clawhammer

I'm at a point where I'm pretty happy with the quality of my detail work, but it's taking too long. I usually spend about 8 hours on an S2000, and in a couple of weeks I'll have a Yukon coming up. I need to become more efficient without loosing the quality.

To give you an example, let's take the car I detailed last Sunday. It was a black S2000. Here's the process I used on the paintwork. I didn't have to wash it, because the owner just washed it.

claybar
Pinnacle advanced swirl remover with a 5.5 inch light cutting pad on speed 6. Did this twice on the car
Pinnacle paintwork cleansing lotion with Sonus SFX-2 pad on speed 3.
Sonus Final finish polish SFX-3 with Sonus SFX-3 pad on speed 3.
Klasse High gloss sealant by hand
Pinnacle Souveran by hand

I had to go though the car twice to get the swirls out. I know I can save a lot of time if I can only do it once. I have a really weak light cutting pad and it's old. I'm already planning on replacing that one with one of these:

http://www.autogeek.net/vcpad.html

But will that be enough or should I get a yellow cutting pad as well?

MikeyC

Part of your problem is that you polished the car four times. The other part of the problem is that you're running your PC at too slow of a speed. Your need to polish the car so many times may be a result of the slow speed you're runnning the machine at.

Personally, I've never had to do more than 3 polishing steps and that's on the very, very, very worst cars ever. Usually two steps will get the job done no problem.

Also, keep in mind having the right tools to get the job done will save you time. I'm not really familiar with the polishes & pads you're using but make sure you have at least . . .

*one moderate cut polish like Poorboy's SSR2.5, Optimum Compound, or Menzerna Intensive Polish to remove the defects from the paint.

*one finishing polish like Poorboy's SSR1, Optimum Polish, or Menzerna Finishing Polish II to remove any haze from the other polish or to remove light defect

*one cutting pad, two polishing pads, and a finishing pad

Then when you use these polishes make sure you polish at speed 5. Anything less than five will not only not be fast enough to allow the polish to do it's work, but will also not be fast enough to break down the polish in a reasonable amount of time.

After this there are only two other ways to speed things up: practice and a rotary. The more times you detail the faster you'll get. Eventually you'll hit a wall and won't get any faster. Then if you want to increase speed you'll need to switch to a rotary buffer which breaks down polishes much faster (but obviously takes longer to learn and is more dangerous).

One final suggestion is when you detail for money either use a sealant or a wax, but not both. First it's just an extra step you need to perform and second some sealants need to cure for 12 hours before you can put wax over them.

Also, if you're thinking of getting some new pads then switch to the Edge 2000 system. It's AWESOME. The pads are two sided, super high quality foam, automatically center (for less vibration), etc, etc, etc. There's quite a few advantages to owning the Edge system over traditional hook & loop pads.

YZER

I will second the edge kit. I tried it out for the first time yesterday. I just looked at it and screwed in the adapter then popped on a pad and I was done. It seemed too easy. I also started out with the wrong polish on accident so I just flipped the pad over and put on the new polish and I was good to go. I am not familiar with the other types of pads but this way is Very fast and easy!

diabolus2k

You really need to speed up the PC when you polish--speeds 2 and 3 are WAY too slow to get anything done. Work in 2x2 sections, spread the polish around on speeds 3-4, and then crank it up to 6 and move the PC very slowly across the paint. You can apply a little pressure on the PC while you do this, too. Also, you might want to try some different polishes to replace the ones you're using... from what I've heard, the Pinnacle Advanced Swirl remover is like liquid sandpaper, and is meant more to be used by hand than machine... I would personally second the recommendation of the Poorboy's, Optimum, or Menzerna polish lines

clawhammer

I will definetely try out the new edge pads. I'll order a yellow cutting pad and an orange light cutting pad.

So far I've been using Pinnacle Advanced Swirl removed with a light cutting pad, and haven't had any problems with it taking off too much paint. I always ran the swirl remover on step 6, and it was fine

Ubetit

Not sure why you would use paintwork cleansing lotion between two polishing steps. That 's a paint cleaner that allows you to go right to the waxing stage on cars that don't need swirl removal.

blurnj13

[QUOTE=MikeyC,Aug 2 2006, 08:41 AM] One final suggestion is when you detail for money either use a sealant or a wax, but not both.

MikeyC

You know me I just keep talking until someone tells me to shut up.

afwfjustin

^but you're definitely a huge asset to us detailing newbies! I've started my little detailing business here in Atlanta and I cannot keep up with the amount of cars that want me to do work! I read through all these threads and I must say that you are a big help.

<3

blurnj13