Questions about buffing pads for correcting/polishing by machine and hand

[JimmyG]

Hi everybody!

I'm very glad to join this forum and can't wait to learn more about detailing!

I'm finalizing the plan for my first detailing project involving a machine polisher (and ceramic coating). I already bought all the chemicals needed, but need advice on buffing pads.

The goal of this project is to correct the dull (oxidized?) paint on the hood and roof of my mom's mid-1990s silver Acura Integra. According to her, it has been years--maybe a decade--since a wax has been applied, it has been occasionally washed with dishwashing soap, and it is usually parked outside the garage. The rest of the car appears to be in decent shape (i.e., the side panels still have some shine, no noticeable scratches that I can see, and no bubbled or missing clearcoat), but I'm sure more defects will become visible once the paint is properly washed and cleaned.

I bought a Griot's Garage G9 Random Orbital Polisher and plan to buy a 5" backing plate, some Griot's 5.5" non-BOSS pads, and some 5.75" McKee's 37 Redline pads. I hope 8 "correcting", 5 "polishing", and 3 "waxing" 5.5"/5.75" pads are sufficient, but I am unsure if those 3 "waxing" pads are needed since the main protection will be a ceramic coating.

For smaller areas (e.g., bumpers, pillars, trim), I plan to buy a NanoSkin 3" Hand Strap Applicator, a Wolfgang/Pinnacle Polishin' Pal, some 3" Griot's non-BOSS pads, and some 3.75" McKee's 37 Redline pads. Does the "minimum recommended number of pads" (i.e., 6 "correcting" pads, 4 "polishing" pads, 1 "waxing" pad) only apply to machine buffing with larger pads? Should I forgo all these small pads/holders, and just use ordinary yellow foam wax applicators held between my thumb and fingers for compounding and polishing the smaller areas?

In all honesty, I probably won't be using the G9 much after I correct the paint on my mom's car. I had to sell my car earlier this year, but I might buy a new car next year. I have access to an SUV that I could offer free paint correction/polishing on, but I have no other plans to correct/polish paint, so I don't want to spend too much on machine polisher tools and pads. Besides, the G9 is much louder than I expected; I haven't bought buffing pads yet, but I powered up the G9 anyway and it sounds pretty loud even at its lowest setting--although it could just be my sensitive ears. The G9 is my first DA polisher; I guess I expected DA polishers to be quieter since they never seem very loud when people operate them in YouTube videos. I'll wear earplugs, but the neighbors won't like the noise!

By the way, here is the process I plan to use to wash/correct/polish/protect the paint on my mom's car. Is the following a good process?

1. Wash the car, wheels, and tires using McKee's 37 Coating Prep Auto Wash and then dry. I'll research and buy some dedicated cleaners for the wheels and tires later.
2. Apply McKee's 37 Xtreme Iron Remover Gel to the car and wheels using foam wax applicators.
3. Wash off the Iron Remover Gel using Coating Prep Auto Wash and then dry.
4. Clay bar the car and wheels using The Rag Company Ultra Clay Scrubber, McKee's 37 Universal Detailing Clay, and McKee's 37 Universal Clay Lubricant.
5. Wash the car and wheels using Coating Prep Auto Wash (or McKee's 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash) and then dry.
6. Apply McKee's 37 Beast Compound using the G9 and by hand. I'll start with the "polishing" pads first and see if that is enough to make the roof and hood shine again; if not, then I'll switch to the "correcting" pads.
7. Apply McKee's 37 Finisher Polish using the G9 and by hand. Now that I think about it, I might need more than five 5.5"/5.75" "polishing" pads in case I end up compounding with the "polishing" pads.
8. Prep the surface by applying McKee's 37 Coating Prep Polish using the G9 and by hand. Follow up with McKee's 37 Coating Prep Spray. But after reading the thread about paintwork cleansing lotions, I think I could skip both products. However, I already bought both, so I guess I'll do a test spot with the prep spray to see if it helps. I don't really want to use the prep polish since that might mean buying even more "polishing" pads.
9. Apply McKee's 37 Ceramic Paint Coating to the car. This will be my first attempt at applying a ceramic coating.
10. I bought my mom a bottle of McKee's 37 SiO2 Rinseless Wash and a dozen microfiber towels so she can do maintenance washes, but I'll probably end up doing those whenever I visit her...

