# Detailing "hiccups"



## LukeWS (Sep 9, 2012)

Hello All!

Started a thread before about injuries gained from detailing but interested in another subject of detailing that we probably don't like to discuss but all must go through to learn and gain experience, so the question is

Whats the worst detailing hiccup you've had? 

E.g Striking through paint or damaging a panel dropping something on it etc

And maybe what have you learnt from it?

Edit: also if it counts how was it fixed? Never know someone may learn something from it in future situations 

Just for fun not for others to judge each others workmanship on because

"A person who has never made a mistake hasn't done anything at all "

Thanks Luke


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## Wilco (Apr 22, 2010)

Leaving Tar x to dry on my dads alloys last year was a bit of a nightmare. Took a serious amount of polishing to get rid of the residue, i thought i'd rinsed them well enough but obviously not.


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## LukeWS (Sep 9, 2012)

Used TarX myself for the first time yesterday read about leaving residue on twice now will need to check the car for any hints of green tomorrow :lol:


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## Jas16 (Jan 9, 2013)

Strike through on driver inner part of door handle as i was just lazy at taping up the area. Did have touchup pen to hand for correction.


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

pad blew up on me :wall:


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## Sirmally2 (Feb 28, 2011)

Waxed a full car in 1 degree temps, then went to remove it - ERRRRRR WRONG!

Had to SRP the full car to take the residue off and rewax panel by panel!


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## Wout_RS (Jun 13, 2012)

Wanted to take of the badges on an S-max by heating the panels, didn't now it were plastic panels and so the paint was heated to fast. Making the paint liquid and dripped off :s


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## Moggytom (Dec 28, 2011)

Not really that bad but packed ally stuff away and realise I didn't polish and wax my boot lid cause it was open the whole time :/ so had to get it all back out again lol


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## durmz (Nov 2, 2010)

Finished long correction set, applied wax, buffing off , one little bit wouldn't come off, so I apply a little pressure, 

Leaves a nice big circle scratch! Doh!

Back out came ipa polish etc


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## Jack (May 14, 2007)

Many moons ago I use to work for a large car dealership. Anyway I was given a rotary to use without any guidance. Thing's were going well until I needed to do the lower part of a door. Instead of bending down I just turned the rotary around, so the handle was at the top and the head at the bottom. Obviously this caused the cable to hang down and with me getting carried away and not watching the cable the disaster wasnt far away. Next thing I know the cable got caught by the head, wrapped round the machine and then snapped. Oh how embarrassing. 

To fix it, put the plug back on but not the machine had a very short cable lol


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## Obsessed Merc (Apr 10, 2011)

Applied Klasse sealant way too liberally on an s class Merc one hot summers day and then had some lunch.
Ended up marring the paintwork trying to get the residue off. Absolute get of a job.

&

Didn't use paint gauge on a colleagues car and was showing him what a difference a quick wool pad session can make. Was going great until I came across the repaired wing and it changed colour before our very eyes. 
It had to go into a body shop for a proper paint job repair - he didn't thank me for the rest of the car...


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Jack said:


> Many moons ago I use to work for a large car dealership. Anyway I was given a rotary to use without any guidance. Thing's were going well until I needed to do the lower part of a door. Instead of bending down I just turned the rotary around, so the handle was at the top and the head at the bottom. Obviously this caused the cable to hang down and with me getting carried away and not watching the cable the disaster wasnt far away. Next thing I know the cable got caught by the head, wrapped round the machine and then snapped. Oh how embarrassing.
> 
> To fix it, put the plug back on but not the machine had a very short cable lol


I'm sorry but that made me laugh out loud, especially the thought of it with a short cable!!

Mine has to be standing a bottle of G1 3/4 on a make up pad on my bonnet. I knew as i did it that it was going to fall over and sure enough as i was doing the screen it went. Lost it all down my bonnet!!


