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Car Polishing 101

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Karim Khan
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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » February 29th, 2012, 11:14 am

let me see what i can do for you

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby syntax » March 6th, 2012, 11:34 pm

hey guys what can i use to polish my rims........ i have ziglas hyper silver rims on right now (Yea ziglas nah)

i found some mothers mag and aluminum polish lying round home, so i was wondering if i can use it.

rim looks like it has a clear coat or so i think?

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby equipped2ripp » March 6th, 2012, 11:47 pm

No, do not use that polish on hyper silver rims. That polish is designed for bare metal surfaces.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » March 7th, 2012, 12:45 pm

If your rims are clear coat use the Meguiar's Cleaner wax its amazing and cost effective !!!!
post some pics when you are done !!!

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby syntax » March 7th, 2012, 5:14 pm

thank you have to visit lubetech to see their prices

anyone knows how to reach there

aye karim what do you use to dry your cars

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Chemical » March 8th, 2012, 10:18 am

syntax wrote:thank you have to visit lubetech to see their prices

anyone knows how to reach there

aye karim what do you use to dry your cars


Heading south by Charlieville just before pricesmart turnoff there is a road on the left.
-turn left on that road
-turn right inmmediately
-drive parallel to highway (south direction)
-you will see a sign SK Printers.
-turn into compound (left hand side)
-drive to the back of SK Printers & Lubetech is behind.

They sell to the public.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby syntax » March 11th, 2012, 10:14 pm

great dude.............

how are their prices as compared to online ?

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby gfbl » March 15th, 2012, 7:30 pm

also saw waxes and sealants for rim application, that might be helpful, i think its a chemical guys product

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » April 7th, 2012, 8:18 pm

I did a clay and wax this weekend with a car that has the Griot's Best of Show Wax on it.
The last time it was clayed/waxed was late December, early January.
The car is parked in the open (no garage), and washed at least once a month.

I did a preliminary wash, and then proceeded to clay (Griot's) the car. I was impressed with the condition of the clay after I was done as the clay was fairly clean and hardly had any visible contaminants. Although swirl marks are becoming visible, a polish was not done.

I would assume the clean clay would mean that the wax has been doing its job and protecting the paint well after 3-4 months in open weather. AG SRP lasted maybe a month at most in the same conditions.
The car was then retreated with the Best of Show Wax and it left the paint looking deep and rich.

I am very impressed with the Griot's line of products, especially the Best of Show Wax.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » April 7th, 2012, 9:59 pm

Nice. Good to know it has some durability. How much mileage did you do from Jan to now?

Also , you can't really compare SRP to the BOS wax.
Would be better to compare EGP or HDwax to the BOS Wax as they are along the same line of products. The SRP is an all in one. Those never last. They're more intended for people not spending the time to do the full process. For example I got 4mths out of HDWax on a vehicle I wash 3-4 times a week when I'm there. Granted it's parked covered, it is still pretty good considering how much it's washed.
Should probably do half your hood with the Griots and half with the HDwax and see how it fares if you want to compare.

If you used SRP then waxed it would probably look even better as you would cover some of the swirls.
Not saying one brand is better than another, but SRP is a great product to just have around always I think. Actually with all the stuff I experiment with at times, SRP is one of the very few products I always have.

Would like to have a look at the finish of Griot's wax sometime. Have the polishes, but never tried the wax.

btw, why are you getting swirls is a good question. Didn't you polish in January when you first got the Griot's stuff? Washing method? Not enough washing?

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » April 8th, 2012, 6:54 am

I would assume the clean clay would mean that the wax has been doing its job and protecting the paint well after 3-4 months in open weather. AG SRP lasted maybe a month at most in the same conditions.
The car was then retreated with the Best of Show Wax and it left the paint looking deep and rich.

I am very impressed with the Griot's line of products, especially the Best of Show Wax.

As the prev poster said - investigate why you're seeing swirls. Is it that you didn'tremove all initially? Or what not?

If working by hand....consider a glaze to fill swirls, then top with a wax or sealant.

If working by machine....you shouldn't have had any swirls to begin with.

You're right about SRP - it isn't the most durable. But after a month, I'm sure that while the paint was beading nicely, it still wasn't "sheeting" water (try washing a portion of a car panel with dishwash liquid and see what happens)., which means some protection might have been there still = SOME.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » April 8th, 2012, 8:20 am

Yeah, I still have another new bottle of SRP with me. It's the best all in one I've come across, and I'll keep on using it. Maybe next time I'll use it as a filler before waxing as you suggested.

I believe the swirls are from washing practise. There tends to be a lot of dust in my area (Pt. Lisas), and the car is uncovered, which contributes to the swirls. The swirls aren't ridiculously loud, but starting to appear lightly, so I may polish in another 4 months.

