Here it goes.
For those wanting to try to wet sand and buff their cars to a high polish, or just detailing in general, you can give this a try.
Purchase this stuff:
1500 grit
2000 grit
2500 grit
sanding block/s
compounding product/s
polishing product/s
waxing products
(polishing machine)
These websites are great for general how-to and purchasing:
autogeek.net
specialtymotoring.com
tcpglobal.com/detailsupplydepot (these guys are in San Diego)
Before starting I would like to make a statement about detailing in general. First, keep in mind that you always want to start out with the LEAST CUTTING material. This goes for anything you do, sanding, compounding, even clay bar (there are different levels of clay bar cutting, just like with sand paper). Secondly, less is more. Sounds redundant but when it comes to waxing, etc., you will see where this is true. Lastly, when you are trying to correct paint, you will not be able to do it by hand. If you are trying to do anything more than wax a car, you will HAVE TO BUY a polishing machine. Your hand does not spin at 1200 rpm's!!! This is the only way to get compounds and polishes to break down properly and work the paint. You can opt for the Porter Cable (for beginners), the Cyclo, or a rotary polisher (experienced users only, you can mess up your paint job real quick with this one!). Now on to the general detailing process.
First thing will be to wet sand or clay bar. If your paint is in pretty good condition, I would recommend just a clay bar. If you have orange-peel and want to try to remove that, wet sanding is the way to go. However, this is not for the weak hearted. Screw up and you will be paying someone to paint your car, which is not cheap!
After wet sanding, you will have to compound the surfaces to remove the scratches. Any compound that will take out these sanding scratches, I recommend 3M (6062 for deep scratches, 6064 for lighter ones) but Meguiar's (m95 for most cars, m105 for those with ceramic clearcoats) can typically be found in most stores and is a little cheaper.
If you skip the sanding and opt for clay bar, you will be able polish and skip the compounding step. Polishing will also take place after compounding as the surface finish will be good, but not good enough for show car quality! There are different cutting levels for polishes. I typically use a medium cut and then a final polish before waxing on cars with holograms, swirls and light scratching. This seems to get good results. For cars that are regularly detailed, a final polish and wax will likely do the trick. I recommend these polishes:
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish (med cut.)
Menzerna 106ff Final polish (lightest cut)
These polishes are not cheap (~50$ per bottle). They are, however, expensive for a reason. Experience will be the only way to determine which one works for you.
After final polish, you will want to protect the paint with a wax or sealant. I recommend Natty's blue or red paste for waxes, and Poorboys ex-p sealant. These can both be resourced from specialty motoring. Any wax will do, however, these are the ones I have good results with on my black car.
Hopefully this helps people, I can try to go into more depth and help people out with their polishing questions down the road, but I think I have wasted enough time at work writing this up! :bo:
For those wanting to try to wet sand and buff their cars to a high polish, or just detailing in general, you can give this a try.
Purchase this stuff:
1500 grit
2000 grit
2500 grit
sanding block/s
compounding product/s
polishing product/s
waxing products
(polishing machine)
These websites are great for general how-to and purchasing:
autogeek.net
specialtymotoring.com
tcpglobal.com/detailsupplydepot (these guys are in San Diego)
Before starting I would like to make a statement about detailing in general. First, keep in mind that you always want to start out with the LEAST CUTTING material. This goes for anything you do, sanding, compounding, even clay bar (there are different levels of clay bar cutting, just like with sand paper). Secondly, less is more. Sounds redundant but when it comes to waxing, etc., you will see where this is true. Lastly, when you are trying to correct paint, you will not be able to do it by hand. If you are trying to do anything more than wax a car, you will HAVE TO BUY a polishing machine. Your hand does not spin at 1200 rpm's!!! This is the only way to get compounds and polishes to break down properly and work the paint. You can opt for the Porter Cable (for beginners), the Cyclo, or a rotary polisher (experienced users only, you can mess up your paint job real quick with this one!). Now on to the general detailing process.
First thing will be to wet sand or clay bar. If your paint is in pretty good condition, I would recommend just a clay bar. If you have orange-peel and want to try to remove that, wet sanding is the way to go. However, this is not for the weak hearted. Screw up and you will be paying someone to paint your car, which is not cheap!
After wet sanding, you will have to compound the surfaces to remove the scratches. Any compound that will take out these sanding scratches, I recommend 3M (6062 for deep scratches, 6064 for lighter ones) but Meguiar's (m95 for most cars, m105 for those with ceramic clearcoats) can typically be found in most stores and is a little cheaper.
If you skip the sanding and opt for clay bar, you will be able polish and skip the compounding step. Polishing will also take place after compounding as the surface finish will be good, but not good enough for show car quality! There are different cutting levels for polishes. I typically use a medium cut and then a final polish before waxing on cars with holograms, swirls and light scratching. This seems to get good results. For cars that are regularly detailed, a final polish and wax will likely do the trick. I recommend these polishes:
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish (med cut.)
Menzerna 106ff Final polish (lightest cut)
These polishes are not cheap (~50$ per bottle). They are, however, expensive for a reason. Experience will be the only way to determine which one works for you.
After final polish, you will want to protect the paint with a wax or sealant. I recommend Natty's blue or red paste for waxes, and Poorboys ex-p sealant. These can both be resourced from specialty motoring. Any wax will do, however, these are the ones I have good results with on my black car.
Hopefully this helps people, I can try to go into more depth and help people out with their polishing questions down the road, but I think I have wasted enough time at work writing this up! :bo:
