Why are my washes taking so long?

[Nopstnz8]

The people on this site though do their own cars or they wouldn't be here. Detailing to people here is not a chore or hassle but a passion and/or obsession and it's something they would rather do than almost anything else.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Even with ONR, it still takes me a good 4 hours to clean my car. It takes around 20 minutes to prepare the supplies, about 2 hours for my wheels since they are extremely delicate, not to mention expensive. After I wash them, I cover them up with old towels to wash the paint so I don't get spots on the wheels and have to re wash them. The paint takes another 1.5 hr to 2 hours to ensure no scratching or marring. Then I open all the doors and trunk and wipe down excess water. Finally I blow all the water out from the crevices with a leaf blower. Then after I drive it around, I QD the wheels to get all the surface rust from the rotors off the finish and finally apply protectant to the tires and wheel wells. The last step takes about an hour.

 

[dennn]

People easily spend double or even triple that time if the car is extremely dirty. And by extremely dirty, I mean road salt and sand stuck to the paint, and each pass would completely contaminate the wash media and the wash buckets completely.

 

[Tony1]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Even with ONR, it still takes me a good 4 hours to clean my car. It takes around 20 minutes to prepare the supplies, about 2 hours for my wheels since they are extremely delicate, not to mention expensive. After I wash them, I cover them up with old towels to wash the paint so I don't get spots on the wheels and have to re wash them. The paint takes another 1.5 hr to 2 hours to ensure no scratching or marring. Then I open all the doors and trunk and wipe down excess water. Finally I blow all the water out from the crevices with a leaf blower. Then after I drive it around, I QD the wheels to get all the surface rust from the rotors off the finish and finally apply protectant to the tires and wheel wells. The last step takes about an hour.

That process is almost identical to mine. I wipe the engine compartment down when I'm doing the door and trunk jambs.

 

[Nopstnz8]

That process is almost identical to mine. I wipe the engine compartment down when I'm doing the door and trunk jambs.

Nice. I guess great minds do think alike. Lol.



I need to clean my engine bay though. I mean it's pretty clean, just a bit dusty, so I'll have to give it an ONR wipe down next time.

 

[99blackSE]

On my Civic with a functioning LSP I used to be able to do ONR (sheepskin), blot dry the entire car, and wipe down with FK425 in a little under an hour. Speed comes with technique and that comes with practice.



I'll do a panel, blot dry, and QD with FK425 almost immediately because dust settles quick.

 

[Tony1]

Speed comes with technique and that comes with practice.

Not in my case. I can assure you my technique is not the problem and I have years of practice.

 

[itb76]

On my Civic with a functioning LSP I used to be able to do ONR (sheepskin), blot dry the entire car, and wipe down with FK425 in a little under an hour. Speed comes with technique and that comes with practice.

I agree. I use ONR, takes about 25 minutes to wash & dry the car and probably another 20 minutes to do the wheels & jambs. Then the wheels & jambs get done, they get washed every time so they're not that hard to do. I will wash half the car, spray with Optimum Instant Detailer, then dry, then do the other half the same way. This is cheating, as smaller areas should be washed then dried, but inside the garage out of the wind it usually works. The OID prevents water spotting and extends the life of a wax job. Not the perfectionist way but speeds it up and works for me. If I wash the wells of my wife's car it adds a few minutes. My car is lowered so you can't see the wells. A light ONR engine wash can take, what, 20-30 minutes? Worth doing every 3 months or so.



Main thing is that you're satisfied with the job. Several times I've run through a touchless wash to save time. This inevitably results in $6 + spent on a wash you're not happy with.

 

[Accumulator]

....Main thing is that you're satisfied with the job...

Yeah. That.

 

[Thomas Dekany]

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.



"1" - I guarantee you or any other pro will not pay the same attention to detail to my car that I do.







"2" - 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



"3" - I am OCD about my vehicles. Nobody will care about your cars as much as you do.

My reply is not to argue but to point a couple of things out as I am a pro.



1 - You wouldn't be posting on AUTOPIA if that was the case. Or are you saying that non pros do a better job than professional detailers? (on a side note, if you don't have a steamer to clean the interior, "I" can guarantee you that there is dirt around the interior that you can't get out without)



2 - That can only mean that: A, you missed a lot of things last time cleaning it or B, you don't clean your interior often enough.



3 - That would explain the extra time - going over the same areas over and over. Unless you mean something else by OCD.

 

[Tony1]

My reply is not to argue but to point a couple of things out as I am a pro.

