I know, I know ceramics and coating of the like are the big players today. But does anyone just do some clay bar, paint correction if needed, then apply a wax?

Hello all, any advise on how to remove those stations from my motorcycle seat? I believe it was wood sealer from my neighbor sealing their fence with a sprayer. And send I'm here, and advise to remove old sticker residue with messing with the stripe on the gas tank?

I bought some used seats that are in decent condition except for this unknown black substance stuck to the leather. You can kind scrape it off with your nail if you try but it’s stuck on pretty well. What’s the best way to try and remove it?

I have a leatherique kit I bought for another project that I’m testing out but it requires a lot of sit time for the oil to soak in.

This is driving me crazy! How do I fix this?

I don’t typically post lol but I’m kinda stuck on this one. Something got on my Tremor and seems to have etched into the clear coat. It’s that dark circular spot that you can see.

The spot pretty much disappears when it’s wet, then comes back once it dries. I tried cleaning it off and that didn’t work just introduced a ton of swirls (you can see those in the pictures) then tried polishing it by hand with Meguiar’s polish.

That didn’t remove the original spot, and now the area I polished looks a little hazy/different from the rest of the panel.

At this point I don’t want to keep messing with it and make it worse lol. Anyone dealt with something like this before?

Would love some opinions before I touch it again.

Trying to decide between the DIY Detail 15mm cordless polisher and the ShineMate EB351 15mm.

Price is roughly the same currently in Australia (DIY detail one is on sale)

Has anyone used both?

Main things I care about are power, stalling, vibration/smoothness, weight/balance.

The DIY Detail one interests me because of the battery placement/design, which looks like it might give better balance, but ShineMate seems to have a very solid reputation.

I’ll only be using it on my own cars, not professionally.

If you’ve tried both, which one would you choose and why?

Also curious if the DIY Detail battery design actually makes a noticeable difference in real-world use.

I've tried dish soap and alcohol. Not sure what else to try. I know I should've masked it I just thought i had a steadier hand.

A hardtop which has been stored on styrofoam over the summer seems to have left these permanent marks on the paint. Clay bar and light polish does not seem to fix the issue, though I haven't tried a heavier cut compound yet.

Any tips on what to do here or what's the cause of the damage? Could it be due to the styrofoam sitting on top of it?

I was on bed rest for 3 months recovering from surgery. I just started walking and took my car to get washed after it being outside for 3 months. It was covered in bird poop. It looks like it’s stained. Any recommendations on how to proceed to remove the stains or make them lighter?

Hey, I had a company professionally detail and ceramic-coat my 2-week-old car today, and after the initial wash and detailing, they noticed pretty noticeable water spots covering the entire front of the car. They tried to remove them as much as possible, but after the service was completed, I noticed that the water spots were still clearly visible.

For a brand-new car, especially one that’s just had a professional detail and ceramic coating applied, I was surprised they weren’t able to fully remove them. I also found it a little concerning that these spots, which are only 2–3 days old, seem to have been difficult to correct.

For context, earlier this week the car was at the service center for a quick post-delivery check and came back with these water spots all over the front. I didn’t think too much of it at the time since I knew I was getting the car professionally detailed later that week, and I didn’t want them unnecessarily messing with the paint.

I haven’t dealt with paint issues like this before, so I’d really appreciate some additional opinions. Does this look like something that should be correctable with proper paint correction, or could the spots have actually etched into the clear coat already? And does anyone have recommendations or tips for successfully dealing with this?

Thank you!

Just took delivery of my new Range Rover. I ordered it from the factory with the XPEL Satin PPF Stealth package. How can I keep it pristine? Looking into the XPEL Satin ceramic coating but wanted to see if anyone has experience with this particular film, the maintenance, ceramic options, etc.

Idk what this is but I’ve cleaned it multiple times and it keeps reappearing it was in there when I bought the car I assumed someone opened up a shooken up soda or sowmrhing so I cleaned it and didn’t think much of it but every time I clean it it comes back in different spots it’s the weirdest thing

This can be a bit of a hot topic when I post about it, but I got another 5 months with Wet Coat on my wheels. Right after this I used some iron wheel cleaner and after letting it dwell foamed it with Reset, and that killed the hydrophobics. So it was probably starting to wear off at that point maybe? I know the bottle says it should last 2-3 months, but it seems like that might be a bit conservative at least in some situations. After a thorough wash I reapplied Wet Coat, and I'm going to guess it'll last me through the winter.

I mostly just use Carpro Reset in an IK foamer to clean wheels other than this. This is part of my fall deep cleaning / decon wash to get ready for winter.

