Polishing by section?

[bluefire]

I have seen from most of the detailing videos that they are polishing by section. Once you are done correcting one section and moving to another one. Do you overlap the polishing with the finish section? Will the overlap of the cutting pad not harm the finish section?

[dcjredline]

No it wont, you cut the entire car then polish the entire car. Compound never touches a spot that was already polished.

[bluefire]

No it wont, you cut the entire car then polish the entire car. Compound never touches a spot that was already polished.

If I am working on the hood. I should cut all the sections first before polishing it?

[7PaintGuns]

If I am working on the hood. I should cut all the sections first before polishing it?
For sure! Never move from step 1 to step 2 without fully completing step 1 and so on.

[zmcgovern45]

Think about it from an efficiency point of view... it wouldn't make sense to compound a section, remove pad, install polishing pad, polish a section, remove pad, install cutting pad, compound a section... repeat.

You're going to want to compound the entire vehicle, then polish the entire vehicle.

The only time it makes sense to do one right after the other on the same spot is when you are doing your test spots and you are determining if your process will produce the results you are seeking.

[bluefire]

thanks everyone for the feedback! :) This really helps for a beginner like me.

[EzyBrzy]

Can also do compound a whole panel and then polish it. Probably a better way of doing it if you're not going to do the whole vehicle in one day.

[jms493]

Work Clean...clean those pads frequently.

[Zubair]

I sometimes compound a car then polish it or if in a different mood compound a panel and polish it then move on to the next panel and rinse and repeat. Entirely upto the person which they prefer and theres no right or wrong there.

Compounding and polishing a section at a time on the otherhand is pure insanity.

[kosmetikwerks]

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/ceeeheee/IMG_20151210_083805_zpshds7dleh.jpg (http://s60.photobucket.com/user/ceeeheee/media/IMG_20151210_083805_zpshds7dleh.jpg.html)http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/ceeeheee/IMG_20151210_083459_zpsmcgpppwh.jpg (http://s60.photobucket.com/user/ceeeheee/media/IMG_20151210_083459_zpsmcgpppwh.jpg.html)http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/ceeeheee/IMG_20151207_172212_zpswaswr6wx.jpg (http://s60.photobucket.com/user/ceeeheee/media/IMG_20151207_172212_zpswaswr6wx.jpg.html)http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h40/ceeeheee/IMG_20151207_172256_zpsllvbs7q9.jpg (http://s60.photobucket.com/user/ceeeheee/media/IMG_20151207_172256_zpsllvbs7q9.jpg.html)

Here is two examples of polishing by section. Typically you polish section then wipe but I left on the polish to show how big a section should look when polishing. For this I used Flex 3401 with Lake Country white hybrid polishing pad. The polish used was HD Polish. The matrix was cut first but the Q5 only needed polish.

Hope this helps!

[7PaintGuns]

Work Clean...clean those pads frequently.
Another reason to do one step at a time. You don't want compound or compound dust contaminating somthing you have already polished. Better to rub each section with your first step, remove all productt from the vehicle/sections and start clean with step two.

[AGOatemywallet]

I have found that it saves me time compounding & polishing each component before moving to the next

By component, I mean the hood, a door, the trunk

Doing it this way allows me to only move my lights, stool, etc around the vehicle, once instead of twice

If does require that you pay extra attention to working clean

One additional benefit is that it allows more time for my pads to cool down