Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

[Grand Am GT]

Not sure if this should be in the Detailing for Dollars or not, so admin, please feel free to move if necessary.

I'm looking to start my own detailing business, and obviously want to offer a variety of packages. One that I'm thinking about is a Wash/Clay/Spray Wax for those on a tight budget. Would a spray wax be sufficient? If so, which spray wax would you recommend? Would Ultimate Quik Wax be the way to go?

Thank you.

[fzr confused]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

if it were me, i wouldnt clay unless i was doing real wax. i would (and do) offer a wash/spray wax (but i only offer this to people i detail their cars normally). claying takes off all of the wax that is on the car and i dont think the spray wax will leave enough protection behind for it to last very long on its on.

[Grand Am GT]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

Good point about the clay! I forgot about that.

Thank you.

[Ol' Red]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

I think that somebody who wants their car clayed will want real wax or sealant. Somebody that wants spray wax probably doesnt know what clay bar is (unless it is a regular customer, like said above).

[Eddie6th]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

I think you should do the claying as this is important.Just use a less expensive wax.Instead of techw2.0,use DC3 etc.The claying makes the biggest difference in appearance.This will help your for reputation as a good detailer.

I've found in the past,that without claying,the finish albeit glossier,doesn't 'PoP'. Although polishing helps too,on a budget,clay and wax is what i'd use.

[the_invisible]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

For clients on a budget, you should ask them what their needs are. As a financial analyst, before I performed any services for a client, I must understand the client's needs and their budget. All other services should be performed with this kind of mentality and professionalism, in my opinion.

Remember. Time is money. You want to spend as little time as possible while obtaining the best possible results with the limited budget available. That's value added for your clients.

To service clients on a budget, you may find claying too costly. Clay is relatively expensive (don't forget you need sort of quick detailer) and requires a lot of work by hand. Although claying effectively removes contaminants to give the car a brilliant shine, most clients on a budget probably wouldn't notice the difference.

Instead of performing a clay job, you may want to use some sort of cleaning/polishing product to remove paint defects. For less amount of time, cleaning and polishing will obtain results that are more noticeable than claying.

To significantly cut even more time, you can use an All-in-One Cleaner/Polisher/Wax solution. At $35 a gallon, the Paint Coniditioning Creme, is even cheaper than the Deep Crystal System Wax.

I haven't used much spray wax myself, but Mike Pennington's Ultimate Quik Wax advertising video demonstrates that UQW can be used to apply to bare surfaces to obtain great results. With the synthetic polymer ingredient, it would probably outlast any other spray waxes available.

[new2detailing]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

There is a detailing service that comes out to my business that uses a cleaner wax as part of their budget package. Basically, they vacuum, clean interior, wash, and apply cleaner wax (with a PC). They usually do it in about 2hours. Again, perfection is not the focus, rather a semi-thourough clean and wax job.

[fzr confused]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

For clients on a budget, you should ask them what their needs are. As a financial analyst, before I performed any services for a client, I must understand the client's needs and their budget. All other services should be performed with this kind of mentality and professionalism, in my opinion.

exactly, find out what result they would like and what price range they would like to stay within. when i do a car that the owner wants any form of correction i show them a few test spots, 1 with say just swirlX and one with 2 steps like UC and 205 and ask them which they would prefer and what the costs for each would be. MOST of my customers only want that 1 extra step because in their eye they dont see the "difference" in the 2 test spots, they just want it shiny.

as for claying, yes it does make it look better when done, and makes it feel sooooooooo much sexier but for a "budget detail" to me is not worth it. the cost of clay is not cheap and can only be used for a few cars and you also then have to use some form of lube (i find some GC soap and water works wonders and is very cost effective). then you have to take into account it is going to take you a bit longer to get done. for a budget detail i dont see being there more than 1 hour as being cost effective in my eyes. unless it is a good customer of course, because those are hard to come by for me being new. if this is something you really want to look into, check out some M135. it isnt quite UQW but it does look good on cars . i THINK it is about the same as the UQD, so it leave some protection behind and also gives a deep gloss. a gallon of it is rather cheap, which helps with the cost. so for a budget detail i would just wash/M135/vac/dress tires and call it a day. although you can always either have your car clayed and have them feel it, or you can clay 1 section and have them feel it/see it and then say for XX more i will clay the car and see what they say.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

I usually use UQW on all of my washes just as a booster and to really clean up the looks and help wipe away anything I missed during drying. It's also nice to tell the owner that you through in a booster was for free with their wash, too.

[EPHIOS]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

I haven't tried this yet. But, my prediction is.....lack of durability with spray wax. If you can't afford WAX, why not try Meguiar's Cleaner Wax, which cost as much or less than Spray Waxes.

[fzr confused]

Re: Wash, Clay, Spray Wax?

i think his reasoning for spray wax is it cuts the detailing time making it a cheaper service...at least that is the way i took it.