# Fitting in Detailing with ‘life’….



## sevenfourate (Mar 23, 2013)

I’m a HUGELY passionate detailer. And love the process, the results - and the time to myself tinkering and improving.

And I’m absolute anal about my cars. A ‘clean’ invariably takes up nearly a full day (Generally always weekends as I’m supremely busy at work) as i have to do absolute everything to the enth degree. I haven’t previously ‘just’ done the outside and walked away for example……

I’m hoping to get back into another hobby a bit more this year - and would like to spend a bit less time detailing. Whilst of course keeping cars presentable !

So: In this situation - do you guys do the interior one session, and the outside the next, under the bonnet the next. Ie: have areas in rotation. Or concentrate on keeping the inside ‘tidy’ and outside protected. Or ???

Any / all time saving tips appreciated :thumb:


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## Rappy (Oct 2, 2020)

A very good post :thumb:

I would suggest breaking all up into bite size chunks, so that you are not short cutting the process.

I would maybe look at the following..

Wk 1 Basic exterior wash 1-2 hrs
Wk 2 Basic interior vac & wipedown 1-2 hrs
Wk 3 Basic engine bay wipe down 1-2 hrs
Wk 4 Dedicated deep clean of exterior & protection 3-4 hrs
Wk 5 Dedicated deep clean of wheels & protection 2-3 hrs 
Wk 6 Dedicated deep clean of interior 3-4 hrs
Wk 7 Dedicated deep clean of engine bay 3-4 hrs
Wk 8 Repeat....

Obviously, car size dependant & how much time you want to spend each week


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## pt1 (Feb 8, 2014)

I have a young family so i just do what i can when i can, i had a couple of hours this morning so did a maintenance wash and quick hoover.if i get longer i will do a more, thats how i roll 

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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

I don't have the facilities to do the car proper justice so i tend to go with
Basic maintenance wash
Vacuum the interior
Keep the wax/coating topped up
just to make the car look presentable. Once i get an outside tap fitted, i'll get a pressure washer and then i can at least do a half decent job of the exterior but i'm kind of restricted due to parking on a weekend, if i move the car we will never get it back in to the space until stupid o clock at night and pretty much everyone round here drives like it's a banger racing track. 
Oh and it's permanently in the sunlight so i have to move fast.


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## Saladin (Nov 18, 2020)

I just can't get with doing the interior and exterior in one session anymore. This isn't due to age or health or anything, nor is it because I don't love cleaning the car. 

I just don't want to spend a full day cleaning the car and then have no energy for anything else. So now I will spend 2 hours (though that includes set-up + clean-up) sorting out the exterior of the car. The interior of my car gets cleaned as and when if I'm honest - I have all the kit for it but it just doesn't get that dirty if I'm honest. Occasionally I'll give it a full once over though to ensure it doesn't get out of hand!

As for under the bonnet etc. that will be more of a scheduled thing that I set out specific time for - but it will normally include a full wash of the outside at the same time too


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

I have the same issue. For me a quick wash is 4 hours. I don't know how anyone can wash a whole car in an hour or two.

However I just don't get the time now that I have 2 kids. Maybe once a month or so I am "allowed" to wash the car, and usually end up feeling sorry for the wife's car, so try to cram washing both into the time I'd usually just wash mine.

The wet application sealants come in handy for these quick washes - currently giving Gyeon Wet Coat a go.

Would be nice to have time for waxing the car. Maybe in the summer.

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## Caledoniandream (Oct 9, 2009)

Work smarter, not harder.
Plan your work, make sure you have an easy set up, not too much faffing before you can start.
Due to restricted time, I do interior often early morning or in the week when I come back from work.
I wash both cars at least once a week, work car on certain routes get very dirty and need to be presentable.
I rinse, wash, rinse and dry, I don’t faff with snowfoam, but use drying aid, a couple of towels so the drying goes quick.. 
inside windows every second or third wash, or when I do interior.
Make a plan what you want to achieve, cut it in workable chunks and keep yourself to the routine.
In general I keep the interior very clean so it is easy to stay on top, have rubber mats that ik can wet wipe clean, boot cover and a duster in the glovebox for when I need to wait.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

A quick wash on mine is around 30mins. A proper wash is around an hour. Interior is around 30mins.