In the meantime, I should probably start using a better washing technique (2 bucket, prewash, etc). Currently I just use a microfiber wash mitt and one bucket after a rinse with water.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » April 8th, 2012, 9:16 am

Well that's your prob right there. 2 bucket wash with a good mitt will help TONS.

Just make sure and rinse that mitt periodically in the "rinse" bucket, and you'll be surprised how much less swirls you'll inflict.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » April 8th, 2012, 2:56 pm

Although I do use it now, I personally have found little difference in the two bucket method. I'm using it because it's supposedly the right way and everyone else I've spoken to seems to have good results. Then again, most went from simply using one bucket to wash the whole car and then hose off. I always washed the mitt often with the hose also. So if you're sticking to one bucket for now, at least try washing off the mitt often. I don't think you should aim at having to polish that often. That's just cutting clearcoat. Even in a dusty area I'd think once, maybe twice a year for polish should be fine. Otherwise just add a glaze when you wax to fill the very light swirling. Can get a dedicated glaze after your cleaner or both together. SRP does that well.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » April 8th, 2012, 10:59 pm

Most OTC polishes remove mere micrometres of clearcoat....at least, when worked by hand. So it's nearly impossible to really harm your clear or thin it out.

When working by machine, then is when things get dicey. Most mild polishes still won't thin out your clear noticeably unless you polish like every week. But most CORRECTION based polishes (M105?) can cut through your clear if used too much.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » April 9th, 2012, 7:02 pm

True. But I still think polishing every 3-4mths should be unnecessary. The Polish 3 riot is using won't cut much at all. It's very mild. Wouldn't advise using stronger polishes just yet. Better to try fixing the wash method first and try using glazes when it's only mild swirls. Wait on them to buildup a bit, then polish.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » April 9th, 2012, 8:44 pm

DSM_05 wrote:Most OTC polishes remove mere micrometres of clearcoat....at least, when worked by hand. So it's nearly impossible to really harm your clear or thin it out.

When working by machine, then is when things get dicey. Most mild polishes still won't thin out your clear noticeably unless you polish like every week. But most CORRECTION based polishes (M105?) can cut through your clear if used too much.



DSM i think you have a mix up with respect to polishes and compounds. Compounds is designed to "cut"/correct. Polishes are designed to nourish the paint add depth and acts as a pre-wax. Most polishes would not remove paint, compounds do.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » April 9th, 2012, 10:14 pm

Meguiar's classes "polishes" as products that use oils mainly with nearly zero abrasives. To me, those should actually be called "glazes".

Other brands however, class polishes as products which remove fine layers of clear coat. E.g. Griots Hand polish or Machine polish 1, 2, 3 etc. These polishes level the area of clear coat surrounding a mild scratch or swirl, so as to achieve a good finish. And they contain diminishing abrasives.

Mothers Power Polish also does the same.

The Meguiar's naming convention does not apply across the board.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby crazychinee » April 10th, 2012, 7:56 am

Where can i get a washmit to purchase in east trinidad?

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » April 10th, 2012, 9:00 am

Here are some pics of work I did on my and a friends car over the weekend. The red car has paint that is 2 years old. The white car has paint that is about 4 years old, and is washed bi-weekly. The red one is meticulously maintained and STILL has near zero swirls to date!

I won't show pics of the whole car, but I do have pictures of the paint. Pics are taken under very bright lighting WITH an added camera flash (proof that no swirls exist):
Image

This white one isn't as well cared for, so we used some glazing to hide any mild swirling that existed on this paint.

Image

Image





Products used on red car:

Mothers Cal Gold Car Wash
Megs MF Wash Mitt
MF drying towel
Pinnacle Poly Clay w/ Pinnacle Clay Lube
Mothers Synwax (since paint was basically swirl free and had minimal gunk buildup if any)

For extra gloss, the synwax was topped with Mothers Pure Carnauba paste (no cleaners).


Products used on the white car:
Megs DC Car Wash
Megs Clay w/ Pinnacle Clay Lube
Mothers Pre Wax Cleaner applied with Griots Terry Cloth applicator pad
Megs Ultimate Compound (applied by hand on some minor spots to remove isolated areas of scratches)
Megs Deep Crystal Polish (this was applied twice)
Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant 3.0 applied with MF applicator

White car was left in a sheltered garage overnight for the sealant to cure as recommended by Wolfgang.
Owner will maintain the gloss on the white car by using Wolfgang's Deep Gloss Spritz Sealant after washes.


Some serious gunk came off the white car when the Pre Wax Cleaner was applied! I'll post pics this evening of how dirty the Griots applicator got (still haven't cleaned it yet).
Last edited by DSM_05 on April 10th, 2012, 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby silent_riot » April 10th, 2012, 1:16 pm

Nice pics man. Do you have any before pics?
Also, I find sunlight pics to be the best swirl revealer.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » April 10th, 2012, 2:01 pm

Yes, bright sun is indeed the best swirl revealer. I have no before pics on hand atm....but some were taken in a similar fashion some months ago. The white car had mild swirling, but it's been difficult to capture it with my camera. Perhaps i need an SLR :D

With respect to the red, the "before" pics look similar, but the gloss isn't there as much. Car was kept basically swirl free (as hard to believe as that might be), so there wasn't much correction to be done really.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » April 10th, 2012, 7:07 pm

How dat Pinnacle clay working out for ya?
And that Megs ultimate compound really is one of their best products eh.