Sorry for the long post and numerous questions, but I'm just trying to gather more info to make this project go as smoothly as possible.

Thanks for any advice or feedback!

JimmyG

 

[Mike Phillips]

Hi everybody!

I'm very glad to join this forum and can't wait to learn more about detailing!

Welcome to my blue collar, working class dog forum.

Sorry for the long post and numerous questions, but I'm just trying to gather more info to make this project go as smoothly as possible.

Thanks for any advice or feedback!

JimmyG

Awesome first post and I completely understand where you're coming from.

Let me take a stab at your questions.


-Mike Phillips

 

[Mike Phillips]

Hi everybody!

I'm very glad to join this forum and can't wait to learn more about detailing!

I'm finalizing the plan for my first detailing project involving a machine polisher (and ceramic coating). I already bought all the chemicals needed, but need advice on buffing pads.

The goal of this project is to correct the dull (oxidized?) paint on the hood and roof of my mom's mid-1990s silver Acura Integra. According to her, it has been years--maybe a decade--since a wax has been applied, it has been occasionally washed with dish washing soap, and it is usually parked outside the garage. The rest of the car appears to be in decent shape (i.e., the side panels still have some shine, no noticeable scratches that I can see, and no bubbled or missing clearcoat), but I'm sure more defects will become visible once the paint is properly washed and cleaned.

Great candidate for an Extreme Prep Wash!

I bought a Griot's Garage G9 Random Orbital Polisher and plan to buy a 5" backing plate, some Griot's 5.5" non-BOSS pads, and some 5.75" McKee's 37 Redline pads. I hope 8 "correcting", 5 "polishing", and 3 "waxing" 5.5"/5.75" pads are sufficient, but I am unsure if those 3 "waxing" pads are needed since the main protection will be a ceramic coating.

You won't need the waxing pads, which I believe are the black foam finishing pads. The orange or white foam pads in the McKee's Redline line of pads are great general purpose "polishing" pads. The white foam is a tick softer than the orange foam and will normally finish out nice even on soft paints.

For smaller areas (e.g., bumpers, pillars, trim), I plan to buy a NanoSkin 3" Hand Strap Applicator, a Wolfgang/Pinnacle Polishin' Pal, some 3" Griot's non-BOSS pads, and some 3.75" McKee's 37 Redline pads.

If you get the Nanoskin 3" hand strap you really won't need the polishing pal. I worked at the geek for 11 years and never used a polishin-pal. LOL - if I did, it was just to show it. If you have sensitive hand muscles or weak hand muscles, then it would work as it gives you something a tick more ample to grasp. I have nothing against them, just never use them.

For hand polishing, the 3" hand backing pad matched to the right buffing pad will work. You can even just use a quality microfiber or foam hand applicator pad for most hand work. Start with microfiber and re-polish with foam on softer paints to remove any marring caused by the pressure points from your finger tips.

Does the "minimum recommended number of pads" (i.e., 6 "correcting" pads, 4 "polishing" pads, 1 "waxing" pad) only apply to machine buffing with larger pads? Should I forgo all these small pads/holders, and just use ordinary yellow foam wax applicators held between my thumb and fingers for compounding and polishing the smaller areas?

Yes. Having more pads is mostly important for any major paint correction steps like compounding and polishing by machine.

In all honesty, I probably won't be using the G9 much after I correct the paint on my mom's car. I had to sell my car earlier this year, but I might buy a new car next year. I have access to an SUV that I could offer free paint correction/polishing on, but I have no other plans to correct/polish paint, so I don't want to spend too much on machine polisher tools and pads. Besides, the G9 is much louder than I expected;

All power tools are going to have some level of noise, the G9 is a good average on sound and felt-vibration.

I haven't bought buffing pads yet, but I powered up the G9 anyway and it sounds pretty loud even at its lowest setting--although it could just be my sensitive ears.

Get and use some ear plugs. I wear ear protection anytime I'm buffing now days. It's just a good practice. I also provide ear protection in all my detailing classes.

The G9 is my first DA polisher; I guess I expected DA polishers to be quieter since they never seem very loud when people operate them in YouTube videos. I'll wear earplugs, but the neighbors won't like the noise!

It's a great free spinning polisher and you'll get use to the noise, which is normal for polishers.

