Anyone detail their own car?

Correct - when the paint is tired or has orange peel (much more common these days because of water borne paints) - DA polishing even with coarse just takes forever, so I prefer to be more aggressive especially since I am not billing by the hour

 

I've just started the same process. From everything I read it sounded like clay barring was the way to start, then polishing, then waxing. The clay bar process was easy and already removed a lot of small defects, as well as fine swirl marks. Next I plan to use Mequires Ultimate Polishing Compound with the 3 and 6 inch random orbital polishers I bought from Griots Garage. I will finish off with Zymol wax. 0000 steel wool did an amazing job of polishing the windshield and windows outside. Going to follow that with Rainex on the outside, then Invisible Glass on the inside. Already treated the leather with Leatherique and cleaned and treated the convertible top with Raggtop products. This is the plan I developed from gleaning this site and YouTube on my 355 which I just purchased last fall. I'll be posting pics when I'm finished; TDF blue with Crema interior.

 

Clay bar does not remove swirls, not in the least. The single and only purpose of clay is to remove stuff stuck to the paint. That's it.

 

Stupid question, so please forgive me. l understand wax is simply a coating that protects a polished surface. If so, shouldn't wax be spread on rather than rubbed in?

l have a Meguiar's DA machine and use that for polishing. I wonder if I should use it in the waxing stage.

Many thanks, and pardon my ignorance.

Best,

Andres

 

Does calling Jason of Xcalibur detailing count?

 

I understand the whole process, and if you ask anyone who does higher end detailing, you cannot go from a compound to a glaze (filler product that hides defects and haze from compounding) to a wax. Most people hate the bodyshop routine and most understand its not the correct way to do things. Its simply just not possible if you want best results.

Ive done full sanding projects to remove orange peel...wash, sand with 1500-2000-3000, compound, mid polish, final polish, clean paint, coating application. 25+ hours spent, very thorough process and very impressive results.

I guess if you're happy, thats all that counts!

 

Where Eric is going with this, and I agree...

Is that the whole concept of compounding and glazing a car is to remove the deeper scratches and then FILL in the remaining imperfections... In fact, that is the definition of a glaze....

Bodyshops love 3M (and detailers hate it) because, while it is fast, it doesn't product a long-lasting result. Body shops can train there guys quickly, the paint looks good enough for customer delivery, and that's it... The glazing oils (as well as a combination of silica and kaolin clay) will create a mirror-smooth appearance, until the oils wear away.

With today's modern technology, it is possible to go from sanding marks to a compound to a final polish (two steps of polishing) and get a true, mirror-like finish, but 3M isn't really the way to go (in my experience). One of the reason's 3M bougth out Meguiar's was to get their highly advanced, detailer-friendly polishing abrasive technology (among other reasons).

As far as removing P1200-grade sanding marks, there is really no compound that can fully remove the scratch line texture completely from "cured" paint. On fresh paint, yes, but on cured paint you will have a texture that travels in the same direction of the scratch marks if you look close enough.

 

Last weekend I was working on some rock chips on the hood. I had Mcquires (#7 on the red bar graph on the front of the bottle), 3M compound, and 3M machine polish. After I filled the rock chip in with paint and several layers of clear coat, I used 2000 grit sandpaper then I tried Mcquires to polish out the dull white haze after using the sandpaper. The McQuires did not work that well, so I used the 3M compound liquid, then the machine polish which worked well.

Can you explain the difference in the Mcquires and the 3M compound liquids?

 

3M is rubbing compound - it's much more agressive and that's it's purpose. It will cut the paint and then other (finer) polishes are needed to bring out the shine.

 

all the compounds and polishes work based on the type and amount of abrasives in them, as well as other factors.

a compound is more aggressive then a polish
compounds remove defects, polishes bring out the shine.
(as stated above)