Help me out. I want to start using a PC, but i'm totally ignorant.....

R

Rez90

New member
I've always done all of my detailing on my vehicles by hand. I usually get pretty outstanding results but ofcourse i can't make real correction in paint by simply using hand applied products. I have a # of products from Griots, adams, pinnacle....etc



I want to get a PC or other type of orbital. I know that with an orbital you pretty much can't damage paint. still here's my problem.



I don't know what pads to get.....what pads to use........what product to use with what pad....when to use them.........etc



and most importantly, I don't really understand the how all you pros put 4-5-6-7-or more coats of different products on your vehicles without spending days on the same vehicle.



I am a 1 day detail kind of person. I work 6 days a week, so if i'm going to do a detail.....it's usually tackled in about 4-6 hours. Last week i did my uncles Jag and used Clay, polish, wax, and a finishing spray. He was estatic with the results. Personally, the car looked great and shined like crazy......but i could still see plenty of swirls in his bright red paint.



From a basic (and ignorant) perspective,



can you give me the breakdown of when, why, and how you use your orbitals? Aside from paint correction....is there really a need to have one?



I have read it is much less labor intensive that putting product on by hand....but at the same time, it seems like you spend much more time with an orbital on each single panel of your vehicle........and regardless....you still remove your polish/sealant/wax by hand right?



Sorry for all the noob questions......but this is something i really want to look into. my problem is that i have always done a lot of detailing by hand....and i've always prided myself as being very good at it.



It just seems that if you really want to do this right, you do it with a machine.



Thanks

Rez
 
Welcome Rez. There are some good threads to research on here regarding paint correction, etc., which will probably answer most of your questions. Of course, there are some people here who are professional detailers, however, I will offer some input.



The quality of work and end results start with prep. If you properly prep your vehicle prior to paint correction, and using the right techniques (irregardless of product), then you will have superior results. I think many products are person/technique specific. For example, some people like poorboy products, however I really do not care for them. On the other hand, I prefer to use Menzerna Products on LC pads with my PC or Flex. On my DeWalt Rotary, I prefer to use 3M Products on 3M pads. As far as waxes, polishes and sealants; again they are user/vehicle specific...meaning what may work and show aweseome results on one vehicle may not show as good of results on another. It's kind of like a trial and error thing. Irregardless of the products of waxes and sealants, I apply all of those by hand; but do all my paint correction with the PC or Rotary (except clay or wet sanding).



Anyway, my favorites products are: LC or 3M Pads, Arctic White edgless mircofiber towels, Menzerna Products, 3M Products, Pinnacle Souveran Wax and paintwork cleansing lotion, DoDo Juice Double Wax, and FK2180 anti-static sealant, Meguiars M105/205. I use a PC, Flex or Dewalt Rotary depending on what needs to be done.



Again, everyone will have specific products that they like, and although some are much better than others, I feel alot of it has to do with technique and using the product properly and to it's fullest potential.
 
Rez90 said:
Last week i did my uncles Jag and used Clay, polish, wax, and a finishing spray
Click to expand...





Heres my question: if you dont have a machine polisher, what "polish" did you use? Did you do it by hand? Because if so, you deserve some props.



Anyways, dont waste your time with with the orbitals sold at Sears or Walmart. Save up and buy a quality machine, such as a Meguiars G110 or the PCXP.



Then, get a few Orange, White, and Black pads from Lake Country. That should cover most of your needs.



Then, pick up the sampler bottles of Meguiars 105 and 205 polishes, or Poorboys SSR2.5 and SSR1 polishes.



Follow the directions on the bottles or search for tips here. You should be able to get your paint to look pretty darn good, and then you can top it with you sealnt/wax of choice.



Best of luck
 
craigdt said:
Heres my question: if you dont have a machine polisher, what "polish" did you use? Did you do it by hand? Because if so, you deserve some props.



Anyways, dont waste your time with with the orbitals sold at Sears or Walmart. Save up and buy a quality machine, such as a Meguiars G110 or the PCXP.



Then, get a few Orange, White, and Black pads from Lake Country. That should cover most of your needs.



Then, pick up the sampler bottles of Meguiars 105 and 205 polishes, or Poorboys SSR2.5 and SSR1 polishes.



Follow the directions on the bottles or search for tips here. You should be able to get your paint to look pretty darn good, and then you can top it with you sealnt/wax of choice.



Best of luck
Click to expand...







The polish i used by hand was Adams revive polish. It helped a little with the depth, but did not correct any real issues.



