What's the coldest temp you detail in?

Earlier in December when I got to my customers' house at 9:00AM it was only 22 degrees in the shade, according to my thermometer. Since it was a little cold, I did the interior first. By 10:30 the temperature had warmed up to about 30 degrees and I was able to get started on the exterior. Of course, it helped that the car was parked in the sun.



Here's a photo of the Infiniti I detailed that day.



http://autopia.org/gallery/data/500/14542p1010007b-med.jpg
 
It was 33o in the garage and the heater was working great, because IT WAS -4 OUT SIDE! It wasn't easy on the roof of the car. It seemed like it was holding moisture. Only gave problems when I had the SG sit for a day, then it was a pain to remove. Not like normal.
 
In the sun, mid 20s, on a cloudy day, right around 30 degrees.



72 today though, not bad for January 1st when our average high is 54. Average temps bottom out the 3rd week in January then start moving upward again....I can hardly wait!
 
Around 28 - 35 degrees is the minimum given there is some sunlight. One thing you learn being mobile is to learn how to deal with the extreme and also to improvise, adapt, and overcome.
 
I close down for winter, so I don't really deal with it. I prefer the minimum temp to be 40 degrees.
 
I don't get paid, but right now I try to cut myself off at 40 degrees. Sometimes I just can't though. A few weeks ago I washed my dad's truck for him (this almost never happens) and it was ~38, the sun went down fast though, and half way through drying it off, all the water froze onto his truck :( That was an experiance.
 
Yeah true...freaking by 4:15pm is already dark. I can't wait till Spring time, by then we should get another hour of day light(sunset 5:30pm??). Then by summer, sunset around 7:30pm woohoo:cool:
 
klnyc said:
Yeah true...freaking by 4:15pm is already dark. I can't wait till Spring time, by then we should get another hour of day light(sunset 5:30pm??). Then by summer, sunset around 7:30pm woohoo:cool:
Click to expand...



You must be way up north. The earliest sunset we get is 5:24PM and now it is already 5:32PM and going up about 1 minute per day. Sunset in late June is 8:40PM here since we are on daylight saving's time.
 
I had a customer tell me that they really wanted their car detailed the next day. They were in town visiting relatives and they actually lived about 75 miles away. (The relatives recommended me).

Although it was going to be in the mid-teens overnight, I told her I would do it, but I would have to call her in the morning when the temperature reached the freezing mark...then she could bring the car over. I just sat on Autopia in the morning, frequently checking the National Weather Service site to see what the temperature was.



So I detailed it when it was 32*F. It never ended up getting above 34*. Unfortunately I had no sun to work with, so the water still froze on the ground. I will not do that again. That job was on December 21st, the shortest day of the year.



To me, the daylength is just as bad as the temperature. I was going to enter that car in the Extreme Detailing Contest, but I didn't finish in time to get pictures before sunset.



From now on, I won't detail unless it's above 40*F. I guess I can afford to be picky, because I have almost a dozen people willing to wait until a 40* day to have their cars done. :) Two of these people live over 50 miles away!
 
Scottwax said:
Maybe we should all invest in golf shoes with metal spikes so we can work on icy driveways. :nixweiss
Click to expand...





:LOLOL I almost busted my skull last winter on an icy driveway!! It was warm enough that the water didn't freeze on the car but the ground was still freezing...a sheet of ice formed around the car as I rinsed it. Needless to say I was not expecting that and I'm sure it was quite a sight seeing me go arse over tea kettle with the pressure washer on. :o This year I have a bag of ice melt in the bed of my truck...temps have been in the 60's though!! :xyxthumbs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top