How I and many others started detailing cars was simply wanting to take care of our own. It starts with a few products and tools, and as we see the potential and the fun in it, we continued to buy more and more supplies.
So you may start with a simple wash mitt and drying towel. Then you’ll find out the “proper” way of washing your car and you’ll ditch the old and buy the new.
It’s sort of an addiction- whether it’s a good or bad addiction is up to you since you’ll like to spend a lot of time taking care of your car and buying more products and tools 😛
If you’re interested in getting into auto detailing- and perhaps even starting your own business- this article will steer you in the right direction.
Learn On Your Own
I’d say 90% of all the professional detailers that I know have been self-taught from the beginning of their career. But it all started from buying a few products, watching a few videos, and going at it.
This is still the same approach that you should take on your car. If you’re only doing this as a hobby, then you can have fun on your car (or barrow someone’s car), take your time, figure out what works and what doesn’t, etc…
There are some classes that offer detailing skills, whether it be simply for your own hobby skills or you want to advance your skills for your business, but by no means should you be worried about taking a class.
How To Learn On Your Own
There a TON of great videos on YouTube that show you step-by-step on how to perform certain details. Here are a few channels you should look for:
- Auto Detail Fetish by Darren Preist
- Chemical Guys (although they do push their product a lot)
- AmmoNYC by Larry Kosillas
- AutoGeek by Mike Phillips
These channels will cover 99% of anything you need to know when it comes to detailing. You can practice almost all of your detailing skills on your car.
The only time you shouldn’t use your car, is if you’re doing paint correction or wet sanding for the first time. It’s easy to mess up and burn through the clear coat and paint, so if you’re not to sure of yourself or you simply want to practice, you can get a junk panel.
That way you don’t have to be so gentle with it and you can really go at it so you can test it’s limits.
As far as the interior, there’s not much you can ruin unless you go crazy with something… But I don’t see of a way of you destroying your interior. Use the products as recommended and you’ll be fine.
A Training Class Is Great
If you want to start your own business and work on your skills more, or perhaps you simply want to improve your skills for personal use, going to a detailing class can be very beneficial.
There aren’t a whole lot of classes going year round, so you’ll have to do a bit of Google searching to find a location that’s close enough to you and your price range.
Some of the training classes that I know of are:
- Insane Paint Auto Detailing
- Shiny Supply
- AutoGeek
- Auto Detailing Pros
- Renny doyle