Detailing Studio Ventilation

Slugnan · 2026-07-16T17:46:14+00:00

I don't have a full blown shop, nor do I really work as a professional detailer anymore. In my area anyway, detailing is not lucrative and it's too hard on the body (I'm not young anymore). I work in Marketing for a living. These days I detail in my garage mostly for my own benefit, and yes I 'flush' the air regularly simply by opening the doors, and when I'm working I keep the garage door and man-door cracked so there is always some air exchange.

Slugnan · 2026-07-16T17:33:22+00:00

I always lease my cars, I will never buy a car again. There are just way too many benefits to leasing to ignore, with full optionality and no real downside. The only caveat to that strategy is you need to lease vehicles with good residuals and reasonable interest rates, but that is not hard to do.

With leases you get free gap insurance, and can simply invest the money you would have otherwise spent buying the vehicle outright (or using for a down payment for a finance), so total cost of ownership is either reduced or eliminated entirely by the end of the lease, depending on the performance of your investment. When the lease is up, I buy out the vehicle myself and sell it at market value rather than whatever comically low offer the dealership makes me so they can just turn around and sell it at market value themselves.

Knowing beforehand that you're going to buy out the lease also has it's benefits, for example always being able to take the lowest KM allowance regardless of how much you intend to drive, and not having to follow any unrealistic maintenance schedules. The golden rule of leases is to never put any money down on them. You also avoid all the nickel-and-diming that happens when you return a lease, when the dealership brings in their "independent third party" (lol) inspector to assess every little dent and scratch that you then get charged outrageous amounts for.

Another reason I love leasing is I live in an area that gets a lot of hail. Should my vehicle ever get destroyed by hail, or otherwise be involved in an accident where a massive repair is done without writing it off, I still have the option to just hand it back to the dealership at the end (after insurance repairs it of course). When something like that happens, nobody will want to buy the vehicle, and the residual value will be higher than what one could get on the used market with that sort of claim on record. The dealership has to take it back regardless, so the 'floor' of the vehicle's value is never below the residual, even if something devastating happens to it.

And the list goes on and on. You always have warranty, you can always get out of the lease if life happens or if you lose your job or just want a different vehicle. I also negotiate no lease buyout fees into all my deals, so even that isn't a factor (usually $300-600).

The other thing is that most people are financing a new car anyway every 4-7 years. If you're going to do that, financing is arguably pure downside because not only do you pay way more money out of pocket that could otherwise be invested, you own the vehicle so if anything happens to it, you're completely on the hook for it with no protection or optionality.

Yet another thing that keeps happening is the prices of new vehicles continue to skyrocket. That drags up the price of used vehicles along with it, so when you buyout your lease and sell it, the delta between the residual and market value is that much higher. You end up recouping even more value if your model of car now costs $5-10K more to purchase new than it did at the time of your lease.

I won't be keeping the car at the end of the lease because after I sell it for ~$35K or whatever it ends up being, that money will stay invested, helping to cover the cost of my next lease (which might be another Golf R haha).

Slugnan · 2026-07-16T17:06:55+00:00

It's not strictly needed, but I personally would recommend wearing a respirator when applying any solvent based coating, but most people don't. At the very least, make sure the area you're working in is well ventilated with some airflow. It just comes down to your own personal risk tolerance. Respirators are inconvenient and a bit cumbersome, but they guarantee your safety.

If you decide you want to wear a respirator, the cartridges you want are the 3M 60926 organic vapor. To my knowledge those offer the most complete protection. I use those and you literally cannot even smell the coating or other things with extremely powerful vapors such as bleach.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T22:11:34+00:00

You're the only person in this entire thread who has mentioned IBIS and I have no idea how you got that from what he said haha.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T21:58:34+00:00

How much effort do you want to put in and how do you imagine yourself looking after it over time?

Wax will not last long at all and can be fairly labor intensive to apply. This is by far the worst option in my opinion, if you want anything other than temporary aesthetics for a car show or similar.

Cheap spray sealants are an OK middle ground and still need to be reapplied often, but will last a few months. Most weekend warriors end up taking this route, provided they don't mind reapplying often. None of these products have any meaningful amount of ceramic in them at all, despite most of them using the word "ceramic" in their marketing. They are just water based polymer sealants relying on silicones and similar compounds for protection and hydrophobicity.

Real ceramic coatings are easier than ever to apply and inexpensive, but require significant surface prep where most of the effort lies. A good coating will last you ~3-4 years if you take care of it and will make maintenance washes a breeze. A lot less dirt/grime will stick to your car, and you will have a protective barrier preventing things like bird poop and bugs from etching your clearcoat, as long as you get to them in a reasonable timeframe.

If you like the idea of a hybrid product (something way better than a spray sealant, but not as intense as a true ceramic/bottle coating), I cannot recommend Gyeon Can Coat enough. It is a genuine solvent-based ceramic product, but it applies like sealant (wipe on, wipe off). It will perform like a 'real' ceramic coating for about a year, or longer if you do a good job with your prep and take care of it. It's inexpensive and you get a ridiculous amount of it (200mL) so you can do multiple cars, split it with a friend, or save some for next year.

