Zymol is pretty good stuff but there are some better options on the market. The Zymol you can get at Walmart if different though so not sure if you are referring to that.

I've been using Pinnacle Souveran most recently... I love it on my black car. I've also used Dodo Juice Supernatural and the results with it were INCREDIBLE.

 

Got another question... I asked it in my thread, but figured it would be better here since somebody else might have it. After using my pads, I put them in a bucket with about 3 gallons of water and a packet of that detergent that came with my PC 7424 starter kit. It's been about a week and I want to do my Titan next, but I want to know how to prepare the pads in order to use them again. do I dry them? wash them? brush them out? you get the point..

 

Your on the right track. Basically once you're done using the pads from one detail you should let them soak in water and the Snappy Clean solution for a while. What I do is after letting them soak for a bit, wring the pads out using my fingers to extract as much polish solution (don't squeeze the pads out into the same bucket they are soaking in), then let them soak again. After doing this a couple times, the pads should look pretty fresh. I'll try to squeeze as much water out before letting them dry face down on a bath towel. Occasionally, I'll go over and press down on the pads to help release any water the was pulled down the pad. When they are completely dry, store them in ZipLoc bags, labeled with the product you used on each pad.

That's the gist of what I do with my pads. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

George

 

Hey George, I've been looking at getting some new swirl removers.

Currently I'm using the Sonus restore, and another Sonus product, I have a 3" yellow pad, and a 6" orange pad for my udm.

I was wondering what products do you find the best? I've been reading a lot about the Menzerna product line, specifically their Nano polish, and Super Intensive polish, but will the fact that they are designed for scratch resistant paint effect the results?

Also do I have the right pads for the job? Or is there something else you would recommend.

Thanks again.

Alex

 

Alex,

Good questions. Hands down when using a buffer, I've yet to find a product line to perform better than the Menzerna line of polishes. Their nano polishes are designed to correct ceramic clear coats, but they work just as effective on non ceramic clear coats as well. I'd highly recommend looking into Super Intensive Polish and the PO106FF as one of the best 2 step polishing combinations.

When using pads with polishes, you always want to designate certain pads for specific products. If you want the best results, invest in some new pads to go along with the new polishes. I never recommend mixing and matching pads with various products as it's nearly impossible to clean them 100% and the remains of one product could effect the performance of the product you're applying. I'll typically use orange light cutting pads with the SIP and white polishing pads with the PO106FF. It depends on the severity of the imperfections though, you could always tweak the pad combination to meet your needs.

If you have any other questions on anything, please do not hesitate to ask. I think you'll be quite pleased with that combo over the Sonus polishes you've used in the past. If you get a chance to try the Menzerna polishes, be sure to keep us updated on your thoughts.

Cheers,

George

 

Hey george what do I do to remove spots of brake dust thats stuck on the rims of my suv that soap and water cant?

thanks

 

First thing I'd try is to clay your wheels. If that doesn't do the trick, then I'd turn to some sort of metal polish. Work it into your wheels using some light pressure and it should remove the brake dust no problem.

If you have any other questions, let me know.

Cheers,

George

 

Ok detailers, quick question:

This weekend was my first time using my Cyclo orbital. I washed the car with 1 part Megs Gold Class and two parts Dawn to do the usual stripping of the existing waxes etc. I noticed my car had lots of Water spots, swirls, and some deep scratches. As shown in these "Before" pictures:





Not the best pics but you get the idea...

I started polishing using SSR2 with yellow 4" pads to get the scratches and what not out of the paint's surface. I went through 4 pairs of yellow pads. The swirls and such were gone but my paint was "marred" from the aggressive polish I had used. I then broke out the Blackfire Compound formulated with Menzerna http://www.detailedimage.com/Blackfi...Menzerna-P202/ and green pads to try and get rid of the marrs in the paint, but it didn't really help...

Was the Blackfire still too aggressive? I honestly think so.

Will a less aggressive polish get rid of the marrs in the paint? I ordered Menzerna Final Polish II thinking it would help http://www.detailedimage.com/Menzern...h-II-FPII-P73/

Did i waste my money with the FPII? I was thinking of using it with Blue or white pads to get rid of the marred look. Would this be the right route to take?

Here are some pics of what the car looks like right now...

I'm extrememly happy with these results:





But after hitting it with the Blackfire Compound it looked like this in the sun:


See the bumper in this one:


Your thoughts? Thanks to George and everyone at Detailed Image! Great site!

Oh and thanks to anyone who can help me out here, Im a detailing newb!

