Mobile Detail: Maintenance Valet Course

Welcome To The Mobile Detail: Maintenance Valet Course

Aimed specifically at professional mobile detailers and valeters - or enthusiasts looking to break into the business by transforming their hobby into a career - the Mobile Detail: Maintenance Valet Course focuses on getting the very best from your operation while maximising the value for your clients and maintaining the quality of your work over multiple vehicles.

Maintenance valeting, between more in depth detailing services, is in many cases the bread and butter of the detailing business. This all-in-one course is designed to take you through every aspect to help you make the most of your detailing and valeting products, discover the accessories that will make your investment stretch further and learn how to keep time and efficiency in mind… along with the earning potential that comes with it.

Throughout the duration of the course our experienced detailing instructor will show you not just the ins and outs of the physical valeting process, but the key aspects of marketing your business, assessing your competitors, and constructing the type of maintenance service you’d like to offer. See how to identify your position in the market, discover how to get the recognition for a job well done and ultimately get expert advice on the crucial steps you need to take to ensure that your mobile business becomes a success.

We also take on one of the most challenging aspects of the detailing business – the pricing. Offering key insights into the practical and financial considerations needed before setting your price.

The practical side of the course answers all the most common questions from mobile detailers such as: How do I cut down on product wastage? How long should I spend on the job? Do I need to top up protection? And, perhaps most importantly, how far should I go with my maintenance service?

Our comprehensive step-by-step guide covers the whole process from start to finish and includes professional tips and tricks on the most efficient cleaning, the finishing touches that clients will remember, and the challenges you may face in warm or cold weather. There’s also clear advice on the definitive professional solutions to subjects such as: maintaining previously-applied wax and ceramic protection, the difference between an interior valet and a deep clean and the use of essential products such as Citrus Power Bug & Grime Remover, Avalanche Snow Foam and Lather Car Shampoo to ensure you always employ the safest, swirl-free maintenance wash.

Whether you’re an experienced detailer or new to the business, The Mobile Detail: Maintenance Valet Course offers a grounding in the fundamentals of valeting and a wealth of insider knowledge that could prove to be the key to your success.

The Mobile Detail: Maintenance Valet Course Includes:

Pricing and Marketing – Learn our professional tips on and tricks on marketing your mobile maintenance valet to a wide range of customers and discover how to position yourself when it comes to pricing your service.

The Process – The finer details of the detail - our step-by-step training guide simplifies all the in depth processes needed to complete the most effective maintenance valet, inside and out, without wasting your time or detailing products.

Let's Get Started...

This type of detail is a service provided simply to maintain the cleanliness of the vehicle, and should be performed regularly, in between more in-depth details. With that in mind there's not only the chance to 'up sell' other services - such as protection, engine bay cleaning or paint correction - here, but you also get the most important opportunity; to add a repeat customer to your bookings. The more maintenance details you perform on a single vehicle, the quicker and easier they will get, with far less need for more in depth detailing services. Doing a great job for the right price is always the key to customers coming back for more.

Of course, there are a number of factors that influence the time it takes to complete a comprehensive valet but, generally speaking, we would expect a thorough service to take around two hours. This should cover both the interior and exterior of a vehicle.

For new customers - where you haven't worked on the vehicle previously - remember that an already protected vehicle will be considerably quicker to maintain, a consideration that should be taken into account when pricing the job for your client. In fact, pricing is the first hurdle you face, and it's not just your own time that needs to be considered, so that's what we'll tackle first.

Pricing And Marketing

Setting prices for your services is arguably one of the most challenging aspects for any business, not least when it comes to mobile detailing. Ultimately, you need to identify your position within the reachable market and establish what you'd like to achieve and trade that off between your time and running costs. Do you want to offer a cheap and cheerful service with a relatively quick turnaround? Or a slightly more expensive service that offers more attention to the finer details? Don't forget to consider that you need to make a profit, too.