I have 2 major questions regarding machine polishing. The first is regarding the pads. Someone please explain "Cutting" with pads. These are all foam pads right? why does one foam cut better than another? Is it because of coursness? density?.....i really don't get it.



The other question i have.......regardless of what product you apply to a vehicle....do you use the machine to remove the product? or just apply it.......



Here is a kit i found at autogeek.......think this is a good way to start?





Poorboy’s Porter Cable 7424XP Polish & wax Kit



Thanks very much
 
I used adams revive polish. It can be applied by hand or machine. I used it with a little bit of their swirl and haze remover and it worked well considering i did it by hand.



Aside from that. Thank you for the info.



What do you think of this kit from autogeek? Do you think it's a good starter kit?



Poorboy’s Porter Cable 7424XP Polish & wax Kit



I still have 2 more questions if anyone has the time to answer. And i'm sorry for sounding like a such a noob.....i just want to know that i understand what i'm getting into......



1. Can someone explain what "Cutting" means with the pads. i know the polishes have abrasiaves in them based on which i use, but what do the pads have to do with it? aren't they just basic foam? I am not understanding why or what cutting power means regarding the pads.



2. when removing any product you apply with your polisher.....do you use the machine or do it by hand? I've heard many people say "Get a polisher, it's much less labor intensive....." and at the same time i hear that most people remove all product by hand........isn't that the hardest part anyway?



thanks very much for all the responses and help.
 
I'm in the same "boat" as you.......trying to absorb all this detailed info...



I'm about to "pull-the-trigger" on a PC at AUTOGEEK and trying to figure out the pads.



I've already got the KLASSE AIO, KLASSE GLAZE, also have ZAINO AIO, P5 and the clear sealant, or whatever it's called.



My vehicles have pretty good paint, I've kept them polished and waxed by hand, but want to move up to a machine. THX!:D
 
Rez90 said:
What do you think of this kit from autogeek? Do you think it's a good starter kit?



Poorboy’s Porter Cable 7424XP Polish & wax Kit



I still have 2 more questions if anyone has the time to answer. And i'm sorry for sounding like a such a noob.....i just want to know that i understand what i'm getting into......



1. Can someone explain what "Cutting" means with the pads. i know the polishes have abrasiaves in them based on which i use, but what do the pads have to do with it? aren't they just basic foam? I am not understanding why or what cutting power means regarding the pads.



2. when removing any product you apply with your polisher.....do you use the machine or do it by hand? I've heard many people say "Get a polisher, it's much less labor intensive....." and at the same time i hear that most people remove all product by hand........isn't that the hardest part anyway?



thanks very much for all the responses and help.
Click to expand...



Thats the best kit setup Ive seen (since I use most of the stuff in that kit :D )



Really, that should have everything you need. Id get it.



1. Cutting in regards to pads refer simply to their aggressiveness. So, if the SSR 2.5 on the white pad isnt quite aggressive enough to remove the most serious defects, you jump up to the orange pad. There are a ton of threads about pads here that you can learn from.



2. Make the machine do the work. It would make no sense to spread the polish with a machine and then work it in by hand! So apply the polish, and remove the defects using the machine. Then simply remove the leftover residue/polish with a wipe or two of a good mf towel. (like the one in the kit).



Not hard at all.
 
Rez90 said:
1. Can someone explain what "Cutting" means with the pads. i know the polishes have abrasiaves in them based on which i use, but what do the pads have to do with it? aren't they just basic foam? I am not understanding why or what cutting power means regarding the pads.



2. when removing any product you apply with your polisher.....do you use the machine or do it by hand? I've heard many people say "Get a polisher, it's much less labor intensive....." and at the same time i hear that most people remove all product by hand........isn't that the hardest part anyway?
Click to expand...



1. Pads have different levels of coarseness and density which cause them to have different levels of "cut" or " aggressiveness". Once you have some in your hand, you'll understand immediately. If you buy that kit, you'll be able to see/feel the difference in the orange, white and black pads.



2) I use a machine for applications where it has an advantage over working by hand. The big advantages to using a machine (IMO) are increased speed for applying products and increased muscle for working them.



When I remove a product with a towel, I flip the towel, refold it, change towels, constantly to get a fresh towel surface. To mimick that with a machine, I'd have to change a bonnet or wrap and re-wrap a towel over a pad every little bit. If I've applied/worked the product correctly, it doesn't take much muscle to remove. So for removal, I haven't found any advantage to using a machine.



