Author Archives: Mike Phillips

What's the Difference Between Compound and Polish?
02
Apr
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, Paint Correction

What’s the Difference Between Compound & Polish?

Posted on by Mike Phillips

When it comes to paint correction on cars, people use the terms “compound” and “polish” interchangeably despite the fact that they refer to two completely different things. That’s a big problem. When it comes to doing any type of paint correction, you need to know the difference between a polish and a compound. If you […]

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10 Tips for Speeding Up Your Paint Correction Process
02
Apr
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Garage & Equipment, Paint Correction, Professional Detailing, Tips

10 Tips for Faster Polishing from Expert Mike Phillips

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Polishing the paint on a car can take a long time, especially if you’re a beginner. If you’re working from start to finish — washing, decontaminating, polishing and protecting — it can pretty much take up an entire day, sometimes even longer.  Don’t believe me? Let’s tally up the time it takes to do a […]

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How to Change Backing Plate on Bauer DA
13
Mar
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Garage & Equipment, Guides & Tips, How To, Paint Correction, Videos & Media

How to Change Backing Plate on Bauer 8MM Short-Throw Random Orbital DA

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Sometimes when you’re using a buffer to polish paint on a car it helps to have a smaller pad for smaller sections like A-pillars. But what if you only have one polisher that can only fit big pads? Here’s something you may not know — you can adjust the size of a Bauer 6” DA […]

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18
Mar
Auto Detailing Training Classes, Behind the Detail

400+Pictures – Dr. Beasley’s 2-Day Car Detailing Class

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Here’s the graduating class for the February 2025 2-Day 100% Hands-on Detailing Class! NOTE: To everyone that attended this class, if you would like the full size resolution of any of the pictures in this write-up, just shoot me an email and I can get it for you. Full size resolution will print out best for […]

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How to Clean Engine Bay
07
Mar
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips

How to Clean an Engine Bay

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Much like the outside of your car gets dirty over time, so too does the engine and engine compartment inside.  Back in the old days you’d spray heavy duty degreasers all over the engine and surrounding surfaces, scrub with a variety of brushes to agitate the degreaser before finally rinsing the loosened, oily sludge off […]

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How to Restore Headlights by Machine Sanding
21
Feb
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To, Videos & Media

How to Restore Headlights by Machine Sanding

Posted on by Mike Phillips

As I showed in my previous article and video, working by hand to sand off years of oxidation, yellowing and cloudiness from headlights works perfectly fine. I also shared how to remove the sanding marks by hand in that video and article for those that simply have no other alternative.   But for those of you […]

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How to Restore Headlights by Hand Sanding
21
Feb
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To

How to Restore Headlights by Hand Sanding

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Gone are the days of the simple General Electric or Wagner brand round sealed beam headlamps. These old headlights were made from glass which meant they would never fade, oxidize or turn yellow. You could purchase a replacement back in the day for around $5.00 and install it in the parking lot of the auto […]

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6 Tips to Detail a Car FAST for Date Night
14
Feb
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To

6 Tips to Detail Your Car Fast (For Date Night!)

Posted on by Mike Phillips

TRANSCRIPT Have you ever been in a situation where you got something coming up — it’s date night, or you got a car show — your car’s dirty, you don’t have a lot of time, but you want to get it looking as good as you can?  You know, you never have a second chance […]

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28
Jan
Behind the Detail

Pictures: February 2024 3-Day Class – Car & Boat Detailing Class in Stuart, Florida

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Here’s the graduating class for the February 2024 3-Day Car & Boat Detailing Class! Day 1 – Morning Session – Extreme Prep Wash This class had a VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY – and that is they get to work on a Barn Find with severely stained and oxidized single stage paint. So the first thing the […]

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30
Jan
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To, Videos & Media

The Fastest Way to Clean & Dress Tires

Posted on by Mike Phillips

When it comes to getting severely neglected and dirty tires factory clean again, there’s the old-school way of doing it working by hand using a tire scrub brush and the modern way of doing it, and that’s machine scrubbing using cordless rotary polishers.   SAFETY WARNING: Because washing a car and cleaning wheel and tires falls […]

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