Waxing and polishing a car

[tnf]

Did that today. My arm is tired as hell.

Anyone here own one of those power buffer things? How well do they work for taking scratches out of the clear coat? I've heard you can really fuck up your paint if you don't use them right.

[+JuggerNaut+]

not sure about taking scratches out of clear, but the one thing you want to remember with buffers is to go VERY light on ANY edges or not at all (do it by hand). paint is the thinnest there than any part of the car.

[Nightshade]

Get a low-speed orbital buffer if you're going to use one. Light pressure, spend some money to get high quality buffing pads and wax.

[obsidian]

How well does this stuff work?

[ForM]

Wax on, Wax off.

[SOAPboy]

Get a low-speed orbital buffer if you're going to use one. Light pressure, spend some money to get high quality buffing pads and wax.

And i hear, it dont really matter how "great" The buffer is, so long as the pads are good, and the buffer can hold a solid rpm.

Correct?

[+JuggerNaut+]

yes

[K-mart Shopper]

How well does this stuff work?

Nu Finish works okay, but it's doesn't last worth crap. I just use Meguiar's wax and it smells and looks better.

[Massive Quasars]

Wax on, Wax off.

was waiting for it

[S@M]

I just use Meguiar's wax and it smells and looks better.

MEguiars is what all the car heads i know seem to talk about

[busetibi]

Did that today. My arm is tired as hell.

why did you do it yourself?

costs me AU$70 to get some drop kick to come and wash/polish/detail both cars each week

[Don Carlos]

Clean your car twice, clay bar it, then if you want to get rid of any swirls in the pain use a very very fine polish compound like G3 and then use a good resin polish to bring it up nice!

Here is a car i did on the weekend

[Kills On Site]

Meguiar's is what I use. Great brand. However, I hear the best clay bar to use is Clay Magic. The best random orbital buffer, do not use a rotary buffer if you don't know what you are doing, is the Porter Cable 7336 or 7424, which usually sells for a little over $100. You will need some buffing pads for it. As for removing any scratches I would recommend Meguiar's #83 Dual Action Cleaning/Polishing, or DACP for short.

[Nightshade]

I've used Meguiar's, Mother's, and Turtle Wax with good results. Haven't seen anything that gives as hard a protective finish as Turtle Wax, but it's a lot of elbow grease.
The most important thing about the buffer itself aside from the pads is the speed. It has to be slow, no more than 1500rpm, as it's ridiculously easy to burn the paint right off.

[+JuggerNaut+]

Eagle One and Meguiar's for me. Eagle One has some great products.

and to keep the shine around longer, one of the cheapest investments you can make is buying a car duster.

[Nightshade]

I've thought about trying Eagle One's line of cleaners and waxes for black paint on my bike.

[Dark Metal]

I have a little Guatamalan guy clean my car. It's really much easier.

[plained]

i keep the shine by never rubbing the surface ever.

then when i go to the touchless carwash thier heavy duty chems have no problem removing dirt because there arent any micro scratches (caused by rubbing) for the dirt to really adhere to.

i started doing this when i noticed lazy people with really shiny cars.

it works well for me cuz im lazy with cars.


i have heard that 3m finesse is pretty good but that was on scratchy swirlie guitars* or maybe it was mguires swirl remover?

i never tried it at all

[bitWISE]

I have a little Guatamalan guy clean my car. It's really much easier.

Yea. Professional detailing every couple months is worth the money IMO. Especially when you don't own a drive-way or a lawn.

[Dark Metal]

Well I have him detail it once a week.

[andyman]

Am I the only one that uses Zaino?

Try it, you'll never go back to anything else! http://www.zainostore.com/

You may not notice a difference in these pictures, but this first one was the first wax i ever did on my car after having it for a couple weeks. I used regular old Turtle Wax and won't do that again.

[lvlshot]http://andyman82.com/files/wax.jpg[/lvlshot]

These were after a long long zaino cleaning and polishing. First a wash, then pulled inside the bay for a claybar, then another wash, then pulled inside again for 2 coats of their best wax. Took about 7 hours or so to do it all, but look at how damn shiny it is. you can see everything in the bay just off the reflection. Not to mention how absolutely smooth and slick the finish was. I couldn't put my cotton cloth on it because it would just slide off!

[lvlshot]http://andyman82.com/files/shinyback.jpg[/lvlshot]

[lvlshot]http://andyman82.com/files/shinyrear.jpg[/lvlshot]

[lvlshot]http://andyman82.com/files/shinyhood.jpg[/lvlshot]

[lvlshot]http://andyman82.com/files/shinytail.jpg[/lvlshot]

This one really shows off the shine
[lvlshot]http://andyman82.com/files/camo.jpg[/lvlshot]

On overcast days, the car would look absolutlely incredible.

[Nightshade]

The car looks great , but ffs, I could spitshine a car in seven fucking hours.

[andyman]

The car looks great , but ffs, I could spitshine a car in seven fucking hours.

I wasn't in a hurry.

[Nightshade]

Good thing.

Say, explain this clay bar thing. I've never used one, just cleaners and waxes, etc.

[bitWISE]

Well I have him detail it once a week.

I'm not that baller yet