Tips for improving my time

Z

zannard

If I only had more time.
Ok, I'm trying to improve the time it takes to complete a detail.

My last two details were ford minivans. Both took me about 8 to 9 hours. Each had mild swirls, a few scratches, bugs and tar, nasty wheels, and interiors to match. Kids, dogs, ect.
I usually do the interior first, then wash, clay. clean, polish, and wax as needed. So pretty standard.

How long does it take most of you to complete this type of detail? I know we have all had the disscusion about how much money we are trying to make an hour, but I'm not worried about money for this question. Just looking to see how long everyone takes to complete full details. Whether cars or vans.

I have tried different procedures, work harder and faster(but quality takes time), changed my methods, but never to seem to improve my time much.

Also, If you have any tips to help my speed I would love to hear them.
 
One of the biggies is just being efficient. Don't spend 5 minutes rubbing the front end to get rid of bugs. Invest in a product like an APC to presoak spots you know will be stubborn before you get to that area of the car. Things like washing the car shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Work quickly while trying to avoid careless errors. Carrying the idea of an APC further, hit tires, wheelwells, and those bug and tar areas at the same time before you wash. By the time you mix up your soap, they'll be ready to clean easily. Buy a water based all purpose dressing. You can get the mouldings, plastic pieces, tires, wheelwells, weatherstripping, and interior plastics (when diluted properly) with the same product. You won't have to chase down, say, the "tire dressing" and "trim dressing" or "interior dressing", just grab the single bottle and you're ready to roll. On the interior, spray your presoak on the carpets and mats and then work on the dash, seats, etc. while that dwells. Don't waste your time claying the whole car unless the customer is prepared to pay for it. Just spot clay the areas you think really need it. Use a polish aggressive enough that gets the job done but also leaves the surface ready for an LSP. PB's SSR 2.5 is one of the best. Optimum Car Wax will make quick work of a wax job. It leaves the durability and look of a paste or liquid wax, but only takes a few minutes to apply.

Another thing I did to help cut down on time is grouping tasks together. Vacuum the dash, carpets, seats, trunk, and any other area that will need vacuuming before you deep clean areas. Make a checklist so you don't forget anything.

Hope this helps.
 
Porkanbeans said:
One of the biggies is just being efficient. Don't spend 5 minutes rubbing the front end to get rid of bugs. Invest in a product like an APC to presoak spots you know will be stubborn before you get to that area of the car. Things like washing the car shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Work quickly while trying to avoid careless errors. Carrying the idea of an APC further, hit tires, wheelwells, and those bug and tar areas at the same time before you wash. By the time you mix up your soap, they'll be ready to clean easily. Buy a water based all purpose dressing. You can get the mouldings, plastic pieces, tires, wheelwells, weatherstripping, and interior plastics (when diluted properly) with the same product. You won't have to chase down, say, the "tire dressing" and "trim dressing" or "interior dressing", just grab the single bottle and you're ready to roll. On the interior, spray your presoak on the carpets and mats and then work on the dash, seats, etc. while that dwells. Don't waste your time claying the whole car unless the customer is prepared to pay for it. Just spot clay the areas you think really need it. Use a polish aggressive enough that gets the job done but also leaves the surface ready for an LSP. PB's SSR 2.5 is one of the best. Optimum Car Wax will make quick work of a wax job. It leaves the durability and look of a paste or liquid wax, but only takes a few minutes to apply.

Another thing I did to help cut down on time is grouping tasks together. Vacuum the dash, carpets, seats, trunk, and any other area that will need vacuuming before you deep clean areas. Make a checklist so you don't forget anything.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

You make alot of good points there.

Something i do to speed things up is I complete an area at a time instead focusing on the carpets then moving on to plastics etc. I start in the drivers side I'll clean the plastics,and carpets, then wipe that door jamb down, dress what i've cleaned, and then clean the window and i'm done with that area and move on to the back seat and on and on. Its a good idea to invest in a cart that holds everything so you can do it this way.

On the outside, I dress everything before i buff it. And when i buff a car I cut/polish/wax, thats it. I don't go about taking an hour to polish a car and put 2-3 coats of wax on a car. I'm looking to do 2 details a day if i can. Not spend hours trying to get the perfect gloss on a car. As long as i remove all the imperfections, put a nice shine and coat of wax on it i'm happy and my customer is happy.


