As detailers, we are a niche breed of people. We can spend hours on a car while others see a broken sprinkler and drive through it for a “car wash”. Yet, deeper than that, each detailer has their own quirks when it comes to detailing and can get very obsessive about small, specific details. If you ask my clients, I am very detailed, very picky, and very particular. Now if you ask my wife…

For example, some of my quirks are:

• When coating a car, I place the bottle and the microfiber used to remove in one corner of the room. Then I take a pipette and my applicator and do one section at a time. The I walk back to the corner and grab the towel and go back to the car. This forces me to give it some setup time without just standing there and makes sure I only do one step at a time and one section at a time.
• Color code all the towels.
• Interior towels: Yellow
• Exterior “dirty section” towels: Green
• Exterior paint towels: Red
• Drying towels: Purple
• Waterless Wash towels: Blue (to match ONR)

I got with some of the Detailed Image team and Ask-A-Pro Authors together to share their detailing quirks.

Greg Paulter – Detailed Image

• I like when there is a very light rain to go wash my car. It’s so much easier than working in the hot sun and avoiding watermarks.
• I can’t stand when someone puts a microfiber towel or buffing pad on the ground
• I like my floor clean
• Where ever you got something from put it back by the end of the day

Rodney Tatum – Mirror Reflections Auto Spa

• When using a clay bar on a section: I will re-fold the clay after each time I inspect it. I don’t like to work for longer than a few seconds at a time when I can feel and hear the resistance on the surface. When there is no visible contamination, I will go over the area one additional time as insurance (paranoia).
• I use two different panel preps. I will designate specific microfiber towels fro each one.

Mike Cardenas – Forza Detailing

• It’s funny, but I consider myself to be selectively obsessive. One of the things I get obsessive about are my wash buckets. I completely rinse, clean and wipe them down before and after every use. Including the grit guard. What I mean about being selectively obsessive is that ill go crazy about the inside of them, but I don’t do anything special to the outside.
• Another one I have is in regard to my microfiber towels. I wash each used towel group separately and then I inspect each one before I store it and again each time I use it, looking for anything nasty that might be in them.

Reece Berberick – Detailed Image

• Putting anything on the floor, polisher, pads, polishes, etc.
• Microfiber. Color coordination for different areas of the car. No overlaps.
• Specific areas for storing everything at the end of the day.
• Test spots. I always test a few different combinations before attacking the vehicle.

What are your detailing quirks?