This is the third in a series of articles about the importance of visuals – if you missed the first article on photography it’s here, and the second article on website appearance is here.

Introduction

Whoever said “looks aren’t everything” probably wasn’t a detailer. Everything we do ties back into making someone’s vehicle (often their pride and joy) look as awesome as possible. With a field that’s focused on appearance, a best practice is to ensure every customer-facing aspect is as aesthetically pleasing as we can make it. One in a series of posts on Visuals, today we’ll be focusing on how a professional-looking shop increases the client’s trust in your abilities, as they can tell you take pride in everything you do – not just certain aspects of the business.

Since I started detailing professionally, I’ve had four different locations – all garages in our home. One of the double-edged swords of Army service is the constant moving. I’ve worked out of two different two-car garages (in Grovetown, Georgia and Augusta, Georgia), a three-car garage (in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), and am now down to a one-car garage in Honolulu, Hawaii. As this is only a part-time business for me, a standalone shop is not in my future – so I’ve always worked to make my garage look as professional as I can.

Transitioning into a one-car garage has been a challenge. The most obvious change was that I had to alter my business model to shift away from high-end paint correction and coatings – after a few attempts to polish outdoors I realized obtaining the level of results I demand was going to be extremely difficult, if not impossible. I’ve also had to be more efficient in how I store my products and equipment.

One side-effect of moving from a 2,800 square foot house in Oklahoma to a 2,100 square foot house in Honolulu meant that some things had to be stored in the garage – such as the stack of totes full of seasonal photography props the wife uses with Four Twigs. Boogie boards, beach chairs, an umbrella, six sets of fins, masks, and snorkels, and the doors/rear window off my Jeep Gladiator all take up valuable space – but are absolutely worth the tradeoff! As to all the Army gear, well, it has to go somewhere.

Another advantage of focusing on appearance is that it also relates back to increased efficiency. Keeping your products organized means your muscle memory will lead you to where you need to. Products/tools I use on every job are located closest to the garage door to minimize the back and forth.

A recent upgrade I made was adding the compressor hose reel and extension cord reel. I would have preferred having them on the wall near the garage door, but being Hawaii the hurricane proofing (metal studs and sheet metal sheathing throughout the walls) makes wall-mounting difficult – to say the least. Instead, I snagged some redwood 1×6 and used 1/2″ bolts and nuts to secure them to the side of the shelving unit. Having these reels helps speed up multiple aspects of the job, particularly the clean-up after I’ve completed a vehicle and am waiting on the client to pick it up. I like having the shop as clean as possible before they return, so this is a little thing that saves me a few minutes on each job. I bought the Ridgid compressor for some light remodeling work, but it’s definitely paid itself off in terms of increased efficiency for detailing. It works great for loosening interior dirt and sand. My ShopVac brand vacuum died before we left OKC, so I switched to a Ridgid 6 gallon after arriving to Hawaii and am very impressed with it as well. The 1-1/4 in. Premium Car Cleaning Accessory Kit is also absolutely awesome – the long, flexible nozzle is worth it by itself!

The plastic totes are how I’ve always stored my microfiber towels and buffer pads. I’d prefer a quality drawer system, but it’s one of those things that I just haven’t prioritized. That may be one of my next purchases – I can easily clear up that right corner for something…

• Bottom left tote: Miscellaneous garage stuff (fasteners, small tools, etc.)
• Bottom right tote: Buffer pads (marked with black Sharpie on the sides, and silver Sharpe on the backs)
  • 3″ Lake Country Microfiber Cutting and Polishing Pads
  • 5″ Meguair’s Microfiber Cutting and Finishing Pads
  • 6.5″ Griot’s Garage Microfiber Fast Cutting and Polishing Pads
  • 6″ Lake Country Force Grey Heavy Cutting Pads, Orange Cutting Pads, and White Polishing Pads
  • Gyeon Bathe (going to switch to Bathe+ once I use this up)
  • Chemical Guys Watermelon Snow Foam
  • Gallons/4L of all the chemicals listed later in the article
• Upper left tote: Premium microfiber towels
  • Gyeon BaldWipe Microfiber – usual residue removal towel for compounds
  • Gyeon SoftWipe Microfiber – residue removal towel for polishes, or anything from extremely soft paints
  • Gyeon Silk Dryer – for drying vehicles that aren’t coated (have three, need to get one more – large SUVs push it for three)
• Upper middle tote: Older microfiber towels (mostly Meguiar’s Supreme Shine Microfiber Towels) – these are used for more heavily soiled jobs
• Upper right tote: Midgrade microfiber towels
  • Meguiar’s Supreme Shine Microfiber Towels – these are what I typically use for rinseless washes
  • DI Microfiber Glass Polishing Towels
• DI Brushes Horse’s Hair Upholstery Brush
• Griot’s Garage Brilliant Finish Synthetic Clay
• Gyeon Q2 Tire
• Menzerna Super Heavy Cut Compound 300
• Menzerna Heavy Cut Compound 400
• Menzerna Heavy Cut Compound 1000
• Menzerna Medium Cut Polish MC 2500
• Menzerna Super Finish Plus 3800
• Menzerna 3in1 Cut, Gloss & Wax

