The first time I remember "Detailing" (at age 12-ish)

A little background on my love for cars

I was pretty young when I started cleaning cars - about 12. I remember at my house on Lask Drive in South Yuba City off of Bogue road, my older brother Johnny, had a 1992-1995 generation Honda Civic hatchback. It was blue. To me, it was dope!

Back in the day, I loved Hondas. I think at the time, Fast and the Furious was out (maybe right before then). I didn't love Ford Mustangs or Chevy Camaros, or Corvettes or Mitsubishi Eclipses. I loved Hondas. My brother owned a nice handful of them before moving on to the drifting scene, with a Nissan 240sx with an SR20 swap, in his more "mature" years.

I had an attraction and an affinity for Hondas. My whole family did. To us, it was the reliable car, the best car to own and to drive. (a truth perpetuated by most people, really) My older sister, Cecilia - her first car was a silver, 2000 Honda Civic coupe. (now drives a newer, silver Honda CR-V). My younger sister - her first car was a white 2008 Honda Civic sedan. 

Washing my brother's car for the first time

I remember ​washing my brother's civic for the first time, pretty vaguely - it was like 20 years ago. But what I do remember was how I felt when I washed it. My brother, who had always been kind of the typical bully type of older brother, made me wash his car. It was warm - could have been spring or summer - not sure though. And, I had no clue what I was doing. I had never cleaned a car, washed a car, or thought about washing a car, at this point. 

So I'm out there, washing my brother's car. Bucket: check. Soap in bucket: check. Wash mitt: check. Suds: check. Hose: check. Car to wash: check. Enthusiasm: ehhhhh. 

Now, my lack of enthusiasm was not because I did not want to clean the vehicle. It was because I had no idea what I was doing. When you don't know what you are doing, naturally, you just don't want to do it. I was lacking the understanding that everybody starts from the beginning and eventually, through trial and error and experience, comes skills obtained and confidence. At this point, however, I was a complete newbie, with a bully older brother, and the expectation to deliver a clean car.

Now washing a car is not that difficult. You rinse it to loosen the dirt on the vehicle and to prime the surface for agitation; you agitate the dirt with a soapy wash mitt; then finally, you rinse the dirt and suds completely off and dry the vehicle. So, of course I was able to do these things. I do remember not being very good though, and at one point, I remember spraying water into the air and having it land on me, to hide my self-consciousness, and mask it with slacking off and goofing around. Johnny barked at me from the 2nd story window - that was nice! 

Being my brother's detailer

So I got the car done, I think. And through the few years left of living in the same house with Johnny, I kind of became his detailer. No, he didn't teach me how to polish cars, nor did I ever do anything more thorough than a maintenance car wash. But I clearly remember, til I was about 15, being responsible for washing, drying, wiping down the interiors, shining the tires, cleaning the glass with newspaper (old school "trick"), on my brother's ever changing fleet of vehicles. I learned a lot in that time, mostly self taught, but nonetheless I learned how to get cars washed and dried efficiently and to challenge myself.