I work at a car dealership and we are wanting to turn our Chevy 2500 into a pump truck with a big water tank in the back to make washing cars on the lot easier, but I’m not sure where to start. My boss says he can get a tank/cage but we will need a pump/washer system setup still. I have no idea what to look for. Has anyone else tried a setup similar to this? What all hardware was required?

My car has a full ppf package, front to rear, to to bottom. I'm wondering what soaps and LSPs people use for ppf. I imagine any will do as long as it's not too aggressive i.e. not super alkaline.

For the record, I'm using Gyeon Ppf Wash and PPF Maintain, and happy with the results.

Any products to avoid?

What are the must haves when just starting a detailing business? I have the shop vac and pressure washer, I also need a compressor for the tornado, right? Just curious to see what everyone has or used to get going. I also have a rav4, so plenty of trunk space as well. Thanks for all the input in advance

I’m a nerd for all of this stuff. Every type of chemical, cleaner, foam sprayer, steamer. Curious to see what everyone has to say!

I got sucked into the detailing world 4 weeks ago scrolling through YouTube. Saw someone using a foam cannon. Just some random YouTube Short... Along with my shiny new AR630TSS-HOT washer, I now have a constellation of reoccurring packages at my front door, and a wife asking a lot of questions. I go to sleep thinking about alkalinity and acidity, hose diameter, CarPro or Koch-Chemie, Adams or P&S, Griots or MTM, wands, guns, fittings, fragrance, towels and buckets...

I tried to keep it clean and compact, as my garbage/recycle cans need to fit under it. Mounted on inside wall, heated garage, w/dedicated 20amp. I cut/rewired the AR electrical hose down to 6'. Shelves and silicone pad from Amazon. All ¼ turn ball valves w/3/4” PEX lines and Arrowhead HB75M-QT hose bib. Some MTM Prima fittings where they matter with a mix of Acqualine nozzles, MTM EXS28 wand, SGS35 gun, Groit’s Boss cannon. Cox 100’ reel with Adam’s ¼”/60’ SuperFlex Hose (super nice). Settled on a mix of Koch-Chemie, Griots, Brake Buster and 3D for chemicals. First shot at this - did I miss anything?

A huge thank you to Obsessed Garage, The Clean Garage, Hawaii Detailing, Pan the Organizer, Griots, Adams, Cars with Keav, IMJOSHV, and the many others who inspired this. 

The dealer suckered me into the Simoniz GlassCoat when I bought a used car a month ago. Yeah, perhaps I should have stood my ground and refused it, but here I am. Anyway. There doesn’t seem to be much after-maintenance tips for GlassCoat and I was thinking of applying a spray bottle ceramic after an upcoming wash, but don’t want to mess up my car. I do get some beading when washing the car or when it rains, but probably could use more protection. Perhaps I’m too obsessed with trying to keep it clean.

Hey guys,

I put Glaco on my windshield two days ago and it worked brilliantly, I hadn’t realised however that I was almost out of windscreen fluid and after a long drive my windscreen has bug splatter all over.

I am going to top up my windscreen fluid today, can I still use an additive to water in the fluid or is straight water best now?

My car had a lot of cat prints on the top of the roof so I brought my car to an automatic car wash with brushes (I know that was a big mistake and I shouldn’t have, will never do again). Does anyone know these black scratches look like they are from the car wash or from cats? The cats also scratched my top of the car but it doesn’t look like these black marks. On the other side of my car in the same area there are 3 small black scratches just like this as well. I was thinking maybe it is from the stray cats jumping on or off of my car in these areas but because I got the car wash the same day I don’t know which one it is.

TDLR: are these cat scratches or from an automatic car wash with brushes?

Are there wheel cleaning products that I should avoid?

I'll be towing a car on a uhaul trailer. What kind of tape or plastic can I put on the front and other areas to prevent rock chips? Thanks fellas.

Hi there,

My vehicle is coating with System X coating. I did see on AMMO's website that Foam Paint Cleanser is a recommended wash soap for coated vehicles.

However, I wonder if I could do hoseless wash using the Aerator with this soap, or I should be better off using the Lift and Wash soap instead?

I live in an apartment complex, and we have long winter season in the state where I live.

Thanks a lot in advance!

I’ve got a DI filter for my home wash setup and I’m currently at about 2 PPM.

With that, I’m still getting water spots on my windows if I left the car air dry. Is that to be expected?

It feels like I’m rinsing thoroughly, but there’s always a chance I’m not.

TIA!

Has anybody used a 10gpm pressure washer to wash a car? what are the cons of it?

We have access in the office to one, but would like to know if anyone has experience doing it?

Hello, i am going to use home APC diluted for wheels and tires. I have few questions: 1.Can i spray apc on tires or it is wheels only? 2.Can i use it every wash or will be bad for wheels? 3.What sprayer should i get - trigger sprayer or pump sprayer and what are benefits and disadvantages of each one?