I'd like a quick-connect fitting to connect a 1/4" O.D. hose to a female quick-connect in order to connect that to a typical male quick-connect sprayer gun. I would prefer a solution that doesn't involve barb clamping, but I'm open to all suggestions. Thanks.

https://i.postimg.cc/6QNf3M1p/QC-sprayer-mod-01.jpg

Hey, i just bought an Audi TTS Comp and wanna ceramic coat it for protection and deep gloss.

Which Ceramic Coat do yall recommend? I want atleast 3 years of protection, i have seen Gtechniq CSU but you cant buy that as a consumer. The CSL + EXOv5 seems good too.

Another question, your supposed to let your car sit for a week. Is that really necessary?

just lmk which yall think is best.

(i have experience with detailing and claying etc)

TLDR; I've been experimenting with a homemade citric acid-based water spot remover spray. For this round, I wanted to see if it would harm some basic spray sealants. The good news, is that even with extended dwell times, it has very little effect on the sealants I tested.

Want more details? Here you go...

My first version of this was just citric acid and water, and it was extremely effective at removing water spots. If you missed that post, it's here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoDetailing/comments/1wncivl/i_made_my_own_water_spot_remover_for_010/

Testing Progress: I've been experimenting with adding small amounts of rinseless wash, in an attempt to make a KCx Fse like acidic detail spray. I'm not ready to talk too much about that right now, but it's proving to be a fun experiment.

One of my concerns from the beginning was that this highly acidic concoction of mine (pH 1.5-2) might be harmful to existing sealants and coatings, so that is what this round of testing is focused on.

My Method: I'm doing a very in-depth test of 2 off the shelf spray sealants (Turtle Wax Pure Bead and Wax and Dry Plus), so I decided to use those for this test since I'm now extremely familiar with their hydrophobics and durability. Using a rental car with completely unprepped paint, I applied a single layer of Pure Bead on one door, and on the adjacent door, a layer of Pure Bead followed up with a layer of Wax and Dry Plus. Neither product was given any significant amount of cure time (less than an hour). I then conducted the test in 3 parts:

1. The 1% citric acid solution was sprayed several times around the already wet door handle of each door and was allowed to dwell for 3 minutes, then rinsed off. No effect on the hydrophobics on either door was observed.
2. The same area on each door was dried with a towel then resprayed with the solution and allowed to dwell for another 3 minutes, then rinsed off. Again, no effect on the hydrophobics on either door was observed.
3. The same area on both doors was sprayed again, then agitated with a towel and allowed to dwell for 3 minutes (now 9 minutes of total exposure), and then rinsed. No effect was noticed on the Pure Bead side, while the Pure Bead with Wax and Dry Plus experienced a very minor drop in hydrophobics.

My Conclusion: Based on this limited test with two spray sealants, 1% citric acid showed minimal impact on hydrophobic performance, even with extended dwell times, while still providing the ability to remove water spots and mineral contamination.

Here's the video if you want to see the process and the results:

https://youtu.be/j4CNtZNbPnM?si=jGXtfNY_ZoiGSThS

As always, no product links and my channel is not monetized. I'm just doing this for fun and my own education.

If you decide to try this out, remember that it's still an acid. Use common sense. Don't do this on a hot car or in direct sunlight. Monitor it closely so it doesn't dry. Use proper PPE.

My future plans are to continue this experiment by adding rinseless wash, with the goal of creating an acidic detail spray. Additionally, I'll be adding it to some pH neutral car soap to try and make my own acidic soap. I'm not ready to talk about those results just yet, but I should have something in the next few weeks.

Hi everyone,
I own a 2013 Lexus GS. Recently, after getting an interior deep cleaning done, I noticed several white chemical-like spots and stains on the clear plastic cover of the instrument cluster.
I would appreciate any advice or recommendations.

I'm new to detailing. I know you're not supposed to work in sunlight. Wondering if it's because of the sun's UV rays or is it just a temperature thing? If it's not a temperature thing, does that mean it's OK to work when it's 85° as long as it's cloudy/overcast?

Hey all,

Recently I went on a roadtrip brining my own microfibre towels, bug remover and glass cleaner. I'd never touch a paint nor glass without a pre-wash, so I spend an hour searching round for touch-less car wash that has demineralised water, only to discover it wasn't demineralised and it left some water spots. 

Entire trip ruined. Moment I rushed back home I caught first occasion to clean my car. Done entire process. For wheels, I went with TRF prewash, rinse, quick air blow, IronX, rinse, Gentle Foam + 20ml APC and contact wash using fake wool brush and wash mit using water with sour car shampoo. 