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## bambam12 (Oct 23, 2012)

My biggest mistake was lurking on here, The damage to my wallet will never be able to be repaired........................... lol


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## gordonpuk (Mar 14, 2010)

Jack said:


> Many moons ago I use to work for a large car dealership. Anyway I was given a rotary to use without any guidance. Thing's were going well until I needed to do the lower part of a door. Instead of bending down I just turned the rotary around, so the handle was at the top and the head at the bottom. Obviously this caused the cable to hang down and with me getting carried away and not watching the cable the disaster wasnt far away. Next thing I know the cable got caught by the head, wrapped round the machine and then snapped. Oh how embarrassing.
> 
> To fix it, put the plug back on but not the machine had a very short cable lol


I've had the cable ripped out too, putting the rotary down before it's stopped and the cable tangled around the pad, had to put a new cable on.


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## LukeWS (Sep 9, 2012)

Haha not had enough use of my DA for any mistakes as its been used once on a bonnett! 

I think my worst was jet washing in the wheel arch a bit where the front bumper bodywork shows through catching that and it going from white to black and the paint came off :| luckily its my own car and its a hidden un lacquered tiny inner area of the bumper lol


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## President Swirl (Oct 23, 2011)

I offered to ' repair ' my Mom's friends car a while back, ( silver 52 Micra. ) Anyway, after getting a good portion of the dent out from behind the panel, I began to start filling the rest. I thought the finish wasn't too bad until I saw the panel after paint, more ripples than a weight loss camp. Live and learn I guess. The car was part exchanged not long after, I wonder if the Dealer noticed my seamless repair!


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## Moggytom (Dec 28, 2011)

LukeWS said:


> Haha not had enough use of my DA for any mistakes as its been used once on a bonnett!
> 
> I think my worst was jet washing in the wheel arch a bit where the front bumper bodywork shows through catching that and it going from white to black and the paint came off :| luckily its my own car and its a hidden un lacquered tiny inner area of the bumper lol


I'm scared of doin that to mine lol only goin to clean the arches when I get the wheels off ! Haha


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## LukeWS (Sep 9, 2012)

Haha yeah wasn't my best moment i sponge wash now, thing is i was quiet far away etc thats why it surprised me lol literally the little lip of colour at the front inside of the front arch


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## Nally (May 30, 2012)

20vKarlos said:


> pad blew up on me :wall:


Seen that before you get it off the paint in time ?


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## organisys (Jan 3, 2012)

Dropping, Knocking Kicking bottles is my usual....


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## gordonpuk (Mar 14, 2010)

PW the roof of my Mazda and the jet took the slider noddy thing that
covers the roof box mounting point wayyyyyyyyyy off in to the distance,
took ages to find.


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## BoostJunky86 (Oct 25, 2012)

Striking through on my sisters Focus ST170 applied to much pressure for a brief second due to lack of concentration when I was trying to remove a quite deep scratch. 

She left it there to remind me everytime I walked past the car


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## AllenF (Aug 20, 2012)

Did an interior against my better judgement in minus 6 weather 
Whole interior was frozen and looked like santas grotto.
Luckily she saw the funny side and an hour with the heaters in thawed it out.


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

:lol: AllenF, that's a good one, 

in terms of "hiccups", the only thing that really comes to mind is on my old car I tried to fill a scratch with a touch up kit mixed 50:50 colour to clear, dabbed on left overnight to polish back up and even compound wasn't touching it.. had to spend 3 hours sanding and polishing it to get the excess back off! 

20vKarlos, I haven't had a part "explode" as such as I've seen the MF ones in photos.. but did lift a pad off the bonnet when doing a car, with the machine still turned on and the heat must have melted the glue holding on the velcro backing as the foam part of the pad went flying across the studio and left the velcro on the backing plate :lol:


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## Jack (May 14, 2007)

I have also jet washed a car whilst the windows were down, just thought they were quite clean then realised when I soaked a seat.

I've also removed the paint from a bumper when hitting a stone chip, it was a rubbish paint job someone had done to a set of normal black plastic bumpers.

I remember a guy I worked beside picked up a bottle of gel we use to put on bumpers and put it on the windows, it took him ages to remove it.

I have probably doen loads more, will add them when I remember.


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## JakeVW (Oct 31, 2012)

I striked through a bit of paint on my boot after being told the polish & pad I was using would be too aggressive for it, the pad turned blue & now I have a faded bit of green on my boot, haven't picked up my polisher since.