Don't want to argue either but I will respond to your points.

1 - You wouldn't be posting on AUTOPIA if that was the case. Or are you saying that non pros do a better job than professional detailers? (on a side note, if you don't have a steamer to clean the interior, "I" can guarantee you that there is dirt around the interior that you can't get out without)

Why wouldn't I be posting on Autopia? I don't follow. I post here because I have an interest in detailing to put it mildly.



Yes I steam clean the carpets. They probably don't need it since I use all weather matts all year round and rarely does anybody sit in the passenger seat and nobody ever sits in the back seat. So the only carpet that gets any exposure to dirt is the driver side and as I said I use all weather matts all year. I really just steam the driver side were my feat might slide off the matt occasionally.



As for your question do I think non pros are better than pros. I think there is another category that your failing to recognize and that would be the extreme enthusiast. These are the people that are far from weekend warriors which is who I think you are referring to when you say non pros. These enthusiasts are the guys at the car shows with vehicles that look like they never see the light of day. I think these type of people are into a different level of detailing than a pro. The pro details the average Joe's car that has probably been through the car wash 50 times and looks like it's been washed with steel wool. You do your thing and the improvement is dramatic but it will never look like the cars of an extreme enthusiast. No way you will spend the time and effort. One guy on here I can think of would be Brad B the mod. He's not a pro but would you call him an amateur?

2 - That can only mean that: A, you missed a lot of things last time cleaning it or B, you don't clean your interior often enough.

No it means I did my spring clean and cleaned every inch and vent and dressed the leather and treated the dash and polished the instrument cluster and polished the aluminum pedals etc.

3 - That would explain the extra time - going over the same areas over and over. Unless you mean something else by OCD.

OCD means cleaning areas that most average peole wouldn't even think of doing and cleaning it to a level most car people wouldn't bother with.

 

[Thomas Dekany]

Don't want to argue either but I will respond to your points.









Why wouldn't I be posting on Autopia? I don't follow. I post here because I have an interest in detailing to put it mildly.



Yes I steam clean the carpets. They probably don't need it since I use all weather matts all year round and rarely does anybody sit in the passenger seat and nobody ever sits in the back seat. So the only carpet that gets any exposure to dirt is the driver side and as I said I use all weather matts all year. I really just steam the driver side were my feat might slide off the matt occasionally.



As for your question do I think non pros are better than pros. I think there is another category that your failing to recognize and that would be the extreme enthusiast. These are the people that are far from weekend warriors which is who I think you are referring to when you say non pros. These enthusiasts are the guys at the car shows with vehicles that look like they never see the light of day. I think these type of people are into a different level of detailing than a pro. The pro details the average Joe's car that has probably been through the car wash 50 times and looks like it's been washed with steel wool. You do your thing and the improvement is dramatic but it will never look like the cars of an extreme enthusiast. No way you will spend the time and effort. One guy on here I can think of would be Brad B the mod. He's not a pro but would you call him an amateur?













No it means I did my spring clean and cleaned every inch and vent and dressed the leather and treated the dash and polished the instrument cluster and polished the aluminum pedals etc.











OCD means cleaning areas that most average peole wouldn't even think of doing and cleaning it to a level most car people wouldn't bother with.

As far as I know this site was created for extreme enthusiasts.



I think that YOU fail to recognize who the PROs are here. We are not your avarage PROs. Most of those you'll never find on detailing sites.



We are here because we are also extreme enthusiasts.





BTW, you haven't mentioned ANYTHING special that YOU DO that WE DON'T DO.



As far as your steamer is concerned, I meant steaming around the door handles/seals etc...



Do you polish and protect your jambs? Interior paint?



Trust me Anthony, we are as good and "OCD" as you are.



As far as us working on a "beater" that you think can't be cleaned as well as a new car? Wrong!



We also work on brand new cars in case you haven't notice. :soscared::soscared::soscared:

 

[Tony1]

As far as I know this site was created for extreme enthusiasts.



I think that YOU fail to recognize who the PROs are here. We are not your avarage PROs. Most of those you'll never find on detailing sites.



We are here because we are also extreme enthusiasts.

I know this site was created for the extreme enthusiast that's why I post. You were the one that said I wouldn't be here if I detailed the way I said I do. I still don't follow what you meant by that.

BTW, you haven't mentioned ANYTHING special that YOU DO that WE DON'T DO.

You miss the point of this thread. It's about why some take much longer than others to complete a wash. I never said I do things a pro wouldn't. It's the attention to detail and the level I will go to because it's my car not some one else's car.

