Good starter kit for polishing/waxing car?

[FeuerFrei]

The Duragloss glass polish really works for removing water marks etched on the windshield. I hand-applied it.

There are metallized windshields. Metal-oxide particles in the glass reduce the amount of visible light, infrared and ultraviolet radiation entering vehicles, reducing glare while driving. Some car manufacturers use the electrically conductive property of these windshields to aid in defrosting and deicing. Some even use the metallized windshields in place of radio antennas.

 

[TridenT]

Spent probably over an hour using ultimate compound on my trunk. I mean, there are some results but man it took a lot to remove some spiderwebs. I just gave up and cleaned the rest of the car and put sealant on it. I had already washed and clayed the car the night before ( took forever ). I'm going on a big trip so I just need the protection for the next 1500 miles. Probably won't get to do a solid full polish until mid to late January.

I'm not digging these pads. I'd go with the microfiber cutting pad from Meguiars next time with some M105.

Maybe it really does take an hour to do my trunk or maybe I'm doing the wrong technique. It's all plausible. Just doesn't feel right to my gut though.

 

[TridenT]

Alright. Having done the polishing a few times since December (with today being one of those days)... I figured something out.

Speed 5 is the worst on this device. Maybe you can do 5.5 but mine seems to do either 5 or 6. (not much of an in between half notch) At 6, it just cruises through and this is where it *finally* makes sense as to why people use this freaking thing.

At speed 5, I spent well over an hour on the door panel and I'd still see swirls/spiderwebs. I couldn't believe how much time I had put in today. Finally I get to another panel and I put on hearing protection (because this thing is way too loud to use without them) and crank it to 6. Boom, the thing takes off like a rocket. Spinning super fast. Wow! The compound is flashing up almost immediately! I spend maybe 5-10 minutes polishing the panel at speed 6... It did better results than the other panel at speed 5 for an hour.

Stay at speed 6. One word of caution though: I exploded a pad today. It had started smoking a couple times while on speed 6 (couldn't tell it was smoke from burning and not just smoke from throwing compound) and then it exploded violently while working on the car. It started smoking to the point where I was like, "Woah that's definitely a lot of smoke, pull off." Because I didn't want to burn my paint... but then it just sped up even more because there was no pressure and the pad just started throwing chunks. Completely ruined.

So, speed 6 is where it's at but you definitely need to play it safe. I'll be doing more of the car tomorrow at speed 6 and report back how it goes. I have a really good feeling about it though. I'll probably do speed 6 and use the ultimate compound on the rest of the car (because it really takes soooo much less time to do now) and then polish the rest. I'll try to seal/wax then too but no guarantees.

Definitely has done a dramatic improvement to the workflow. That said, this car's paint is so freaking difficult to work with. Even polishing the heck out of it, there are still fine scratches that are seen in the daylight. Guess that's where polish will do its magic. Take out the extra fine stuff that you don't see as much.

I also need to use my paint that I bought and the clear that comes with it to repair all the chips.

 

[TridenT]

Another word of caution: My other pad I've been using at speed 6 has also sustained burns and wear. It is smoking every time I pull it off the velcro pad and is slightly burnt and warped. That said, the paint isn't hot to touch at all. It's merely just the middle of the pad that's getting burnt. Almost no heat transfer to the paint, thankfully.

 

[eng2d2]

My car was parked under the sun for 6 months without being used.. The paint develop black streak from rain and sun. I think the black streak bled from the black trim. Any tips on how to clean the black streak. I washed the car but the black streak is still there.

 

[ra1nman]

My car was parked under the sun for 6 months without being used.. The paint develop black streak from rain and sun. I think the black streak bled from the black trim. Any tips on how to clean the black streak. I washed the car but the black streak is still there.

Try a mothers claybar kit. I've had good luck with it pulling stuff off the clear coat in the past.

 

[TridenT]

In general, if anyone does go my route: Get Meguiars M105 and M205 instead of the Ultimate compound. The 2 step polish is going to do wonders in comparison to this stuff.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Try a mothers claybar kit. I've had good luck with it pulling stuff off the clear coat in the past.

First thing to try for sure, for any surface contaminants. You don't want to polish any paint off unless you have to.

 

[eng2d2]

The clay bar did not work for me.

 

[TridenT]

The clay bar did not work for me.

Using a compound like M105 with a finishing polish like M205 would possibly get rid of it. You'll have to look online as to how to use those. Fortunately, the clay bar is a good thing to have for your car, in general. It gets rid of contaminants before you start compounding/polishing or even sealing or waxing.

 

[NutBucket]

Exactly. Clay bars remove crap whereas polishing just smoothes over them. Remove the crap, remove the streaks and scratches then protect.