Going Ceramic? GO GO GO!

[ShinePro]

To all IBA owners out there

Thinking of going ceramic or have some already on.
My advice-
If you are going
Go Go Go Go all in!!!

What do I mean by that
As stated on other threads on this forum
I have spent 6 months testing 6 different products.
A dozen different application methods.
Injectors - tips - rain bars - foam pods etc etc

Ceramic is an awesome product!
But to make it truly awesome everything you do or apply in your IBA after the presoak and rinse needs to be ceramic friendly!
On Thursday I loaded up all my carnuba hot wax ($540.00 worth)
And hauled it to a neighbor and gave it to him for free!
Poured the last little bit of rain something down the drain!

Everything that goes on the car after the rinse is now ceramic friendly!!!
Its not sticky like a hot wax or a rain… product.

We replaced the triple foam polish with a ceramic based tri foam - Prism
We use the gold colored Prism in the foam bar- it looks just like hot wax!
But rinses much much easier.
It really preps the car well for ceramic.
(My customers would have noticed the foam bar missing so I had to come up with something to use there)
Then Ceramic
I m using less water!
My product costs are down to 10.7% of my wash income.
I can wash faster!
The cars dry easier!
The cars are easier to clean!
My Customers are noticing, asking whats different because the cars look even better!

After all these years- I am truly confident that we are putting out the absolutely best product that is possible in an IBA.

 

[ShinePro]

So 3 weeks ago, after the severe cold snap, I installed my new top wash without telling anyone.
It’s my current top wash with the addition of Zenith graphene.

I wanted to experiment with it some more before I ordered the new menu boards.

As stated on the “eyebrow thread” I spent some time experimenting at other area washes before I made my final decision.
Saw nothing to change my mind there!
Nobody I visited has any graphene advertised yet.

I wanted to see if my Customers noticed.
We have been busy the last three weeks.
Spending 7 + hours a day at the main wash.
This past week I started getting my regulars asking questions about the new pass on my top wash.

“I drive 100 miles a day and my truck still looks great”

“My car has never looked better”

“I spent $500. Getting my car ceramic treated at the dealer 5 yrs ago-was thinking of doing it again - not now I’m just going to keep coming here”

“My car feels brand new”

on so on….

ordered my menu boards Friday

 

[HeyVern]

So 3 weeks ago, after the severe cold snap, I installed my new top wash without telling anyone.
It’s my current top wash with the addition of Zenith graphene.

I wanted to experiment with it some more before I ordered the new menu boards.

As stated on the “eyebrow thread” I spent some time experimenting at other area washes before I made my final decision.
Saw nothing to change my mind there!
Nobody I visited has any graphene advertised yet.

I wanted to see if my Customers noticed.
We have been busy the last three weeks.
Spending 7 + hours a day at the main wash.
This past week I started getting my regulars asking questions about the new pass on my top wash.

“I drive 100 miles a day and my truck still looks great”

“My car has never looked better”

“I spent $500. Getting my car ceramic treated at the dealer 5 yrs ago-was thinking of doing it again - not now I’m just going to keep coming here”

“My car feels brand new”

on so on….

ordered my menu boards Friday

Did you replace ceramic with graphene or just add graphene?

 

[ShinePro]

Just added it
It goes on the pass ahead of the ceramic.
then SFR

 

[washnshine]

Just added it
It goes on the pass ahead of the ceramic.
then SFR

Does it make a difference if you go silk/zenith or zenith/silk?

 

[ShinePro]

Does it make a difference if you go silk/zenith or zenith/silk?

Does it make a difference if you go silk/zenith or zenith/silk?

To clarify
I do not use Silk in my IBA
I use Silk in my self serve bays
I use Nova in the IBA
Apply Zenith then the Nova

Silk is an extreme hi end product
As is Zenith graphene
I m not sure you would use both of those together
Someone from the company could better answer that ?

 

[Roz]

So in all the testing that you have done, talked about here in the last year, what other things of interest did you discover?

 

[ShinePro]

I stared at the ceiling in bed half the night it seems thinking about that ?

A couple things
1) I was surprised that the quality difference of ceramics is probably greater than any of the products we use on an IBA
You know, pre soaks tend to be sodium hydroxide etc and acid is acid.
(I still am excited about the special qualities of Plazma pre soak - cant wait for bug season to return)
Tri foams are polishes or conditioners.
Some of the ceramics I tested looked good right when my truck was washed.
But several did not preform well at all when it rained the next day or last long at all.