In reality, when cleaning at home, it takes a lot longer as everyone stops for a chat!

I’m probably lucky in the fact I’m the only one who drives it, & the only other person who gets in it is my mother. No-one sits in the back, so that barely gets dirty.

Being a valeter does have its advantages. I get to clean it at work, so max set up time is only around 15mins.


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## JU5T1N (Dec 7, 2019)

Having protection on everything , glass , trim makes maintenance washes quicker/easier. using a rinseless wash also saves loads of time.
And doing the interior/exterior in rotation.


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## bellguy (Feb 4, 2021)

As I do ours every week I spend about 4 hours on outside, inside and protection, because they get DONE every week they don't get to the stage of needing full days to clean them and I love my cars clean and shiny inside and out, I think you can get too obsessed if not careful and a balance is required with other things in life.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

I can see that when lockdown goes that detailing will end up further down people's priorities. 

I'm surprised that this site hasn't been very busy during the lockdown given it was one of the few things we could do the entire time.


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## cptzippy (Apr 4, 2012)

Since I was forced to go to rinseless (due to local restrictions a decade ago) I have discovered just how easy and effective it is. I can do a complete ONR wash of my MINI in 10-15 minutes. My wife’s Lincoln Navigator - about twice as long. Had to do a two bucket wash of the MINI to put on a top sealer and it took me well over an hour. Might be an option.

I admit I was scared to death the first time I used ONR. Right now I’m coating my wife’s car so I’m correcting it. After having only done rinseless and waterless washes since we got it in ‘15, it only needed Mezerna SF4000 polishing to take out the minimal marring it had.


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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

Now with 2 kids, gone are the days of routinely blocking off a whole half day to spend on car cleaning.
I grab the odd half hour here and there.
Occasionally get lucky and get a 2 hour space to myself if the family are busy with other stuff.
I'm fortunate to have a garage so once washed I can roll a car in there and do some waxing or paint cleansing etc in the evening when kids are in bed.
I also do quite a bit of night washing now too when the day's get shorter


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## Kenan (Sep 7, 2015)

Getting organised helps, having a reel that you only need to pull out so you don't have to set-up a pressure washer etc cuts down on time. 

If I know I'm going to get chance to do some detailing (dad of 3) then I will fill up the snow foam, soap in bucket, drying towel/DI vessel ready etc. 

One of the thing that slows me down the most is choosing what to use, 6 shampoos, 5 snow foams, god knows how many LSPs. If I'm not planning to try something new or use a specific product I have too many good products to choose from. 


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## djberney (Oct 2, 2016)

One way I cut down the time on my wife's car is to have a spare set of carpet mats. It means I don't have to clean them at the same time as the rest of the interior just swap them over and clean them at my leisure.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

For me twice a year I do a BIG full decon wash and detail, (16 hours or so ) early spring and early Autumn. Then it’s normally a maintenance wash every two weeks depending on weather and or when I’m due to attend cars and coffee meets or shows. I keep on top of interior and engine bay and never allow those to go down hill. I think it strikes a nice balance as in between fortnightly washes I have time to turn my attentions to other things.


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## sevenfourate (Mar 23, 2013)

Thanks so much for all the replies / thought / advice / experiences 'chaps' 

I think i'll: 1./ Likely do a few tweaks to my pressure-washer set up / location and access - to make setting up/ clearing up afterwards a little less time consuming and 'painful'. 2./ On reflection its easy to see how much of my time is generally spent 'faffing' around getting ready, walking between garage, Detailing product location, kitchen and the cars themselves - and not actually Detailing. This is certainly a prime area i need to work on....

And this week i will probably still devise some sort of ongoing plan to: firstly only work on certain areas at a time going forward; and reduce the weekend time spent on my two cars. Spending an hour or two Friday night doing interior, wheels or under the bonnet - before maybe only then spending an hour or so doing the exterior sounds like a way to achieve a semi-decent result; without eeking into the weekend too much.

Thanks again.


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## JU5T1N (Dec 7, 2019)

A cart would be a good idea aswell, saves alot of walking around just load everything you need on the cart and then wheel it to where your working.


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