 

A compound is a heavier cutting polish, not a finishing polish. That's more of something you should start with not finish with. It's been said over and over, but for my money I really like the results I get from the Menzerna PO106FF as a finishing polish. I use the white pads for it.

 

^ I was thinking about ordering that but saw that it had a medium cut to it... I would probably end up applying too much pressure to the polisher and would have wasted the product/pads. Should I use white pads with the FPII I ordered? Will that get rid of the haze in the paint or will I need something more? Of course I'll be topping it off with Migliore Original. I feel like such a friggen newb right now... Lol...

 

Everyone started somewhere. I didn't have a clue about a year ago. I'm still not an expert but been experimenting and trying things and bugging the pros with questions for a while now to know what works and what doesn't.

I think the FP II will work just fine for what youre doing. I'll let the pros chime in.

 

Thanks for your feedback BB... Very much appreciated...

 

Gamedog,

Thanks for the post. A few things I noticed and will comment on to help improve your results next time around.

Poorboy's SSR 2 is a very mild finish. Using too aggressive of a pad (yellow being the most aggressive foam pad) definitely caused some of the micromarring and hazing still shown in your paint.

The Blackfire Compound is noticeably more aggressive than the SSR 2 you used prior, and pairing it up with too light of a pad can also cause marring. The better option if you reuse those pads again would have been to use the BF Compound with the yellow pads, then follow with the SSR 2 on the green pads.

Not having the products and pads properly matched and using the more aggressive polish after the less aggressive polish was the main reason why you didn't experience the results you were looking for.

If you polish properly with the FPII using a white polishing pad, chances are you can correct the hazing / hologramming and lighter imperfections that are shown in the pictures. You may want to go back on some of the deeper imperfections and use the compound with the yellow cutting pads if you want to try to get noticeably better results. Orange pads may be a better option as yellow is very aggressive.

Detailing is a skill and you'll learn a lot with each detail and as long as you take what you learn and try to improve upon the previous experience, you'll reach a near flawless finish in no time. I think switching to the Menzerna Final Polish II with white pads will make a pretty noticeable difference.

If you want to describe how you were using your cyclo, I can try to dissect your technique as this plays a major role on how well your results will be. Things you can answer:

- What was the size of your working area?
Always start small until you get the results you're looking for, I'd suggest 12" x 12"
- How much product did you use on each pad?
2 to 3 pea sized drops per pad is the right amount of product on each pad
- What speed setting were you using?
Usually you want to use the higher speed settings with random orbital buffers
- How fast were you moving the buffer?
Move the buffer at roughly 1" per second, which is VERY slow
- How much pressure were you applying to the head of the buffer?
You want to use between 10 ~ 15 lbs of pressure when buffing
- How many times did you pass over each area before removing the excess product?
I usually make 6 ~ 8 passes, overlapping each pass by 50% before shutting the buffer off and removing the milky haze with a microfiber towel

Hopefully these tips help improve your results next time around, let us know how things turn out when you give it a shot again!

George

 

Thanks for the clarifications George, very much appreciated. Here are my answers to your questions:

- What was the size of your working area?
I tried working in 18" x 18" areas... But caught myself getting a little too careless at times and would eventually change my working area to 24" x 24"

- How much product did you use on each pad?
Well on a fresh set of pads, I applied a "Half-Dollar" dollop if product in the center of the pad. As I ran out of product, I placed a 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock strip of product on the pad until it was time for new pads. Maybe I should have used less, but those are the procedures my Cyclo manual recommended

- What speed setting were you using?
There is only one speed setting on a cyclo. Once it turns on it spins at 3,000 rpm. So in this case would you apply less force when using a final polish compared to when using a heavy polish to compensate for the amount of rpms?

- How fast were you moving the buffer?
I must have been moving it at about 2" per second. I obviously need to slow down. Again, do I differentiate my speed of movement when using a light polish compared to a heavy polish? Or is it the same 1" per second no matter what kind of polish you are applying?

- How much pressure were you applying to the head of the buffer?
I was applying about 10-15 lbs of pressure to the buffer. Not too much at all. I applied about 20 lbs of pressure on the bad problem areas.

- How many times did you pass over each area before removing the excess product?
I must have gone over the same area about 6 times. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Thanks again George for your help. I'll give it a whirl this weekend and i'll let you know how it goes

David

 

^goodluck dave^

George, I'm thinking about purchasing a Yellow cutting but is it really necessary? How bad does the paint have to be?