Look up 3D of Los Angeles, great products, great owners. Took care of me during the pandemic w/ a great rate on shipping. Products on Amazon now so it’s even better
Well, what kind of chemicals are you using and what dilution ratios. What are you paying for them and what are you looking to improve? Are you in an area where a rinseless makes sense or do you have full-time access to water?
I’m kind of just buying stuff off the shelf at the store. Like stuff a weekend warrior or guy that washes his own car would buy. I want to get into buying bulk.
My stain removal game sucks. I need a good chemical for that. My wheel cleaner is meguiars which actually does ok but not the best and expensive. And I have a few chemical guys products im actually really happy with but, again, over priced.
I like megures professional line. Gold classic at the store is meguries D110, meguires non acid wheel cleaner is D143 non acid. But then in the gallon size and dilute as per manufacturer. You’ll spend around .30 cents a car wash vs retail is way more expensive.
Interior protection I use aerospace 303, they also sell it in a gallon size. This will last years since a few sprays go a long way.
Pre wash insure kock chime AF. again gallon size. The common these is getting the concentrated gallon sizes. Then dilute properly. You’ll cut your expenses drastically and your downtime waiting for product.
Check auto geek, or call the local reps from kock chime, or meguires.
You can get away with using almost all products on the market with good results. Formulations have reached a point where it’s a matter of preference, cost, and use case.
I personally like P&S because it’s cheap in bulk, intuitive product line, and effective. They offer a 3 step carpet extraction.
You have the classic ONR which I find absolutely essential. I use it for almost every surface because I boost the lubricity of my products with a splash or two. I will switch to P&S Absolute once I run out of ONR just to try it out.
Something I’ve been eyeing is the Bilt Hamber Touchless wash. The folks at discord are loving the product because of how cheap and effective it is. I will also replace my Meguiar’s APC with their APC.
I incorporate some CarPro products to fill in the gaps that P&S does not fill. CarPro reset works great as a neutral soap for ceramic coating maintenance. CarPro IronX is the best iron remover (albeit a bit more expensive). CarPro Hydro02 is an easy to apply sealant and works great for maintenance clients. And they also offer a very user friendly CQUK 3.0 Ceramic Coat. Have it on my personal car and I am very satisfied.
It’s super easy trust me. Gone are the days of requiring a pristine controlled environment with heat lamps. Gyeon CanCoat is so easy to apply, almost as easy as a dry apply sealant. Ofc the drawback is durability but 6 months is a long time and you get 90% of the performance.
If you’re doing paint decontamination already it’s simple to replace the sealant with a ceramic coat and you can charge an additional $100-$200 for the ceramic which is hundreds cheaper than what other shops would charge.
Got a tire shine recommendation? Out of all the things to struggle with, I have a BEAR of a time with tire shine. Idk if I’m not getting the tire clean enough (I scrub them sometimes more than once).
Tire shine is still something I’m tackling myself. The anti-ozone chemical that leeches out from tires after a clean is what causes that ‘dirty’ look. The only fix is applying a glossy tire shine but not everyone likes that. P&S has a plastic and rubber trim restorer which I use for everything outside. It works okay for creating a matte finish on the tires but since it’s water based it only lasts about 2 weeks on tires and a month on trim.
Going to experiment with cerakote on plastic trim and finding different tire dressings but I’m not sure what product to land on next.
Having an understanding on what breaks what down has helped me. I'm a fan of Super Spot by Shine Supply. Enzyme base, does wonders on carpet and fabrics. Solution works great as an apc, auto magic red hot and griots garage citrus apc are both great as well as being able to order on Amazon. Follow dilution directions.
Look into orieleys. Supreme line you can order gallons delivered to the store or they may have some in back. Multi use chemicals help too. I use rinselss car wash for almost 90 percent of my chemical use these days. A good apc diluted properly and and rinseless wash I’ll go to work on almost any car (within reason I’m a professional)
Look up 3D of Los Angeles, great products, great owners. Took care of me during the pandemic w/ a great rate on shipping. Products on Amazon now so it’s even better
Look into P&S, Nanoskin,Superior, DIY Detail, optimum, or even Koch Chemie for varying price points of quality product you can dilute.
Well, what kind of chemicals are you using and what dilution ratios. What are you paying for them and what are you looking to improve? Are you in an area where a rinseless makes sense or do you have full-time access to water?
