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So you want to shave off some time while detailing your car…well, here are some tips to help you do that without sacrificing quality (there are other ways, but here are 4 that I personally use from time to time):
1. Dress plastic and rubber PRIOR to car washing.
Using water based tire dressing like Meguiars Hyper Dressing at a 2:1 ratio, dress the tires before washing the car. After you wash the car, and move onto the wheels, your wheel washing step will remove the overspray/over wipe of tire dressing on the wheels. This will save you from having to clean the wheel, dress the tires, and then go back around the wheels again to wipe them down to remove the dressing. Not to mention, you can use this on all the trim as well while the car is still wet (think Nissan Xterra with lots of big trim pieces) and it will apply and hold if you wanted. I always will do this on tires that have a lot of groove, nubs, crevices since trying to dress those by hand takes a long time. Instead, I just spray Meguiars Hyper all over the tire and wash off the excess and am left with smooth looking tires!
2. Start from the TOP and work your way DOWN on interiors.
Dust the car before you vacuum the interior. This will loosen the dust and dirt from the cracks and crevices and allow it to fall onto easier to vacuum areas leaving you to just vacuum one time and have a clean interior in one shot, instead of vacuuming, then dusting and having the dust remain in the car (a towel doesn’t always pick up dust and hold onto it). I actually have the brush with me while I am vacuuming so that I can dust and hold the vacuum right next to the duster so while I brush the dust from the crack, it will get sucked up by the vacuum. If you have compressed air, blast EVERYTHING above the carpet level as your FIRST step to loosen dirt into areas you can access.
3. Use ONE cleaner for MULTIPLE PURPOSES.
Something like Optimum No rinse can be used for clay lube, washings, interior cleaning, wheel cleaning, and so forth. Instead of using an APC for this, a degreaser for that, and maybe an acid for the rare occasion, one product will have you reaching back in the product bin less and less, leaving you on the car longer, and providing faster detailing! The less time you have to go back and forth between products, the better! I have used ONR for a waterless wash (in areas where washing is not allowed), then used the same bottle for a clay lube, and used the rest of the spray bottle for a quick interior cleaning! Total time saved was about 3 minutes, but doing that with multiple products/steps throughout the detail process, well that will add up!
4. Dry the car in 2 minutes.
It’s not entirely necessary to dry the car after washing, but before claying the car. Keep in mind I would only do this with soft water (non-water spot creating) and would still dry the windows if you are not planning on polishing the windows, because the water will add a little extra lubricity to help the clay glide across the paint with the clay lube. The time saved from drying can range from 10-15 minutes in this step alone! If you have hard water, and you know its going to take you a while to go around the car, it might be a smart move to do a quick dry where you get most of the water off the car, or dry it completely to prevent the water spotting from occurring.
Author: Eric Schuster
Envious Detailing
Orange County, CA
Link to original article: Reduce Car Detailing Times 30 minutes: 4 tips
So you want to shave off some time while detailing your car…well, here are some tips to help you do that without sacrificing quality (there are other ways, but here are 4 that I personally use from time to time):
1. Dress plastic and rubber PRIOR to car washing.
Using water based tire dressing like Meguiars Hyper Dressing at a 2:1 ratio, dress the tires before washing the car. After you wash the car, and move onto the wheels, your wheel washing step will remove the overspray/over wipe of tire dressing on the wheels. This will save you from having to clean the wheel, dress the tires, and then go back around the wheels again to wipe them down to remove the dressing. Not to mention, you can use this on all the trim as well while the car is still wet (think Nissan Xterra with lots of big trim pieces) and it will apply and hold if you wanted. I always will do this on tires that have a lot of groove, nubs, crevices since trying to dress those by hand takes a long time. Instead, I just spray Meguiars Hyper all over the tire and wash off the excess and am left with smooth looking tires!
2. Start from the TOP and work your way DOWN on interiors.
Dust the car before you vacuum the interior. This will loosen the dust and dirt from the cracks and crevices and allow it to fall onto easier to vacuum areas leaving you to just vacuum one time and have a clean interior in one shot, instead of vacuuming, then dusting and having the dust remain in the car (a towel doesn’t always pick up dust and hold onto it). I actually have the brush with me while I am vacuuming so that I can dust and hold the vacuum right next to the duster so while I brush the dust from the crack, it will get sucked up by the vacuum. If you have compressed air, blast EVERYTHING above the carpet level as your FIRST step to loosen dirt into areas you can access.
3. Use ONE cleaner for MULTIPLE PURPOSES.
Something like Optimum No rinse can be used for clay lube, washings, interior cleaning, wheel cleaning, and so forth. Instead of using an APC for this, a degreaser for that, and maybe an acid for the rare occasion, one product will have you reaching back in the product bin less and less, leaving you on the car longer, and providing faster detailing! The less time you have to go back and forth between products, the better! I have used ONR for a waterless wash (in areas where washing is not allowed), then used the same bottle for a clay lube, and used the rest of the spray bottle for a quick interior cleaning! Total time saved was about 3 minutes, but doing that with multiple products/steps throughout the detail process, well that will add up!
4. Dry the car in 2 minutes.
It’s not entirely necessary to dry the car after washing, but before claying the car. Keep in mind I would only do this with soft water (non-water spot creating) and would still dry the windows if you are not planning on polishing the windows, because the water will add a little extra lubricity to help the clay glide across the paint with the clay lube. The time saved from drying can range from 10-15 minutes in this step alone! If you have hard water, and you know its going to take you a while to go around the car, it might be a smart move to do a quick dry where you get most of the water off the car, or dry it completely to prevent the water spotting from occurring.
Author: Eric Schuster
Envious Detailing
Orange County, CA
Link to original article: Reduce Car Detailing Times 30 minutes: 4 tips