Good afternoon! Long time lurker, but since I bought my dream car, I figured I'd post seeking some feedback on my product choices and plan to utilize them. Here's my new 2018 A4 Allroad Prestige in Gotland Green Metallic over Nougat:

https://preview.redd.it/6jdzafvgq4yd1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80ddf1cd9432fc855c3dbe313848e926ae3ea0ae

Ventilated Sport Seats

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations knowing that I intend to DIY as much as possible, but here is my plan and what I currently have in my shopping cart:

1. Find some S4 wheels and sell the current ones.
2. Optimum Foaming Decontamination Wash and Ferrex
3. Clay Towel (Using the above products as clay lube per this video.)
4. Have professional detailer do a very basic correction.
5. IPA Wipedown
6. Gyeon Quick View on Glass and Mirrors
7. Griots Ceramic Trim Coating
8. Griots 3-1 Ceramic Sealant (Two coats then sparingly as a drying aid when needed.)

After the winter:

1. Have the black cladding repainted Gotland Green.
2. Once allowed, Optimum Foaming Decontamination Wash, Ferrex, and Clay Towel
3. Have professional detailer do more thorough correction.
4. IPA Wipedown
5. Gyeon Pure Evo Ceramic Coating
6. Gyeon Quick View on Glass and Mirrors
7. PPF on Hood, Front Bumper, and Headlights
8. Griots Ceramic Trim Coating
9. Griots 3-1 Ceramic Sealant (Two coats then sparingly as a drying aid when needed.)

The interior is already pretty immaculate, but I've always used Nextzett Cockpit Premium and Optimum Protectant Plus to clean and maintain.

And thanks to this subreddit, I discovered Motorplast, which is magic:

Motorplast's Satin Sheen

Photoshop of Stock S4 Wheels

Hey everyone!

I'm planning to use Shine Mate 150mm pads along with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish on my DA polisher.

I’m considering using the blue pad with the compound and the red pad with the polish.

Does this sound like a good combination, or would you recommend something different? Any tips or experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Vinyl dash that's 28 years old. This is as clean as I can get it using TW Power Out Fresh Clean. Tried with microfiber and hogs hair brush.

I can't tell if this is just from age or if it's old product, but I'd like to clean/darken the "valleys" in the texture so it's more uniform. Also not sure if years if wiping cleaners and product over the years has polished the "peaks" of the texture? Really guessing here!

I'd appreciate any advice, thanks!

My paint is in fairly good condition and I want to detail the car. It has been a while. There are some very minor swirls and water stains/marks that I want to remove. I’m thinking of only applying Menzerna 3000 with Shine Mate blue finishing pad. Will it have any effect on those stains and mild swirls or is it a waste of time? I’don’t care for deep scratches etc. I have photo of the trunk area where you can see the swirls and stains

For 45 bucks I can hand car wash unlimited times. It's a new car and I drive a lot. Is there such thing as washing too many times?

I'm also getting ceramic coating next week. Will that help "protect" my paint when I get it hand washed?

Thanks.

Just ordered a personalized number plate and I want to protect it from environmental damage to keep it in pristine condition.

What's the best way to go about this?

I was thinking like a PPF wrap over it, maybe ceramic coating it too?

Maybe even find a manufacturer to create an exact replica of it to use on the vehicle, and just hold onto the one's that come from factory.

I'm only willing to protect it to this extent because I think it's a pretty neat plate combination, and also it's in the colours black and silver (which from Nov 1st, today for me, will no longer be produced from the only legit personalized plate makers. This is due to legal laws, but there will be no recall on the plates I have ordered once they've arrived, however, if damaged, it will most likely be remade as black and white instead.

Any tips, please? Can't find anything really about it online or on YouTube.

Cheers!

I dropped my new car off at an authorized GTechniq detailer for the Crystal Serum Ultra coating and asked for them to keep the empty box and bottle for me. The detail shop owner said he couldn't let me have the bottle but he'd keep the box for me. I asked if he had it onsite so I could take a picture of it on the hood of the car for my records and he said no, it would be delivered later that day. He kept saying "Don't worry, I'll give you a sticker so you will have the full warranty". He said he would text me a picture later in the day. He says he tried to send me videos but they wouldn't deliver.

How do I know that he isn't putting a cheap ceramic coating on my car and charging me full price for the expensive stuff? Because of a warranty sticker?

Can you tell me why he couldn't just give me the empty bottle?

Is it possible to do the full ceramic coating and prep stages but not have soft(spot free) water? I live in Arizona so water is pretty hard and don’t really have access to get filter system at the moment. Is it possible I can still do this or not?

I recently started using 3D one. I just used it on a used car I got that has wrecked paint. Used it with a cutting pad and then a polishing pad. The results are really good from what I can see. It was only $25 for 16oz. How do you guys feel about these all in one compounds? I guess it’s not technically all in one since it doesn’t have wax or sealant.