Taking vehicle detailing to the next level
by Mark H. Stowers
The Bolivar Bullet
There’s car washing and detailing but to bring out the shine and keep a vehicle shining, Dawson Shive works his ceramic coating magic. The Bayou Academy senior wasn’t looking to start a business but while a DSU aviation student was staying at their home, they found a way to be creative and make a little money – learning the ceramic coating business.
“He knew a little bit about it and I knew a little bit about it. You can watch a lot of videos but you really don’t learn anything until you’re hands on and actually do it,” said Shive. “We tried it on our trucks and on a few other folks’ trucks and it worked.”
His “business partner” headed back to his military commitment and Shive has kept it going. His Facebook page details his hard work that includes pressure washing needs, detailing, buildings, cermaic coatings, sidewalks and houses. Ceramic coating is a process where a vehicle’s paint is cleaned, renewed and pretty much re-invigorated to its’ showroom floor look.
“It goes on as a liquid and forms as a solid. It’s a long process that begins with getting your vehicle as clean as you possibly can and dry it,” said Shive. “We get it out of the weather and pull it into the shop.”
The first step is clay bar.
“You rub it along your paint and it gets all the little spots and such you can’t see off your paint. Then you go into paint correction with your buffer that gets rid of swirls and scratches. Car washes are the worst thing to do to your car. It scratches and swirls the paint.”
After the paint correction, Shive polishes the vehicle to bring out the color and shine showing the full potential. Then the ceramic coating is applied with a leather suede pad.
“You wait about 60 seconds as it hazes over and you wipe it off with a mircrofiber cloth,” he said. “The ceramic coating is a good protection and nothing sticks to it. You’re putting a protective coating over your paint. You get a lot more life out of your vehicle and ceramic coating is perfect for all colors. It’s worth it to spend the extra money and get your vehicle protected.”
Shive has done more than 40 vehicles across the Delta and offers different packages that include detailing and have different levels depending on the make and model.
“To do everything it takes about seven to eight hours but you have to give the ceramic coating time to cure. That is usually another 10-12 hours,” he said. “It has to cure and bond to your paint and then we get it back to the customer. If the customers has a shop, we’ll drive it back to them and they let it sit at their place to cure.”
Pricing for a full detail and the entire process of clay bar, paint correction and ceramic coating starts at $600 and goes up depending on the vehicle.
His career plans include attending MDCC and getting into the nursing program but for now the present includes plenty more elbow grease and getting vehicles detailed.
For more information, call Shive at (662) 719-8176.