Polish & Claybar Budget Friendly Suggestions Please

[GlockFu]

I'm completely new to polishing and detailing. I just ordered a Griot's DA 6" polisher with a 5" conversion kit and now I'm looking at purchasing some polish and a claybar. Prices for these things are all over the place. I am not a professional detailer and don't plan to be, I just need this for my own personal cars. I want something good but not too expensive.

I was recommended Blackfire polish in another thread and Menzerna by someone else but they seem so expensive compared to Meguiar's. Is there really that big of a difference which makes it worth it? Or is it like most things where if you want the best, you pay twice the price of something good to get a 10% increase in performance?

The cars I'm working with is a 10 year old car that pretty much has had nothing done to it for it's entire life except for car washes with wax in it and a brand new black car that I need to get some water spots off of.

Can you please recommend some polish and a clay bar with lubricant for someone that wants something good but doesn't want to break the bank unless absolutely needed?

Thanks!

[vobro]

The Meguiars M205, Ultimate Polish and M210 are very good polishes. As far as clay I use the Megs medium or fine clay with ONR as a lube. There are a ton of good polishing options that are easy to work with and I'm sure more will chime in but just because it cost more doesn't mean it's better especially for a first timer.

[PaulMys]

I'm completely new to polishing and detailing. I just ordered a Griot's DA 6" polisher with a 5" conversion kit and now I'm looking at purchasing some polish and a claybar. Prices for these things are all over the place. I am not a professional detailer and don't plan to be, I just need this for my own personal cars. I want something good but not too expensive.

I was recommended Blackfire polish in another thread and Menzerna by someone else but they seem so expensive compared to Meguiar's. Is there really that big of a difference which makes it worth it? Or is it like most things where if you want the best, you pay twice the price of something good to get a 10% increase in performance?

The cars I'm working with is a 10 year old car that pretty much has had nothing done to it for it's entire life except for car washes with wax in it and a brand new black car that I need to get some water spots off of.

Can you please recommend some polish and a clay bar with lubricant for someone that wants something good but doesn't want to break the bank unless absolutely needed?

Thanks!

Yup.

Keep it in the Griot's family. Griot's clay, Griot's Fast Correcting Cream (Like a compound that finishes really good).
Griot's Correcting Cream. (Polish).

As for your Clay lube..... Griot's Speed Shine. Incredible clay lube IMO.

I kept my reply simple, because this can be SO confusing. ;)

[GlockFu]

The Meguiars M205, Ultimate Polish and M210 are very good polishes. As far as clay I use the Megs medium or fine clay with ONR as a lube. There are a ton of good polishing options that are easy to work with and I'm sure more will chime in but just because it cost more doesn't mean it's better especially for a first timer.

What's the difference with the M205 and M210? They seem so similar. Will the M205 have enough cutting power to restore the 10 year old car? I'm not expecting it to have a showroom finish but maybe appear like it does from 5 feet away.


Yup.

Keep it in the Griot's family. Griot's clay, Griot's Fast Correcting Cream (Like a compound that finishes really good).
Griot's Correcting Cream. (Polish).

As for your Clay lube..... Griot's Speed Shine. Incredible clay lube IMO.

I kept my reply simple, because this can be SO confusing. ;)

Thanks for the suggestions and keeping it simple because you are right... it is VERY confusing! However, the Griot's Creams are about just as expensive as the Blackfire polishes. The Griot's is the first one I looked at but I was hoping for something cheaper. I can get the Meguiars for about $8 for an 8oz bottle where I'd have to spend at least $22 for one of the polishes from Griot's. If it makes that big of a difference I guess I could spend the money but if it doesn't I was hoping not to have to spend almost 3x as much.

[Bruno Soares]

What's the difference with the M205 and M210? They seem so similar. Will the M205 have enough cutting power to restore the 10 year old car? I'm not expecting it to have a showroom finish but maybe appear like it does from 5 feet away.



Thanks for the suggestions and keeping it simple because you are right... it is VERY confusing! However, the Griot's Creams are about just as expensive as the Blackfire polishes. The Griot's is the first one I looked at but I was hoping for something cheaper. I can get the Meguiars for about $8 for an 8oz bottle where I'd have to spend at least $22 for one of the polishes from Griot's. If it makes that big of a difference I guess I could spend the money but if it doesn't I was hoping not to have to spend almost 3x as much.

M205 is the older version, M210 is the newer version. Supposedly easier to use. Some say 205 cuts more but don't expect a whole lot of correction from either. For a 10 year old car you probably need something more aggressive first, then the finishing polish.

