I have used my PC on about 5 vehicles so far, the lastest being a Yukon Denali this weekend and it took me around 3.5 hours to Polish with #80(Orange Pad) and then top with NXT. I mean this was only a 1 step Polish and it still took me that long. It seems that in order to remove swirls with the PC, you have to move the PC extremely slooooooow, which is why it took me so long to Polish the Denali. Many people on here will say in their thread how long it took them and I don't know how you guys can Polish so fast and still be able to remove swirls, especially when doing a multiple step Polish, like on Black vehicles? I mean it took me the same time to just do a 1 step Polish & Wax that it almost takes for some of you to detail a whole car including Polishing. Any of you have any tips to share on Polishing with the PC and being more efficient (Faster) while still being effective on removing swirls. thanks
How Do You Guys Polish So Fast?
- Thread starter SR77
- Start date
detailbarn
Professional Detailer
SR77 , don't fret your times are actually pretty good. I spend at least 4hrs polishing and applying the finsh product on that size vehicle. It takes even longer on a black vehicle. If you want to remove swirls any faster then step up to a rotary , which unless you know how to use it , it will actually slow you down.
Well, for me it takes me 2 days to do a 3 step process. Total time of 16 hours. I've wondered about the same thing for some time now. For my Explorer it will take me about 2 hours just to do 2 doors, so you can see I break up the work throughout the week so I am done in about 4 or 5 days. The finished product sure looks great, but it sure eats up a lot of time.
Antonio Wright
New member
SR77, I wonder the same thing. I look at Scottwax's work and I amazed at how short of a time it takes him to produce that incrediable work.
Treatment man
New member
I'd say its all in the type of polisher your using if u want to speed up your time use a rotary buff. but i guess you have to be good at that, thats all I've every used and I did a completr on a dodge full size black truck on friday wash ,shampoo,and buff too remove heavy scratches in at 10am out at 4:45pm.
P.S what is this PC everyone is talking about?? Never heard of it never knew there was any other buffer then an rotary one. I guess I am old school.
P.S what is this PC everyone is talking about?? Never heard of it never knew there was any other buffer then an rotary one. I guess I am old school.
:xyxthumbs you seem to be fairly quick
Bill D
Hooked For Life
Treatment man said:
Its the Porter Cable 7424 dual action polisher
Treatment man
New member
Oh ok thanks for bringing me back in to the lingo
Don
Darth Camaro 12/27/15
SR77 said:
Don't feel bad. a week or so ago, it took me 10 hours to do a Chevy Beretta (with a PC even). Granted it was a 4 step (DACP x2, #82, NXT) but still 10 hours is a long time.
SR77 - Like you, I'm always thinking it's taking way too long. Your 3.5 hours on a Denali seems pretty fast to me though. With a PC, I did DACP, AIO, and NXT on a Nissan Altima and it took me 7 hours. Throw in the wash, and a complete interior detail and I had 14 hours all total in the project. The car was 3-4 years old and had never seen a vacuum cleaner or a can of wax, but I couldn't imagine being in business as a mobile detailer and having to work fast enough to do 2 of these per day (or more). I just do one car for $$ about every other weekend so I can enjoy the challenge and buy more detailing stuff. Always a bit sore the next day.
imported_Lawdog
New member
I notice the majority of Scottwax's pics are of high dollar vehicles. I wonder if the paint on these is just better?(Not saying he couldn't do the same thing to a Pinto, but would it take longer?)
Accumulator
Well-known member
IMO you can't really compare what *you* are doing on a given vehicle with what somebody else does on a different one. Just too many variables.
Example: on the rare occasions when I have to polish my silver S8 or the Jag, I might spend many minutes just *inspecting* a small area after each polishing step (different lighting sources, magnification, etc.), since it's hard to see minor flaws on silver. Even with a rotary, I'll spend *forever* on those cars to get them fixed to *my* satisfaction. But I can knock off a non-Autopian friend's vehicle, to *their* satisfaction, in no time.
Yeah, trying to do "rotary work" with a PC is a *very* slow process and sometimes it just doesn't cut it (pun sorta intended). Careful product choice can go a long way, and even using a Cyclo instead of the PC can speed things up a lot.
Example: on the rare occasions when I have to polish my silver S8 or the Jag, I might spend many minutes just *inspecting* a small area after each polishing step (different lighting sources, magnification, etc.), since it's hard to see minor flaws on silver. Even with a rotary, I'll spend *forever* on those cars to get them fixed to *my* satisfaction. But I can knock off a non-Autopian friend's vehicle, to *their* satisfaction, in no time.
Yeah, trying to do "rotary work" with a PC is a *very* slow process and sometimes it just doesn't cut it (pun sorta intended). Careful product choice can go a long way, and even using a Cyclo instead of the PC can speed things up a lot.
togwt
The Old Grey Whistle Test
Quote: P.S what is this PC everyone is talking about?? Never heard of it never knew there was any other buffer then an rotary one. I guess I am old school.
~ One man’s opinion / observations ~
This is a rotary polisher for the skilled enthusiast or professional detailer, using the high speed and heat to enable compounds to abrade the paint film surface that require more power /speed than an random orbital buffer could provide.
It is not unusual for a detailer to use a high-speed machine to compound a vehicle and then switch to a dual action, random orbital machine (Porter Cable TM 7336) to apply a pre-wax cleaner, a wax or sealant.
~Hope this helps ~
Knowledge unshared is experience wasted
justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ Jon
~ One man’s opinion / observations ~
This is a rotary polisher for the skilled enthusiast or professional detailer, using the high speed and heat to enable compounds to abrade the paint film surface that require more power /speed than an random orbital buffer could provide.
It is not unusual for a detailer to use a high-speed machine to compound a vehicle and then switch to a dual action, random orbital machine (Porter Cable TM 7336) to apply a pre-wax cleaner, a wax or sealant.
~Hope this helps ~
Knowledge unshared is experience wasted
justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ Jon
thanks for the replys. Like someone said earlier, I don't understand how Scottwax and others that use the PC (No Rotory) can polish a car so fast and still have flawless results. I guess it can be done and Scottwax is proof of that, so that why I posted this question to get some tips or tricks from these members that can do mutiple step polishes in the same time it took me to do 1 step. Plus, I started to detail vehicles for extra cash on the weekends and i am sure I am not going to get too many clients if I am taking 9-10 hours to complete a car. I am amazed by some of the pictures members post here and then tell how long it took them, even with just a PC. I would never stay in business if i did this full time at the rate i am going. thanks for the help guys
Glossequation
New member
SR77 said:
Learning to use the PC was not hard for me. Outside of actual polishing techniques, the first real thing I learned with it was that it is not a substitute for the slow process of hand polishing, it simply gives better, more uniform results because its your hand but 1000's of times faster & without the fatigue.
I spent 6 hours on my old man's Cadillac by claying, using 3M PI III MG with two pads and waxing it. And I hadn't even touched the interior. Hopefully a step up in product (FC RC??) and pad cuts down some time.
Just as an FYI--I found that the curved cutting pad sucks you have to push down hard to get the middle of the pad to touch. I know its supposed to reduce splatter, but that is largely a side effect of rotaries more than DA's--I find spreading the product with the pad first all but eliminates splatter.