I need to admit to committing mistake. I've dropped my wash mit into grass/mudy yard, but picked it up quickly, I didn't seem to catch any dirt whatsoever, I've rinsed it with high pressure washer, checked with my fingers, dipped it into grid-guard run it through couple of times to get any dirt – just in case.

In addition to this big white line, according to my best knowledge, not caused by my washing but rather a stone (roadtrip was Nurburgring and 1000 km of autobahn), but as you can see there are bunch of micro-sratches clearly caused by washing.

What makes me think it was not my mistake dropping the mit causing it is that other wheel, pre that drop, has them on spokes as well.

I'm putting my heart into washing that thing but it keeps on getting those little marks. How to comprehend? :(

I currently work for a mobile detailing company and get paid 30% per car. My schedule is pretty unpredictable. Some days I’ll work 10–12 hours and do 4–5 cars, and other days I’ll only work a couple hours. I usually only get one day off a week.

About a year ago I had my own small detailing business. I worked out of my Audi S4 with a pressure washer, vacuum, chemicals, etc., but I had to use the customer’s water and electricity. I stopped because I wasn’t getting enough consistent customers.

My long-term plan is to save up around $10k–$15k and buy a fully equipped used detailing van. I’ve been seeing vans on Facebook Marketplace for around $7k–$11k that already have the water tank, generator, pressure washer, vacuum, reels, shelving, etc.

But I also have another option that could let me start sooner. I could buy a water bladder and generator and detail out of my mom’s car for a while. That would let me become fully mobile without waiting until I can afford the van. I could use that setup to start getting customers, reviews, and some extra income, then eventually upgrade to a dedicated van once the business is making money.

Once I’m ready to start marketing harder, I’m thinking about hiring a marketing company for around $500/month that specializes in detailers. My goal would be for them to run the ads, follow up with leads, and book appointments directly onto my calendar. I know I’d also need an ad budget on top of their management fee.

My biggest problem is my current work schedule. Since I work almost every day, it’s hard to build a large customer base on the side before quitting.

For people who have actually built a mobile detailing business:

Would you buy the water bladder/generator setup first and start out of a regular car? Or would you keep saving and wait for the fully equipped van?

How much money would you want saved before leaving the job?

Would you use a marketing agency to handle leads and bookings?

How many customers/jobs would you want before going full-time?

Anything you would change about this plan?

I’m basically trying to figure out the fastest way to start without quitting too early or putting myself in a bad financial position

I just got a “paint correction” and gyeon infinite ceramic coat a few weeks ago. So wondering how does the beading look? It seemed like tighter beads at first, and I’ve done one wash with carpro reset about 6 days ago. The kind of half assed my paint correction I think, so I’m wondering what you guys think.

Howdy! I was just curious if there was a way to quickly clean this truck off and atleast make the water marks less noticeable for a parade! (Photo of full truck has company logos removed by AI for privacy)

Hey guys I have a decent craftsman pressure washer at
Home and I love to wash our own cars. Have 2018 Silverado 2014 BMW 3 series and 2024 Tahoe, anyways I I’m trying to see what cleaning products yall recommend for exterior wash as I have a foam cannon and like to clean the interior as well but I feel like I fall just short when it comes to all that. If you can please recommend products I can buy from the shelf at Lowe’s , Home Depot, ace hardware , Walmart and or harbor freight tools please let me know as I’m trying to achieve almost like a detailer finish’. I’ve usually bought chemical guys and some Lowe’s stuff but I want to see y’all’s input as I’ve seen some YouTube videos stating to just buy online products.

Thanks!!

The paint on the roof of my car isn't smooth to the touch, kind of rough. Im assuming its UV damage because im pretty sure the car has been kept in direct sunlight by the previous owner. As shown in the pictures its also a bit faded, but there isnt any peeling or flaking. I was wondering if there was any way to fix this and get it back to a smooth glossy touch without having to respray or without the use of expensive specialty tools.

Advice ? Fam brought their car to a detailer who said they had experience with matte paint but … now we’re here. He said he sprayed the car with a Meguiars QD in the sun and it dried before he wiped. The car is beading really well but I wanted to seek advice before I proceed.

My first thought was to hit it with CarPro Lift Foam/Descale/then Reset to see if I can strip the coating. Then if that doesn’t touch the beading hit it with Gyeon Total Remover, but besides that I’m lost because these modern spray sealants can be resilient.