Getting your price point right can be the difference between a successful business and a complete failure, so it's extremely important to be effective in your pricing.

To help you, it's important start by assessing your competition. Ask yourself:

Who are your local competitors? What do your competitors charge? What services do they offer and how does that compare to your own? Is there anything that they offer which you don't? How competitive a price point would you like to offer? A similar price point to the competition, or a higher price point? If you're looking to offer a similar or higher price point, ask yourself why customers should choose you over your competitor? The best way is to identify a unique selling point to give potential customers a reason to pick your services.

A USP can be anything from the speed of you service to a quality guarantee - for example 100% satisfaction or your money back - you could also offer a discounted loyalty scheme, or include an optional extra offered by competitors (such as wet vacuuming/steam cleaning with your standard interior valet).

Other simple selling points can include small touches such as free air fresheners and tidy bags - every small detail you add helps to build a great customer experience, and keep them coming back.

Market research and choosing a suitable price point is key to any successful business. Establish your position in the market and know your worth. Don't undervalue your time as ultimately your business needs to be profitable to be successful. And don't forget that, even in the eyes of your potential customers, the cheapest out there isn't necessarily the best.

Once you have worked out your prices, it's important to promote your business to attract as many customers as possible. Whether you gain clients through word-of-mouth, social media advertisements or flyer handouts, it goes without saying that you should take every new business lead you can get, regardless of where it comes from.

Word-of-mouth is regarded as the most powerful form of advertisement, but it doesn't just happen overnight. You may need to start with building the foundations of your mobile detailing business by offering a form of discount to friends, family and local businesses to create your initial customer base and get your name out there.

Be a professional. Build yourself a website which clearly displays the services you offer and the prices for each. Be sure to draw attention to your unique selling points at every stage, giving every visitor a reason to book in with you.

Last, and perhaps the most important, it's vital to work to the best of your ability on every service you provide. If you do a great job and the customer recognises it, they'll have no hesitation in recommending you or using you again. And, don't forget to be consistent. Ultimately, you could provide a customer with five flawless valets, but it only takes one half-hearted detail to tarnish your reputation and give them reason to use one of your competitors.

Essential Detailing Products

Cleaners:

Imperial Wheel Cleaner - Acid-free, spray-on wheel cleaner suitable for regular use on the most contaminated painted and powdercoated alloy wheels. Available as a ready-to-use spray (500ml) or as a concentrate (1&5-litre) that can be diluted to suit any level of soiling.

Tread Tyre Cleaner - Heavy duty, spray-on tyre cleaner designed to break down and lift the most ground-in contamination.

Citrus Power Bug & Grime Remover - Wax, coating and sealant-safe, ready-to-use pre-cleaner that uses special surfactants to lift and encapsulate heavy particulates, allowing them to be safely rinsed away.

Avalanche Snow Foam - Thick, citrus-infused foam cleaning agent which lingers on surfaces and works its way into panel gaps to safely remove bonded contamination without degrading protection layers.

Lather Car Shampoo - Protection-layer-safe car shampoo containing an advanced blend of surfactants and lubricants specially formulated to lift and encapsulate grime for the safest possible contact wash.

Lavish Ceramic Foam - The simple and effective solution for topping up the life, and improving the performance of, ceramic coatings. Si02-based formula applied with your snow Foam Lance, to add gloss and protection during the wash stage.

Glisten Spray Wax - The quickest and easiest way of applying durable wax protection, advanced water beading and a show-stopping shine to any vehicle.

Finale Quick Detailer - A water-based finishing spray and drying aid. Finale effortlessly removes watermarks, finger prints, product resides and more.

Dressle Trim Dressing - A versatile all-purpose dressing for the exterior and interior trim and must have detailing product.

Satin Tyre Crème - Progressive tyre dressing allowing you to decide on the level of shine. One application gives a subtle, satin sheen and multiple applications give a wet-look gloss. Also contains UV inhibitors to protect against fading and browning.

