Dr. Beasley’s Featured in Pro Detailer Magazine Issue 18

Pro Detailer Magazine is one of the only publications on Earth dedicated entirely to the craft of automotive detailing, covering the industry at large as well as new technologies, techniques and tools. It’s an honor to be featured, and we’re proud to say Issue 18 of Pro Detailer Magazine includes a deep dive into the history of Dr. Beasley’s, profiling our humble origins in a Chicago hand car wash shop and continuing on to our present day success with Nano Surface Primers.

You can read a snippet of the article below — head to ProDetailerMagazine.com (UK) or DetailDivision.com (USA) to pick up your copy today.

Dr. Beasley’s began in 2005 when founder Jim Lafeber was in his second year of owning a hand car wash shop with his wife, Nicole, in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighbourhood. Called “Simon’s Shine Shop”, it was a hit among locals for its attention to detail, using only freshly laundered wash mitts and offering a welcoming waiting room with comfortable chairs and plenty of refreshments. 

There was one thing Jim wasn’t happy with — the car care products he used to actually clean the cars in his shop. For one, he would notice employees dousing their hands with lotion to avoid drying out their skin while washing cars with a mass market soap. If the soap was doing that to people’s skin, imagine what it was doing to the cars’ paint! Then he would hear customers saying his supposedly industry-standard leather dressing left an oily sheen on their fine Porsche and Mercedes interiors. 

If these were the best products available, clearly someone needed to do better. Having an undergraduate degree in chemistry, Jim already knew a thing or two about chemicals. 

So he crafted a makeshift laboratory and started formulating his own car wash soap and leather conditioner. He discovered that lanolin, a natural substance found in sheep’s wool, was amazing at softening both human skin and leather hides, making it the perfect ingredient for both formulations. 

Jim also carefully pH balanced the wash soap so it wasn’t too harsh on the paint, and he eliminated all the oil and silicone from his leather conditioner so it left a subtle matte finish. He started using the products in-house and saw great results immediately. His employees were no longer reaching for the hand lotion, and his customers were in love with the soft feel and satin finish he applied to their leather — so much so they started asking where they could buy the products for themselves! Jim obliged and started working on bringing the two new products, Premium Body Wash and Leather Cream, to market. 

The “Doctor” moniker came from Jim’s experiences[…]