Shoulda go crazy on the red. Bright colors can be quite rewarding to work on. Red, blue, orange..

Lewwe see some full car shots nah.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » April 10th, 2012, 7:12 pm

silent_riot wrote:Nice pics man. Do you have any before pics?
Also, I find sunlight pics to be the best swirl revealer.


The best swirl finder is my Brinkmann swirl finder. I use it for quality control when i am detailing !!

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » April 11th, 2012, 8:28 am

^My next intended purchase is in fact a brinkmann, or a Griots swirl finder. But I'm faced with budgeting challenges at the moment :(

How dat Pinnacle clay working out for ya?
And that Megs ultimate compound really is one of their best products eh.

Shoulda go crazy on the red. Bright colors can be quite rewarding to work on. Red, blue, orange..

Lewwe see some full car shots nah.



Full car shots on 'tuner? No thanks. I don't want pictures on a public forum.

Pinnacle clay is nice. I find the Megs clay to be more aggressive than the Pinnacle, and the Mothers to be less aggressive.

Yes their ultimate compound is great, but I find it works better on harder clear coats. I had some trouble with it on an older car I had about a year ago. The clear seemed soft - it hazed up very easily with Ultimate Compound. There was a discussion about this on the MOL forums - new honda paints seem to have this problem with Ultimate Compound.


On another note, check this out - Mothers Cal Gold Spray Wax applied to untreated paint. No wax, no polish, no glaze. The point was to see how durable product was by itself when exposed to the weather. Here it is on a dark gray Mazda 3.

Check out the beading after 2 weeks (2 washes):

Image




Nice tight beads, and a slick feeling finish was maintaine. For a spray wax alone with NO wax base (untreated paint finish), I found the result to be promising.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » April 11th, 2012, 6:49 pm

Yup. Doesn't look too bad. I've tried AG Aqua Wax on it's own and it was similar.

The cars I've used the ultimate compound on took forever to get any cut. That's what I liked about it. Slow but does cut, so it's better controlled.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby DSM_05 » April 11th, 2012, 9:06 pm

^^Yes but your cars are euros...correct? BMW if I'm not mistaken? Their paint is quite hard. Ultimate Compound finishes quite well on those.

AG AW is quite a good product, but I find it a bit hard to use. Hazes/smears easily if you apply too much. With products like Mothers Cal Gold Spray Wax, or even something like Megs Detailers, it's nearly impossible to leave streaking. But yes, they give about 70% of the durability of AG AW.
Last edited by DSM_05 on April 11th, 2012, 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby Karim Khan » April 11th, 2012, 9:19 pm

Ultimate Compound works well on any surface, its just knowing how to use it , in terms of technique, machine speed and polishing pad type. I have used Ultimate Compound on all paint types with very good results.

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » April 11th, 2012, 10:19 pm

DSM_05 wrote:^^Yes but your cars are euros...correct? BMW if I'm not mistaken? Their paint is quite hard. Ultimate Compound finishes quite well on those.

AG AW is quite a good product, but I find it a bit hard to use. Hazes/smears easily if you apply too much. With products like Mothers Cal Gold Spray Wax, or even something like Megs Detailers, it's nearly impossible to leave streaking. But yes, they give about 70% of the durability of AG AW.


Have used it on two different stock Euro paints, a JDM and 2 locally painted vehicles. All worked well. Just a little more effort required on the stock Euro paint.

Never had a problem with the Aqua wax. You really do need to have the vehicle a bit wet though. If you try to use it dry or very close to dry it'll haze and be very uneven. What I do is one of two things :
1. If it's not a hot or windy day I'll wet the drying cloth and swipe quickly which leaves a lot of streaked water on the vehicle.. spray directly onto wherever has the most water and spread. Keep spreading until close to dry.
2. Or, dry completely and then pass with both a spray bottle of water and the aqua wax.This is what I do most often. lightly mist with water, spray aqua wax and wipe.
Have also used the Mother's FX spray wax already. While it is a little more forgiving for application it isn't good enough to justify that difference I think. Still prefer the Aqua Wax. I still use Aqua wax intermittently on anything when the wax starts to fade. Not saying it's the only good one, just saying it's what I'll be using for now.
If you get a little haze that's why they give you 2 cloths with the kit. Takes more time though. :)

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Re: Car Polishing 101

Postby nemesis » April 11th, 2012, 10:47 pm

And btw, how you guessing what I does drive so? We happen to know each odder or wha?

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