Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountieman
You should do us a detail thread and post what compounds could be used, what shouldn't be used, what buffer to use, which pads etc. It would be educational for me I know and sounds like others also. The only way I know is by hand and on these big rigs that sucks.
On second thought DQskier already started the thread. Just lay it out in detail that an idiot, or me could understand.
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ooooph, well, I'm not sure that I am the "expert" in the room. I'm certainly an "enthusiast" who has detailed MANY cars over the years and I get a great deal of satisfaction from my vehicles (or any that I touch) looking good and being well protected.....and swirl free. My dislike for swirls in paint runs right down to my core!
With that said, detailing ANY vehicle without breaking your back and making it look good comes down to the tools. You wouldn't try to frame a house with a hand saw and expect exceptional results. You'd probably get the job done and it would probably be "okay", but you'd hate yourself in the morning. Detailing paint is almost the same situation and we are “lucky” from the stand point that automotive detailing has really seen a renaissance in the past 5-6 years. The tools have gotten WAY better than the days of a wool pad and a rotary buffer (which still have their place, BTW). On top of that, the products that get applied after working the paint have gotten better by light years too.
Since you are asking for my personal opinion, then this is where I stand;
Just like painting a vehicle, the prep work is 90% of the battle. You’ve got to get the paint clean, polished and contaminate free before protecting.
Washing the vehicle is SUPER important for getting it clean and for not making swirls and scratches even worse. I use two Home Depot buckets, two grit guards and a microfiber wash mitt. This is a great video to watch (actually, ALL of his videos are GREAT if you’re into detailing nerdy stuff):
That video outlines a TON of various products and steps and it’s a great comprehensive how-to. For me, on daily drivers, it’s a pressure washer to blow off everything heavy, a 2-bucket hand wash and a pressure wash rinse.
Also get yourself some decent microfiber for EVRYTHING including drying and cleaning off polish and wax. The days of using 100% cotton for ANYTHING are gone. Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys...uys+microfiber
and
https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys...uys+microfiber
The go-to, entry level polisher is always going to be the Porter Cable 7424:
https://www.amazon.com/PORTER-CABLE-...m+orbit+buffer
I used one for a very long time and they work very well. I flat-out wore mine out, but it took almost 8 years of pretty steady use. The big down side to this polisher is the fact that uses a counter weight to create the random-ness of the “random orbit”. That means that if you push hard enough, you can stop the randomness. Not the end of the earth, but it is a limitation. After I killed mine, I bought a gear driven Flex Orbital which is positively magnificent in every respect, but it’s 3x the cost of the Porter Cable too.
Add a velco backing plate to the Porter Cable and throw away the foam pad that comes with it. I always use foam pads because they are VERY forgiving and for a meat head like me, that’s GREAT thing. In the past year or two, microfiber pads have become very popular, but I have very little hand-on experience with them. I usually gravitate towards the Lake County or Chemical Guys brand of pads.
https://www.amazon.com/Lake-Country-...ke+county+pads
Polishes, I have yet to find “bad” polishes, but there are certainly “better” ones. I have landed on the Menzera stuff and couldn’t be happier.
https://www.amazon.com/Menzerna-SF35...words=menzerna
I have also used Meguires M205 with a great deal of success too.
https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-Mirr...eguires+polish
As for waxing, I am ALWAYS more interested in long lasting protection that I am in ultimate shine and gloss. Everything I own and/or touch goes out into the real world and gets used and NOT into a trailer and taken to car shows. With that in mind, I am always turning to synthetic and not carnauba waxes. I have tried many, MANY products over the years and even going as far as breaking a car up into quarters and waxing with 4 different products just to see which stood up better. In my opinion, if you are looking for a wax that will shine well and protect even better, the buck stops at Collinite 845:
https://www.amazon.com/Collinite-Liq.../dp/B000JK2D06
Ignore the fact that it doesn’t say Mothers or Meguires on it and that it doesn’t cost $500, it simply works. It’s fairly easy to apply. It is the ONLY wax that I’ll use any more and a little bit goes a long way. I think the last bottle I bought lasted 2-3 years or fairly regular waxing of various cars.
If you wanted the basics and were starting with nothing (or threw everything in the trash that you already own), I would buy the Porter cable, a velco backing plate, 4 pads (2 for polishing, 2 for waxing), a variety of micro fibers, a bottle of polish and a bottle of wax. Your total cash outlay would be under $200 and you’d be set for the next few years of detailing your coach and cars. You’ll notice I said 2 of each pad…..nothing is worse than having ONE pad for a given activity and accidentally dropping it on the ground. For the $6-8 that they cost, I ALWAYS wants a back up. This formula isn’t going to deal with every detailing situation, but it will certainly leave you with clean, swirl free and well protected paint……and it’s going to be WAY easier on your body than doing it by hand.
Last tip: In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes people make is using too much product. Compounds and polished work BETTER with LESS product. The liquid in the bottle is just a carrier for the polishing agent and the more you can get it to go away, the better the product is going to work. Same with wax. Consider the fact that you are simply trying to get a microscopic layer of protection on the paint and ANYTHING above and beyond that is going to get wiped away. A light haze on the polishing compound and the wax is all you need.