Meg's Cleaner/Wax

APC: (any) with a couple spray bottles for dilution.

Meg's Ultimate Quik Wax

Meg's Quik Interior Detailer

Meg's Quik Out carpet cleaner (as needed)

Meg's Hot Shine Tire Dressing

A dozen MF towels

3-4 hand applicators and maybe a waffle weave drying towel.

Decent quality wash mitt

2 five gallon buckets
 
Jim and Dan got most of what I would recommend for OTC.



Car Wash - Meg's Gold Class or Mother's California Gold

APC - Zep Concentrate

Clay - Meg's Smooth Clay Kit (for well-maintained vehicles) or Mother's Clay Kit (for additional cleaning power - another advantage is that this kit comes with a full bottle of Mothers Showtime QD)

Primary Polish (only if a viable rotary/DA and pads are available) - Meg's Ultimate Compound

LSP - Meg's ColorX for strong AIO needs or Mother's Reflections for appearance purposes

QD/LSP Booster - Mother Showtime (comes with the aforementioned Clay kit) or Meg's Ultimate Quik Wax

Trim, tires, and interior - Armor All Original (Has a controversial past, but the current version is water-based, has a gel-like higher viscosity, and can be buffed down to a natural shine if needed)

Towels - Various towels from Target or any Mother's/Viking-brand towels from Pep Boys or Autozone
 
SpoolinNoMore said:
Unless they have a DA and pads, I'm not doing anything :). Otherwise it'd be megs UC, DCP, Megs or mothers clay kit, and Megs ult wax or 845 depending on what they have in stock. If you're dressing as well then Megs ult dressing.
Click to expand...



Yep, let's assume there is a pc and some pads available. The guy I was gonna do the work for actually had a PC kit with a few pads that he had never used (got it as a present I think) and the pad selection wasn't ideal but there were at least a couple orange and white LC pads in there. That was the only reason I had even considered doing it, but it didn't wind up working out.



I think my list would be similar to one of the above with lots of megs/mothers products (duragloss if I could find it close)



- Megs gold class

- Mothers clay kit (plus it gets me the bottle of showtime)

- Megs ultimate compound/polish

- some sort of megs wheel cleaner and a cheap brush

- Megs QID (I actually use a lot of this anyway)

- Stoners invisible glass

- not sure on the tire shine

- dozen mf's and a drying towel

- sheepskin mitt of some nature

- Gold Class or Ultimate wax (if no buffer was around probably mothers cleaner wax)

- megs ultimate protectant for trim (if I couldn't find 303 somewhere)

- for the carpets probably the Turtle Wax foam stuff, not real sure

- Simple Green for apc
 
MCA said:
Armor All Original (Has a controversial past, but the current version is water-based, has a gel-like higher viscosity, and can be buffed down to a natural shine if needed)
Click to expand...



Yeah, that past is pretty ancient from waaaay back in the day. It's been water based for some time and the gel-like viscocity helps it cling to the tires/wells better. It finishes off nicely to whatever degree of shine you desire.



I don't remember ever not having some laying around the garage somewhere. Any water based OTC dressing ought to be good to go.
 
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