Episode #2 - Disaster Detail! | What We Learnt..

It was one of those jobs you don’t forget. The kind that lives rent-free in your head long after you’ve packed up the van and driven off.

An old Land Rover that belonged to a farmer.. Enough said! It had been parked up in a shed for three years — untouched, unloved, slowly being reclaimed by nature and whatever small creatures had moved in. We knew it was going to be rough before we even got there. The booking came with a warning (thankfully!) So we rolled in four-strong, fully loaded, ready for a full day’s graft.

Pulling up confirmed everything.

The outside was exactly what you'd expect from a farm vehicle that hadn't seen daylight since the pandemic — mud-caked, mossy in all the wrong places, plastics faded from years of grime buildup.

But it was what was inside that set this job apart.

We started with an easy win — the exterior. Watching the layers of filth sliding off felt like progress, but we all knew the real work hadn’t even begun yet.

Then we opened the doors.

The smell hit first. Damp. Old mud. Mouse droppings everywhere. The seats were thick with dirt & mould. Every crevice held a new surprise — shredded paper nests from rodents, straw, spiderwebs in the corners. It looked more like an abandoned barn than a car interior.

There was no way we were going near it without masks.

We started hoovering to clear the bulk of the dirt — every mat, pocket, and boot well loaded with all sorts of interesting tools and tractor parts. Then we got the steamer on it, cutting through the grime on the dash, doors, steering wheel, switches. Every surface got hit, wiped, disinfected, and steamed again. No shortcuts. No cutting corners. Just slow, consistent graft.

Then we tackled the seats and carpets. Full extraction. The water coming out was the colour of chocolate milk and stank like wet livestock. It was the kind of job where you have to clean your tools after the car’s clean..

Five hours in, & it looked like a different car. The transformation was unreal. The customer came out, looked inside, and genuinely didn’t believe it was the same Land Rover. Said it hadn’t looked that clean since the day they bought it.

And that’s what makes it worth it.

Because detailing isn’t just paintwork and ceramic coatings. It’s not just satisfying before and afters in golden-hour lighting. Sometimes it’s mouse poo and mud and pulling four people together to wrestle a wreck back to life.

What we learned:

1. Reputation is built when no one’s watching

Anyone can make a supercar look great. But it's the quiet, dirty, unglamorous jobs that build your name. It’s what you do when the job isn’t fun — when it’s hard, disgusting, or straight up overwhelming — that defines your standard.

2. Being prepared isn’t just about tools — it’s about mindset.

You can have all the gear in the world, but if you don’t have the right mindset, it’ll break you. Grit, patience, adaptability — those are just as important as your extractor or steamer. Sometimes more so.

3. The customer only sees the result — but you have to care about the process.

No one will know how long you spent steaming a door card or extracting a mouldy seat. But you do. And the work you put in when no one’s watching eventually shows in every job you do.

4. There’s pride in the unglamorous stuff.

Not every detail ends in a 50/50 shot or a viral reel. Some jobs are just hard graft and a quiet transformation. But those are often the ones that make you better — and remind you why you started.

5. This job isn’t about cars — it’s about standards.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a Ferrari or a farm truck — your standards should stay the same. Because every job is a reflection of your craft, not the car.

It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t pretty. But it was real. And sometimes, those are the jobs that teach you the most.

We'll be posting more about tools that saved the day, machines that gave up mid-job, and lessons we learned the hard way. If you’re into the real side of detailing — not just the gloss and mirror finishes — stick around.

And if you’ve ever spent five hours battling a mouldy Land Rover while your extractor makes angry noises and leaves you ...

Welcome. You’re one of us!

Enjoy some before and after shots from this disaster detail below!