Crystal Glass Cleaner - Finely balanced, distilled solvent solution that's safe to use on all glass surfaces and designed to cut through grime, sticky contamination and greasy films.

Total Interior Cleaner - Powerful Interior Cleaner capable of removing stains, spills and ground-in grime. Safe for use on all materials including carpets, upholstery, leather, plastics and rubber.

Spritz Interior Quick Detailer - Interior cleaner and finisher specifically for hard plastics and vinyl. Contains UV inhibitors to prevent fading and anti-static agents to limit future dust build-up.

Accessories:

Pressure Sprayer - Used for the dilution and application of pre-cleaners and wheel cleaners.

Barrel Brush - Long-reach, scratch-free wheel cleaning brush specifically designed to access wheel barrels and awkward areas such as behind spokes.

Wonder Wool Wheel Brush - Super-soft lambswool cleaning head, suitable for all wheels and kind on sensitive finishes.

Ultra Soft Wash Mitt - Super-soft lambswool mitt, ideal for use on any sensitive surface, including paintwork and specialist wheels.

Detailing Brush Trio - Set of 3, scratch-free Detailing Brushes useful for safely agitating a range of cleaning solutions in and around the vehicle.

Rubber Scrubber Tyre Brush - Stiff bristle brush used specifically for agitating tyre cleaners and helping to remove harsh, embedded grime.

Detailing Bucket - High 20L capacity and removable grit guard cuts down the risk of harmful particulate recirculation beck to wash media. For the safest maintenance we recommend separate buckets for wheel cleaning and your shampoo solution, along with an additional bucket for rinsing media during the contact wash.

Plush Wash Mitt - Designed to glide across surfaces during your contact wash, picking up and trapping potentially harmful particles deep within the material and away from paintwork.

Silk Drying Towel - Highly absorbent, twist-loop microfibre essential for absorbing rinse water (along with any impurities contained within) from all surfaces after completing the wet work.

Tyre Spot Pad - Contoured foam applicator specifically designed for tyre and trim dressings.

Microfibre Work Cloth - 300GSM general-use microfibre cloth, suited to a huge variety of cleaning, polishing and finishing tasks.

Wheels

As a pro detailer you'll already know that every detail, maintenance or otherwise, starts with the most contaminated vehicle areas. Here - as we're not looking to tackle the engine bay or under the chassis - we begin with the wheels. This process not only helps to avoid water marks on the vehicle through premature drying of your rinse water. But to gets the dirtiest job out of the way first. After all, we don't want to leave dirty wheels until last and end up splashing contamination all over our bodywork.

The key to all mobile detailing processes, especially for a business, is to make the best use of the water in your tank and use only the product you need to finish the job to a high standard. Performing the stages quickly and efficiently, but without cutting corners, is a recipe for success.

We begin by rinsing down all four wheels with a pressure washer to remove any surface dirt and other contamination that can be mechanically removed with the water pressure alone. This process should never be skipped with water conservation in mind because it allows the cleaning products you use later to get to work where they're most needed - on the bonded contamination.

Imperial Wheel Cleaner is our go-to cleaning product here. Designed to make life quick and easy, this spray-on cleaning agent breaks down grime and brake dust, and is safe to use on all painted, powdercoated and lacquered wheel finishes. Although Imperial is supplied ready-to-use in 500ml trigger bottles, we also offer a dilute-to-suit Imperial Concentrate in 1 and 5-Litre bottles. These are ideal for trade professionals aiming to complete multiple cars.

Here we've diluted the Imperial Concentrate to 1:10 with plain water and (working on one wheel at a time) are applying liberally to the face and barrel with our Pump Sprayer - another tool developed to make life simple for the detailing professional.

The Imperial can be left to dwell (without drying out) for several minutes while it loosens and encapsulates the grime. We then start to agitate our cleaner to ensure it sees contact with every part of the wheel. Agitation here isn't about scrubbing the surface, it helps to refresh the cleaner, moving away any spent solution (which is already encapsulating grime) and replacing it with fresh solution to work on any remaining grime particles.

