How long should a wash, clay, AIO (PC) take?

Z

zimmerDN

New member
I just helped someone with his Corvette today. A wash, clay, AIO via PC took me 5 hours total. But that also includes a couple of trouble spots I attended to with Optimum polish + a cutting pad. I haven't decide what to charge him for it yet.



Was I too slow? This layer of AIO should last him at least until the spring right? (He stores the car in the winter and will drive it for another 4-6 weeks).



What would you pay for this?
 
2 hours for clay and wash. 2.5 hours for AIO (I think I spent too much time here), 0.5 hour for spot correction.



I am always very slow because I want to do the work right the first time around. I also haven't been doing this for too long so I might not know how to properly guage my progress therefore spending too much time on certain things.
 
I, being a novice, also have this problem - it's hard to tell how long each step SHOULD be taking. I usually try to compare how long it takes me to what Mr. Speedy (AKA Scottwax) posts, but he's like 2 or 3 times as fast as I am most of the time. I really want to try to cut down the time it takes me to detail a car...



Not to thread-hijack, but... Any tips for us on cutting down time, Scottwax (or anyone else)?
 
I've done a wash, quick clay (it was a brand new car), AIO and Souveran on a 911 in 1hr 45 mins before - but I was busting my *** to do so. If I took my time I imagine it would take 2-2.5 hours.



Ben
 
zimmerDN said:
2 hours for clay and wash. 2.5 hours for AIO (I think I spent too much time here), 0.5 hour for spot correction.



I am always very slow because I want to do the work right the first time around. I also haven't been doing this for too long so I might not know how to properly guage my progress therefore spending too much time on certain things.
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You are spending way too long at 2.5 hours to simply polish a car with AIO, shouldn't take much more than a minute or two per panel. AIO isn't going to correct much so set the speed on 5 with a PC and make 2-3 slow passes, wipe up the excess and move on.



With QEW, I can wash and clay in well under an hour. 20-30 minutes to wash with QEW, depending on vehicle size. I save time by not having to rinse or blow out the trim and body seams. If you wash conventionally, after rinsing a panel, you can then soap it up again and clay using the soapy water as lube, then rinse again. That should save you a good 30 minutes right there.
 
I did this exact job on my Cayenne this past weekend. It was pretty dirty, as I have not had time to wash it in the past 3 weeks. I washed, clayed, AIOed, vacuumed and dressed the trim in a bit over 2 hours. I can clay the whole vehicle in 10 minutes with my little clay holder and a bucket of soap. I use one of the Meguiar's mops to wash... cuz it's fast!



For me, the conventional washing is faster. I use my MetroVac or a hot lap around the hood to blow out the water. The AIO via PC is very fast. I do 2-3 panels at a time before I swap to my "buff off" machine.
 
DavidB said:
I use one of the Meguiar's mops to wash... cuz it's fast!
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I also use one on SUVs and trucks for the customer who wants his cars washed conventionally. Real time saver!
 
I might allow a full two hours... but I would add SG (takes 10 minutes max).



I personally don't think AIO alone will get you to March or Apil of 2006.



I just did AIO/2xSG/Soveren on my own 92 Miata for the winter in 3 hours.



Well, you gotta buff...



EDIT: Well, you gotta give time to cure... but it only took about 3.5 manhours. The curing (inside) is a whole nother issue, and required 3 full days in doors!



Jim
 
My question is, how do you guys clay so fast? I always need to spend 1 - 1.5 hours just on claying. Maybe I am wasting my time? The little squirt bottle takes up sometime too and I wipe each panel before moving on to the next. Should I just use soapy water and let it dry and stain then rinse at the end?



What about water marks?
 
Btw, the corvette I spent 5 hours on turned out great. Both the owner and I were very satisfy. I don't know if its' the time I spent on it or the AIO that made this black car shine so well again. I would also like to know if AIO as a one step product for paint cleaning and protection was a bad choice?
 
zimmerDN said:
My question is, how do you guys clay so fast? I always need to spend 1 - 1.5 hours just on claying. Maybe I am wasting my time? The little squirt bottle takes up sometime too and I wipe each panel before moving on to the next. Should I just use soapy water and let it dry and stain then rinse at the end?



What about water marks?
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Either your area is prone to heavy fallout that requires intensive claying or you are doing something wrong.



As you are washing the car, once you have washed and rinsed a panel, appy more soapy water, clay using the soapy water as lube, then rinse again and move on to the next panel.
 
But by the time I am done claying there will be water marks all over the car and windows. Only a polish with some work can remove those.
 
Wash and Clay should be about an hour, unless the car is so full of grit, then claying might be an hour by itself.

AIO should be a lot faster even by hand, it should only take about 20 minutes, unless there's a whole lot of oxidation, then you'd be better off with something stronger.
 
zimmerDN said:
But by the time I am done claying there will be water marks all over the car and windows. Only a polish with some work can remove those.
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Then run the wash pad over the clayed areas again before rinsing.



Kind of hard to tell you what may help because I haven't had that type of problem when claying. :nixweiss
 
zimmerDN said:
But by the time I am done claying there will be water marks all over the car and windows. Only a polish with some work can remove those.
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Well you have two options:



1. Don't let the car dry! I wash the entire car and rinse it off, then get a fresh bucket of wash solution to clay with. Clay one panel and rinse, but also rinse any areas of the car that look like they're drying, even if it means quickly rinsing the whole car again. When you've clayed the entire car, then set about drying. This sould only be an issue on a hot day though - if it's overcast and not too hot I find the car stays wet enough for me to do the whole car without it drying. Unless the car has got really bad contamination, I can usually clay it in under 30 minutes.



2. Wash and dry the car, then clay with a lube such as #34 Final Inspection. OK so it's not quite as quick, but so long as you drench a panel in lube it shouldn't take much longer than claying with a wash solution.



HTH,

Ben
 
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