anyone in the forum use mothers waxes and polishes? im starting my own detailing business soon and im trying to find a good company (not the generic "detailers choice" and whatnots) considering im doing some nice cars. i have alot of mcguiars stuff, but its a b!tch and a half to get off. any other suggestions??

 

Seems odd to me that a guy who is starting his own business and working on high end cars is asking for recommendations. One might think you'd be the one we're asking !

You're going to get a lot of different answers from this group. Me... I used to use Mother's California Gold Carnuba. Now I'm an Prima Epic synthetic wax kinda guy.

 

Haha. I know what you mean. I have worked for BMW doing detailing for a year now, but there we use the generic detailing companies (although its cheaper, it wears off quickly, and doesnt produce the depth that i like).

Should i go carbuba or synthetic, or do a base of carnuba and follow with synthetic. i have tons of questions, but i guess i will have to try new stuff.

Any other suggestions??

 

Prima product line is the stuff we use now.

 

Here's my suggestion: Contact Heather at Detailers Paradise and pepper her with your questions. She will be very helpful and has no problem talking with those of us new to the detailing scene.

 

Carnuba or synthetic is up to you. But if you do both be sure the synthetic is the base, not the carnuba...or else when the carnuba wears off in a few days the synthetic will be gone with it.

 

Talk to Heater at DP, I am sure she would be helpful.

Also, if its hard to get off, your using to much. Check out Octainguys DVD, its not hard to get off if you use his techniques.

 

Don't mean to be too direct here, but if Meguiar's is a biitch to get off, then you aren't using it correctly. Considering that you're asking about what products to use, maybe a little primer on detailing techniques is in order.

Meguiars has hundreds of products. Have you tried #66 yet?? Its a one step cleaner wax that's great for people doing production. How about #21 or #20 waxes??? Have you tried their professional polishes like Speed Glaze aka M80?? Do you understand how the Meguiar's 5 step system works??? From Prep to Polish to Wax??

It's also funny that you say you worked for a BMW dealership, and that you don't want a "genertic detailers choice" products. The first thing to understand is that a big part of my work comes from fixing crappy dealer polishing or body shop production jobs. I see it and hear it all the time from people who want to get into their own business detailing after having worked production for several years. If you want to do high end work, you have to produce work superior to what the dealer offers, and that's actually pretty simple if you know what you are doing.

My suggestion is rather than start with a different system, master the basics, then you can choose any companies system you want because then you'll understand that there aren't a whole lot of differences.

A good place to start is with my DVD--How to Use the Porter Cable Polisher for Show Car results. It's available in the NAM store for $31. But don't take it from me, ready the threads here on Detailing101 about my DVD---I got a PM from a fellow NAMer who's been using the rotary buffer for 20 years and he still learned from the DVD and said it was worth much more than what I sell it for.

Just my 2 cents.

Richard

 

Richard and others,
Thanks for the suggestions. Hopefully i can get this whole business thing off the ground. I've already got some sweet cars lined up (family friends and the like... S65 V12biturbo anyone???)
When I said that McGuiars is hard to get off, I meant the trim pieces mostly (and the pesky white powder left behind), but mainly the trim. We can usaully use solvents to get the wax off, but some thing with the cleaner wax paste just didn't budge.

I apprecaite the help with everything, hopefully i can post some picks of some cars im working on now.

Thanks again,
b.p.m.

 

The easiest way to avoid that is to just tape off the trim with blue painters' tape. Takes maybe 10 or 15 minutes to tape off and then you can be as "sloppy" as you want with the wax.

 

Well this is what I meant. If you're using a Meguiar's paste wax, then unless you're using #16, you're using the consumer line of Meguiar's. Since you say you want to open your own business, then you should be using and mastering the professional line. My Meguiar's staple is M80 Speed Glaze in the professional line and their synthetic polymer wax M21--which actually was recently replaced in my own arsenal with Prima's Epic.

However M66 aka Quick Detailer (1 step cleaner wax) is a great product for those that need speed and don't have time for a multistep process of prep, paint clean/polish, and wax.

That's great you've got cars lined up. I went pro a little over a year ago and it's been a hard road--took about 4 months before I got so busy that I had to force myself to take days off to recuperate.

I'm not trying to discourage you from switching to another brand, however, before trying to solve one problem, make sure that you've correctly identified the real issue and then applied to correct action. That is, if the wax is hard to get off the trim, then take steps like MLWagner said to make sure it doesn't get on the trim in the first place. You can also choose from a large selection of waxes that you probably didn't even know existed that works better for you.

Just like motoring in our MINI's the best advice to maximizing your safety and fun is to learn as much as you can, take classes, learn from your peers.

I'm polishing out a MINI right now--it actually belongs to NAM Moderator MINIclo. I'm currently on my 10th hour, and still have about an hour to go before I finish the exterior, then it's time to work on the interior. It's going to be a long night for me. But I love it!

Richard

 

Richard, I am so excited to see Wanda after her OctaneGuy make-over!

 

You won't even recognize her. She's got the Epic shine!!!

 

Please tell me you two are not posting on the forum, talking to one another from across the garage...or even the house.

 

Haha no. She dropped the car off and went home. We do only live like 10 minutes away from each other, but she still hasn't seen her MINI in person in any other condition than the Before shot.

 

octaneguy- i noted clo to take it to you for the makeover on another
thread!!!

is that an octane point for me?

 

Haha, thanks for the nudge. It's half a point. LOL. She contacted me several months ago about doing it, so it just took awhile for her to come around.

 

Thats good to hear.

 

For those that know my Flickr site, the photos are there....for those that don't you will to wait a bit until I have time to do my writeup. Time to take my kid to school and get going to work on a black 2007 Z06 Corvette after a 40 mile drive---after that--a black 360 Modena....but not today. lol.

 

i'll take it!

 

i think you need to do more research before openning your business.

 

You know, I'm also curious about the Mother's products - there is a really nice package available via Costco right now and for the price and all the stuff you get I couldn''t help but consider it.