organizing supplies

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dan45hk

New member
how do you guys organize your detailing stuff? i'd really like to know because all i have is a large rubbermaid box, and it's very frustrating to pull bottles etc. from the bottom. pics would be nice.
 
I have my supplies in one of those Rubbermaid outdoor storage cabinets. The best part is that you can put a lock on it. I have shelves where I've organized products by use.



I keep my MF's in one gallon zipper seal baggies (keeps them clean) I do keep some "rags" in those shoe box size rubbermaid containers.
 
I have 4 large cabinets that are about 6 feet tall by 5 feet wide. They have 5 adjustable shelves in them, and locking doors of course ;). I keep most of my car stuff in them. I keep all my sealants on one shelf, waxes on one, then another for car washes, QD's etc. It goes on and on. Also have a whole seperate cabinet just for towels. Ehhh, I think I have more car stuff than some Auto supply stores. :eek:
 
<img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0NAB0cHcSH9ziDANJMQwOyVfhRr08tR7N24sZnwqUgJuuV7D6LJhIkCPxe7JddrVmLMQujh!X1*LrnASXunLUdg/Trunk.JPG"



That was how my stuff was organized before the days of the garage. It kept it all pretty well organized. I had one bucket for the bottles for like my waxes and Blackfire and stuff. The other side was for cans and spray bottles and the towels. I had my wash bucket full of my rags for engine detailing and tires and wheels. It was a pretty good system if you didn't mind giving up your whole trunk. :)
 
I use the plastic shelving that you can get at Home Depot....it's very sturdy, and pretty inexpensive.....there are two more shelves you can't see in the picture.....one above, one below.

It's located right by the garage door, so it's easy to get to all my stuff when I'm outside.
 
Because my current supply of detailing products is very "lean". with few products having overlapping functions, I can get away with using a medium size duffel bag for all my "immediate use" products. It contains about 20 bottles, jars, sprays, etc in it. I use a large lidded pail for all my applicators and 1 gallon zipper ziplock bags for my 16 or so MFs which I store in the pail. I have a bunch of "use later" supplies stored in a 1x2' xerox paper box and basically keep all the stuff I won't need for a while in it, like extra tire swipes, apps, visionblades, and stuff I bought for cheap so I stocked up on.
 
I'll have to try and get pics of what I use....... may even have to wait until I have my garage painted up and finished.....



but I use some enclosed cabinets - old kitchen cabinet on the wall I picked up from a garage sale, and on the floor are a couple units I got at lowes for 25 bucks a pop.
 
Interesting forum question since I am just getting into car detailing. I note that some of you may be storing your supplies in the garage. How does heat, cold, and humidity variations effect your supplies? Or do you store supplies indoors?
 
Well the new garage came with some cabinets and a countertop...



So all supplies are in them...organized of course.



I also have all my towels still in ziplock baggies in the drawers to keep the dust out of them....



I have a bucket for dirty towels in there somewhere too.
 
Some forum members have the luxery of heated and A/C garages!



I don't have a garage so I store everything inside which almost never drops below 60 or goes above 80 (heater broke one time, freaking cold at 45, and summer heat wave those two months which can reach 95 or so but very rare for both occaisons.)



Jason
 
Boongie said:
Interesting forum question since I am just getting into car detailing. I note that some of you may be storing your supplies in the garage. How does heat, cold, and humidity variations effect your supplies? Or do you store supplies indoors?
Click to expand...



Since I didn't detail too much in the winter (Utah winters suck) the only problem I ever had was that my Absorber would freeze and I'd have to run it under hot water before I could use it. lol I haven't had any problems carting it around in my trunk except for the fact that some of the products bottles would expand and leak in the heat. I've had zero problems with the stuff in my non AC garage.
 
I wanted to resurrect this thread as I am going to be storing my detailing stuff in the garage. In addition to how hot summers get here (in South Carolina), the garage has no ventilation and so temperatures are a whole heck of a lot hotter in there. I am wondering if anybody has had any trouble in a similar situation? The only thing I noticed was my touch up paint became thick like syrup. Well now I got a lot more expensive toys like Souveran and Collinite and have no idea what the melting point of this stuff is nor if any of the liquid stuff will change chemical composition when heated. I have some space inside for a few chemicals but not much storage space at all.
 
I keep all my waxes in the fridge. When it gets too hot, some waxes will seperate from it's binder and you end up with a soupy mix. This is more prevelent with products for leather, like Hide Food!



Regards,

Deanski
 
Jngrbrdman said:
Since I didn't detail too much in the winter (Utah winters suck) the only problem I ever had was that my Absorber would freeze and I'd have to run it under hot water before I could use it.
Click to expand...



I had the same problems with my nads this winter .... brrrrrrrr



Warm water did the trick tho!



:xyxthumbs
 
Cabinets in the garage and shelves in the basement!

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More bins and supplies in the cabinets, towels in the black bins. Dirty ones go in the black hamper.

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Bins, more bins!

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GreenThumb said:
how do you guys organize your detailing stuff? i'd really like to know because all i have is a large rubbermaid box, and it's very frustrating to pull bottles etc. from the bottom. pics would be nice.
Click to expand...



You can get a 4 tier shelf from Walmarts for about $20, its great for separating your products, for example I have waxes, polishes, QD's on top, just below are tire foam, window cleaner, my 303, etc, below that are my applicators, MF towels, tire swipes, etc and on the bottom are my 2 wash buckets, soap and sheepskin mitts....I'll have pics tonight...



I have a large rubbermaid bin too, which works excellent for mobile detailing assignments.
 
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