Finally investing in my own polishing equipment.

[PouncingPanzer]

I used to help a buddy who owned a detailing business during the busy season. I worked for free, the tradeoff was getting time and experience behind his fancy Rupes polishers and experiencing what it was like polishing various paints from multiple brands. I really enjoyed it. Typically we would get away with a single step polish using Sonax Perfect Finish. I was either lucky, or unlucky, to never experience a job were we struggled to achieve the results we set out to get. Though I know there is much knowledge to be gained from such experiences....and much stress. Lol.

Long story short, I have some polishing experience. But have never bought my own machine until recently. A combination of getting new cars and not having good facilities to polish a car in prevented me from doing this sooner. I grabbed up the G9 while it was 20% off from Griot's(IG offer I happened across). I am excited to use it. I already have the smaller backing plate for 5" pads but haven't invested in pads yet. I did grab a bottle of Perfect Finish though as I am familiar with it. The only polish I am really familiar with tbh. I also grabbed a nice swirl finder pocket flashlight. Not sure if I want to commit to a larger light, yet.

Before I commit to more. I.E. pads, lighting, and more abrasives, I am looking for feedback from fellow hobbyists that polish occasionally. I am not doing this for profit and only looking to maintain a handful of vehicles. My buddy and I used to use hexlogic pads but I know there are other options and looking for suggestions on pads, mostly. Also looking to possibly explore AIOs but I have NEVER used an AIO before. So not sure what would be the best to go with due to no personal experience with any.

Thanks in advanced.

[Uncbrs]

I used to help a buddy who owned a detailing business during the busy season. I worked for free, the tradeoff was getting time and experience behind his fancy Rupes polishers and experiencing what it was like polishing various paints from multiple brands. I really enjoyed it. Typically we would get away with a single step polish using Sonax Perfect Finish. I was either lucky, or unlucky, to never experience a job were we struggled to achieve the results we set out to get. Though I know there is much knowledge to be gained from such experiences....and much stress. Lol.

Long story short, I have some polishing experience. But have never bought my own machine until recently. A combination of getting new cars and not having good facilities to polish a car in prevented me from doing this sooner. I grabbed up the G9 while it was 20% off from Griot's(IG offer I happened across). I am excited to use it. I already have the smaller backing plate for 5" pads but haven't invested in pads yet. I did grab a bottle of Perfect Finish though as I am familiar with it. The only polish I am really familiar with tbh. I also grabbed a nice swirl finder pocket flashlight. Not sure if I want to commit to a larger light, yet.

Before I commit to more. I.E. pads, lighting, and more abrasives, I am looking for feedback from fellow hobbyists that polish occasionally. I am not doing this for profit and only looking to maintain a handful of vehicles. My buddy and I used to use hexlogic pads but I know there are other options and looking for suggestions on pads, mostly. Also looking to possibly explore AIOs but I have NEVER used an AIO before. So not sure what would be the best to go with due to no personal experience with any.

Thanks in advanced.I'm the last to give advice and your "apprentice training" outnumbers my experience but I didn't get anywhere until I stepped it up to Lake Country CCS pads (orange) and a medium polish. This was on a vehicle with 2K miles. The AiO made it look nice and shiny but I could've accomplished that with a wax or sealant. I'd have some medium polish on hand as well and cutting pads for any correction. Others will be around soon to offer more depth and detail!

P.S. I also own the G9.



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[PouncingPanzer]

I'm the last to give advice and your "apprentice training" outnumbers my experience but I didn't get anywhere until I stepped it up to Lake Country CCS pads (orange) and a medium polish. This was on a vehicle with 2K miles. The AiO made it look nice and shiny but I could've accomplished that with a wax or sealant. I'd have some medium polish on hand as well and cutting pads for any correction. Others will be around soon to offer more depth and detail!

P.S. I also own the G9.



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Thanks for chiming in. I figured a "medium" polish will be needed at some point(not on my personal car but perhaps someone else's). The Sonax Perfect Finish seems to be a light/medium polish as we were able to get away with a one-step using it on 9/10 cars. I have heard some reviews saying that the Perfect Finish has too much cut to be a true finishing product. I can see that perhaps being true...but with so little experience with other products I can't say for certain. I would love to get away with using Perfect Finish for all polishing jobs and just change up the pad that I use.

