question about sealant and wax

[wssviper]

Hi Mike,

I'm very new to detailing and tried my first shot at detailing my 2011 VW Gti. I washed, clayed and polished the car. For polishing I used a porter cable 7424 XP with orange pads in Optimum hyper compound and white pad on optimum hyper polish. Detailing alone took me 2 days in the garage, and while I watched some videos and read guides, Im sure I was ineffective in my process. After the two polishing steps mentioned above, I couldn't leave my Car in the garage anymore and had to drive it. My plan was to do a sealant and eax afterwards, but I ran out of time. I'm not too pleased with the results, and although it seems I removed every swirl mark on the Car, I ended up seeing straight line scratches after polishing. Foolishly, I didn't use the test spot method and just continued to do the entire car. My question is, how do I proceed mike? I don't mind the scratches so much , it doesnt bother Me all that much as my main goal was to protect the paint from the upcoming harsh Canadian winter.

1. If the paint surface is smooth to the touch, can I follow up with a sealant and wax 2 weeks after the original polish work? Or do I have to redo the work to remove the scratches before I apply a sealant and wax? If not, is it enough to just wash the car again, then simply proceed with a sealant and wax without claying and repolishing?

2. If an orange pad wasn't sufficient to remove the scratches I discovered afterward, would you recommend going to a more aggressive pad, or retry with an orange pad and same optimum compound I used the first time around to see if I can make it better? Do I try new compound maybe?

3. I did a test in mid air to spin a used up ( but clean and try) white pad 5.5 "LC CCS and it seems the buffer is much more hesitant to spin smoothly than an orange clean pad. I put the two pads on my hand and the white one feels heavier. Is it possible that the material has baked in so much into the pad that it is affecting the rotation? I tried another brand new red pad , same size and it also spins freely. I noticed as a result, as I was polishing with the white pad after while, the buffer was wobbling on the surface and wasn't polishing very flat, and the motor felt bogged down. Does the weight of the pad have any impact on rotation?

Thank you very much Mike

[hernandez.art13]

Here are my thoughts

Hi Mike,

I'm very new to detailing and tried my first shot at detailing my 2011 VW Gti. I washed, clayed and polished the car. For polishing I used a porter cable 7424 XP with orange pads in Optimum hyper compound and white pad on optimum hyper polish. Detailing alone took me 2 days in the garage, and while I watched some videos and read guides, Im sure I was ineffective in my process. After the two polishing steps mentioned above, I couldn't leave my Car in the garage anymore and had to drive it. My plan was to do a sealant and eax afterwards, but I ran out of time. I'm not too pleased with the results, and although it seems I removed every swirl mark on the Car, I ended up seeing straight line scratches after polishing. Foolishly, I didn't use the test spot method and just continued to do the entire car. My question is, how do I proceed mike? I don't mind the scratches so much , it doesnt bother Me all that much as my main goal was to protect the paint from the upcoming harsh Canadian winter.

1. If the paint surface is smooth to the touch, can I follow up with a sealant and wax 2 weeks after the original polish work? Or do I have to redo the work to remove the scratches before I apply a sealant and wax? If not, is it enough to just wash the car again, then simply proceed with a sealant and wax without claying and repolishing?

you should not have to polish again if there are no scratches, once you removed them. They should have not come back, 2 weeks is not to long without applying an LSP IMO. Especially because there were other factors of why you didn't apply an LSP. It would have been a better choice to do it right after, but sometimes there are reasons why one can't.

I would say wash the car and apply your LSP. You could check if it needs to be clayed again before applying your LSP.

2. If an orange pad wasn't sufficient to remove the scratches I discovered afterward, would you recommend going to a more aggressive pad, or retry with an orange pad and same optimum compound I used the first time around to see if I can make it better? Do I try new compound maybe?

The straight lines scratches your seeing are common and they are called RIDS. I'm sure Mike has an article on it, so I'll try and find it for you. You could attempt to remove these as well and no you shouldn't really have to change compound. I would say changing pad and size pad would be more ideal.

3. I did a test in mid air to spin a used up ( but clean and try) white pad 5.5 "LC CCS and it seems the buffer is much more hesitant to spin smoothly than an orange clean pad. I put the two pads on my hand and the white one feels heavier. Is it possible that the material has baked in so much into the pad that it is affecting the rotation? I tried another brand new red pad , same size and it also spins freely. I noticed as a result, as I was polishing with the white pad after while, the buffer was wobbling on the surface and wasn't polishing very flat, and the motor felt bogged down. Does the weight of the pad have any impact on rotation?