2) When I said that everything needs to be ceramic friendly.
Add to that- acidic
Thanks to some tunnel friends for this one!
Another reason to start with hi ph presoak first. (Besides the fact that I think alkaline works best applied first).
ceramic loves a vehicle surface that is acidic.
hi ph -dwell- then lo ph
And turn up the acid to get eyebrows and get the car headed towards an acidic surface, which I have always done.
For the last 2 weeks I have been testing a product called Plummet
Its a white foaming acid
I put it in place of yellow tri foam
So now my tri foam is red white blue
But its one more shot of acid on the car after the big rinse to try to keep my surface ph low ahead of ceramic application.
The difference is visible!!
I want to test it on the foam bar but I want my reps help to do that.
need a second set of hands for that test
Bottom line is;
Ceramic will adhere better and the car will be drier coming out of the blowers the lower the ph is on the vehicle surface!

3) from my wife
Customers loved when we were testing stuff. They found it interesting.
They appreciated the fact that we are trying to be the best!

4)Test things in steps - dont make too many changes at once. Having 2 washes that are identical helps try different methods. We had to back up a time or two to recheck stuff because we made 2 changes at once. Did not know for sure which created the effect we were after


In the end I think we are headed towards a vehicle cleaning system that makes it so hydrophobic and dirt resistant that who I sell my wash too will be very slow!

 

[Cmofo]

Hi ShinePro, did you stay with Plummet or just using Prizm for TriFoam?

 

[ShinePro]

Been doing lots of testing.
settled on Prizm for tri foam
But before prizm and after hp rinse
I m spritzing the car with Plummett
Lp function thru the foam bar
That one last pass of low ph just sets things up well for ceramic application.
fyi
I think Roz is mixing it in with his tri foam Prizm still
I m seeing him at the show and catching up on things.

 

[Car Wash Man]

So 3 weeks ago, after the severe cold snap, I installed my new top wash without telling anyone.
It’s my current top wash with the addition of Zenith graphene.

I wanted to experiment with it some more before I ordered the new menu boards.

As stated on the “eyebrow thread” I spent some time experimenting at other area washes before I made my final decision.
Saw nothing to change my mind there!
Nobody I visited has any graphene advertised yet.

I wanted to see if my Customers noticed.
We have been busy the last three weeks.
Spending 7 + hours a day at the main wash.
This past week I started getting my regulars asking questions about the new pass on my top wash.

“I drive 100 miles a day and my truck still looks great”

“My car has never looked better”

“I spent $500. Getting my car ceramic treated at the dealer 5 yrs ago-was thinking of doing it again - not now I’m just going to keep coming here”

“My car feels brand new”

on so on….

ordered my menu boards Friday

What would you say would be the more top tier, graphene or ceramic? We are retooling our wash this summer and wanted to add graphene. We were thinking to have four wash packages. Base @ $8 then $10 which includes hot wax. $12 which has ceramic or graphene? and then $14 which has both. We are in a pretty cheap town in WI so $14 is already at the high end for a wash compared to other IBA's in the area...

 

[AnalyticWash]

What would you say would be the more top tier, graphene or ceramic? We are retooling our wash this summer and wanted to add graphene. We were thinking to have four wash packages. Base @ $8 then $10 which includes hot wax. $12 which has ceramic or graphene? and then $14 which has both. We are in a pretty cheap town in WI so $14 is already at the high end for a wash compared to other IBA's in the area...

Graphene is the trend for top tier in the industry right now. That being said, 90% of your customers won't have a clue what Graphene is...

Drop to 3 tiers. Low, Medium, High. With 4 your middle of the road people always buy the lower tier.

 

[Car Wash Man]

What would you recommend I set pricing for my three washes, and what to get rid of?

Current set up:
$8: presoak, HP, Spot Free
$10: triple foam, wax,
$12: Ceramic

 

[AnalyticWash]

10, 12, 14 or better 10, 13, 15. If your customer base can't handle the 15 that might be tricky.

 

[ShinePro]

As stated - Graphene is definitely the top tier. I do a fairly good job explaining it to the Customers on the menu

like the $15.00 mark
Where do your underbody and dryer fit into this program
I m 10-12 -16-18
A brief synopsis
10 is wash and dry
12 gets underbody and tri foam
16 gets ceramic
18 gets ceramic w/ Graphene

my only suggestion is that as I said early on in this thread. If you are going Ceramic get rid of sticky items like hot wax and rain… products. They take too long to cure!!
My Customers have caught on already that they get a couple of 18’s then they have an issue -parked under a tree- drive thru some mud etc. they roll in and get a quick wash- if they were to get hot wax it will mess with the ceramic.
believe me when I say this:
When I see a new customer that has been somewhere else and got some cheap wax on their car - I can tell it the second they pull out of the dryer.
Dont give yourself that headache!
Thats why I say if you are going Ceramic
Go all in!!!

I will send you a pm to be more specific
The express tunnels might have wax on their sign. Many of them are applying something ceramic based instead.
That I m sure of!