TOGW = The Other Guy's Wax

[Mike Phillips]

TOGW = The Other Guy's Wax


This is called, TOGW, pronounced, togwa.





Here's a close-up of TOGW



TOGW stands for The Other Guy's Wax.

That is the wax in the cracks and crevices or on trim components or around emblems left by the last guy that buffed out the car. So not only do we have to remove any splatter we get on the car, we also have to remove the other guys wax or his shoddy work will reflect poorly on our work.


Here's a tip...

One of the thing I do before taking a job is to inspect the car for the other guy's wax in the cracks, often times this will be from the owner of the car that you're standing there talking to.

Look around any components, especially if they have a gasket under them or a seam with a rubber gasket or white residue on plastic, vinyl or rubber trim. If there's a sunroof, look around the gap for the rubber or fuzzy seal to be creamed-out with polish or wax.

If you find this kind of shoddy work, be sure to take a few pictures of it and also point it out to the owner so they know you know it's there before you even start to work on the car.

Then let them know that you're willing to try to remove the other guy's polish and wax residue as a part of the job but let them know HOW DIFFICULT and TIME CONSUMING it is and that you can't make any promises to get it all off because it's so difficult and time consuming to remove completely especially after it's been there for a while.

If the person you're talking to is the person that normally waxes the car, at a minimum it will bring attention to the fact that in the future they should be more careful and hopefully they'll appreciate your attention to detail as well as figure out you actually do know what you're talking about.

Also, while you're looking for wax in the cracks, take a look for any places some other guy may have burnt the paint off of high points and corners and point this out to the owner BEFORE you work on the car.

This is where an inspection form comes in handy so you can mark any pre-existing problems, point them out to the owner and protect yourself from getting the blame for someone else's mistakes.

[Still Learnin]

i have definately dealt with TOGW before... not a fun job.. take the time now so you wont have to use it later!

[the_invisible]

Most of the time, the TOGW I deal with is probably MOW (My Own Wax, pronounced MOW) that I left on there before that I forgot to clean up last time or did not see exist

[J. A. Michaels]

There always seems to be TOGW on cars. After the customers see the difference in detailers, that there is no more togw, you have a steady customer.

[Calais]

I hate that, it takes forever with a boars hair brush and Safe D-Greaser/APC getting in all those tiny little cracks.

[Tuck91]

Not sure why but I have only came across this a couple times.

[Orca]

Finding high points, corners and areas that are significantly thinner that others is a really good tip - certainly something that needs to be pointed out before taking on the job.

Best have a paint thickness gauge handy to check over a few things in the presence of the customer - it will serve to show how difficult a job it might well be once you get into it.

TOGW doesn't really bother me - it all gets cleaned off before polishing anyway, but if I was to do a simple wash, cleanse and wax on well kept paint, yes, it could be time consuming to go over areas and even have me spot cleaning some areas.

Togwa - I'll remember that.

[Orca]

Originally Posted by the_invisible

Most of the time, the TOGW I deal with is probably MOW (My Own Wax, pronounced MOW) that I left on there before that I forgot to clean up last time or did not see exist

Yeah, MOW can be a problem - funnily enough, never on other people's cars, just MOC (pronounced moca), especially white.

[KC's]

what if it is you who left it behind
what do i have to say then?

JIC * just incase