Help me up my detailing game

I'm fair at detailing a car, but I also kinda hate it.  When I was a kid, we had our list of chores that we did to earn our allowance and then there were bonuses we could earn.  Mowing the lawn was $5.  Washing a car was $5.  Washing, vacuuming, and waxing a car was $20.  This was back in the days of paste wax, leather chamois, and armor all.

So I've watched a few videos (or reels as the kids call them) with some "satisfying auto detailing" but no description and realized that there are techniques that I know nothing about.  I'm mostly curious about the products they're using.  I see a magic eraser, and the drill brushes.  I have an upholstery wand for my carpet cleaner so I can suck up wet stuff and also have a wet/dry shop vac.

I'm wondering what the foamy stuff is they spray on the dash that doesn't kill the radio.  What is the stuff they scrub into the door cards?  What else have I been missing my whole life???

Tips, techniques, products.... go.

I'm horrible at detailing, (as well as not enjoying it) so no help, but got a smile out of the chore pricing. 
Most all chores were considered, by my dad, part of our responsibility for being allowed to be raised by him (yep, hard core hard guy!)

But cutting 3/4 acre lot earned me $1, and so did a wash/vacuum. Wash/wax/vacuum earned me $4. 
And , although a bit older, not THAT much!

He was not a mean guy, and had a great sense of humor; never used the word stupid, or intentionally put me down, but always picked apart anything I did - never good enough. 
In other words, pretty normal dad for the times!

Anyway, following along for info. 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/330564151879705

Didn't let me embed, but see if the link works.  This is an example of what I was watching

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

How about a how to video? 

the reels and other short videos are short on detail because they are short videos.  If you like a video learning format check out pages on youtube like Adams polishes or the Chemical Guys

Adam's Polishes - YouTube

Chemical Guys - YouTube

Since they have an interest in selling you their product they actually show you how it works and how to use it for the best results.

Some content that might help:

And some reading on detailing, also from Classic Motorsports:

How to easily, quickly detail your paint | Project Porsche 911

Easy Interior Detailing | Project Porsche 911 Carrera

Hopefully all this helps regarding products and technique. 

I'm not much help either as I generally don't enjoy the process. However, my ex- is a neurotic detailer, so my cars were often the best kept back when we were together. She really enjoys it.  She'll happily spend a weekend in her garage detailing a car.   About all I can say is like anything else, detailing is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced.  It does seem to help if you enjoy the process as much as the finished product.

I'm by no means a detailer, but a few small tips I've picked up:

Wipe down the door sill. It gets overlooked often and collects more dirt than you realize. Also makes a big psychological difference, especially if you're trying to sell the car

Bring your floormats inside and use the big house vacuum on them, or bring the big house vacuum outside. They'll get a much deeper clean, and it's faster. Even easier if you have a fancy battery powered Dyson.

If you struggle to remove pet hair, buy a carpet rake. Makes quick work of it, even when a wet/dry vac can't.

Occasionally, just straight up replacing the carpet can make sense, typically on economy cars. I bought a Fit that had been pretty well abused. Found out that OEM carpet was around $100. Took me a few hours to swap it out, but the original carpeting was beyond saving and it made an enormous differnce to how the interior looked

My biggest issue is cleaning cup holders that arent removable! 

I have two random orbitals, a porter cable 7424, which was top of the line in the mid 200Xs, about 4 years ago I was given the Griot's random orbital, it's mind-blowing how much better the Griot's unit is with regards to speed, comfort, ease of use and lack of fatigue. Between that and the improvement of exterior paint care chemicals, exterior detailing has become fairly painless. 

For interior, I have a compact steamer that I allow to do the work where I used to utilize solvents. Then once steam cleaned my go to is aerospace 303. Griot's and Adam's likely have options as good or better than aerospace 303, but it's a known quantity for me and it's not shiny, which is a pet peeve of mine. 

calteg said:

I'm by no means a detailer, but a few small tips I've picked up:

Wipe down the door sill. It gets overlooked often and collects more dirt than you realize. Also makes a big psychological difference, especially if you're trying to sell the car

Bring your floormats inside and use the big house vacuum on them, or bring the big house vacuum outside. They'll get a much deeper clean, and it's faster. Even easier if you have a fancy battery powered Dyson.

If you struggle to remove pet hair, buy a carpet rake. Makes quick work of it, even when a wet/dry vac can't.

Occasionally, just straight up replacing the carpet can make sense, typically on economy cars. I bought a Fit that had been pretty well abused. Found out that OEM carpet was around $100. Took me a few hours to swap it out, but the original carpeting was beyond saving and it made an enormous differnce to how the interior looked

All good tips. For floor mats, I actually take them out, lay them in the driveway and give them a soap and scrub, then rinse them by blasting them with the pressure washer. Then I hang them on the fence to dry while I do the rest of the car.

Those videos are helpful.  Most of the videos I found were from detailing shops that just showed you how good their work is.  They didn't divulge the products or techniques because they were trying to make money, not tell you how to do it yourself.

Floormats usually get the pressure washer treatment for me.  It's amazing what comes out of them - office supplies, small kittens, Jimmy Hoffa.

I did the cloth bench in my F150 with a pressure washer once.  I took it out and sprayed it when I knew I had a few hot, dry days coming up.  That was an eye-opener.  How many farts did I wash out of that seat?

In reply to Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

How do I pick a steamer?  Seems like that's something I could really use on my old crusty vehicles.

David S. Wallens said:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/JGx2DyoM6js?rel=0

 

Just dropped off the new BRZ with an old BMW friend I know that owns a detail shop here in OKC. He is doing his middle package on the car. As the guy in the video said, it's a pretty extensive amount of prep and work. If you scroll to the bottom of the page and click the dropdown button, it will show you everything that is being done. The CQuartz Professional.

http://theautospallc.com/c-quartz/

This package is $1100. And I'll get my car back Thursday likely. 

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I use a Bissell steamshot for spot treating stains on cloth seats. There are much fancier ones that include suction, but price triples (or more) pretty quickly. Only downside with the Bissell is due to the "teapot" style design, the first few steams are more like a deluge.

I picked up my steamer on the cheap from a lidl grocery store. Basically as long as it doesn't leak and it has a variety of nozzle attachments, you'll be good.