Polishing

[Angelnyfl55]

I have a question about polishing a car. Is it necessary to first compound your car before you polish every time? Or does it depend on the condition of the vehicle? Also when should you compound and when should you polish?

[roguegeek]

I have a question about polishing a car. Is it necessary to first compound your car before you polish every time? Or does it depend on the condition of the vehicle? Also when should you compound and when should you polish?

Deciding on how many steps to take on your paint is depended on its condition. You don't always need to compound a vehicle before polishing.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

Also when should you compound and when should you polish?

A test spot will determine this...

Typically the process is:
Wheels & Tires
Debug/de-tar
Rinse
Decontaminate (Iron-X)
Wash
Clay
Compound
Polish
LSP

or in lieu of Compound / Polish you could use an AIO.

Every time? No. As Roguegeek stated, it depends on paint condition.
You would start with a test spot using the least aggressive approach. If you get the desired results, move on, if not increase the aggressiveness.

For example: I have a show car in the garage which has been compound, polished and coated. It's under a car cover. I noticed as I put the car cover on it caused some light micro-marring. In the spring it will get a rinseless wash then I'll use Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish on a test spot. If it gets out the micro-marring I'll do the rest of the car and coat it again and be done for the season.

On a customers car or one of my daily drivers after going through a New England winter, (snow brushes, sand, dirt, salt, etc... raked with shovels)... I'd probably start with a more advanced product in a test spot. IE Menz FG400 or Pinnacle Advanced Compound. But if that customer came back to me 6 months later, I'd eval the paint and test spot with a polish.

IN addition, I would take paint measurement readings..

My suggestion is to go to the how to section and watch the Mike Phillips Videos 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) and pickup his book.

[axel06]

what he said ^^^^

[andy2485]

What is the outcome you want? plain and simple... do you want to keep a show car finish? or just maintain a daily driver? all depends on what you want and how much work you're willing to put in.

[Angelnyfl55]

I meant for like the removal of swirl marks and scratches

[ski2]

You should always perform a test spot to finalize your correction procedure before doing the entire car. Here's an article by Mike Phillips:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-articles/50162-how-do-test-spot.html