It normal takes me 4-6 hours for a dirty van or larger truck/suv.
 
The fastest I ever did was 4.5 hours. Most avg mid size car I do it's like 6 hrs. Minivan its most like 8 hr(I really try stay away from those soccor mom bus). I do interior 1st then exterior. I clayed most of the cars that I do, then follow up with SSR2.5, then ssr1 then OP then LSP.
 
Porkanbeans said:
One of the biggies is just being efficient. Don't spend 5 minutes rubbing the front end to get rid of bugs. Invest in a product like an APC to presoak spots you know will be stubborn before you get to that area of the car. Things like washing the car shouldn't take more than 15 minutes. Work quickly while trying to avoid careless errors. Carrying the idea of an APC further, hit tires, wheelwells, and those bug and tar areas at the same time before you wash. By the time you mix up your soap, they'll be ready to clean easily. Buy a water based all purpose dressing. You can get the mouldings, plastic pieces, tires, wheelwells, weatherstripping, and interior plastics (when diluted properly) with the same product. You won't have to chase down, say, the "tire dressing" and "trim dressing" or "interior dressing", just grab the single bottle and you're ready to roll. On the interior, spray your presoak on the carpets and mats and then work on the dash, seats, etc. while that dwells. Don't waste your time claying the whole car unless the customer is prepared to pay for it. Just spot clay the areas you think really need it. Use a polish aggressive enough that gets the job done but also leaves the surface ready for an LSP. PB's SSR 2.5 is one of the best. Optimum Car Wax will make quick work of a wax job. It leaves the durability and look of a paste or liquid wax, but only takes a few minutes to apply.

Another thing I did to help cut down on time is grouping tasks together. Vacuum the dash, carpets, seats, trunk, and any other area that will need vacuuming before you deep clean areas. Make a checklist so you don't forget anything.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...


Many great ideas. I know my wash time is longer than 15 minutes. I do use multiple products on the inside and out. I think having just one product to clean everything would be smarter.

Do you use APC on leather most of the time to clean, then condition? Or do you use actual leather cleaner before the conditioner? Or do you not even condition unless they pay extra for the service?

I have tried the grouping things together and that seemed to help. Plus I don't miss anything when I basically work my way around the car. I do have a checklist so I don't miss things, but it needs many improvements. The more vehicles I do the more it improves.

Thanks guys for the help, I just need more cars and practice.
 
If it's a full detail, then I'll clean the leather along with everything and dress with Natural Look. I use NL on the entire interior. I don't own leather conditioner, but NL seems to be just as good as one if you apply it frequently. I do not own a designated leather cleaner. I clean lightly soiled leather with Woolite:Water 10:1 and heavily soiled leather with TOL's Deep Down 1:10 (great product BTW).
 
Interior trim including leather, I use a 6:1 woolite mix with a mf. If something won't come out with that then I grab the magic eraser. It is rare that I find something that won't come out. If the surface is horrible to start with, I will use the magic eraser with woolite like I would a small sponge. No need to scrub hard or use much pressure.
 
I know, questions, questions, questions.

Do you count drying as part of your wash step?

Usually the wheels eat up most of my washing time. Just trying to figure out how to shorten my wash time. Sometimes between washing and drying it could take me 45 minutes. Maybe I have had excessively dirty vehicles..lol.

I really think i can even get the soccor mom's minivan down to 5 hours if I change some stuff up.

Thanks again, this is helping tons.
 
Drying used to piss me off because especially in cool weather it would take me longer than I wanted. Now it doesn't bother me. One option is some sort of spot free system. I don't have one right now so can't comment. I dry with the large MF 40" x something found at Walmart for $7. If you are detailing then drying can be very quick. I wash/rinse, then clay, sometimes I'll quick dry it with a MF in between. I clay a section and rinse with a gentle stream. After that I'll quick dry it again if need be. Quick drying takes maybe a minute if that. After that I start working on the paint. When I polish, I'm not trying to get rid of all the swirls. I just want a nice surface for the sealant or wax. I try to get out as many scratches as I can and minimize swirls. The paint sealant and wax steps go pretty fast with exp and nattys. I take off nattys with spray and gloss and a mf.

Neglected wheels can be cleaned fast with a good wheel acid. I dilute mine 3:1. Most wheels I don't use it but when I do it saves a lot of time. It is something you have to use with caution though.
 
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