Just my .02
 
Huh...I could'e *sworn* I replied to this yesterday :think:



Others have covered a lot of this quite well, but in *this case* I'd approach it a little differently.





Rez90 said:
I've always done all of my detailing on my vehicles by hand. I usually get pretty outstanding results but ofcourse i can't make real correction in paint by simply using hand applied products. I have a # of products from Griots, adams, pinnacle....etc...



I don't know what pads to get.....what pads to use........what product to use with what pad....when to use them.........etc
Click to expand...



Don't go overboard with a lot of different pads/etc. for starters. Even with the XP model, I'd be leery of using ~6" pads with a PC (a Flex 3401 handles them fine).



and most importantly, I don't really understand the how all you pros put 4-5-6-7-or more coats of different products on your vehicles without spending days on the same vehicle.
Click to expand...



I'm not a pro, but I often spend many days on a full detail. If I couldn't have the vehicle off the road for that long I'd use a different approach.



I am a 1 day detail kind of person. I work 6 days a week, so if i'm going to do a detail.....it's usually tackled in about 4-6 hours.
Click to expand...



If that's what you're going to do, I'd approach this differently than in some other situations. I wouldn't try to get as close to perfection and I wouldn't use the same products that I'd recommend in a different situation.



Don't worry, you can still achieve "best car in the parking lot" results without getting all, uhm...Autopian about it.







Last week i did my uncles Jag and used Clay, polish, wax, and a finishing spray. He was estatic with the results. Personally, the car looked great and shined like crazy......but i could still see plenty of swirls in his bright red paint
Click to expand...
.



Without putting in quite a bit of time (and expense, getting the equipment/etc.) you'll always see some residual marring. But it sounds like you need a better polish.



I have read it is much less labor intensive that putting product on by hand....but at the same time, it seems like you spend much more time with an orbital on each single panel of your vehicle........and regardless....you still remove your polish/sealant/wax by hand right?... i hear that most people remove all product by hand........isn't that the hardest part anyway?
Click to expand...



Most of the hard work is the polishing, "sanding down" the paint with an abrasive product. This is where the machine makes it easier/better.



The wiping off isn't that big a deal as long as you don't use too much product. Most people use a zillion times to much product (from polishes to wax) and thus make things hard on themselves.



For *this specific situation* I'd recommend 1Z Paint Polish topped with Collinite. It's very user-friendly, virtually impossible to mess up. For a one-step approach by somebody just staring out with a machine (and doing so with some apparent trepidation), it'd be my #1 suggestion. Note that it's worked great for many people I've suggested it to, including people who couldn't care less about detailing and just "want to make their car look better".



Note that the 1Z Paint Polish works well by hand too. It's a milder, and less, uhm...hard-core approach than many others, but it's a good starting point especially when it's gonna be a four-six hour job.
 
Accumulator said:
Huh...I could'e *sworn* I replied to this yesterday :think:



Others have covered a lot of this quite well, but in *this case* I'd approach it a little differently.









Don't go overboard with a lot of different pads/etc. for starters. Even with the XP model, I'd be leery of using ~6" pads with a PC (a Flex 3401 handles them fine).







I'm not a pro, but I often spend many days on a full detail. If I couldn't have the vehicle off the road for that long I'd use a different approach.







If that's what you're going to do, I'd approach this differently than in some other situations. I wouldn't try to get as close to perfection and I wouldn't use the same products that I'd recommend in a different situation.



Don't worry, you can still achieve "best car in the parking lot" results without getting all, uhm...Autopian about it.







.



Without putting in quite a bit of time (and expense, getting the equipment/etc.) you'll always see some residual marring. But it sounds like you need a better polish.







Most of the hard work is the polishing, "sanding down" the paint with an abrasive product. This is where the machine makes it easier/better.



The wiping off isn't that big a deal as long as you don't use too much product. Most people use a zillion times to much product (from polishes to wax) and thus make things hard on themselves.



For *this specific situation* I'd recommend 1Z Paint Polish topped with Collinite. It's very user-friendly, virtually impossible to mess up. For a one-step approach by somebody just staring out with a machine (and doing so with some apparent trepidation), it'd be my #1 suggestion. Note that it's worked great for many people I've suggested it to, including people who couldn't care less about detailing and just "want to make their car look better".



Note that the 1Z Paint Polish works well by hand too. It's a milder, and less, uhm...hard-core approach than many others, but it's a good starting point especially when it's gonna be a four-six hour job.
Click to expand...







Thanks very much for the great info and post. Can you tell me where i can get the 1Z paint polish?



Thanks again.
 
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