By the way, here is the process I plan to use to wash/correct/polish/protect the paint on my mom's car. Is the following a good process?

1. Wash the car, wheels, and tires using McKee's 37 Coating Prep Auto Wash and then dry. I'll research and buy some dedicated cleaners for the wheels and tires later.

That will work. For a "Prep" wash, you can use any quality car wash soap. Heck, I used Dawn dish washing liquid for 2 recent "Prep" washes. I know some detailing experts will say this is wrong and I always say, go with the experts but what the experts don't take the time to read or understand is there's a HUGE difference between a "Prep" wash and a "Maintenance" wash.

I used the Dawn dish washing soap on a 1958 Studebaker Silver Hawk that was in a FIRE and had smoke soot all over it. I NEEDED the cleaning strength of a detergent to really get the car clean BEFORE I machine polished the entire outside, glass, chrome, paint.

The other car I used Dawn dish washing soap on was a 2017 Porsche Macan - and it was used as a Hockey Puck by the previous owner. I washed the heck out of this SUV and then did a FULL AGGRESSIVE compounding - so the "detergent" aspect of this detail was a non-issue.

1. Apply McKee's 37 Xtreme Iron Remover Gel to the car and wheels using foam wax applicators.

Any quality iron remover will work. A good spray-on is faster and easier than spreading a gel type product. Sound like a good idea on paper but not necessary UNLESS you have severe iron contamination that's ancient, then a gel offers longer dwell time, which helps.

If you already bought it - then definitely use it as it does work good for this category of product.

I rarely use iron removers. Not since I had a HORRIBLE experience where the top notch brand I used STAINED the anodized aluminum trim on a VW I detailed. If you're going to machine polish the paint - the polishing will remove any iron build up.

Nothing against iron removers and I normally show them during the Extreme Prep Wash portion of any detailing class I teach because it's a category of products and technique for all of use detailers to know how to do and do correctly - but not as necessary as everyone thinks.

1. Wash off the Iron Remover Gel using Coating Prep Auto Wash and then dry.

If you continue with the use or any iron remover - rinse off after it's dwelled for a few minutes but not dried on the surface and then move on to washing the car.

Normally I would wash wheels and tires first - then start on the car body panels.

1. Clay bar the car and wheels using The Rag Company Ultra Clay Scrubber, McKee's 37 Universal Detailing Clay, and McKee's 37 Universal Clay Lubricant.

If you want to save steps - wash and rinse the car and then while the car is still wet - use a clay mitt or clay towel mechanically decontaminate the paint while the car is still wet. I teach, preach and practice to do as many cleaning steps as possible during the washing process. If you already bought these other tools, they will work fine.

1. Wash the car and wheels using Coating Prep Auto Wash (or McKee's 37 N-914 Rinseless Wash) and then dry.

Nope. Wash the wheels and tires first. If the wheels are neglected - get a great wheel cleaner. If not, then normal car wash soap will work with a great brush. I HIGHLY recommend this brush. These can seem to be expensive but you will LOVE this brush. Plus its super high quality and will last you for years.

Wheel & Fender Brush

1. Apply McKee's 37 Beast Compound using the G9 and by hand. I'll start with the "polishing" pads first and see if that is enough to make the roof and hood shine again; if not, then I'll switch to the "correcting" pads.

The BEAST compound can be a tick sticky to wipe off. This is one of the things I didn't like about it when I was using it while at AF/MK. Be sure to wipe off immediately and it will be easier. You can also spray some water or a spray detailer on it to make wipe-off easier.

I'm a rep for Dr. Beasley's now so of course I would recommend the Dr. Beasley's NSP 150 Primer or Dr. Beasley's Z1 like I used on this old 2-door Plymouth.

1970 Plymouth Superbird Paint Correction with Dr. Beasley’s by Mike Phillips

The benefit to any of the NSP products is they don't contain any organic ingredients that must be removed in order for a coating to make a proper bond. you can us any of the NSP products, 150, 95, 45 and Z1 and coat right over the top of them. No messing with solvents/prep sprays and unintentionally marring the paint after you just spend hours polishing it.

I've actually been using the Z1 like a compound, that is machine applying it with microwool pads and then follow this using the same product, Z1 with a foam pad and then go to coating.

