Minimalist Detailing

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chet31

New member
I was looking at a thread on another forum where people were showing off their product inventories. Some had multiple product lines, hundreds of products, costing thousands of dollars. This got me thinking, what about the opposite? What are the fewest number of products you could buy and mix/match to accomplish a full detail (not including polishers, pads, towels, etc.)?

Here is an attempt:

Wash - PB SS&S (1).
Clay - Mother's OTC (2).
Detar - PB Bug Squash (3).
Debug - PB Bug Squash.
Polish - Meg's 205 (4), Menz PO85RD (5).
Glaze - Don't need.
Sealant - PB EX-P (6).
Wax - Don't need.
Windows - Use Windex from house (cheating, I know).
Ext Trim - Aerospace 303 (7).
Wheel Wells - PB Bug Squash to clean, 303 to dress.
Tires - PB Bug Squash to clean, 303 to dress.
Rims - PB Bug Squash.
Interior Trim - Meg's APC Plus (8) to clean, 303 to dress.
Leather - "
Carpet - Meg's APC Plus.
Engine Bay - Meg's APC or Bug Squash to clean, 303 to dress.

So, I figure I could get by w/ 8 products in a pinch. Not willing to give up the SS&S for Dawn or whatever. Sacrificing the compound because I could get rid of RIDS w/ enough elbow grease w/ the 205. Wondering if I could use Bug Squash as an interior and carpet cleaner lol?

Not that I would do this, I realize certain products specialized for a specific purpose simply work better (plus it's too much fun buying products), but I thought it was an interesting exercise. I am already second guessing myself. I look forward to seeing other strategies.
 
I like to try lots of different products. I could certainly do a very good job of maintaing my vehicles with stuff I can get locally, however. All the product overflow is definitely not a necessity, and it's a trap that a lot of folks fall into, myself included. Why do I need forty different QDs? Beats me, but I like having them. :)
 
JaredPointer said:
I like to try lots of different products. I could certainly do a very good job of maintaing my vehicles with stuff I can get locally, however. All the product overflow is definitely not a necessity, and it's a trap that a lot of folks fall into, myself included. Why do I need forty different QDs? Beats me, but I like having them. :)
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As we all know, process is just as if not more important than product... so I'd agree with your sentiment about being able to work with locally available products successfully.

When it comes to having multiple QDs, it just comes down to having something different to use whenever the mood strikes. :bigups
 
To reduce the number even further swap ONR for the Wash and for the Interior Cleaner. You don't list anything to "lube" the clay with, but ONR can be used for that as well. For bugs I soak a cheap MF towel in the ONR and leave it on the bugs for about 10 minutes, so there is something else you could take off the list.
 
Good point, I forgot about clay lube. Can you use ONR as a conventional wash?

I have tried ONR as an interior cleaner, and it worked fine, but I did not love the smell. Maybe I could use the PB APC on the interior? Then I could do something like this:

Wash - ONR (1).
Clay - Mother's OTC (2).
Clay Lube - ONR.
Detar - PB APC (3).
Debug - PB APC.
Polish - PB SSR2.5 (4).
Glaze - Don't need.
Sealant - PB PwS (5).
Wax - Don't need.
Windows - Use Windex from house (cheating, I know).
Ext Trim - Aerospace 303 (6).
Wheel Wells - PB APC to clean, 303 to dress.
Tires - PB APC to clean, 303 to dress.
Rims - PB APC.
Interior Trim - PB APC to clean, 303 to dress (although I would skip the dressing).
Leather - "
Carpet - PB APC.
Engine Bay - PB APC to clean, 303 to dress.

Gets me down to 6 products.
 
JaredPointer said:
I like to try lots of different products. I could certainly do a very good job of maintaing my vehicles with stuff I can get locally, however. All the product overflow is definitely not a necessity, and it's a trap that a lot of folks fall into, myself included. Why do I need forty different QDs? Beats me, but I like having them. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, sealants are my weakness, have way more than I need.
 
chet31 said:
Can you use ONR as a conventional wash?
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I don't know that I would try it that way. I'm going to try and do a lot more QEW/ONR rinseless washes this winter and see if I can get into the groove that some of the other folks do - i.e. making the rinselss wash my "normal" wash (replacing conventional wash). Not sure I'll ever get there, but I did break down and buy a big bottle of ONR. :D
 
mc2hill said:
I have only used it as a rinse-less wash. I work with Premium (Garry) sometimes, and he has the ONR wash to under 20 minutes per car.
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20 to 30 minutes is about my average time with ONR as well. The stuff is great as long as you aren't dealing with mud or anything like that. I still prefer to use a power washer for wheels, tires, wells, etc also but that's just me.
 
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