Quote:
Originally Posted by ember1205
Thanks for the response here.
I've actually watched a few of the Autogeek videos, including this one (which doesn't really discuss much - the others were better suited to what I was after). I'm a big consumer of YT content once I've been able to validate that it's the sort of content I am after.
You stated "You start with the most aggressive combination that you've chosen, then work your way gradually down in aggressiveness/abrasiveness."
That seems incorrect to me. I would expect to start with the LEAST aggressive combo that would be targeted toward my needs and then work my way UP until I achieve the results I'm after. Starting with something more aggressive than I actually need would cause more "harm" than necessary to achieve a result.
For example: Targeting some light water spotting has lighter needs than having to correct three years of so-so washing habits that cause a lot of swirls. If I start with something aggressive enough for swirls, I would be taking off more clear coat than necessary just to alleviate some light water spots. No?
The other thing I'm completely lost on right now is literally "where to start." The car sat on the dealer's lot for around 9 months. Rain, snow, sun, wind, etc. Now, it has additional water spotting due to being washed with well water. I want to get the paint as clean as I reasonably can (I'm not looking for perfect because it isn't a show car) so that I can seal it and have a more intelligent overall way of keeping it clean and in good shape. So, what do I potentially target in terms of a level of abrasiveness in a polish? Pad? Combo?
It's sort of like telling someone that they should be a saw if they need to cut something without considering the type of material, the quality of cut necessary, the thickness of the material, etc.
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I think you misunderstood, or maybe I wasn't clear enough. But I do see that you said in your original post it was water spotting you are trying to correct, so my bad there- I was giving more general information on polishing. But- I did say that it's about finding the pad/polish combo that's NO MORE aggressive than necessary to achieve the DESIRED RESULT. The best way to find that is to start with something relatively mild, do a test spot, and inspect it to see if your defect is removed. Go up in abrasiveness if the defect is not removed, until you have a combo that works.
Once you have that, a one-step polish may be enough. I did this on my trunk last week with some oxidation/water spotting: my Klasse AIO was enough to just remove the defect in one step. That's about as mild as a polish gets.
But let's say you have deep defects that a rubbing compound is necessary to correct, you wouldn't START with a fine polish or glaze and then work your way to the rubbing compound. The way to do it is to start with the most abrasive option you've chosen, gradually on to the least. Again, this is assuming that you've already concluded the rubbing compound is necessary to remove the defect(s). The rubbing compound removes big defects, but it causes other defects that another, less aggressive polish will remove. In a multi-step solution, you're constantly refining the result to remove the (gradually smaller and smaller) defects caused by the prior step(s), until you get a result that's refined enough for a nice gloss.
Look at the chart I linked: most of the polishes in the middle are good enough to remove some swirls, but are not super aggressive. Looking at the products farther to the left, those are the types of products that will remove water marks, a little oxidation and maybe some light swirls, but not much else. If something in the middle range is necessary to remove the defects, then you might use that and follow it up with something on the left, like a glaze.