Hand compound, polishing and waxing question
 

Which pads should I use for:

1. Polishing
2. Compound (Cutting a layer of the clear coat)
3. Waxing (Applying a coat of wax)

Condition: Very, very light swirl marks, I will apply a compound that will cut a level of clear coat then a polisher that will also remove a very very fine layer. Which pads should I use


All by hands

I did my Tacoma by hand = 14+ hours (lost count lol) and sore arms for a couple days. I used Megs Ultimate Compound. Worked nicely (it leaves very minimal haze and doesn't really need a polish step (it breaks down into finer particles)).

I used simple terry hand towels. I know they are prolly too aggressive, but it's all I had around and I'm broke.

But...if you want to do it properly..these hand applicator pads look ace:

http://www.autogeek.net/ccs-foam-hand-applicators.html

Compound = Orange
Polish = White
Jeweling and Waxing = Red or Gold


Next time...I will use a DA polisher (Porter Cable or Griot's) + Optimum Hyper Compound/Polish + Optimum MF pads (read really good things about MF pads over Foam pads).

For wax after compounding/polishing..I'd honestly skip the hard paste waxes and just use Optimum Car Wax spray. It lasts as long (if not longer) and gives a deeper shine than the majority of traditional paste waxes available (since it's both a polymer and carnauba wax) ...and you're going to be dead tired after hand-polishing anyways lol. Not to mention it doesn't leave any white residue on the trim as well (another added bonus).

Leave the "hard work" to the claying/compound/polish steps (where it's actually needed) and let washing/waxing be the "easy quick steps" ...just my 2 cents.

Another alternative instead of waxing is... use a "coat" ....'Opti-Coat 2.0' is now discontinued and has been replaced with 'Opti-Gloss' ..which has really good reviews ;) ....after all that hard work (claying and polishing)..I would go Opti-Gloss instead of wax to protect that nice work you just did.


.

i had very light swirls on my car, "love marks"

never used a compound, i went with a very light polish (chemical guys V38 Polish) and went with a blue pad

final polish-blue pad
cutting compound - yellow
waxes-black


look into Chemical guys Videos on Youtube, they give a really good review on different pads to use in different situations

but these are the pads ive been using
http://www.detailersdomain.com/Uber-...pad_p_288.html

I agree.... "light swirls" don't need a compound most of the time ...polish is all that's needed.

Maybe I defined my little swirl as very little :D... They are very visible to the naked eye.. I don't need light to see them.

I need a compound. To be honest guys, thank you so much.. all the macine are way too expensive and its a small coupe car the 86. So I can sure do it with the hand.

1. Can't I do everything with a MF Cloth =p?

2. I can even use the finer polish pad with my coumpound cuter :D?

Yes you can. MF is actually very gentle and soft. Anal people and Professionals are the only ones that would throw a hissy fit and tell you "you must!" use some expensive specialized pads for each exact task...but in all honesty, an MF towel will work just fine and you won't tell the difference between a cheap Costco MF towel vs $100 worth of pads of different colors and densities. It's all marketing/company propaganda really.

I feel the density of the pads you suggested and MF towels are the same. Also, I can change the towel, since I bought 50 mini MF towel.

Thank you so much M23, honestly the best

Although once you do try a polisher, you won't go back to doing it by hand unless you have a really tiny spot to do. You can get a decent 6" polisher from Griot's Garage for around $139. I have this unit and really like it and it has been upgraded since I got mine a couple of years ago.

I can't pay 139$, I rather invest in car parts =p. I also have tuition fees to pa for university... When I graduate, I will... Though, I am sure I can do everything by hands.

I will not polish everytime, if the paid is good. I will jump directly to glazing (paint sealent)

There are some cheaper alternatives to expensive rotary/dual action polishers which would save you a LOT of time (and money). Harbor freight carries a decent 7" rotary polisher for 39 bucks. Combine that with a meguiars soft buff pad and meguiars ultimate compound and you'll have the job done a whole lot faster.

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-in-10...her-69474.html

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-W8204-Soft-Buff-Polishing/dp/B0055N91Q6/ref=sr_1_17?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1422696612&sr =1-17&keywords=meguiars+soft+buff"]Amazon.com: Meguiar's W8204 Soft Buff Foam Polishing Pad: Automotive[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G17216-Ultimate-Compound-15-2/dp/B001O7PNNM/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1422696655&sr= 1-1&keywords=meguiars+ultimate+compound"]Amazon.com: Meguiar's G17216 Ultimate Compound - 15.2 oz.: Automotive[/ame]

Oh la. I am in Canada though, shipping and tax won't be friends to me =p... I am curious however. Any MF pads for that =p?


Googling!

You could probably find a local retailer in Canada with similar pricing. Time to google indeed.

Hand compound, polishing and waxing question
 

In my opinion do it by hand unless you have experience with a rotary machine. Rotary machines are hard to get the hang of and our clear coat/paint is pretty soft wouldn't want to damage anything.


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