Category Archives: Behind the Detail

How to Detail a Car for a Concours d’Elegance

Detailing a car bound for a Concours d’Elegance like Pebble Beach or Amelia Island is no easy task. How do you best preserve the original appearance? How do you handle washing? How should you approach paintwork correction on old school, single stage paint? I answer all these questions and MORE in this condensed reel from […]

Ceramic coating a vintage car at a Mike Phillips detailing class.

500+ Photos from Mike Phillips’ 3-Day Auto Detailing Training Class (May 2024)

Congratulations to the May 3-day class! This class detailed 5 unique cars, including sanding 3 of these cars and also sanding, buffing and ceramic coating the 24′ Robalo Center Console boat. To get signed up for the next big 3-day class that includes paint correction, ceramic coatings, sanding to remove orange peel and extreme boat […]

Ceramic coating the wheel of a Land Rover.

How to Apply a Ceramic Coating for Wheels

Wheel protection is one of the most important, yet overlooked, aspects of detailing your vehicle. When it comes to protecting your wheel, it’s best to use a solution that’s durable and doesn’t need to be reapplied frequently. Ceramic coating offers the best of both these approaches. Many people associate ceramic with paints, but it’s also […]

The Ultimate Guide to Wet Sanding Car Paint

“Wet sanding” is a term you may come across in the world of automotive paint polishing. You may have heard it’s an incredibly effective way to remove scratches and defects from a car’s paint. You may even be wondering if wet sanding is something you should do to your own car’s paint.  The fact is, […]

Wet, Dry, Carbon Fiber

Wet vs. Dry Carbon Fiber

When people use the term “Carbon Fiber”, they’re usually referring to carbon fiber-reinforced polymers — that is, carbon fiber sheets laminated in a polymer, usually an epoxy resin. Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers are exceptionally strong, exhibiting extreme stiffness as well as tensile strength. Because of this strength, carbon fiber is a popular material for many applications […]

The best car polishers for beginners

Best Car Polishers for Beginners (2024)

The good news about polishing car paint in 2024 is there are a LOT of options when it comes to machine polishers for beginners starting out doing paint correction. The bad news? There are SO MANY options now when it comes to polishers and buffers that it can be VERY confusing. As a teacher of […]

Which Cordless Rotary Polisher Is Best? Flex vs. Harbor Freight vs. Milwaukee

There are so many cordless (battery-powered) rotary polishers on the market today versus 10, even 5 years ago. With all these new options comes analysis paralysis, and I’m here to help YOU make an informed decision before investing in a new tool. It’s all here in this clip from one of my recent LIVE monthly […]

Group photo from Dr. Beasley's 3-Day Auto & Marine Detailing Class with Mike Phillips - November 2023

600+ Photos From Mike Phillips’ 3-Day Auto & Marine Detailing Training Class (November 2023)

From Friday, November 10th to Sunday, November 12th, we held our first full 3-Day Auto & Marine Detailing Class here at the Dr. Beasley’s O.R. or Operating Room in sunny Stuart, Florida as part of the “Future of Detailing” education series. Over the course of the three days, students detailed six cars and one boat. […]