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Calendyr
06-12-2013, 04:58 AM
Hey guys,

I hope the constant rain is not getting you down. I have been waiting for it to stop for over a week now so I can do some detailing ;)

Ok so a few newbie questions:

1. I am a bit confused about APCs and degreasers. I just spent over 500$ in products and equipment yesterday and I only have the basics it seems. I still have to buy and APC and degreaser since they did not have anything that seemed interesting at my local store. Can I use household products like Fantastic Orange Action (APC) and Hertel Bio Degreaser for the car?

2. I have to go buy a DA today. Only thing I was able to find yesterday was Meguiar's DA Polisher. I did not have enough money on me and did not want to load a credit card so I will go back today to get it. It comes with a backing plate and a few pads. I don't understand how backing plates work. Are all the pads compatible with all the backing plates or do I need specific pads for specific plates? I will need more pads so I don't want to buy something and then find out it's not compatible. The way I understand it pads seems to be velcro mounted. Is that the same for all pads and plates?

3. What pads should I get? The choice of polishes and compounds was super limited at my local store. I ended up buying Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Meguiar's Ultimate Polish. I would have prefered M105 and M205, I think they are the new technology but unfortunatelly the only other product they had in stock was Turtle wax and I did not what to go with that... might be good, I have no idea but in my mind Turtle wax seems to be a low end product. So back to the pads, what is the best to start with for the products I have?

4. I could not find any hard wash to remove waxes from paint. All they had was soft washes and also washes with wax in it. Can I use dishwashing liquid to do it, if so what concentration is recommended?

So that's it.

Daniel

glen e
06-12-2013, 05:10 AM
I'll take a swat at this - but why did you see a need to buy local? - a simple list to autogeek and waiting for one of their many free shipping days would have everything you need. A griots orbital par surpasses anything you can buy local.

1. don't overthink the APC thing - I use simple green and a citrus degreaser from Lowes for virtually everything.

2 &3. the pads this is easy - watch some videos here:
Auto Detailing Facts, auto detailing Tips, How to detailing Guides, how to polish, how to wax, DIY detailing, do it yourself guides (http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html)
all pads velcro mount on the polisher plate - find the CCS pads from lake country and get an orange, white, grey, and blue. Ultimate compound and polish will do fine. I'd personally do UC, Blackfire Total polish and seal and Blackfire Wet Diamond and be done with it for a year or two..

3. use dawn - lots of it in heavy concentration - like 2 oz per bucket. There are others but this will do for you now.

Calendyr
06-12-2013, 05:19 AM
I am doing a friend's car this weekend and could not wait for the 1-2 week shipping time. When I start buying more in bulk I will definatelly use those services!

Thanks for the advices, I will have a look at that link too.

Daniel