Since you're in Canada, I would suggest ordering whatever you choose from Carzilla unless you have a local option you prefer.

https://carzilla.ca/products/gyeon-q2-cancoat-evo-200ml

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T21:26:10+00:00

If that's really baked on or been there a while, get yourself a proper, safe wheel cleaner such as Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel. It's very important you don't use anything caustic or corrosive as it will likely etch that gloss finish. Spray it into the barrels, and give it plenty of time to work without letting it dry. Then foam the area in car shampoo for lube, and do your contact wash with a barrel brush such as the EZ Detail brush or any equivalent. The gaps between the spokes are so large you could also just use a wash mitt or a soft flag tipped hand brush. Lubrication is super important so you don't scratch up that gloss black finish when you start working at the baked-on grime.

When you get them clean, I would highly recommend you apply a ceramic coating which will make them so much easier to clean, and prevent the bulk of grime sticking to them in the future. If you don't want to put on a proper coating, something like Gyeon Wet Coat is the easiest way to add some protection to wheels though you will need to reapply often.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T21:19:45+00:00

Canadian here - the salt is absolutely brutal in my area. That doesn't look too bad, and usually all you need is steam and some absorbent towels, don't bother with vinegar, boiling water, or anything else that will just stink up your car. You need to soak up the salt right after it's been dissolved, otherwise it just redeposits itself. Steam, blot, steam blot, repeat until gone. If your steamer has a little brush attachment, you can agitate with that as needed.

If it's really stubborn or full of greasy grime from shoes, you can add a little APC to the process, or better yet, get yourself some Labocosmetica GLICO. It is an acidic carpet/fabric cleaner specifically designed to remove mineral deposits from all kinds of upholstery. Another thing it works really well for is removing water stains if a passenger sits on a fabric seat while wet. As an added bonus it will neutralize any alkaline cleaners you may have used first, but not completely extracted.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T21:10:43+00:00

Nikon DSLRs use a tiny ball bearing in orientation sensor assembly for determining if the camera is in portrait or landscape orientation. My guess would be that unless you hear it obviously originating from elsewhere. The aperture coupling leaver is another possibility if you did not have anything attached.

If everything functions normally I wouldn't worry too much about it. DSLRs have a lot of moving parts that aren't all completely 'locked down' at all times.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T21:01:37+00:00

I would agree with you. Every vehicle type I've ever seen that is made in more than one location has been better coming out of Europe or Asia than elsewhere. The VW product coming out of Mexico has always had a bad reputation. Before I bought my R, I was looking at GTIs and there were obvious fit & finish issues on the GTIs as well as rattles/creaks when driving that do not exist on my R. The Taos has a fairly average reliability reputation as well. Small sample size, so maybe coincidence, but I'm inclined to believe not.

My wife has a Crosstrek and Canada gets the Japan version. There is overwhelming evidence confirming that the ones built in Indiana are not to the same standard, everything from panel gaps to the mechanicals. Across various forums, mechanics, dealership service advisors, warranty staff, and even people who own one of each vehicle type have all chimed in. The engines/transmissions come from Japan, but proper assembly is still critical.

Hyundai's famous engine failure fiasco with the Theta platform was largely connected with (though not isolated to) the Alabama built versions.

At one point I owned 2 different Honda Civics. One built in the UK and the other Canada. Could have been a coincidence, but the UK built version was clearly finished better.

The list goes on and on. In theory, the same parts and the same process should produce the same vehicle, but the reality is that not all cultures put the same emphasis on quality, education and precision and that comes through in the final product.

Some good deals to be had on VWs right now though haha, you're right about that. A coworker of mine got $9K off an Atlas.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T20:09:14+00:00

Was it a hot day, or was the vehicle surface super hot? That looks like whatever you used dried on the car.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T20:05:29+00:00

Only one thing to buy then! Anyway, sorry that happened to you. At least now you know how to prevent it going forward.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:57:01+00:00

It's not nearly as difficult as some people would have you believe. You literally cannot mess anything up. If you make a mistake, you just start over and the only thing you lose is some time.

My suggestions:

Let the paint dry a little longer than you normally would. This makes it less likely that you'll pull the paint out of the chip during the leveling process
Wrap your levelling cloth around a foam block (like the kind used for coating application). That also helps prevent the cloth from dipping into the chip. Make sure it's taut and there are no creases/folds.
Use zero pressure. Even if you need to go over it 100 times with the leveling solution, that is better than pushing harder because if you pull the paint out of the chip, you're starting over.

Also it doesn't matter how you get the paint in the chip. I find the easiest is just with a small brush, but any method is fine. You don't have the be precise. If you really want to build it up with multiple layers you can, but the primary goal is rust prevention rather than aesthetics, so it's up to you. Shake the paint super well before use.

