Quote:
Originally Posted by danimalmax
there's one step that im not sure about for the polishing process, when i polish my car with the porter cable and everything, am i supposed to do a section at a time, polish on-polish off, or do i go around the whole car with polish and come back and take it off?
the videos only show a section being done for demonstration purposes, but i dont get how you go about doing the whole car
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Don't know if it depends on the machine or the polish. Like I said, I use a cheap Craftsman random orbit buffer and the Meguair products. When the paint was in decent shape I used their Deep Crystal system. Step one is a paint cleaner. Step two is a polish. then I waxed. The paint on the 'Ho had lot's o' swirls and stuff so first I used the Dual Action Cleaner Polish. Then the Deep Crystal Polish then wax. I did a relatively small section at a time, like maybe a little less than 1/4 of the hood. I didn't apply the product to the polishing bonnet like they say though, I'd apply it to the paint then spread it around with my finger. Sometimes if you apply it to the bonnet when you turn it on it throws the polish all over if you don't have it right on the surface. So anyway, don't know if this is the correct procedure or not, but I'd apply the product to a smaller area, then buff it off with a soft cotton towel to remove it before it dries, the product said to not allow it to dry. Then I'd do another section and so forth. Because the towel isn't going to put a high shine to it I'd then go back over the whole thing with the wool bonnet to polish it. I didn't want to use the buffer to remove the product for two reasons. One, if I did a section at a time I'd be switching bonnets back and forth all day. Two, the bonnets would get saturated with the dry polish pretty fast and I'd need a dozen of them. This way, I used one terry cloth applicator for the Dual Action Cleaner and another one for the Polish. I'd do the same with the wax. Apply it by hand with the applicator it came with and let dry. Remove the bulk (which isn't much because you don't need a lot) with a soft towel, then buff to a shine with the wool bonnet. I've never used but been tempted to try the Meguair's #7 Show Car Glaze after the wax. I didn't see a clay bar in your list. If you don't have one that should be your second step. The first would be to wash with Joy, yeah, I know it's harsh, that's the point, to remove old wax and grease and grime. You only use it once maybe twice a year, then use the clay bar.
Good luck and post up some pics when you get done. I've still got two feet of snow on my front lawn so I won't even be thinking about detailing for several more months.