Why are my washes taking so long?

The only timesavers you will ever find are in reducing your trips around the car and perfecting your process. Do EVERYTHING to each area before you leave it. Buy a couple of caddys to make moving around the car quicker. Clean & Dress each wheel so you don't have to come back. ONR and Wax a section before moving on. One more thing is that you can ONR half the car before your drying passes if the surface is cool and you are in the shade. The only reason for smaller sections is if the solution is drying on the paint.

Hope this helps,

Chris
 
Including preparing everything, it takes me about the same amount of time if not more. If it's just an ONR wash, probably an hour at the most. I'd rather be thorough than shave 20 minutes off and do a half-assed job.
 
I gotta say I don't know how anybody can do a wash in less than half an hour :confused: No, no, that's not some kind of snotty challenge...more power to you....I just don't see how it's done.



I spend that long doing the out of the way areas...I mean, all the surfaces of hinges/etc. take time even if all you do is wash 'em with a BHB, dry, and do a quick spritz of QD. Ditto for wheelwells, and undercarriage, even when I don't have to jack the car up for access. Just the plastic weatherstrips with their drainholes at the bottom of the Audi doors take me over five minutes to clean, and yeah, they need it at every wash; they've *never* been unsoiled. The side-door tracks and hardware on the minivan take forever! The roof-rack channels on the Yukon....I could go on and on...:nixweiss



integritydetail said:
The only timesavers you will ever find are in reducing your trips around the car... Buy a couple of caddys to make moving around the car quicker....



Yep :xyxthumbs That's why I have redundant systems (hoses, foamguns, buckets, etc.) on each side of the washbay, and all those work platforms so I can just "walk around the vehicle" while doing the roofs of SUVs and minivans.
 
jopa489 said:
I'd rather be thorough than shave 20 minutes off and do a half-assed job.



What's to say that a slower job is more thorough?



The difference between a hobbyist doing an hour and a half wash and a pro doing the same in a third of the time is two fold. One, a pro will be set-up properly and have an efficient process. No wandering around the car, no excess movement and every step in the process leads to the next while covering all the bases. The second is motivation and hustle. If I take an hour and a half to wash a car I wouldn't have any repeat customers, they'd be bored to death waiting and irritated that they just lost half a morning (I own a fixed location shop so customers come to me). I also wouldn't be able to keep my doors open very long because you cannot charge enough money for a simple wash, dry and QD to cover an hour and a half worth of garage time.



One of my trained technicians can perform a wash & dry with wheels, jambs and tire dressing on a medium sized car in 20-30 minutes.
 
With ONR, it takes me under an hour to wash a full sized car, including wheels, tires, fenderwells, and jambs. I've been doing this a really long time, so that helps.
 
MichaelM said:
What's to say that a slower job is more thorough?



The difference between a hobbyist doing an hour and a half wash and a pro doing the same in a third of the time is two fold. One, a pro will be set-up properly and have an efficient process. No wandering around the car, no excess movement and every step in the process leads to the next while covering all the bases. The second is motivation and hustle. If I take an hour and a half to wash a car I wouldn't have any repeat customers, they'd be bored to death waiting and irritated that they just lost half a morning (I own a fixed location shop so customers come to me). I also wouldn't be able to keep my doors open very long because you cannot charge enough money for a simple wash, dry and QD to cover an hour and a half worth of garage time.



One of my trained technicians can perform a wash & dry with wheels, jambs and tire dressing on a medium sized car in 20-30 minutes.

You're completely correct, I was talking from a weekend warrior perspective though. :)



For a professional who is on the clock and has instant access to all the tools and supplies he needs, there's no doubt he will do a better job in half the time. I'm not efficient when I wash (or detail) and I know it. I'm constantly doing extra laps around the car, running back into the garage or over to the shelves to get something, or pausing for a drink. For me, on my own cars and my own time, it's relaxing. And I move at a relaxing pace most of the time.
 
Very depend on the condition of the car or truck and whether you are using ONR or hose or pressure washer.



In the winter I use ONR a lot, but warm weather brings much faster washes. As I can do mats, engine, door jams, bugs and body wash in around an hour with hose or pressure washer.
 
MichaelM said:
What's to say that a slower job is more thorough?



