Category Archives: Behind the Detail

How to wet sand black paint to remove orange peel
23
Sep
Auto Detailing Training Classes, Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To, Paint Correction, Professional Detailing, Videos & Media

How to Wet Sand Black Cars to Remove Orange Peel

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Transcript So what we’re going to do today is we’re going to show hand wet sanding to remove orange peel, surface texture, and then this car actually has fish eyes and DIP, which stands for dirt in paint. A lot of times, you know, if you’ve got a shoddy paint booth or a contaminated shop, […]

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How to Wash Black Cars
09
Aug
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To

How to Wash Black Cars: The Ultimate Method for Avoiding Swirls

Posted on by Mike Phillips

The color black is an incredibly popular color for all makes and models of cars, including modern cars, trucks, and SUVs. It’s also a super popular color when restoring classic cars, muscle cars as well as supercars and exotics. Everybody always says the same thing about a black car, and that is, when the paint […]

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How to polish curved surfaces
04
Oct
Auto Detailing Training Classes, Behind the Detail, Ceramic Coatings, Exterior Detailing, Live Detailing Classes, Paint Correction, Videos & Media

How to Polish Curved Surfaces on Cars

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Here’s where we’re at so far with this car. I’ve actually washed it. I did a prep wash with Dr. Beasley’s Prep Wash, clayed it, and then I’ve machine polished all of the paint except for this side of the hood. And so that’s what I’m going to do next. I’m just going to polish […]

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IPA wipedown being done on a red Porsche 911.
11
Oct
Behind the Detail, Ceramic Coatings, Featured, Guides & Tips, How To, Tips

IPA vs. Panel Wipes: Which Is Better at Removing Polish Residue?

Posted on by Victor Espeland

In the world of car detailing, IPA stands for “Isopropyl Alcohol”. Detailers will typically talk about IPA in the context of an “IPA wipedown” or “IPA panel wipe”, a process for cleaning polishing oils and residue from paint before applying protection like a ceramic coating.  Despite being a common topic in detailing, there’s a lot […]

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Starting your own detailing business
02
Oct
Auto Detailing Training Classes, Behind the Detail, Live Detailing Classes, Professional Detailing, Videos & Media

Starting Your Own Detailing Business | Interview with Reflectionz by Eric

Posted on by Mike Phillips

I have a very special guest with me today, Eric Robinson of Reflectionz by Eric Detailing. And what we’re going to do with this episode, instead of showing you how to work on a car, we’re actually going to tackle the topic of what is it like to start up your own detailing business, whether […]

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30
Sep
Auto Detailing Training Classes, Behind the Detail, Guides & Tips, How To

How to Teach a Car Detailing Class

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Teaching others any skill or trade—like auto detailing for example—is incredibly rewarding.  Anyone that wants to be a teacher needs empathy. That is, they need to be able to put themselves in other’s shoes and remember what it was like when they first started out.  With this mindset, you can share your knowledge with others […]

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How to wax a black car
30
Aug
Behind the Detail, Ceramic Coatings, Exterior Detailing, Featured, Guides & Tips, How To, Paint Correction, Professional Detailing

The Best Wax for Black Cars (2024) | What to Look For & How to Wax Black Paint

Posted on by Mike Phillips

The biggest reason black cars is different than waxing any other color of car is because black shows everything! I have a saying, it goes like this, Black is not a color… it’s a full time job! And that’s a true statement, at least if you’re someone who cares about how your car looks.  But […]

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Matte wheel on a Ferrari.
28
Sep
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, How To, Matte Car Care, Tips

How to Clean Matte Wheels & Rims

Posted on by James Detmer

Caring for matte or powder coated wheels isn’t that different than normal wheels, but there are certain things you should know about cleaning and protecting matte painted wheels…

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How to Remove Orange Peel from Car Paint
22
Jul
Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Guides & Tips, How To, Live Detailing Classes, Paint Correction, Professional Detailing, Videos & Media

How to Remove Orange Peel from Car Paint

Posted on by Mike Phillips

So I used to teach wet sanding and now I teach dry sanding. And the reason why is because it’s cleaner, it’s neater, it’s faster. And look, if you’re looking for something more in depth again get a job at a body shop and learn how to use acrylic blocks and hard block them all […]

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Can a DA polisher remove sanding marks?
18
Sep
Auto Detailing Training Classes, Behind the Detail, Exterior Detailing, Garage & Equipment, Live Detailing Classes, Paint Correction, Videos & Media

Rotary vs. DA Polishers: Can You Use DA Polishers To Remove Sanding Marks?

Posted on by Mike Phillips

Livestream Transcript So today’s topic is a question I’ve been asked all my life, well, all my detailing life. Can a DA polisher or a random orbital polisher be used to remove sanding marks? For example, this 1992 Chevy just got a custom paint job. It’s got a lot of orange peel. We’re going to […]

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