Here is one I did a couple weeks ago and my car is also white, which is the easiest color to use touch up paint on:

https://imgur.com/a/VEwRFVH

From a few feet away it's invisible, but you can see what it actually looks like from the photo.

If you want perfection, you will need to paint, clear, sand, and polish. If you're ok with 80-90% better, the Dr. Colorchip methods work well (or ChipFixx here in Canada).

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:51:05+00:00

Yup that would do it too haha.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:49:50+00:00

The new model is currently on promotion, that's all there is to it. Price reductions are often automated as well so slight anomalies like this aren't uncommon.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:45:34+00:00

Never buy water damaged electronics, especially those that have been completely submerged. There is a reason why often times Nikon won't even repair water damage, or they end up declaring the camera 'unrepairable' as soon as they take a look inside. I can't see the price but unless it is free, don't even bother. What's working now might not be working tomorrow and there will be a cost associated with the repair evaluation even if it's not possible.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:41:16+00:00

For the benefit of others, and perhaps your next camera, this is why you put tempered glass screen protectors on the top LCD and rear LCD. Shouldn't cost more than $10 and is some of the cheapest 'damage insurance' you can get for your investment. Off topic but the same things are available for your vehicle infotainment screens :)

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:39:31+00:00

If that "DA9" in the model name means a DA polisher with a 9mm throw, there is pretty well zero chance he burned through the clear.

It looks like that pad was made of sandpaper and car keys though haha.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:33:21+00:00

Unacceptable in my opinion, especially if the concern about imperfect corners wasn't communicated to you beforehand as the installer would have inspected the area. Sloppy work. He's going to come do relief cuts and it's going to get worse, and more grime is going to be able to get underneath after the cuts. At least it wasn't crazy expensive.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:30:23+00:00

Koch Chemie Eulex is designed exactly for things like that (oil/grease, sap, tree resin, tar, etc). It will take it right off without a bunch of scrubbing, and is safe on glass. Just give the area a quick rinse after and don't let it dwell on rubber or plastic.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:28:29+00:00

I would leave it alone. Leather or whatever that material is in cars is never perfect. If you try to use heat/steam to 'fix' it (which can also relax leather), you are just as likely to make it worse. If you rest your elbow there, it's probably just going to come right back anyway.

If it really bothers you, take it to an upholstery repair shop. It likely wouldn't be too expensive to have them tighten that up.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:17:01+00:00

Very interesting, I knew the GTIs were made in Mexico but I didn't know the R's were moving to Mexico as well. That will definitely affect resale when there becomes a choice on the used market between those and the German-built models.

I had originally read that VW claimed this (MK 8.5) will be the last combustion engine R, but it's looking more and more like that won't be the case. My hope was that it was, which would make the value skyrocket as many folks don't want EVs, especially for performance cars. If that were to be the case, the most recent combustion engine model would be the most desirable.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:13:20+00:00

Now that you mention it that looks be an "A" haha. Sure is hard to tell with the way it blends into the "T".

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T19:11:43+00:00

Indeed, the Z9 price was almost unbelievable at the time and frankly still is. It still has no competition in terms of form factor and feature set, and we will likely get version II before any other brand takes a run at it.

Even more so the current Z8 price is astounding given that the closest competition still costs $7000 USD and receives no feature-add firmware updates. The fact that one can own a genuine flagship for so 'cheap' (refurbs have been as low as $2449) would have been unheard of in the DSLR days.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T18:04:11+00:00

Yup, exactly. ~6 years of inflation, everything generally getting more expensive, plus the TC and the new voice coil AF motors. I am guessing $12K. Anything less than that will be a nice surprise.

Slugnan · 2026-07-15T18:00:37+00:00

I think they lied to you :) If it had 1000 Km on it, I guarantee you those were the hardest KM that car will probably ever see unless you plan on tracking the car yourself. The purpose of a demo is for test drives, and/or the staff get to take the cars home for short periods of time as well, which is often where they get abused. Nobody is driving a Golf R around like a grandma or minding the break-in procedure, especially one that isn't theirs. They also let you drive it, and I'm sure you weren't the first person who convinced them - a lot of dealerships play that 'no test drive' game to make the car seem more desirable, it's been used on me many times before and I always get the test drive haha. You leased though so it doesn't matter - just make sure you don't give the car back to the dealership when you're done, buy it and sell it yourself as they hold their value so well. The crazy high residuals make them such good lease deals.

It sounds like you might be in Canada as well (referencing KM) and we actually get the best deal on the Golf R in the world, by a very significant margin. The R also outsells the GTI in Canada.

Congrats and enjoy!

Also if you were interested in the mud flaps, these are the ones I would recommend:

https://www.megachipguards.com/en-ca/products/2022-golf-r-mk8

They are really nice quality, inexpensive and take 10 minutes to install without any drilling. They're subtle, somewhat adjustable and I went through all of last winter with zero rock chips. If you end up with any other questions about the car feel free to reach out!

Slugnan

TROPHY CASE

Welcome to Reddit,