The difference between a hobbyist doing an hour and a half wash and a pro doing the same in a third of the time is two fold. One, a pro will be set-up properly and have an efficient process. No wandering around the car, no excess movement and every step in the process leads to the next while covering all the bases. The second is motivation and hustle. If I take an hour and a half to wash a car I wouldn't have any repeat customers, they'd be bored to death waiting and irritated that they just lost half a morning (I own a fixed location shop so customers come to me). I also wouldn't be able to keep my doors open very long because you cannot charge enough money for a simple wash, dry and QD to cover an hour and a half worth of garage time.



One of my trained technicians can perform a wash & dry with wheels, jambs and tire dressing on a medium sized car in 20-30 minutes.



Not in my case. My process and technique are not the problem. The reason my washes take a lot longer than a pro is because I can guarantee you a pro will not put the attention to detail into washing my car that I do. Time is money for them and they couldn't put the same attention into it unless they were charging a huge amount an hour.
 
i feel the same way, I take longer because sometimes theres alot of crap on the bottom half of the car that has to b scrubbed off. Moving the buckets and hose is not what slows me down so much. Tar and debris on the bottom can take awhile to get off-completely.
 
Anthony A said:
Not in my case. My process and technique are not the problem. The reason my washes take a lot longer than a pro is because I can guarantee you a pro will not put the attention to detail into washing my car that I do. Time is money for them and they couldn't put the same attention into it unless they were charging a huge amount an hour.



Your problem, like many people today, is that you expect too much and you aren't willing to pay for good work.



If you go to a detail shop and ask them to do the wash that you do for the price that they normally charge for wash then no doubt you'll leave disappointed. Matter of fact it would be silly for a shop to even accept the job.



On the other hand if you come to me and say, "I want you to do X,Y, and Z and bill me for your time", then I can guarantee you that I'll do at least the same job, if not better than, you can do. In this case I'd usually go a bit above and beyond what was asked because that is the type of customer I , and any business, really wants.
 
You're on the right track as many have stated. My "Casual" package detail (interior with vac and spot treat plus wipe down/ exterior with clay and wax and rubber dressing) allots for 3-4 hours of work. I typically spend 1.5 hours on the outside, 1-ish on the inside and the rest protecting and dressing and working on presentation.
 
Interesting thread. Using ONR, and assuming a sedan sized car (no fabric top) it takes me around 40-45 minutes to do wheels/tires, wells, dress tires, wash, and wax. Like Scott, I do hundreds of washes a year. The final time will absolutely depend on how dirty the car is, type of wheels, how much brake dust, bugs, sand, salt etc. If I had a properly equipped shop and team of well trained guys; I have no doubt that it could be reduced to 15-20 minutes. Point is, when you are doing it alone, it can only be done so fast; unless of course you are cutting corners.
 
Brad-my Dad and I washed his ES350 in about 15 minutes working together, including wheels, tires, fenderwells and all the jambs.



One of the best things about using ONR is that when my sons were working for me (when they were teenagers) is that one could washing, the other could start the interior and after my son got a couple sections washed, I could follow behind with the buffer.
 
This has turned out to be a very good thread! I have been detailing for about 7yrs now and have all the proper equipment to help me move as fast as I can go. Like others have already mentioned, a lot depends on first the overall size of the car, second how dirty the car is, and third how much of a pain the wheels are to clean. For an average size car that is not thrashed, I find it takes me about an hour to do a thorough ONR wash, wheels/tires/wells, doorjambs, coat of OCW, dress tires, and clean windows inside and out. Sometimes I can get it done in closer to 45min, other cases it can take me almost 2hrs if the car is really dirty.
 
MichaelM said:
Your problem, like many people today, is that you expect too much and you aren't willing to pay for good work.



If you go to a detail shop and ask them to do the wash that you do for the price that they normally charge for wash then no doubt you'll leave disappointed. Matter of fact it would be silly for a shop to even accept the job.



On the other hand if you come to me and say, "I want you to do X,Y, and Z and bill me for your time", then I can guarantee you that I'll do at least the same job, if not better than, you can do. In this case I'd usually go a bit above and beyond what was asked because that is the type of customer I , and any business, really wants.



Truthfully, most of us that are on this site (and not pros) perform more of a mini detail than a wash. A "basic" wash for me on a weekend includes wheel barrels, cleaning the wheel wells, getting underneath rocker panels, scrubbing the exhaust tips, etc. Drying includes all the odds and ends, including opening the hood and wiping down the sides of the hood, wiping the engine cover, making sure kick plates are wiped off while I have the doors open, etc. Then the interior gets vacuumed and quick detailed, and I usually clean the inside of the windows.



