Any time you have contact with paint regardless of hand washing, you will create toweling swirls. Just the way it is.

 

Bummer.....Thanks Ken

 

Except if you're using a non dragging method of drying.

With a properly waxed MINI, an air blower or leaf blower can blow dry the paint. The Absorber synthetic towel used with the blotting technique won't cause any swirls either.

To minimize swirling on the paint, you want to use a car wash soap with very high lubricity such as Prima Mystique and a lambswool wash mitt.

There are other factors that can cause swirling. Quick Detailing a dirty car, using a California Duster on a dirty car, someone laying an object on your paint, like placing a box on the roof and dragging it off, someone rubbing your paint showing you how dirty it is...

 

What about going the non-professional route and finding a very trustworthy OCD person who either has more time on their hands or just plain loves cleaning cars?

I love detailing vehicles on the weekend, even though I'm very busy. For me its the best form of relaxation/entertainment. If you find someone in your area that you know is OCD about detailing and knows their stuff, why not have them clean it for you? For a good friend, I'd do it monthly just for the cost of them keeping my detailing tools/products/goodies stocked up. You might be able to find a stranger who would be willing to give your car a good detailing once a month for $50-$100. You could then do a simple wash/dry once a month yourself or even let it go and just get it fully detailed once a month. This would be the route I would go if I didn't love washing cars. If you don't love it and a few hours of your time is worth more than $50-$100 bucks it might be a good option for you.

If someone came to me when I was in highschool or college and offered to pay me that kind of money to detail their car I would have been all over it. Especially if you provide all the right products/tools and offer to let them detail their own car after finishing yours.

 

true as far as drying the car, but even with the freshest wash mitt you
still get slight hazing after wash after wash. otherwise why bother buying
polishes and stuff.

wat i want to see is self-repairing paint. that would be the schiz
in the future. imagine no polishing needed. just wash and hydro.

 

idrive- i have people offering me $150 and one time up to $200 to do
their cars after looking at my hobby cars. im too lazy to do it still.
i tell them to take it to a pro-detailer, but they insist that i do it for them.

the amount of work and time needed to do an excellent job detailing does
not really make sense for me to do other people's cars. im just too slow
to do professional work. also, im not going to invest my whole day just to
do $150. no way.

 

Exactly why it would be great to find a highschool/college aged kid. I don't consider myself speedy, but I can do a full detail (wash through full claybar as well as interior) on a MINI sized car in 6-8 hours. If you can find a smart/responsible HS/College kid that likes detailing $150 would be a great deal. A full wash/wax and interior cleaning that might take 3-4 hours for $50-$80 would also seem like a good deal to someone working at the mall and being paid $9/hr to do something he hates.

I certainly wouldn't do a full detailing job (wash/clay/polish/wax/interior/etc) for $150 either. I just think there are OCD people out there with more time than money who would be willing to do it.

 

idrives- you are a machine. you are too fast.

the quickest i can do my MCS is about 10hrs for the paint add
another 2hrs for interior, wheels, and tires. and probably a
good idea to add another hr for the grills and other dressing app.

im not sure if we're talking apples to apples, but a full detail
takes a lot of time and dedication. for my personal cars no issue.
for other's car, not worth my time.

 

I wash my car twice a week (once on the weekend and again mid-week), wax every other week, engine detail every other week, and do a full interior detail at least once a week. You could be doing that as well though, and like you said we probably aren't comparing apples to apples. I find that judicious maintenance minimizes the time needed on doing the full wash and clay process.

I am looking forward to trying out hydro though, it'll be nice to have a product that I can feel good about using and not have to wax all the time.

 

wow, you should change your handle to iWasheS. jk

very impressive dedication.

 

Good point. I don't watch TV and don't like being inactive. So if I'm not at work I'm either working out, eating, washing a car, or sleeping (along with necessary face time with the girl). With the new car on its way and a busier work schedule I'll probably just do a good basic detail once a week. My fiance said she used to think she enjoyed washing cars, until she met me and found out there was more to it than filling up a bucket with dish soap/water and rubbing some towels around on the car a couple times every summer. She'll help out by vaccuming or something like that now, but won't go near the paint (not that I'm complaining).

 

Haha, this is exactly why I detail. I don't care if I waste the day and only get paid $150, I love working on cars. The money is awesome, I love cars, I don't have to work in a restaurant or bag groceries, I get to work on one of the things I love.

 

yah, i dont watch tv either. heck the only life outside of work is
playing with cars and doing stuff with the family on the weekend
afternoons in which seems like 'between' work.

mcd- im not saying it is a "waste" to detail cars for $150. if you enjoy it
it is not a waste, $150 is just a good side effect for you. for me, i just dont
have time to be detailing cars for other people, period. even if it was for
200 or even 300, i would rather be motoring in my car or modding them or
just doing something for myself. we all have our ways to make money
efficiently and detailing a car is not efficient for me at all. cause im just
too damn slow.

 

Haha no worries Ken. It takes so much time and I get frustrated with it easily, but usually the final product is awesome, so it all makes up for the time and frustration in the long run.