First time Zaino user...need some help

[c h r i s]

Hey guys

1st post here
Looks like a nice forum

Little background:
Used to have a few nice cars that I enjoyed keeping clean
Always used the typical consumer waxes etc…
Never really got super into it but always keep my cars clean

Moved to the middle of nowhere MA for a year to finish out school and bought a POS Ford Exploder to do the duties up there
Now two years out a school I sold that hunk of junk (that I washed maybe 4 times in the 2 years I owned it) and picked up a 2008 VW R32 (looove it)

Anyway….

I ordered a bunch of Zaino products after hearing good reviews and had some trouble today with the application

Here's how it went:

Friday night got home from work and had time to:
- Dawn wash
- Z18 Claybar
- Z7 Wash
- Towel dry

I then had to go out and left the car sit overnight in the garage
All of that went easy as pie and the car was very clean

Sat morning got up and:
- Z-AIO with PC 7424 (non-xp) with the stock pad (this one: Porter-Cable 54745 6 inch Random Orbit Polishing Pad (http://tinyurl.com/28nxd7f))
- Let dry for 30 min
- Z-6 wipe down
- Z-5 w/ Z-FX
- Let dry for 45 min
- Z-6 wipe down
- Z-2 w/ Z-FX
- Let dry for 1.5 hours
- Z-6 wipedown

I had some trouble with these steps
First, the Z-AIO didn't really do a whole lot. Still lots of fine fine scratches and hard water spots. I'm assuming the pad was the wrong kind of pad for this or should I have used Z-PC?
The Z-AIO definitely left the paint feeling nice though

The Z-5 went on and come off super easy, not complaints there at all

The Z-2 went on easy but coming off was suppppper hard. I think I put way too much on? Is about 1.5 oz too much? It was just reallly stubborn coming off
The car felt awesome after though and the Z-6 is great stuff (love that smell!)

After fighting with the Z-2 for a long time I attempted to put on Z-CS
Sprayed my applicator pad once and the surface once
Started streaking like crazy!
So I stopped

Now my questions:
- Did I use the wrong pad for the Z-AIO?
- Why did it not cut very well?
- How long should I have waited in between taking off the Z-5 and applying the Z-2 (I waited about 10 min)
- How long should I have waited in between removing the Z-2 and applying the Z-CS. Why was it so streaky?

If anyone could shed some light on this I would greatly appreciate it!

Sorry for the super long post and I hope to learn a lot more about detailing soon!

[Dubbin1]

Throw away the pad that came with the PC (its junk) and pick up a variety of LC pads and a backing plate. A few orange, white and gray pads would be a good start.

[c h r i s]

Throw away the pad that came with the PC (its junk) and pick up a variety of LC pads and a backing plate. A few orange, white and gray pads would be a good start.

That's what I figured

It's good enough for now as I don't feel like doing everything over again but definitely next time

[DARK HORSE]

Throw away the pad that came with the PC (its junk) and pick up a variety of LC pads and a backing plate. A few orange, white and gray pads would be a good start.
:iagree:DEFINITELY :whs:

[DonMTV]

Where in MA?

Don

[Fly bye]

The pad that came with the PC can be used for bonnets.

[BobbyG]

Where in MA?

Don

What he said....

[ScottB]

Zaino's products you have listed have very little polishing and cleaning ability, other than the AIO. Even Sal would recommend using dedicated polishes first if the car is in need of polishing versus just an AIO. In my opinion his dedicated polish is lighter and most will want to use Menzerna SIP or Megs 105 first and then his polish.

After that you can use his sealants, marketed as polishes but not abrasive, in the order you have done. Since you are adding the curing agent to them (ZFX) there is no appreciable curing time and you can buff off it 10-20 minutes. Obviously as with any sealant less is more so try to use around 1 ounce max per coat. Heres what I would suggest:

Wash (any car cash) -- clay (any clay like Pinnacle perhaps) --- polish (use dedicated polishes as listed above) --- Protect (Z5Pro with XFX additive, then spray, then Z2Pro with XFX, and then their Z8 Spray) .

I much prefer the look of Z5 over Z2 so experiment on what you like. If you dont have the Z8 Spray consider something like Finishkare 425 as desired.