Wall Control Aluminum Pegboard

The Echo sprayer has a pre-mix of Meguiar’s Rinse Free Express Wash and distilled water. The Wall Control aluminum pegboard system was one of the best investments I’ve made. With a bunch of the accessories, as well as some acrylic rods I bought I can hang up 95% of the tools I use on a regular basis. From upper left to bottom right:

• PorterCable 7424XP with Lake Country Dual Action 3″ Backing Plate – my starter buffer, once I added the Flex I put on the 3″ backing plate and it’s now my dedicated headlight/trim buffer
• Flex XC 3401 VRG Forced Action Rotary Buffer – my workhorse, leaves my arms significantly less tired than when I was doing large buff jobs with the PC
• Gyeon Smoothie wash mitt and a generic Wal-Mart wash mitt (used for lower trim areas/extremely muddy parts)
• Bottles:
  • Goo Gone Professional Gel
  • Simple Green at 100%
  • Gyeon Iron
  • Gyeon WetCoat
  • Gyeon Prep
  • Gyeon LeaterCoat
  • Gyeon Water Spot
  • Meguiar’s D106 Tannin Remover at 20:1
  • Meguiar’s D116 Protein Remover at 10:1
  • Meguiar’s Quik Interior Detailer
  • Meguiar’s Silicone-Free Dressing
  • Meguiar’s Last Touch Spray Detailer
  • Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner
  • Bleche Wite Tire Cleaner
  • Meguiar’s Acid-Free Wheel and Tire Cleaner
  • Meguiar’s Glass Cleaner
• Kwazar Venus Pro+ Heavy Duty Sprayer – Acid with Gtechniq W4 Citrus Foam at 1:20
• Empty slot usually has a dying DeWalt cordless drill (will be switching to a Ridgid setup in the near future)
• Wheel Woolie 8″ Brush
• Drill brushes
• Detail Guardz Tire Jam Eliminator
• Fiskars Titanium Scissors

Originally intended to hold spray paint cans, I stuck in some 16oz acrylic tumblers from Amazon to make it more useful.

• DI Accessories Speedy Stone Pet Hair Remover (be VERY careful with this bad boy – will do a great job of pulling up dog fur, but is absolute MURDER on plastic trim or pretty much anything but carpet/fabric)
• 9mm gun cleaning swabs
• DI Brushes ATALASTA Soft Tip Brush (two, one for interior use and one for lug nuts/exterior)
• Approximately 9,000,000 plastic razor blades
• Rupes BigFoot Claw Pad Tool
• Anker Bolder 900lumen Cree LED

• DI Brushes Pet Hair Removal Brush (also does a great job of bouncing up sand!)
• Tools from Ridgid 1-1/4 in. Premium Car Cleaning Accessory Kit
• Plastic razor blade holders
• Griot’s’ Garage Boss Fast Correcting Cream
• Griot’s Garage Boss Correcting Cream
• Griot’s Garage Boss Perfecting Cream
• Griot’s Garage Boss Finishing Sealant
• Shop Towels
• DI Brushes EZ Detail Brush – Full Size
• DI Brushes EZ Detail Brush – Mini Size
• Generic Wal-Mart wheel brush (typically used for engine bays)
• DI Brushes Wheel Wash Boar’s Hair Brush (ABSOLUTELY worth the money – this thing is awesome)
• Tuf Shine Tire Brush
• Generic tire shine applicator

Getting to this point has been a lengthy process, with improvements made over the past six or seven years or so. It helps set me apart from a lot of the more fly by night detailers, and definitely increases clients’ trust when they see how well organized and equipped the shop is. It’s one of those intangibles that contribute to the value of the service you’re providing, and definitely worth taking the time to improve whenever you can.