As far as your steamer is concerned, I meant steaming around the door handles/seals etc...

It's leather there on my vehicle so know I don't steam it. I do take compressed air and blow out crevices and I have a bunch of attachments for my vacuum's to get into tight little spots but no I don't steam those areas. Maybe I'm not understanding what you mean.

Do you polish and protect your jambs? Interior paint?

Even many weekend warriors do that so yes of course I do. They in fact get cleaned every wash as well as the engine compartment. The wax and polish is not done very wash though nor does it need to be.

Trust me Anthony, we are as good and "OCD" as you are.

I don't doubt for a min your as good as me. I don't doubt the skill level of any pro on here and I don't claim to be better than any of them. The point I have mad several times and will make again is that I will take more care and pay more attention to detail than a pro would because it's MY car. Not because I'm better but because nobody will care about your car as much as you will. Unless you are the type of person who doesn't care about your car and like many average people do than in that case any pro is a big step up in care from what the car normally sees

We also work on brand new cars in case you haven't notice. :soscared::soscared::soscared:

Obviously you do but it's safe to say your average customer is not a new car and you don't detail it to the same level you would a show car. What would be the point? Unless of course the customer specifically asked for that level of detail and payed accordingly.

 

[MichaelM]

I never said I do things a pro wouldn't. It's the attention to detail and the level I will go to because it's my car not some one else's car.

A true professional will do the same or better job that you can/will do regardless of who owns the vehicle. Chances are we'd do it much faster then you as well because of the sheer volume of experience. We have many more opportunities to learn and advance our craft then an enthusiast. We also have the added advantage of being financially motivated to do excellent work in as little time as possible.

The pro details the average Joe's car that has probably been through the car wash 50 times and looks like it's been washed with steel wool. You do your thing and the improvement is dramatic but it will never look like the cars of an extreme enthusiast.

No kidding, what we started with wouldn't allow it to look as good as a show car.

No way you will spend the time and effort.

Don't be ridiculous. If we're properly compensated then why wouldn't we?



You really have yourself on a high pedestal over there.

 

[Tony1]

Don't be ridiculous. If we're properly compensated then why wouldn't we?



You really have yourself on a high pedestal over there.

Not really I just know what I do and the extremes I go to and have never met a pro that would do that on a costumers car unless it was a special high paid job. They simply don't get paid enough to do it on everybody's car which I understand completely. Again I'm not questioning the skill level of you pros just that there is no way you will go to the lengths I do on my vehicle. Not on a soccer moms crap mobile or Joe six packs deer hunting pickup truck. If some car crazy guy needed a concourse level detail and didn't have the time to do it himself I have no doubt you or any pro on here could do an amazing job but you would charge accordingly and set aside much more time to get it done. Well that's the level I go to on my vehicles.



I could detail a friend or family members car and make a dramatic improvement to it in a fraction of the time I do my own but in would take much more time take to where I keep mine. More time than I am willing to spend since they wouldn't appreciate it and undo everything I did the first time they drove through the car wash. As I'm sure many on here can relate to my family and friends think I'm completely off my rocker when it comes to my cars. They can't imagine spending the time I do or doing the things I do.

 

[mikenap]

have never met a pro that would do that on a costumers car unless it was a special high paid job. They simply don't get paid enough to do it on everybody's car which I understand completely. Again I'm not questioning the skill level of you pros just that there is no way you will go to the lengths I do on my vehicle. Not on a soccer moms crap mobile or Joe six packs deer hunting pickup truck. If some car crazy guy needed a concourse level detail and didn't have the time to do it himself I have no doubt you or any pro on here could do an amazing job but you would charge accordingly and set aside much more time to get it done. Well that's the level I go to on my vehicles.

Ok, this is getting a bit out of hand. I don't believe Anthony is pro-bashing, he's just saying that level of detailing is pretty exclusive and pricey. Nothing wrong with that. Even Accumulator's always saying that he goes beyond concours-level detailing on his minivan. Some enthusiasts CAN be every bit as good as a pro for their given car detail-wise, but probably not time-wise. And pros don't always work on ultra-exotic, multi-step correction details. So for certain situations, pros won't do as good a job merely because they ARE trying to make a living out of it. Nothing wrong with that either.



Seems like this thread started out good, but now tempers are flaring. :chill::chill::chill:

 

[brwill2005]

You have way too much time on your hands if you feel the need to respond to every single point, every person has made. Get over yourself already.