[Uncbrs]

Thanks for chiming in. I figured a "medium" polish will be needed at some point(not on my personal car but perhaps someone else's). The Sonax Perfect Finish seems to be a light/medium polish as we were able to get away with a one-step using it on 9/10 cars. I have heard some reviews saying that the Perfect Finish has too much cut to be a true finishing product. I can see that perhaps being true...but with so little experience with other products I can't say for certain. I would love to get away with using Perfect Finish for all polishing jobs and just change up the pad that I use.I have the Sonax Cut + Finish but not yet used it. That one is a 5/5 rating on their cut/gloss scale vs yours at 4/6 I believe. The others I've owned and used:

McKee's 360 AiO
3D One
Meguiar's M205
Menzerna 2500

The Meguiar's and Menzerna ended up doing the best on my car but that's not to speak ill of the others on my list. I'm still learning and working on technique. That said, the biggest change for me was bumping up to the orange CCS pad. It's been pretty versatile for me so far.

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[Rsurfer]

You need to remember all paints are different and react differently to polishes. What was good on a 2010 Chevy may not work so good on a 2010 Ford. For that matter what worked on the same make, year and model may not work on a smilier car. If it were that simple, there would be a chart on what pad and polish would work best on what year, make and color of car.

All paints are not created equal. This is what makes paint correction so challenging.

[PouncingPanzer]

You need to remember all paints are different and react differently to polishes. What was good on a 2010 Chevy may not work so good on a 2010 Ford. For that matter what worked on the same make, year and model may not work on a smilier car. If it were that simple, there would be a chart on what pad and polish would work best on what year, make and color of car.

All paints are not created equal. This is what makes paint correction so challenging.

That is certainly true. I recall my buddy and I had a dark green Bentley one time. He said to let him feel it out first. Paint was super super soft. Like sneeze on it and it mared soft lol. So he gave me a black pad with what I believe was still the perfect finish on it. I remember we usually used the black pad for applying waxes but the paint on the Bentley was so soft the black pad still cut. My Mexican made VW seems to have much softer paint than my Wolfsburg one...so I plan on going in and treating it like that Bentley for the first time under the knife.

[PaulMys]

I think you will really like your new G9. I love mine.

I have worked on a handful of vehicles to date as a hobbyist, and I have always had great results with Lake Country Flat pads (mostly Orange, a few White ones).

Also, 3D Speed (AIO) and 3D Polish are really nice to work with.

I will say though, that the Griot's BOSS Creams are my go-to products. They check all of the boxes. (Working time, ease of use, ease of removal, performance, and zero dusting.)

:)

[Kamakaz1961]

I can say with experience that Lake Country Pads should be your go-to's. IMO better than hex. As for products for working on the ride...there are so many. I can't really tell you which one is better.

1st hand experience will eventually tell you what products you will like best!

KEEP ON ROCKING!

[Bruno Soares]

Interesting you say your MK7 has soft paint. All of the ones I’ve seen had super hard paint, the exception being Lapiz Blue R which seems to be medium. I know the clear is what you’re polishing and shouldn’t matter what color is underneath but that beautiful blue seems softer than all other colors.

My Carbon Steel Grey needs microfiber or wool pad for anything more than the lightest scratch. If it’s a scratch you notice without bright lights, it will need to be compounded and using a more aggressive pad.

[98CayenneTA]

As far as fine polishes..... Carpro Essence is a must.

For All in One's....Scholl A15, BlackFire One and Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions which you can get off the shelf.

Scholls will cut better than BlackFire but is more difficult to remove.

Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions is quite impressive and will give a sharper gloss look and will out protect the other two I mentioned by far. And like I said, it's nice to get it off the shelf.

Compounds......Carpro Ultracut, Menzerna 400, Sonax Cutmax are all amazing.

3D ACA will cut like no other and is more dedicated towards rotary but will cut better then the other compounds I mentioned by da but will not come close to finishing down as nice as the others and 99% of the time will need micro maring cleaned up with a finer polish.

To give a example of the ACA vs the others I would put it this way.....

Menzerna 400 with a microfiber or wool pad = ACA 500 with a foam pad.

With a rotary the 3D ACA finishes down very well.

For fine polishes.....Carpro Essence, Menzerna 3800, Sonax Perfect Finish

I actually use Menzerna 3800 and a no cut foam pad with a rotary for jewling paint

[The Guz]

I used to help a buddy who owned a detailing business during the busy season. I worked for free, the tradeoff was getting time and experience behind his fancy Rupes polishers and experiencing what it was like polishing various paints from multiple brands. I really enjoyed it. Typically we would get away with a single step polish using Sonax Perfect Finish. I was either lucky, or unlucky, to never experience a job were we struggled to achieve the results we set out to get. Though I know there is much knowledge to be gained from such experiences....and much stress. Lol.

