I read a couple threads and I have to ask. What's up?
People goin in line by line and picking apart other members posts. Questioning how many years of experience they have with the intentions of making a mockery out of them publicly...

When did this section stop being helpful for newer detailers?

People come here for a variety of reasons but arent we all here for at least three basic reasons:

We like to share experiences
We like to discuss our obsession/hobby of making our vehicles look mint
Or we come here looking for help or to learn

Lately I have been reading some posts in which people seem to actually be replying as though they sat down in the lab and had knowledge of how a product was engineered during creation. I dont believe any of us have that kind of chemical knowledge. Discussions about testing on painted panels for durability etc...Seriously-How can any of us obtain painted body panels with the stock paint from FMC to test? So we have to rely on objective personal experiences.

Even the most experienced make mistakes. Even manufacturers with many years of experience and the best intentions make errors (remember Armor All products in the early days?)

There arent a lot of facts to back up what we (as common amateur users) say about products we discuss here. Its often personal experience or preferences we talk about.

I think we have been loosing track of that lately. I can respect the guy who enthusiastically discusses his experiences with products even if its been under two years. I can respect a guy like Rock Pick who has many years of experience and product knowledge as well. But no offense to either guy, I dont think it would be wise to assume that what either guy says is necessarily the law. When you shut yourself down to new ideas, new products etc...you stop progressing and become stagnant. At some point, you wont grow any new detailing knowledge when technology creates new products.

I guess what I am trying to say is that some members are welcome to debate and share counter points- that's what makes a forum interesting, but at the same time- remember to be humble. You are probably not employed by one of the major manufacturers of product and wear a white lab coat 9-5

 

Amen.

 

yes this is too true...but hang around for more that two years and you will see then next thing come and go every two months....and before you know it you have enough waxes, compounds, tire dressings, glass cleaners...ect ect ect.....to do every car dealers lot in the state

case in point areospace 303 was the greatest plastic trim stuff here for a while, now it looks like everyone is head over heels in love with black wow....or the pc da being a great machine, now everyone is racing for the flex....it will never end, you dont have to jump on it the first day it comes out....

hang around for a while and let the cream rise to the top....then change and tweak your set up and methods after they are proven to be benificial

case in point for this....15 years ago foam pads were pretty new, i still used wool in two choices real and synthetic.....when foam pads came out you had about two flavors, now there are prob about 5 good pad companys and each make about 5-6 grades of pads.....

 

People have been shooting others down for a long time here. It comes and goes in waves. I've been a member of this board since 1999 and I've seen it on several occations.

Boils down to someone who feels (conciously or not) that shooting down others somehow validates themselves. Just grab some and it'll all blow over in due time.

 

Because they want for you to know that their I-Weiner™ is bigger than your I-Weiner™.

 

Is that a new type orbital or dual action polisher?

 

It's endorsed by Billy Mays.

 

Where can I get one?!?!

 

TV infommercial. Only 3 payments of 19.95

 

And if you act now he will double your order, thats 2 great wizbangs for the price of one.

 

Don't you mean E-Weiner™?

 

There is some truth in that comment. But also a reason a lot of people are missing the point.

People are being nitpicky lately because other people are talking in absolutes.

It isn't the latest, greatest product that makes the finished product look great. There are several guys on here that can make someone's vehicle look better using Blue Coral and Nu-finish than most of the guys could with $1,000's of dollars of the latest product.

Jack of everything, master of none is NOT the best solution, and people need to keep that in mind when they are constantly jumping products.

Find something you like, learn how to use it, then use it often. There is a lot of truth in that statement. I play around with tons of products, and there is nothing wrong with that, but I also have almost 30 years experience using some of Meg's stuff, so I have a good baseline for reference.

When someone posts an opinion about a product, you need to consider the experience behind that opinion. That doesn't mean someone with limited experience can't give an opinion, or that it isn't valid, but the overall validity of that opinion is almost always proportional to the experience they have with that product, and people need to keep that in mind.

When two people on here are arguing about how good a product is, with one of them having used it for two months, and the other having used it on thousands of cars... whose opinion should carry more weight?

Personal preference is one thing, but when someone posts that a certain technique isn't a good idea, or there is a better (safer) way to do something, it gets frustrating when that side of that arguement has very little hands on knowledge of what the issue actually is.

There is a lot of talk lately about how much experience some of the guys on here have, but I bet most of you haven't really thought about what that really translates to in real terms.

There is a huge difference in experience between the hobbyist that has been doing this for five years, and the professional that has been doing it for 5 years. Notice I am talking about experience here, not talent or ability.

that doesn't make the hobbyist's views any less important or relevant, but understand the background on where some of these comments come from.



Here is some perspective for you. I am not the most experienced guy on here, and would never claim to be.. I picked up my first buffer in 1977. I have no idea how many vehicles I have done in my life. I stopped counting at 10,000. I also have three test panels sitting out back of my garage in the weather that I continually run tests on.


Some of the guys here have serious experience. When they talk, we should all listen.


For the new people reading, it can be a daunting task to try and learn this stuff. Understand that 90% or more of this is technique, not the stuff in the bottle.


My comments are not directed at any single person, or meant to call out the OP. They are simply comments the general state of this forum lately. (and rambling, disjointed ones at that.) They aren't meant to say that only people with certain years of experience should post, or anything like that. I am not trying to make people mad, or call anyone out. I would just like to be able to enjoy reading this forum again. Nobody should take my comments personally, because they were not meant that way. They are just my opinion.

People need to be mature about their posts.

I enjoy reading all of the posts here, and I continually learn things.

 

Nitpicker

 

There were 5 misspellings in your post. I can point them out if you'd like.

 

Very well put. I appreciate you taking the time to make this post.