The Dynamics of a Car Detailing Business

First Things First

The Car Detailing business is a secure, well-established growth market!

There are three key plans of action to be taken when starting a car detailing business: registering your business, finding a supplier for the products your business will use and purchasing your equipment.

Hiring a Supplier

You will find that there are a host of automotive detailing suppliers. Call up your local car detailing business and ask them which products they would recommend that you use and why.  Go online and look up car detailing forums and ask on a public board, as well. The bottom line is you might need to try a few to find out which products appeal to you most.  You may need to find this out, too, through trial and error and over time.  Any way you do it; there are so many good products out there to choose from.  With time, you will have the exact products that suit you best.

Buying Your Supplies

You can build an “A” list car detailing kit from the following products:

Wash: Zaino Z7
Clay: Clay Magic Blue Clay (AutoZone or Autodetail.com)
Cleaning: Meguiar's Dual Action Cleaner Polish (CMA)
Swirl Remover: 3M Swirl Mark Remover (CMA)
Glaze/Polish: P21S Paintwork Cleanser Lotion (CMA)
Wax/Protectant: Many choices --
Klasse AIO (CMA) put on 2 coats, decent longevity
Zaino Z5/ZFX (Zainobros.com) put on 3 coats, excellent longevity
P21S Carnauba Wax (CMA) excellent shine, 5-8 weeks durability
Souveran Carnauba Wax (CMA) similar to P21S, $40 more

Tire Cleaner: Eagle One Tire Cleaner (any parts store or CMA)
Wheel Cleaner: Many choices --
Eagle One A2Z (parts store or CMA)
P21S Wheel Gel (CMA)
Sonus Wheel Gel (CMA)
Tire Dressing: Zaino Z16 (Zainobros.com)

Interior Cleaner: Griots Interior Cleaner (Griotsgarage.com)
Leather Dressing: Griot's Leather conditioner or Pinnacle (CMA)
Glass Cleaner: Any product w/#0000 steel wool & microfiber towel

Microfiber towels: CMA all the way. Best, most consistent towels I've ever used. There are cheaper towels available, but the bitter taste of poor quality quickly overwhelms the sweetness of a good deal.

Drying: CMA's Big Blue Drying Towel. 1 single towel will dry our Tahoe without any trouble.