The first round of agitation is where, depending on the design of the wheels, we use a Barrel Brush or Wonder Wool Wheel Brush to work on the barrels. It's important to be thorough here, contacting every part of the inner wheel to ensure contact with the cleaning agent.

Next, we use a dedicated wash mitt to agitate our cleaner into the face of the wheel and in-between the spokes. This mitt is one that's reserved for wheels only, we don't use it on the rest of the car.

Before we rinse away the contamination trapped in the Imperial solution, we use a soft Detailing Brush to make sure we've contacted all the most intricate areas, such as around the brake callipers, lips and wheel bolt recesses. To conserve our rinse water, we then move quickly on to cleaning the tyres using Tread Tyre Cleaner.

Tread Tyre Cleaner is a heavy-hitting solution designed specifically to break down and draw the grime out of rubber sidewalls, leaving behind a clean surface that's ideal for the application of a tyre dressing later. We apply Tread liberally and scrub into the surface using a stiff Rubber Scrubber Tyre Brush. As the product foams up you'll see the dirt being drawn out and trapped in the solution, now we can rinse the whole wheel and tyre thoroughly, and then move on to the next wheel.

Pre Rinse

Immediately after rinsing the final wheel, we can prepare for the pre wash stage by rinsing the rest of the vehicle from top to bottom. Again, this process stops you from wasting your cleaning agents because it allows them to get to work where they're most needed. Be sure to be thorough when you complete your pre rinse by flushing any hidden contamination out of panel gaps and shuts as you go.

Pre Wash

As all detailers know, the pre wash stage is vital to prevent swirl marks and other defects, it's here where we remove the bulk of the heavy grime before making any contact with the vehicle, significantly cutting down on the chance of causing imperfections in sensitive surfaces.

A suitable pre cleaner should be used to help lift and encapsulate these heavy particles, allowing them to be safely rinsed away. Citrus Power Bug & Grime Remover is perfect for this task, this wax, sealant and coating-safe formula quickly cuts through the grime and can be used on all exterior surfaces.

Citrus Power is supplied ready-to-use in 500ml, 1-Litre and 5-Litre bottles, the latter being ideal for trade professionals looking to detail every day. Once again, we're using a Pressure Sprayer to apply ours over the whole vehicle, starting with the dirtiest parts - here from the window line downwards - to give them maximum dwell time.

When the whole vehicle is covered, we can allow 3-5 minutes of dwelling. In this case, as the weather is cold today, we can allow the full five minutes for Citrus Power to work its magic, but always use your own judgement. It's important not to let any cleaning product dry on the surface naturally.

Once the Citrus Power has been given time to dwell, we rinse the car down to remove the particulates trapped in the solution.

The second stage of every pre-wash is using snow foam, a pre cleaning solution designed to linger on surfaces for as long as possible while it breaks down bonded contamination. Snow foam is also great at working its way into panel gaps and shuts helping to clean any grime there, too.

We pour an inch or so of Avalanche Snow Foam into a Foam Lance bottle, and top up by dipping into a bucket of clean water. Once connected to our pressure washer, we apply the Avalanche over the whole vehicle, working from the top to bottom, leaving the foam to dwell for as long as possible, again, without it drying out.

As the Avalanche lingers, it pulls contamination from the surface using advanced surfactants within the solution, these then surround potentially harmful particles, allowing them to be safely rinsed away. While your snow foam is dwelling it's important to make sure that it reaches all the awkward, most intricate parts, particularly dirt traps such as front grilles, mirrors and weather strips. For this you can take a soft Detailing Brush and lightly agitate the solution into these areas.

An overall dwell time of 5-minutes or so is usually sufficient for heavy grime, but a good professional tip to stop your solution drying out is to keep an eye on the windows while you're working around the vehicle, as these will usually start to dry out first. When that starts to happen it's time to rinse away all traces of the foam, working from the top of the vehicle to the bottom.