Z1 is the Dr. Beasley's version of other companies AIOs or cleaner/waxes - except no wax - ceramic instead.


Here's an old 2-door European job I did last Monday, it's worth around 2 million bucks.

I tested another brand of AIO on it and it micro-marred the paint. Not good.

1. Apply McKee's 37 Finisher Polish using the G9 and by hand. Now that I think about it, I might need more than five 5.5"/5.75" "polishing" pads in case I end up compounding with the "polishing" pads.

No - 5 pads will be more than enough. Probably less. The step you really need the most pads is the compounding step. When foam becomes wet it comes soft, this means when your compound makes your foam cutting pad wet - it becomes a foam finishing pad and you stop removing defects efficiently. I like the Finisher polish better than the Beast compound. If I remember correctly, it wipes off easier than the compound.

I'm glad I'm with Dr. Beasley's now. Dr. Beasley's abrasive technology is top shelf and the formulas are way more advanced than conventional compound and polishes which is what most of the market has to offer. Plus Dr. Beasley's is a REAL manufacturer.

1. Prep the surface by applying McKee's 37 Coating Prep Polish using the G9 and by hand.

Redundant step - no need at all to buy or use this product after polishing. If you already bought it, save it for future maintenance or for a brand new car that does not need paint correction.

1. Follow up with McKee's 37 Coating Prep Spray. But after reading the thread about paintwork cleansing lotions, I think I could skip both products. However, I already bought both, so I guess I'll do a test spot with the prep spray to see if it helps. I don't really want to use the prep polish since that might mean buying even more "polishing" pads.

The Prep Polish is for people that are NOT doing any dedicated compounding and polishing steps. So for you, this would be a redundant step or in other words, wasted time, energy, pads and product.

The McKee's Coating Prep Spray is all you need to clean the paint surface after polishing to prep the paint for a ceramic coating. Smells good, I think Tuti Fruity?

If you used a Dr. Beasley's NSP product - you would be skipping this step.

1. Apply McKee's 37 Ceramic Paint Coating to the car. This will be my first attempt at applying a ceramic coating.

Just follow directions - this is a very easy coating to use. Like with any ceramic coating, avoid high spots.

1. I bought my mom a bottle of McKee's 37 SiO2 Rinseless Wash and a dozen microfiber towels so she can do maintenance washes, but I'll probably end up doing those whenever I visit her...

What a good son.

Sorry for the long post and numerous questions, but I'm just trying to gather more info to make this project go as smoothly as possible.

Thanks for any advice or feedback!

JimmyG

There's no such thing as a long post or a dumb question.

I'd recommend asking the same questions above on ANY forum or Facebook group and compare the quality of detailed help you get there compared to here.

-Mike Phillips

 

[paul a.]

There ya go, Jimmy! Everything you need from the Man himself!

Best of luck and share back your experience. We're all rooting for you and you'll love doing it.

 

[JimmyG]

Hi Mike, thanks so much for your detailed responses! I know you are a very busy person, so I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

Oh, and congratulations on becoming the Chief Education Officer at Dr. Beasley's! I took a quick look at their website and their products seem very intriguing--they seem developed scientifically from the ground up. If I hadn't already purchased most of the stuff for my project, I would have definitely bought some Dr. Beasley's products (and I will in the future).

Thanks again!

 

[JimmyG]

Hi Paul, thanks for the reply! Yes, there's no better source for real-world detailing info than Mike.

I'll probably stop by my mom's place this weekend or next, and wash her car with the SiO2 Rinseless just to get most of the dirt off and get some SiO2 protection on it. I'll also use a headlight restoration kit to remove the oxidation from the headlights, and apply a ceramic glass coating on the windshield. I don't want to have put tape on top of ceramic-coated paint later on--not sure if that would negatively-affect the ceramic coating.

 

[OldandSlow]

Mike,

Thanks for your detailed answer.

 

[paul a.]

Once a coating has had time to fully cure I can't imagine tape residue would cause any issues.

 

[Strive]

If you get the Nanoskin 3" hand strap you really won't need the polishing pal. I worked at the geek for 11 years and never used a polishin-pal. LOL - if I did, it was just to show it. If you have sensitive hand muscles or weak hand muscles, then it would work as it gives you something a tick more ample to grasp. I have nothing against them, just never use them.