I don't know the exact mechanics of it or how to explain them, but spinning the pad and backing plate in mid air is not a good idea. Something goes on during that scenario that is not good for the machine. What's good to have is a nylon brush or air. I don't have air, so what I do is use my nylon brush and from time to time I get a towel and press it on the pad and then turn on the machine. The towel absorbs up a lot of the spent product from the pad and the pad is not so saturated anymore.

Thank you very much Mike

I might have been off on somethings or might have missed some things, so I'll let others chime in and have them help you out as well.

Good luck and "Remember, this hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need therapy." - Michael Stoops

Happy Detailing
Art

[hernandez.art13]

Here is the RIDS article for you to check out

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...hind-term.html

[hernandez.art13]

Also, next time you could attempt to use a spray wax so your car doesn't go so long without any protection.

[wssviper]

Art, first of all, thanks so much about all the detailed info. I feel much better about the RIDS now, and I can live with them

sorry I wasn't clear enough about the white pad situation. I thoroughly cleaned and rinsed (and then dried) it with snappy clean solution after being done polishing , and still notice that it is causing a wobble with the polisher , while the orange pad (after being heavily used and also then cleaned and rinsed) does not cause any wobble to the porter cable, and the same goes for a brand new red CCS pad.

Regarding me letting it spin in the air, is this something I need to be concerned about that I have done that , or should I continue to use the porter cable as usual?

Also , do you have a recommendation for a spray wax?

[hernandez.art13]

Art, first of all, thanks so much about all the detailed info. I feel much better about the RIDS now, and I can live with them

sorry I wasn't clear enough about the white pad situation. I thoroughly cleaned and rinsed (and then dried) it with snappy clean solution after being done polishing , and still notice that it is causing a wobble with the polisher , while the orange pad (after being heavily used and also then cleaned and rinsed) does not cause any wobble to the porter cable, and the same goes for a brand new red CCS pad.

Regarding me letting it spin in the air, is this something I need to be concerned about that I have done that , or should I continue to use the porter cable as usual?

Also , do you have a recommendation for a spray wax?

as for the why it's still wobbling, I'll let others chime in on that, because I am not sure why it's doing that.

I don't think it will something that you need to be concerned about for future use of the Porter Cable. As far as, if you have or haven't done damage to the PC, I am not a tech that could answer that, but I think you should be fine.

For spray wax, I really like Meguiar's D156, they only have it in a gallon though, so don't know if you want to go buy a whole gallon of it.

Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax is on sale right now for $10.50 so you could go with that if you don't want a gallon's worth. I think it's sold at your local auto parts store too.

Meguiars Ultimate Quik Wax, spray wax, synthetic spray wax, quick wax, meguiars quick spray wax, paint protectant, liquid wax, meguires, meguiars car

and NP, happy to help as best as I could.

[wssviper]

Hey Art,

I can get the Meguiars quick wax at Canadian Tire, so thats good! Should I apply it now, and then have that protect my paint before I do a full on Wax and sealant job in a week from today? Thhank you!

[allenk4]

Your PC is supposed to "wobble"

It oscillates 8mm

Not sure why it would be more perceptible with a certain pad

Are you following Mike Phillips guidelines for polishing with a PC? He has a great thread that details how to get great results with that machine

[hernandez.art13]

Glad to hear!

I would apply the spray wax in the meantime.

When and if you do and are ready to apply the LSP. It will all depend up to level you want to take it. I would just at least make sure the paint is clean.

You could do an APC bath, do IPA wipe down, do a fine clay pass again.

Or just regular car soap and 2BM. Or even just a simple waterless wash, but will be up to you.

I will say that I would prefer having my paint protected during that time. Than not having it protected.

Your not going yo be applying a coating, so I would not stress to much about it.

Just make sure your paint is clean.

[TurboToys]

Your PC is supposed to "wobble"

It oscillates 8mm

Not sure why it would be more perceptible with a certain pad

Are you following Mike Phillips guidelines for polishing with a PC? He has a great thread that details how to get great results with that machine

if you have no pad on it at all, it should be close to balanced for weight. the more weight you add onto it, the less the offset weight will help it stay balanced. a heavier pad or "wetter" pad, will make it shake more, because you aren't changing your counterbalance weight, it is still trying to compensate for the same weight difference all the time.

thats why having even a little bit of pad hanging off one side more than another can cause more vibrations than normal