I can get this done in a couple of hours, but a pro would probably expect $100 or more for this level of detail. Truthfully, I don't consider car washing worth $50/hour. I'll gladly pay GENEROUSLY for high level paint correction, but a simple wash isn't worth that kind of cash IMO.



In my line of business, we sometimes have discussions about how much we can bill for our time. The conclusion is often that we can bill more for high-level work, but must use lower rates (even for the same person) for "grunt" work. I think detailing is no exception.
 
MichaelM said:
Your problem, like many people today, is that you expect too much and you aren't willing to pay for good work.



If you go to a detail shop and ask them to do the wash that you do for the price that they normally charge for wash then no doubt you'll leave disappointed. Matter of fact it would be silly for a shop to even accept the job.



On the other hand if you come to me and say, "I want you to do X,Y, and Z and bill me for your time", then I can guarantee you that I'll do at least the same job, if not better than, you can do. In this case I'd usually go a bit above and beyond what was asked because that is the type of customer I , and any business, really wants.



I don't pay because I don't need to. Everything I need to do to my car I can do no problem. In fact I wouldn't let another human being touch my car because they can't do anything to it I can't and I know it will be done properly.



I guarantee you or any other pro will not pay the same attention to detail to my car that I do. For example today I spent 6 hours just on my interior. The interior to everybody else looked show room before I even did the detail but I still took 6 hours because I am OCD about my vehicles. Nobody will care about your cars as much as you do.
 
Scottwax said:
With ONR, it takes me under an hour to wash a full sized car, including wheels, tires, fenderwells, and jambs. I've been doing this a really long time, so that helps.



I also agree with Scott here. If I'm using DI, Pressure, Fosm Cannon, Scrub Sponges, etc etc....that's where I get into an overage of an hour...But if it is a vehicle that I keep up regularly, using ONR saves time, equipment, product and TIME! I can do those washes with wax and dressings in less than an hour- in an out. I used to actually chrono myself on my own cars when I was younger to work on my speed (I still do). That's why I offer a-la-carte wash (in/ex) services at less of a price than my entry level detail pkg. It all comes down to speed and time spent in combination with my hourly rate and assessing the amount of clean that is necessary to get the job done right.
 
15951 said:
Truthfully, most of us that are on this site (and not pros) perform more of a mini detail than a wash. A "basic" wash for me on a weekend includes wheel barrels, cleaning the wheel wells, getting underneath rocker panels, scrubbing the exhaust tips, etc. Drying includes all the odds and ends, including opening the hood and wiping down the sides of the hood, wiping the engine cover, making sure kick plates are wiped off while I have the doors open, etc. Then the interior gets vacuumed and quick detailed, and I usually clean the inside of the windows.



I can get this done in a couple of hours, but a pro would probably expect $100 or more for this level of detail. Truthfully, I don't consider car washing worth $50/hour. I'll gladly pay GENEROUSLY for high level paint correction, but a simple wash isn't worth that kind of cash IMO.



In my line of business, we sometimes have discussions about how much we can bill for our time. The conclusion is often that we can bill more for high-level work, but must use lower rates (even for the same person) for "grunt" work. I think detailing is no exception.

So, have you ever paid to have your car washed, vacuumed, and waxed like you mentioned? If so, how much did you pay? If you are on this site, I would imagine you care about your car, correct? OK, so maybe you go to a commercial car wash and pay $20-$30 to have your car washed and vacuumed; only to have them scratch up your paint with dirty drying towels, put some greasy mess on your tires, smear your windows, barely wipe your dash, and then put some more greasy stuff on your dash. Would you rather pay $20-$30 for that service, or pay a quality detail company $100 to do the same service only to have the car look as good or better than if you had done it yourself?
 
Anthony A said:
I don't pay because I don't need to. Everything I need to do to my car I can do no problem. In fact I wouldn't let another human being touch my car because they can't do anything to it I can't and I know it will be done properly.



I guarantee you or any other pro will not pay the same attention to detail to my car that I do. For example today I spent 6 hours just on my interior. The interior to everybody else looked show room before I even did the detail but I still took 6 hours because I am OCD about my vehicles. Nobody will care about your cars as much as you do.



That is great, if you have lots of time on your hands; which obviously you do. Paying someone to detail your car is about convenience. Most people would rather be spending their time working or doing other important things. Your point is like saying you do not go to McDonald's because you can make a better hamburger at home. You go to McDonald's because you can get pretty darn good burger very quickly without making a mess of your kitchen. One other point; I pay more attention to my customer's cars than my own, because they are paying me for a service, and I want to exceed their expectations.
 
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