Owner of Midwest Detail Garage, Adam Delacruz, stands outside the front door of his auto detailing business. Delacruz runs his garage at 326 Center. St. Suite 100, Vintage and Vinyl.

NEW ULM — Last year, a new auto detail business opened near downtown New Ulm. Located at 326 Center St. Suite 100, beneath Vintage and Vinyl, Midwest Detail Garage was started by Adam Delacruz.

“For the past six years I’ve worked in auto body,” he said. “For the first two years I was cleaning out the cars. I was pretty good at it and I enjoyed doing it.”

After working at an auto body shop for a few years, Delacruz decided it was time to go out on his own. He was introduced to James Sowers, who owns the building at 326 Center Street. Sowers was able to help him get set up in the garage. Midwest Detail offers interior and exterior vehicle cleaning. Interior cleaning includes vacuuming the floor, cleaning interior panel, scrubing glass and shampooing the carpets if requested. Exterior includes a full wash and soap including the wheels. If requested, he will clean the engine bay. A polish and buff is also available. A ceramic coating can also be applied to better protect the paint from UV light, bugs, salt and other materials on the road. Delacruz said the interior detailing is often sought after to help sell a vehicle. Other clients need help cleaning up a messy backseat. Parents of small children are frequent customers. Delacruz said the hardest cleaning jobs involve pet hair.

Most customers want the full shampoo on the interior surface. Delacruz said the shampoo picks up everything and leaves a fresh smell. Prices range from $89 for sedans and $100 for SUVs. Delacruz estimates between two hours to clean a vehicle. It takes extra time to clean classic cars. Classic car owners typically want the extra polish.The vehicle detail business is expected to increase in the spring. That is when many peo-ple want their vehicles cleaned, after winter ends. In his five years of detailing in vehicles, Delacruz said awareness of detailing has grown. TikTok has popularized the car detailing indus-try. It is more common to hear people talk about vehicle detailing. There is also tendency for auto detailers to do home vis-its. A customer will have the detailer come out to their home to clean the car rather than come to the garage. There is also new tools for cleaning vehi-cles that make the process more efficient. Delacruz said his greatest chal-lenge as a new business is forming a new clientele, but word of mouth helps. Delacruz said his favor-ite part of the work was “helping people.” There has been circumstances where he has clean a vehicle on discount for those who couldn’t afford a full clean.”There was one mother who had not had her vehicle inside for five years,” he said. “She was so happy and a lot of stress off her.” Often people do not have time to do a thorough cleaning. Delacruz said he hoped to expand the detailing team.

Delacruz is the only em-ployee now, but if he gets more staff he can send people into the field to clean vehicles. He’s found that many of his clients work downtown. They bring their vehicles to the garage while at work. He suspects once apartments are built, businesses could pick up more. Delacruz said he is proud to be one of the only hispanic owned detailing business in the region. Delacruz is planning a one year anniversary party on Saturday, May 4. They will block off German Street in front of the garage to host a block part with music, classic cars and activity for kids.