Help with applicators for hand detailing

[GREddie]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on autogeeks so hopefully I posted in the right section.

I recently decided to get into detailing and I picked up a couple products suggested to me by some friends.

So far I have:
Pinnacle Ultra Poly-clay with clay lubricant
Poli-seal All-in-one
Collinite 476s super double coat auto wax

I don't want to take the plunge and buy a porter cable yet before even trying to polish and wax by hand. However, I'm finding it difficult to come to a conclusion on what to use to apply the polish and wax that I have. I'm planning on picking up foam applicator pads for the wax, but I don't know what to use for the poli-seal polish. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Mike Phillips]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post on autogeeks so hopefully I posted in the right section.

I recently decided to get into detailing and I picked up a couple products suggested to me by some friends.

So far I have:
Pinnacle Ultra Poly-clay with clay lubricant
Poli-seal All-in-one
Collinite 476s super double coat auto wax

I don't want to take the plunge and buy a porter cable yet before even trying to polish and wax by hand. However, I'm finding it difficult to come to a conclusion on what to use to apply the polish and wax that I have. I'm planning on picking up foam applicator pads for the wax, but I don't know what to use for the poli-seal polish. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Good timing...

Hang tight, I'm getting ready to post a thread tomorrow and in it this topic will be covered.

In fact, I'm processing the photos right now for upload.

:)

[GREddie]

hey mike!

thanks for your reply! I look forward to your post, but do you think you can give me a little sneak peak? I'm detailing tomorrow in the morning so any tidbits would help a lot as its getting close to crunch time.

So far I've heard microfiber circular applicator pads are good for the polish, as well as sponges and or regular terry clothes and old tshirts.

Are any of those big no-no's?

[Mike Phillips]

For this project I used the CCS Euro Foam Hand Polish Applicators (http#37;3A//www.autogeek.net/ccs-foam-hand-applicators.html) and really liked them.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/728/Lincoln036.jpg

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/728/Lincoln038.jpg


Anyone that wants to do a multi-step swirl removal process to a swirled out car really needs to get at a minimum the orange and white hand applicator pads and join a gym and start doing Tricep Pushdowns.

I was in the gym at 6:30am this morning and the one exercise I didn't do was Tricep Pushdowns and while it's regular exercise in my workout, I'm glad I didn't do them this morning because I got plenty of exercise with that muscle group today.

:)

[97zman]

Hey Mike, thats great.
I have been accumulating products etc to try my first hand a detailing on my truck. I too will be doing things by hand. I look forward to the post.

[Mike Phillips]

I'm detailing tomorrow in the morning so any tidbits would help a lot as its getting close to crunch time.



Avoid t-shirts or any cloth with a flat sheen. They don't offer any cushion and the flat sheen means if any abrasive particles gets stuck between your paint and your t-shirt you will grind a scratch or scratches right into the paint.

If you're going to depend upon what you can find at the average auto parts store then stick with foam and microfiber applicator pads, nothing funky, just normal soft foam and cross your fingers you can find some normal, good quality microfiber applicator pads.

I use to find round 100% cotton applicator pads I think under the name brand Detailer's Pride, but don't quote me on that, anyway they worked well for aggressive cleaning but you usually have to follow them with foam or microfiber as the fibers can instill fine scratches if you're rubbing hard.

As far as using foam or microfiber, assuming they're good quality, (soft foam, good quality microfiber), then either will work for anything you want to apply.

These ones I'm using in the picture are thick and dense and help spread the pressure from your hand out over the entire surface of the applicator pad, the thin round foam pads don't do this and you have to be careful you don't use just your fingertips or you'll put finger marks in the paint.

I'll try to get an extreme photo of fingermarks up tomorrow, they look like the paint has Leopard Spots.

In this thread here,

2008 Lexus IS 250 - Pinnacle Detail - August 14th, 2009 (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/19994-2008-lexus-250-pinnacle-detail.html)


There's a tip about how to hold your hand and fingers when using soft, gushy applicator pads, here's the excerpt.

Test Spot by Hand
For this first Test Spot by hand we're going to use a non-abrasive paint cleaner with a clean, soft foam applicator pad (http://www.autogeek.net/pinfoamwaxap1.html) and then check our results. I've never worked on this car before so I don't know if the paint is hard or soft, or a better way to describe the paint is actually workable or polishable.


For this step we're going to test Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion (http://www.autogeek.net/pinpainclean.html) by applying it to a small section of a panel we can look down on to inspect our results like the hood.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/723/detail-88.jpg

Pour a quarter size dollop of product onto the face of your applicator pad.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/723/detail-89.jpg


Then sandwiching the applicator pad between your 4 fingers and your thumb, spread the product out over a section about a foot squared and after first spreading it out, (so you have a uniform layer of the paint cleanser on the surface), then begin working the product using firm, even pressure. You want to try to hold the pad as flat as you can against the paint and then try to use as much of the face of your fingers as you can to apply pressure, not just your fingertips or you can accidentally induce what's called fingermarks.


Correct Technique - Hand flat to the panel, helps to spread pressure over the entire face of your fingers.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/723/detail-90.jpg

Wrong Technique - Hand to high, places too much pressure on your fingertips, this can lead to fingermarks.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/723/detail-92.jpg


This is also a way you can inspect to see if a car has a clearcoat finish, a single stage finish or even a tinted clearcoat finish. You can't see from this picture any pigment on the pad but in fact there was some very light black pigment on the pad and that leads us to believe this is a tinted clear coat finish. Had it been a single stage finish we would have see a lot of black pigment on the pad.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/723/detail-91.jpg


After working the product for 45 seconds to a minute, wipe the residue off and inspect to see if the product is working fast enough and effectively enough to meet your expectation. In this case, there was much improvement but we could tell that in order to get the paint to our level of satisfaction we were going to want to use a machine for the cleaning step.

Machine cleaning and polishing will work faster and more effectively to remove below surface defects and restore a clear, high gloss finish.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/723/detail-93.jpg



Hope that helps...

:)

[CakeDaddy]

For this project I used the CCS Euro Foam Hand Polish Applicators (http://http#37;3A//www.autogeek.net/ccs-foam-hand-applicators.html) and really liked them.


http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/728/Lincoln036.jpg


:)

those orange, red and white applicatiors............... orange heavy cut, white light cut and red for finessing? Or, am i thinking too much.

[Meghan]

Orange is Light Cutting, White is Polishing and Red is soft for wax and sealants.


http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/autogeek_2067_10928418

[97zman]

Hey Meghan,
The pads in Mike's pic looks different than the ones in your pic. Can they be used on either side or is Mike's pic showing the top. Just curious as I am learning. Also the link in Mike's post is not working for me but I found the ones in you pic. Thanks much.

Mike

[CakeDaddy]

Orange is Light Cutting, White is Polishing and Red is soft for wax and sealants.


http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/autogeek_2067_10928418


Nice. I was unaware that they actual made hand cut/polish/wax/sealand pads.:dblthumb2:

[Meghan]

Hey Meghan,
The pads in Mike's pic looks different than the ones in your pic. Can they be used on either side or is Mike's pic showing the top. Just curious as I am learning. Also the link in Mike's post is not working for me but I found the ones in you pic. Thanks much.

Mike
You can use both sides of these pads, depending on what you like, plus you can utilize both to extend the life of the applicator!



Nice. I was unaware that they actual made hand cut/polish/wax/sealand pads.:dblthumb2:

Yes Lake Country makes these so the foam colors will be the same as the pads, in reference to what you can use them for.

[97zman]

Very good, thanks for the info.