Contact Wash

A professional 'two bucket' contact wash always starts with a Detailing Bucket of clean water, three quarters full. For normal soiling we add around two capfuls of Lather Car Shampoo before using our pressure washer to fill up the remaining quarter, foaming up the solution to create the suds that will lift and encapsulate any remaining contamination on the vehicle.

Lather is a pH neutral cleaning agent which contains no waxes of false shining agents, it's purely used to clean away bonded grime. While it's a powerful, dilute-to-suit product - meaning you can add a little more to your bucket for the heaviest cleaning jobs - it's also extremely kind to protection layers, so it will never strip any previously-applied waxes, sealants or coatings.

The second Detailing Bucket of course, is our rinse bucket and should contain nothing but clean water. This bucket is used to wash out your mitt after every pass on the vehicle, immediately before going back for more shampoo, a safety measure used by detailers to cut down on the risk of contaminating the wash solution.

As well as your Lather Car Shampoo, and duo of Detailing Buckets, a suitably safe wash mitt is also a crucial part of your mobile kit. All professional wash mitts - including the Plush Wash Mitt we're using here - are designed to glide over surfaces, picking up potentially harmful particles and trapping them deep within the material. Regardless of whether they're made from microfibre or lambswool, the idea is to keep these away from the paintwork, cutting down on the risk of scratching. The particles trapped inside are only released when you physically rinse them out in your rinse bucket. Only then can you go and load up with fresh was solution and return to the vehicle.

When completing our contact wash, we always tackle the least contaminated areas first. Again, this is another safety measure used to prevent dragging grime from heavily contaminated areas over to cleaner areas. In most cases this will involve starting with the roof and upper sides, before moving on to the bonnet, lower sides, front bumper and finally the rear. To further avoid swirling, rinse out your mitt after every pass and wash in straight lines rather than circular motions.

One every panel has been contacted, we can fully rinse the vehicle from top to bottom.

As a professional detailer, at this stage you can make a judgement call. Spraying a fine mist of water from your pressure washer over the vehicle should give you a good indication as to whether the current vehicle protection remains sufficient.

If the vehicle is still repelling water, beading or sheeting well you can skip to the drying stage. If not there's the possibility of an up-sell, or even a free added extra to your maintenance valet service. If there's little to no visible protection you could offer your customer some quick ceramic protection using Lavish Ceramic Foam. This unique, SiO2-based product can be applied with your Foam Lance in seconds, while the vehicle is still wet. Simply apply over the whole vehicle, rinse and dry for up to 6-months of protection.

Alternatively, if your client prefers the look of a wax, you can wait until after the drying stage and utilise Glisten Spray Wax which gives up to 4-weeks of protection with just a spritz and a wipe on each panel.

Both of these quick and easy-to-use products can also be used to top up any protection that's already present.

Drying

As this particular car is already fairly well protected, before we dry the vehicle we apply a fine mist of Finale Quick Detailer (one panel at a time) as a drying aid, and then proceed to contact dry the whole vehicle using a Silk Drying Towel. It's important to dry every vehicle after washing because impurities in your rinse water may be left on surfaces if the water is allowed to dry naturally. The only way to safely dry sensitive surfaces, avoiding watermarks along the way, is using a dedicated drying towel to absorb the water and impurities in one go, as opposed to simply moving it around the surface.

Always dry the vehicle from top to bottom and make that you go back to soak up any drips that may work their way out of crevices. Check, wait and then double check.

Exterior Finishing Touches

Now that the car is dry, we can focus on a couple of quick and simple finishing touches for the exterior - the sort of details that will always make your maintenance valet stand out from the rest.

First, a little Dressle All Purpose Trim Dressing sprayed directly into each arch will keep the plastic liners looking fresh and offer protection from future UV fading. There's no need to wipe with this water-based dressing, simply spray on a liberal amount and leave to cure.