For hand polishing, the 3" hand backing pad matched to the right buffing pad will work. You can even just use a quality microfiber or foam hand applicator pad for most hand work. Start with microfiber and re-polish with foam on softer paints to remove any marring caused by the pressure points from your finger tips.

About hand polishing: A lot of times I have come across people hand polishing with wax applicators, which I'm not a fan of.

Then again, a lot of machine pads don't feel great to use by hand (too thick, etc).

To OP: Wishing you a nice time.

 

[JimmyG]

Once a coating has had time to fully cure I can't imagine tape residue would cause any issues.

I've never used automotive masking tape before, so I wasn't sure if pulling off the tape could also pull off a microscopic layer of the ceramic coating or weaken it a tiny bit? So I wanted to get around that by restoring the headlights before applying the ceramic coating, but I'm probably worrying too much. I'm sure the ceramic coating will be fine either way.

 

[JimmyG]

About hand polishing: A lot of times I have come across people hand polishing with wax applicators, which I'm not a fan of.

Then again, a lot of machine pads don't feel great to use by hand (too thick, etc).

To OP: Wishing you a nice time.

Thanks! It's probably going to be a few weeks before I start my project since some of the items I want are out of stock at the moment.

About the hand polishing with machine pads, now that you mention it, I recall reading one of Mike's articles where he recommended thinner pads if hand polishing. Something about thicker pads absorbing more product than thinner pads. Maybe I should look at Griot's BOSS or Lake Country ThinPro for the 3"/3.5" pads since they are thinner than the Redline pads.

 

[Strive]

About the hand polishing with machine pads, now that you mention it, I recall reading one of Mike's articles where he recommended thinner pads if hand polishing. Something about thicker pads absorbing more product than thinner pads. Maybe I should look at Griot's BOSS or Lake Country ThinPro for the 3"/3.5" pads since they are thinner than the Redline pads.

I wouldn't spend too much time or money thinking about hand polishing pads. You can hand polish with basically anything -- just might require a bit more elbow grease -- and I don't think there's much efficiency you can gain with pads unless you are doing a lot of hand polishing.

My recommendation is allocating your time/money elsewhere, at least at this stage.

I've never used automotive masking tape before,

Just want to say using nice tape can be very helpful, so for this it might be worth sticking with a nice brand. even if pricier. Also can stick the tape to your shirt &pull off first to make less sticky (see 6th paragraph of this post about tape on shirt to make less sticky)

 

[JimmyG]

I wouldn't spend too much time or money thinking about hand polishing pads. You can hand polish with basically anything -- just might require a bit more elbow grease -- and I don't think there's much efficiency you can gain with pads unless you are doing a lot of hand polishing.

My recommendation is allocating your time/money elsewhere, at least at this stage.


Just want to say using nice tape can be very helpful, so for this it might be worth sticking with a nice brand. even if pricier. Also can stick the tape to your shirt &pull off first to make less sticky (see 6th paragraph of this post about tape on shirt to make less sticky)

Thanks for the advice! I'm hoping to do as little hand polishing as possible, so I'll probably just buy a few correcting and polishing 3" pads. For tape, I'm looking at CarPro and 3M, and will try reducing their stickiness a bit since I will be dealing with old clearcoat.

 

[JimmyG]

I'm still waiting for some items to get back in stock before purchasing the rest of the detailing products I need to correct the paint on my mom's mid-1990s Acura Integra. I did wash her car with SiO2 rinseless and cleaned the wheels with a foaming wheel cleaner, so it looks better than before.

Last month, a friend of mine bought me some detailing products after I agreed to detail and ceramic-coat his daily driver--a mid-2010s Subaru Forester. He said the paint is in relatively good shape, but there are swirls he wants polished out. I read that Foresters might have soft paint.

I now have the following buffing pads:

• 6 McKee's 37 5.75" Redline Yellow Foam Cutting Pads
• 2 Griot's Garage 5.5" non-BOSS Orange Foam Correcting Pads
• 3 McKee's 37 5.75" Redline Orange Foam Polishing Pads
• 3 McKee's 37 5.75" Redline White All-in-One Foam Polishing Pads
• 1 Griot's Garage 5.5" non-BOSS Black Foam Finishing Pad
• 1 Griot's Garage 5.5" non-BOSS Red Foam Waxing Pad

Since both vehicles might have soft paint, should I buy additional polishing/finishing pads from the above list? I'm worried that cutting/correcting pads might micro-marr soft paint, so I might have to rely on polishing/finishing pads to correct the paint. Should I also buy some of the following buffing pads since I read some of them might be good for soft paint?