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## LukeWS (Sep 9, 2012)

Strike through is what worries me a lot! Is a shame PTG cost so much but i suppose if they save you one strike through they've made their money lol


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## iPlod999 (Jun 23, 2012)

Holding a small bottle of an expensive product.

Bend over to apply on some trim.

The bottle still in my hand and tips 180 degrees................whole contents of bottle on the garage floor.

I am reminded of it every day when I go in the garage by the large stain left behind.


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## dcj (Apr 17, 2009)

Not damaged a car but damaged a customers nerves when I got in his Lambo to back it out of the garage,engine already running and as I got in to what was a tight squeeze I got cramp and my leg shot out(natural reflex) straight onto the accelarator. Luckily the car was in neutral but you should have seen his face when he came into the garage.


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

Left a large drying towel in the spokes of my rear wheel on my XF , Proceeded to reverse the car out of my drive and the felt a resistance , Stopped had a look around the car found a drying towel wound around the back disc all around the pads and calipers , Left it until the next day took me a few hours to get it out


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## CoOkIeMoNsTeR (Mar 6, 2011)

That's brilliant!!!

Apart from ripping the garage door off with the hose, my only mishaps so far have been dropping things, using wrong products (such as tyre shine as a pre wash!!!!!) and dropping the vacuum cleaner in the boot, all contents making a gravity assisted bid for freedom


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## jack-c (Oct 21, 2012)

Knocked over a bottle of coli 845 and lost a quater of the bottle all over the drive. 

I always put the lid back on my products when using them now!


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## Mr bean (Aug 20, 2012)

many moons ago as an apprentice i was told to wash a old renault 5 in flat red and as it was so dirty i was told to spray the hole car with APC and brush all over. when it came to washing it all looked good until it dried and turned the car nearly pink so not only did it have a wash it had a full polish and wax to bring the colout back i bet to this day that customer couldnt believe his eyes when he picked it up gleeming


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## scratcher (Jul 20, 2010)

My old Evo had lovely wind deflectors all round...
I washed the car one day as usual. Then found the back seat was soaked on one side because someone had left a window _slightly_ open in the back. Couldn't see it because of the wind deflector :lol:


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## djmisio85 (Jun 24, 2012)

Not me personally, but when I was helping a mate polish his mx-5, I guess the front fenders on his car had been painted with a clear coat, and as he pulled off the masking tape we had on there, the clear coat came straight off with it :doublesho


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## shaqs77 (Jun 10, 2008)

My cousin had a cracked megs endurance bottle that was leaking so in his infinite wisdom he poured it in a empty and ag srp bottle. A few days later his younger brother came to do his car and nicked his gear. After trying to polish the car with megs endurance it finally dawned on him it wasn't srp inside. Lol


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## shaqs77 (Jun 10, 2008)

That same cousin wanted to use my dodo juice blue velvet, told him to be careful not to drop it. Guess what I did? Dropped it and cracked it.


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

Had my gazebo buckle under a very strong gust of wind and collapse onto a DBS. Needless to say the gazebo got binned.


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## paralla (Dec 7, 2011)

Left all my detailing stuff including a trigger spray bottle of Iron-X in the boot for two weeks while I was out of the country. Came back to a car that stank to the high heavens. My white Scirocco looked amazing but I wasn't popular with the other half.


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## LukeWS (Sep 9, 2012)

paralla said:


> Left all my detailing stuff including a trigger spray bottle of Iron-X in the boot for two weeks while I was out of the country. Came back to a car that stank to the high heavens. My white Scirocco looked amazing but I wasn't popular with the other half.


Haha IronX smells awful even when spraying it out in the open if you ask me couldn't bare it in a car!


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## VdoubleU (Oct 15, 2012)

My worst hiccup was not noticing a small bit of grit on the bonnet and making a nasty swirl mark on my bonnet.

May as well mention my injuries; the main one is always scraping my nuckles off the floor as I take the hose off the jet wash. The other is that I now have an amazingly painful back after spending 5 hours bent over polishing, glazing ect my car sunday!


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