Griot's polish is 16oz so the cost per oz is not much different than the Meguiar's one. Especially if you get it on sale, the $20 bottle gets cheaper and it's great product. Meguiar's is great as well, but a little more oily and not as user friendly as Griot's. But you can't go wrong with either.

[JustJesus]

You don't need to break the bank, especially when you're just starting off.

For clay lube, ONR is pretty good. It's not the best, but can get the job done. I've gone through several bottles for use as clay lube and rinseless washing.

Griot's, Meguiar's, Menzerna, Blackfire....and others.... are good polishes.

If you're interested, PM me your shipping info and I'll send you a used bottle (maybe half full??) of HD Polish (not the + version, the prior version). I just used it on a Porsche so know it's still working. Free. And if I find an empty container, I'll send you some ONR as well.

[Belo]

Yup.

Keep it in the Griot's family. Griot's clay, Griot's Fast Correcting Cream (Like a compound that finishes really good).
Griot's Correcting Cream. (Polish).

As for your Clay lube..... Griot's Speed Shine. Incredible clay lube IMO.

I kept my reply simple, because this can be SO confusing. ;)

if we're keeping it in the family, while expensive the griots synthetic clay mit is so much nicer to use than a clay bar and it'll last forever. One of the best purchases I've made in recent years and as a bonus you can just use the soap suds as a lube.

PS to the OP. I bought 3 bottles of menzerna about 5 or 6 years ago. The compound fg400, the polish sf3800 and the powerlock sealant. I have polished and sealed my car at least 4 times and still have the bottles. So yea, they're not super cheap and how much you use is dependent on the size of your car. But they're not a 1 or even 2 and done bottle either.

[Belo]

also, how long a bottle lasts isn't unique to menzerna. Most of the 16oz will last you a good while if just maintaining your own fleet, which is where I'm at. 3 to 4 pea size spots on a pad working a section. Again depending on the size of your car(s), you can easily get 4 or more annual details done per bottle of polish and seal. that's 4 years and per application the math makes the bottle a lot less expensive. Heck the real bear isn't the cost, but the TIME haha.

[GlockFu]

So I've been convinced to just coughing up the dough and getting the Griot's Correcting Cream.

I was thinking of trying the Griot's finishing cream for the water spots but it calls for a yellow pad which I just figured out is not made for the 6" DA polisher that I purchased. Is it even worth an attempt with this cream for the water spots or is it just a waste of time & money? If there's a good chance the finishing cream would work for the water spots, would I just use a black pad for my polisher since Griot's doesn't make a yellow one for my machine?

[57Rambler]

I was thinking of trying the Griot's finishing cream for the water spots but it calls for a yellow pad which I just figured out is not made for the 6" DA polisher that I purchased.

You want to use a pad that is 0.5 inch larger than your backing plate, so a 6.5 inch pad with your 6 inch backing plate or a 5.5 inch pad with your 5 inch backing plate. The Griots Yellow Perfecting pad is available in both those sizes.

[GlockFu]

You want to use a pad that is 0.5 inch larger than your backing plate, so a 6.5 inch pad with your 6 inch backing plate or a 5.5 inch pad with your 5 inch backing plate. The Griots Yellow Perfecting pad is available in both those sizes.

I believe the Yellow Perfecting pad is only available for their BOSS machines (G21 & G15). I don't see them available for their 6" Random orbital though.

[Bruno Soares]

I believe the Yellow Perfecting pad is only available for their BOSS machines (G21 & G15). I don't see them available for their 6" Random orbital though.

Works fine on your machine too.

[Bruno Soares]

Perfecting cream and the yellow pad will probably not remove water spots that have etched the clear coat. You can try, maybe if your clear is soft it can work but I usually see more aggressiveness needed to remove those etched spots.

[GlockFu]

Works fine on your machine too.


Ahhh! I didn't know if you could make it fit. Awesome, thanks! You just cost me more money LOL


I don't know if it has etched or not, I'm hoping it didnt. It happened 2 weeks after I had applied Duragloss 105+601 so I'm hoping the Duragloss did it's job and protected my clearcoat. Fingers Crossed!

[DBAILEY]

The Griot BOSS polishes are easy to use. You could just go to Walmart and get a bottle of Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. Only like $11 for 20oz bottle. Great one-stepper medium compound that is easy to use. The use M205 to finish it off and then to maintain it down the road