• Rupes 6" D-A Fine Yellow Polishing Foam Pads
• Rupes 6" D-A Ultra-Fine White Polishing Foam Pads
• Buff and Shine 5" Uro-Cell Red Finishing Pads
• McKee's 37 5.75" Redline Black Foam Finishing Pads

For hand-polishing the smaller areas, I'm looking at Lake Country 3.5" ThinPro orange heavy cutting, white polishing, and black finishing foam pads--maybe a few of each. Other than the ThinPro pads, I believe all the other pads listed above (in their 3" to 4" versions) are almost 1" thick--which might be too thick for hand-polishing?

I have McKee's 37 Beast Compound and McKee's 37 Finisher Polish, but haven't used them yet. Should I buy additional compounds/polishes? I read some of the following might be good for soft paint:

• Rupes D-A Fine High-Performance Fine Polishing Compound
• Rupes Uno Pure Ultra Finishing Polish
• Sonax Perfect Finish
• Sonax EX 04-06
• Dr. Beasley's NSP 95
• Dr. Beasley's NSP 45

I plan to do test spots using Finisher Polish on a polishing pad. If that doesn't provide enough correction, then I'll try Beast Compound on a polishing pad. If that still doesn't provide enough correction, then I'll try Beast Compound on a cutting/correcting pad.

For paint-wiping towels, I will just buy Cobra Edgeless Microfiber Polishing Cloths to keep it simple:

• 12 towels for wiping off clay bar/lubricant residue
• 12 towels for wiping off Beast Compound residue
• 12 towels for wiping off Finisher Polish residue
• 24 towels for wiping off Coating Prep Spray residue
• 12 towels for wiping off Ceramic Paint Coating high spots and doing final buff

I want light-colored towels to make it easier to check for dirt/contaminants, but the white and yellow Cobra Edgeless towels have been out of stock for several months. How much more difficult is it to visually check blue and green Cobra Edgeless towels for dirt/contaminants?

I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Mike Phillips]

I want light-colored towels to make it easier to check for dirt/contaminants, but the white and yellow Cobra Edgeless towels have been out of stock for several months. How much more difficult is it to visually check blue and green Cobra Edgeless towels for dirt/contaminants?

I feel your passion. Ensure your towels are clean by looking at them and feeling them with your hands. Once the pass the visual and tactical test, use them. I don't ever look to see what's coming off the car and onto my towels? I know I'm taking off whatever I'm applying, be it by hand or machine.

I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Thanks!

It's time to go out into the garage and do a Test Spot. Follow the sage advice,

Use the least aggressive process to get the job done


Once you dial in a process that works to you satisfaction - repeat this process to the rest of the car. I feel your passion but this is an older daily driver. Whatever you end up doing is going to make it look great.

I just machine polished a Corvette. Used NSP 95 and NSP 45. Went through 3 foam polishing pads and about 5 towels. The thing just glistens and is now ready for ceramic coating. I hardly put any thought into the work at all after I dialed in my process. Then as I worked around the car I made sure the face of my buffing pads remained clean and un-contaminated and same for my wiping towels.

Go for it!


Mike

 

[JimmyG]

I feel your passion. Ensure your towels are clean by looking at them and feeling them with your hands. Once the pass the visual and tactical test, use them. I don't ever look to see what's coming off the car and onto my towels? I know I'm taking off whatever I'm applying, be it by hand or machine.



It's time to go out into the garage and do a Test Spot. Follow the sage advice,

Use the least aggressive process to get the job done


Once you dial in a process that works to you satisfaction - repeat this process to the rest of the car. I feel your passion but this is an older daily driver. Whatever you end up doing is going to make it look great.

I just machine polished a Corvette. Used NSP 95 and NSP 45. Went through 3 foam polishing pads and about 5 towels. The thing just glistens and is now ready for ceramic coating. I hardly put any thought into the work at all after I dialed in my process. Then as I worked around the car I made sure the face of my buffing pads remained clean and un-contaminated and same for my wiping towels.

