When it eventually stops snowing (please God, let it be soon), the M1N1 is going to be in need of some TLC. Can anyone recommend a good polish to use? One where I don't have spend 3 times as long removing white residue from the black trim, rubber, etc, as I did polishing the car! I have used Mequiars products in the past, including micro fibre mitts and drying towels.
I have almost used every wax available from the most expensive to the stuff you can buy at auto zone and have detailed cars for years and this is the best stuff I have found as far a quality for your money. Dodo Juice Line Prime to clean and prep the paint followed by Dodo Juice Supernatural Hybrid (sealant) with a top coat of Dodo Juice Orange Crush. *Only buy the 30 ml pots as they last a long time. Your Chili Red MINI will be sealed, protected and look like its wet with a deep shine and glow. Dodo Juice Carnauba Car Waxes, dodojuice wax, carnauba wax, dodo wax, dodo car care, rainforest rub, supernatural wax, purple haze wax
I am a detailing fanatic, and my rule has always been, if it's available in an auto parts store, it's NOT going on the finish of my car: Turtle Wax, Eagle 1, Meguiar's...none of them. I assume by polishing, you mean with a rotary-orbital? Oh, and don't forget to clay that finish first off, especially after a nasty winter. I have used Menzerna polishes for several years applied with a Flex. amazing results. For wax, I use two. Zaino Z-2 is put on first as it provides fantastic protection from UV, and keeps your finish from spotting when a bird decides to use your finish as a toilet! We also have a chili red car, and I don't want that red to fade, so UV protection is critical. Then, for the final step, especially if you have a red or black car, I apply one coat of Pinnacle Souveran carnnuba as a "topper". You simply wipe it on, then wipe it off easy. The result is miraculous. The Menzerna and Souveran are pricey, but it's a car finish I have several 10's of thousands of dollars for.......it's worth it...
I was just providing a short detail instructions to the OP. Yes, you are correct clay is an absolute must to start with but only after proper washing once or twice and for the OCD I wash (3) times to remove the big stuff that the clay may pick up and make scratches in your paint. Since almost every scratch and swirl is added by touching dirty paint the more dirt and grime you can get off your car without touching it is the best approach. I have seen too many people scratch their paint buy cleaning a dirty car with mitts Before I clay I wash the car down with a pressure washer, no soap, then foam gun the car and let it sit for 5-10 min never letting it dry on the car. Next I rinse it again (no touching yet) Then spray on some APC that will remove old wax and most sealants I let it sit for about 5 min and rinse it off. While the foams and APC are sitting one the car I spray Sonax on my rims brush them a little bit. After I rinse the car down again then I wash the car lightly (no scrubbing) with a Wookie Fist car wash shampoo. I also use Iron-X from time to time to pull out the stuff clay cannot remove from the paint. Then after it all dry and prepped then I pull it inside for claying and pulling it out and washing it again before polishing. Only after everything is buffed out and polished I wipe down the panels to get a mirror swirl free virgin surface. This is when I apply a sealant and after 8-24 hours of curing comes the wax. They I layer a few layers of Wax. Yes this process does take about 2 days but the results are absolutely worth it. The only thing I have to do is maintenance washes and detailers spray touch up for the season.
I like my Porter Cable polisher and I use it a lot and have had it for 7 years. Two of my neighbors have seen me clean a few friends cars and our cars and have both purchased the same polisher. Porter Cable 7424 XP Dual Action Polisher - dual action orbital car polisher, car care kits, buffer kits, PC 7424,7424XP, 7424 XP, porter cable If I was looking for a new one the new Griots one has more low end Torque for buffing at harder at lower speeds. Low speed Tq, not high speed spinning of the buffing head is what will bring out the shine and allows today synthetic polishing compounds to work best. Gone are the days single stage paint and the use of granddads turtle wax sand filled compounds. Today's base-coat / clear-coats paints look much better and will last a long time but they must be cleaned, polished, sealed and waxed differently. Griot's Garage 10813STDCRD 6" Random Orbital Polisher with 10' Cord : Amazon.com : Automotive P.S. Don't spend the extra money on the longer corded versions of the polishers above, it's a waste of money since you will be using an extension cord anyhow.
