Cured my DA Haze

[NavyP-3]

It finally stopped snowing in Colorado this week and I had my first chance to buff my truck since I took Mike's class in Florida. Haven't been able to put my big order together that will include thin pads, a Flex and every SONAX product.

I washed the truck and busted out the Porter Cable but soon realized I only had some Ultimate Compound: off to Autozone. I really liked the Griot's BOSS products we used in Florida and almost got it, but the Mirror Brite Polish Wax caught my eye, it seemed like a good one step and I liked the smell.

I taped the hood in half and decided to see what the results would be separately. The Competition Ready Class really paid off. My technique was on point and both sides looked ten times better than before. The Ultimate compound was 5 years old and might not have been 100%, but it removed swirls well. The Mirror Brite was easier to use and really shone. I finished the Ultimate side with Mirror Brite and that was the best overall, but for the rest of my 12 year old work truck, i will stick to the Mirror Brite one step.

Best of all, I kicked my DA haze habit. I played around with pressure and speed but finally realized that the one spot I saw haze, was where i had let the buffer slowly stop on the car. I realized that I had been taking my last several passes with almost no pressure at all and I believe that was causing the haze. I ended up using more product with a little more constant pressure and the results were great. Nice to be able to take the swirls out of my own car.

Big thanks to Mike and the team for such great instruction.

Cheers,

Steve

[fly07sti]

Sounds good. Now let's see some pics!

[hoyt66]

When finish polishing I thought it was recommended to lighten the pressure for a couple section passes to obtain more gloss

[NavyP-3]

Hoyt,

You are correct, but something about my technique was off. I need to practice going lighter and see where the magic pressure point is.

[Mike Phillips]

When finish polishing I thought it was recommended to lighten the pressure for a couple section passes to obtain more gloss




That's what I normally do and teach in my classes.

That said, sometimes polishing paint is like an equalizer.... and I just happen to have an article on that...


The Graphic Equalizer Analogy to Polishing Paint (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/29315-graphic-equalizer-analogy-polishing-paint.html)


Mike Pennington, the Director of Training for Meguiar's, gave me this analogy a long time ago so I want to give him credit for it because it's a good analogy BUT you have to be old enough to remember Graphic Equalizers.

Graphic Equalizers
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/GraphicEqualizer01.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/GraphicEqualizer02.jpg


The analogy being that you can adjust your pad, product, tool and technique just like you can adjust music using a graphic equalizer and when everything is dialed-in perfect for the paint you're working on you'll get the results you're looking for.

It does mean sometimes playing around a little to find the perfect combination of products and procedures kind of like adjusting a graphic equalizer for a single song so it sounds perfect to your ears.

When everything is right... you'll make beautiful music or in this case you create a show car finish.

Of course in order to experiment it means you need to have more than one product in your arsenal of detailing products.

Usually, a good compound, a couple of polishes with correction ability, a finishing polish and some LSP's, this could include cleaner/waxes and finishing waxes.

Clay, Car Wash, Microfiber Towels and if you work by machine then a variety of buffing pads and if you work by hand then a variety of hand applicator pads.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/images/smilies/xyxthumbs.gif

[hoyt66]

Thanks Mike. This makes sense. So while lightening up pressure at the end is a good practice in general it does not necessarily yield the best result for all paint.

[PaulMys]

That's what I normally do and teach in my classes.

That said, sometimes polishing paint is like an equalizer.... and I just happen to have an article on that...


The Graphic Equalizer Analogy to Polishing Paint (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/29315-graphic-equalizer-analogy-polishing-paint.html)


Mike Pennington, the Director of Training for Meguiar's, gave me this analogy a long time ago so I want to give him credit for it because it's a good analogy BUT you have to be old enough to remember Graphic Equalizers.

Graphic Equalizers
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/GraphicEqualizer01.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/GraphicEqualizer02.jpg


The analogy being that you can adjust your pad, product, tool and technique just like you can adjust music using a graphic equalizer and when everything is dialed-in perfect for the paint you're working on you'll get the results you're looking for.

It does mean sometimes playing around a little to find the perfect combination of products and procedures kind of like adjusting a graphic equalizer for a single song so it sounds perfect to your ears.

When everything is right... you'll make beautiful music or in this case you create a show car finish.

Of course in order to experiment it means you need to have more than one product in your arsenal of detailing products.

Usually, a good compound, a couple of polishes with correction ability, a finishing polish and some LSP's, this could include cleaner/waxes and finishing waxes.

Clay, Car Wash, Microfiber Towels and if you work by machine then a variety of buffing pads and if you work by hand then a variety of hand applicator pads.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/images/smilies/xyxthumbs.gif

Nice analogy Mike. God, do I ever remember those old EQ's. Every band (or song) had you tweaking the hell out of those things. Lol

Likening paint correction on different vehicles to this is really spot on.