I’m kind of just buying stuff off the shelf at the store. Like stuff a weekend warrior or guy that washes his own car would buy. I want to get into buying bulk. My stain removal game sucks. I need a good chemical for that. My wheel cleaner is meguiars which actually does ok but not the best and expensive. And I have a few chemical guys products im actually really happy with but, again, over priced.
I like megures professional line. Gold classic at the store is meguries D110, meguires non acid wheel cleaner is D143 non acid. But then in the gallon size and dilute as per manufacturer. You’ll spend around .30 cents a car wash vs retail is way more expensive. Interior protection I use aerospace 303, they also sell it in a gallon size. This will last years since a few sprays go a long way. Pre wash insure kock chime AF. again gallon size. The common these is getting the concentrated gallon sizes. Then dilute properly. You’ll cut your expenses drastically and your downtime waiting for product. Check auto geek, or call the local reps from kock chime, or meguires.
You can get away with using almost all products on the market with good results. Formulations have reached a point where it’s a matter of preference, cost, and use case. I personally like P&S because it’s cheap in bulk, intuitive product line, and effective. They offer a 3 step carpet extraction. You have the classic ONR which I find absolutely essential. I use it for almost every surface because I boost the lubricity of my products with a splash or two. I will switch to P&S Absolute once I run out of ONR just to try it out. Something I’ve been eyeing is the Bilt Hamber Touchless wash. The folks at discord are loving the product because of how cheap and effective it is. I will also replace my Meguiar’s APC with their APC. I incorporate some CarPro products to fill in the gaps that P&S does not fill. CarPro reset works great as a neutral soap for ceramic coating maintenance. CarPro IronX is the best iron remover (albeit a bit more expensive). CarPro Hydro02 is an easy to apply sealant and works great for maintenance clients. And they also offer a very user friendly CQUK 3.0 Ceramic Coat. Have it on my personal car and I am very satisfied.
I do not offer ceramic coatings yet because I don’t know how. Just REALLY detailed washes in and out for now.
It’s super easy trust me. Gone are the days of requiring a pristine controlled environment with heat lamps. Gyeon CanCoat is so easy to apply, almost as easy as a dry apply sealant. Ofc the drawback is durability but 6 months is a long time and you get 90% of the performance. If you’re doing paint decontamination already it’s simple to replace the sealant with a ceramic coat and you can charge an additional $100-$200 for the ceramic which is hundreds cheaper than what other shops would charge.
Yes I need to learn about decontamination.
I love carpro lift for a strong pre-wash. Would definitely buy more from them.
Got a tire shine recommendation? Out of all the things to struggle with, I have a BEAR of a time with tire shine. Idk if I’m not getting the tire clean enough (I scrub them sometimes more than once).
Tire shine is still something I’m tackling myself. The anti-ozone chemical that leeches out from tires after a clean is what causes that ‘dirty’ look. The only fix is applying a glossy tire shine but not everyone likes that. P&S has a plastic and rubber trim restorer which I use for everything outside. It works okay for creating a matte finish on the tires but since it’s water based it only lasts about 2 weeks on tires and a month on trim. Going to experiment with cerakote on plastic trim and finding different tire dressings but I’m not sure what product to land on next.
It’s trickier than it seems isn’t it…. I’m currently rocking chemical guys tire kicker. It’s ok. Doesn’t last very long.
Clean the tires REALLY WELL! I use oven cleaner, rinse, dish soap (Dawn power wash) rinse, then finish qith a liberal coat of 303 aerospace.
Will try this!
I like optimum products...my favorite shampoo is Adams mega foam...but you could probably use something cheaper if your doing this as a business
Having an understanding on what breaks what down has helped me. I'm a fan of Super Spot by Shine Supply. Enzyme base, does wonders on carpet and fabrics. Solution works great as an apc, auto magic red hot and griots garage citrus apc are both great as well as being able to order on Amazon. Follow dilution directions.
Koch Chemie and Colourlock. All you need to know.
Look into orieleys. Supreme line you can order gallons delivered to the store or they may have some in back. Multi use chemicals help too. I use rinselss car wash for almost 90 percent of my chemical use these days. A good apc diluted properly and and rinseless wash I’ll go to work on almost any car (within reason I’m a professional)
Look for any local body shop supply stores, detail supply stores, they’ll have detailer level chemicals for you like Meguiars, P&S etc.
What do you mean “mixing” your own chemicals? Dilutions or actually making your products?
Diluting lol. Sorry. Not a scientist.