^^^ yup air is nice to have but I don't have it. Zanio makes some very nice sealants and I have used them in the past and just wanted a deeper clearer shine but the protection they provide is excellent like all sealants. A Zanio product that I really like is final finish quick detailers spray that stuff is awesome. Some others have mentioned Menzerna polish which also makes an excellent product and you don't have to use much of to get great results with either of the machines above. Pinnacle Sovereign is a very highly rated carnauba wax I always keep near by as I used to use it on everything because the warn glow of a good carnauba is something no sealant can touch but new sealants are getting close now a days. Speaking of sealants two really great sealants are Chemical Guys jets seal 109 and something I really like Blackfire Wet Diamond sealant. (Both links below) Chemical Guys JetSeal 109 Super Acrylic Sealant Formula 16 oz. BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection, paint sealant, synthetic sealant, blackfire sealant No I do not work for Autogeek.net but they do have everything I need in one place with great customer service when I do have an issue with a shipment.
Holly Molly Dave! Be careful someone may try to put you on meds. Can I ship you my Mini and have you wash and wax it. I thought I was bad.
I use a Flex because it is gear driven. If there is an area of the finish I need to apply some pressure to in order to work out a clear coat issue, the pad does not lower RPM's due to being belt driven. Because of the rotation type, D/A orbitals are completely safe for anyone to use, as they will not heat up the finish of the car and cause polish imperfections. The straight rotary buffers I leave for the pros to use, because you really need to have a good deal of experience to use them right.
I also had a Flex polisher and sold it after a while. It was a great polisher and well worth it's money and like you said its gear driven. It ran very smoothly and had great balance. I also liked that it was the same size as my Makita 9227C Rotary Polisher but I still liked the Portal Cable for its ease of use and it's "compact size". That is the only reason I sold my Flex polisher as I did not need two polishers that did the same thing very well. I only get my Makita rotary out for others cars with really bad paint imperfections. Most of the time it is just a time saver because I need to cut down large areas in the polishing process to remove all the paint imperfections quickly. I have only had to use it once on my own car with a wool pad when my car was new and came with DISCO. (DISCO = Dealership Installed Swirled Car Option :lol: ) I am sure everyone has all seen those 3D hologram swirls that look like snakes in the paint on the sides of cars that rotary polishers can leave if not properly used to correct the paint. You are correct though no new detailers should pick up a rotary polisher first because you can burn threw the clear coat and base coat easily and quickly. Oh I also found a new class cleaner that replaces everything I have used in the past and it's called Autoglym Fast Glass for only $10 bucks. Autoglym Fast Glass is free of abrasives, silicones, and waxes and leaves no residue and it really does not streak. Everyone should give it a try. Autoglym Fast Glass : Amazon.com : Automotive
Well I am the "D" in OCD :lol::lol::lol::lol: I have the meds ... Starbucks coffee and smokes. I have retired from professional detailing years ago but it's still in my blood. Some say you can't polish a turd but I can if you have seen some of the things I have worked on in my days. :ihih::lol: I do full day details for some friends before the Dragon and a few neighbors they start at $250 and go up depending on the correction needed and they are all (exterior only) with glass inside and out, rims and tires.
+1 on Autogeek.net. They run specials all the time for 10 or 15% off coupons. And it is great to find everything under the detailing sun in one place. Great folks to deal with also. +1 on Blackfire. I have a friend who will not even consider any other wax/sealant. Dave brings up a good point I forgot about. QD(quick detail spray). I happen to use Pinnacle Crystal Mist as it has carnauba wax in it, but there are several good ones out there including Zaino. They are great between waxes to maintain that "just waxed shine" (I feel like I'm doing a commercial :biggrin5: ) Detailing is a passion, sorry... Oh, Dave, thanks for the heads up on Autoglym...I have heard them mentioned before, but i am going to try it out..