Long story short, I have some polishing experience. But have never bought my own machine until recently. A combination of getting new cars and not having good facilities to polish a car in prevented me from doing this sooner. I grabbed up the G9 while it was 20% off from Griot's(IG offer I happened across). I am excited to use it. I already have the smaller backing plate for 5" pads but haven't invested in pads yet. I did grab a bottle of Perfect Finish though as I am familiar with it. The only polish I am really familiar with tbh. I also grabbed a nice swirl finder pocket flashlight. Not sure if I want to commit to a larger light, yet.

Before I commit to more. I.E. pads, lighting, and more abrasives, I am looking for feedback from fellow hobbyists that polish occasionally. I am not doing this for profit and only looking to maintain a handful of vehicles. My buddy and I used to use hexlogic pads but I know there are other options and looking for suggestions on pads, mostly. Also looking to possibly explore AIOs but I have NEVER used an AIO before. So not sure what would be the best to go with due to no personal experience with any.

Thanks in advanced.

Sonax Perfect Finish is a good polish. If it is working then continue using it. It is versatile. Paint hardness is a variable but in most cases Perfect Finish finishes out just fine. If you need a compound then Sonax Cut max would be a good choice.

I am not an AIO user but there are various good ones.

[NightDrive43]

I was racking my brain on this for a couple weeks because I'm in the same situation you are. Recently watched Apex Detail's videos on polishing with body lotion, and then with water. The pads were more important than the polish/lubricant used.

I bought Turtle Wax Pro 1 and Done. It seems to finish well/cut well depending on the pad used. I just have Megs' Soft Buff pads from Amazon. 1 each of the light/wax pad, medium pad, and a cutting pad. I'll pick up some more pads in the future, but for now I'm trying to NOT overthink this.

[PouncingPanzer]

As far as fine polishes..... Carpro Essence is a must.

For All in One's....Scholl A15, BlackFire One and Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions which you can get off the shelf.

Scholls will cut better than BlackFire but is more difficult to remove.

Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions is quite impressive and will give a sharper gloss look and will out protect the other two I mentioned by far. And like I said, it's nice to get it off the shelf.

Compounds......Carpro Ultracut, Menzerna 400, Sonax Cutmax are all amazing.

3D ACA will cut like no other and is more dedicated towards rotary but will cut better then the other compounds I mentioned by da but will not come close to finishing down as nice as the others and 99% of the time will need micro maring cleaned up with a finer polish.

To give a example of the ACA vs the others I would put it this way.....

Menzerna 400 with a microfiber or wool pad = ACA 500 with a foam pad.

With a rotary the 3D ACA finishes down very well.

For fine polishes.....Carpro Essence, Menzerna 3800, Sonax Cutmax.

I actually use Menzerna 3800 and a no cut foam pad with a rotary for jewling paint

As a huge fan of Carpro everything I was eyeballing the Essence and the Ultracut. I try not to get tunnel vision on one or two brands though. The detailer that has kept up with polishing my cars for the past 4~ years(in light of not having a good place to polish cars myself) uses Menzerna abrasives exclusively. They love them.

[mc2hill]

I am going to suggest a different route - start with the Rupes polishes and pads combinations, then see if you need to add other brands/products. Thier stuff is not cheap, but works great together.
I started out using products from one company, and I learned more I picked all different types of pads and products from different vendors - some 'flavor of the month', others on advice from my local Detail shop, forums, and detailing events.
Now I am back to mostly one brand again. I commented recently how great the Rupes yellow wool pads and the DA Finishing polishes are to work with - does not get very hot, so it has a long work time allowing me to cover a larger area with less passes for doing 'production' detailing. But the products also work great for the show-car details too.
I have not used the Griot's Garage polish/pad combo's, but expect them to be similar. I have used some AG inhouse brands, Meg's, Menzerna, Jescar, and Scholl's.

[dgage]

I am going to suggest a different route - start with the Rupes polishes and pads combinations, then see if you need to add other brands/products. Thier stuff is not cheap, but works great together.

I like the Rupes polishes and pads, I've really been using their wool pads recently and they are great. But, the same could be said about the Griot's BOSS creams/pads and there are several pros on here that use them exclusively. I like the Fast Correcting Cream and use it often for a compound that finishes nicely. I'd say the Griot's pads and creams are a little cheaper than the Rupes with similar capabilities. They both make good products and you can't go wrong with either. I'd add Carpro polishes and pads in that same discussion if we're talking systems. Of course, many mix and match pads and polishes but that is a separate discussion that would take many pages to cover all of the great combos.