Dressing the tyres is another quick touch that can make all the difference. A little Satin Tyre Crème on a Tyre Spot Pad takes seconds to apply to the sidewalls and leaves behind a subtle satin sheen. This product also has UV inhibitors to prevent fading and browning, nourishes and conditions tyres from within, and even adds a barrier to the elements.

Finally, we always recommend utilising Crystal Glass Cleaner on all the exterior windows and mirrors, along with a spritz or two of Finale Quick Detailer on the paintwork, to remove any dust or fingerprints that may have accumulated. In fact, the best professional advice we can give for these final finishing steps is to carry them out right at the very end (after you've completed the interior) of your valet, just before you give the car back to the customer. It's almost inevitable that these areas will pick up the odd imperfection while you're getting on with the rest of the job.

Interior Valeting

When it comes to interior detailing, more specifically as part of a maintenance valet, ultimately the aim is to give the inside a relatively quick once over. This helps to keep it fresh for your customer making it a much nicer place to be, but it's worth considering that in these cases the interior should already be relatively clean.

If, however, you're faced with cabin that's extremely dirty, making it time-consuming to clean effectively, you should consider offering another service to your customer, such as an Interior Deep Clean. You can learn about this process in our Mobile Detail: Interior Deep Clean Course.

Bear in mind that, as a mobile detailer, time management is always the key to success, so a maintenance valet should reflect only routine maintenance - it should always be interim clean between the bigger details.

We begin every interior detail by vacuuming the seats, the floor and finally the floor mats. A good tip is to hold the vacuum hose between your legs to prevent it from touching the exterior and inflicting any damage.

Once we've removed any loose dirt with the vacuum, we move our focus to cleaning away any other grime on the seats, in footwells, and any areas such as door pockets, door cards and the steering wheel.

The product to use here is Total Interior Cleaner, along with a clean microfibre cloth. Total is safe to use on all interior surfaces including cloth and leather upholstery, plastics, rubber and carpets. Simply spray on directly and wipe away the grime with your cloth. For smaller, more awkward recesses, a Detailing Brush can be used to agitate the Total before wiping.

Spritz Interior Quick Detailer is another product we utilise on every maintenance valet, particularly for plastics such as interior trim and the dashboard, along with media screens and dials. Spritz not only does a great job of removing general grime, but it's packed with UV inhibitors to help prevent future fading and anti-static agents to cut down on dust build-up. Again, a quick mist and a wipe is all you need to leave behind a subtle, non-sticky matte finish.

To conclude the interior valet, the last stage is to take care of the glass using Crystal Glass Cleaner. This solvent-based solution instantly cuts through grime and fingerprints, flashing fast for a streak and smear-free finish. Spritz a small amount directly onto the glass (or onto your microfibre cloth if space is tight), spread and buff until crystal clear.

A great professional tip for the colder weather is to heat up the windows with the vehicle de-misters first. A slightly warmer surface will help you achieve a smear-free finish more easily.

That's the detail complete, but there is one last touch to think about - in our experience a simple air freshener left behind for your customer will always go a long way. You can use one of ours of course, but why not think about having your own custom air fresheners featuring your company logo and contact details? Remember that promotion is vital for any successful detailing business, and it's not only your customer who will see it - their passengers will notice it, too.

The Results

Now all that's left to do is to stand back, admire your work and of course, grab a few pictures for your social media channels.

Next Steps...

Congratulations on completing the Mobile Detail: Maintenance Valet course!

Before you go, don't forget to have a peek at some extra resources that you can take advantage of right now to continue your learning. We have a whole selection of online resources in the Guides section of our blog.

We welcome your feedback and hope you've enjoyed the course. Don't forget to shout about your new skills and knowledge, and share your progress on Social Media, too!

If you have any questions after you go, please don't hesitate to send an email to support@autofinesse.com