Go for it!


Mike

Thanks for the advice and suggestions!

I'll buy the rest of the stuff so I can get started correcting the paint on my mom's car. At this point, I need to focus on getting my hands dirty, learning, and working on techniques instead of thinking too much about products!

I'll ask my friend to buy more polishing and finishing pads since his SUV shouldn't need much paint correction--just light polishing. Also, my wife has forbid me from washing dirty microfiber towels in our washing machine, so I will have to wash dozens of towels by hand. In the future, I will buy Dr. Beasley's NSP products so I skip the coating-prep step and avoid having to wash dozens of coating-prep towels whenever I apply a ceramic coating.

Now I think the biggest remaining issue is location since I don't have a garage and my mom currently uses her garage as storage space . If I can't convince her to temporarily move that stuff out of her garage, then I might need to apply a sealant instead of a ceramic coating since I don't want to have the ceramic coating cure outside overnight (especially with the morning dew). Either way--with a ceramic coating or a sealant, her car will look much better and be better protected.

 

[JimmyG]

I was getting ready to finally do a test spot on my mom's car, but then I noticed two small "lightly speckled areas" on the roof between the moonroof and the windshield. I don't recall noticing them before--or if I did, I must have thought it was oxidation that I could polish out. But upon closer examination, I now fear it is a very early stage of clearcoat failure.

I don't know if this is strange or not, but the roof and hood don't have isolated areas of dullness; the entire roof and the entire hood have a dullish appearance. This car is almost 30 years old, the paint has had little maintenance/care over that timespan, and Acuras/Hondas supposedly had very soft paint back then, so I guess clearcoat failure was inevitable.

I still plan to apply iron remover, but should I still clay bar? The paint feels rough, but I suspect the clearcoat is very thin, so I am worried about machine-polishing to remove potential marring caused by claying. I have Sonus SFX Ultra-Fine Detail Clay, McKee’s 37 Universal Detailing Clay, and The Rag Company Ultra Clay Scrubbers. I believe the latter two are fine grade, while the Sonus claims to not cause scratches.

A full-on paint correction by machine would probably be unwise, but how risky would it be to machine-polish with a fine polish on finishing/waxing pads in an attempt to add a bit of shine to the paint? For fine polishes, I have McKee’s 37 Finisher Polish and Rupes Uno Pure Ultra Finishing Polish. For finishing/waxing pads, I have 3 Buff and Shine 5” Uro-Cell Red Finishing Pads, 3 Rupes 6” D-A Ultra-Fine Polishing Foam Pads, a Griot's Garage 5.5" non-BOSS Black Foam Finishing Pad, and a Griot's Garage 5.5" non-BOSS Red Foam Waxing Pad. I am also considering buying some McKee’s 37 5.75” Redline Black Foam Finishing Pads.

Or maybe I should polish by hand instead--that might improve the paint slightly without the risk of taking off too much clearcoat. I have lots of yellow foam wax applicators. I also have a 5" handpad that sticks to buffing pads, so I can still make use of the buffing pads I have.

Thanks for any feedback or advice!

 

[Strive]

the entire roof and the entire hood have a dullish appearance

Sorry if I missed it, but the car is clear coated, not single stage?

I have lots of yellow foam wax applicators. I also have a 5" handpad that sticks to buffing pads

This reminded me, that there are some hand pad holders with a strap. I don't think I'm a big fan of those.

Goodluck.

 

[Mike Phillips]

But upon closer examination, I now fear it is a very early stage of clearcoat failure.

Sounds like clearcoat failure to me.

At this point, no real benefit to polish by hand. Just light polish by machine and seal the paint. Try to keep the car clean and out of the sun and rain..


Mike

 

[JimmyG]

Sorry if I missed it, but the car is clear coated, not single stage?



This reminded me, that there are some hand pad holders with a strap. I don't think I'm a big fan of those.

Goodluck.

Thanks for the reply! Yes, I believe this car is clear coated. There is actually a spot near the trim of one window where the clear coat has slightly lifted from the paint and I can see how thin clear coat is--similar to the thickness of a Post-it note, which Mike has mentioned in the past. I'll probably try some hand polishing with yellow foam pads, some hand polishing with buffing pads on the hand strap, and some machine polishing--just to get some experience with different polishing techniques.