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Re: Question about Armour All Wax and Polish
Interesting perspective, but we think more than anything it shows that you have a fairly common misunderstanding of the process.
First off, to remove contaminants from the surface of the paint quickly and efficiently, a clay bar should be used. Clay is designed to do one thing, and one thing only - remove above surface, bonded contaminants. When using a buffer of any sort to apply a liquid paint cleaner or polish, you're doing so to remove below surface defects such as swirls, fine scratches, etchings, etc. Yes, with very light contaminants present you can use a buffer and compound to remove them, but when the contaminants are heavier this is not the best approach. While it can still work, you're basically stripping all the crud from the surface, holding in your pad, and grinding it back against the paint. It slows down the compound's ability to do it's job, and overall just slows down the whole correction process.
Now, as to your two specific questions, let's look at it like this:
Assuming you've removed all the contaminants from the surface of the paint with a clay bar, a liquid polish/paint cleaner/compound (those products with varying levels of abrasive material suspended in a liquid) is then used on a pad to address the below surface defects. And it's the process of working this "liquid abrasive" against the paint that levels down the paint to the bottom of the fine scratches and swirls (or at least just rounds off the edges of these very, very fine marks), etchings, etc. The physical process of leveling the paint is what ultimately creates the gloss. Gloss and reflectivity come from flatness, and when the paint has above surface contaminants bonded to it, it's no longer flat. When paint has below surface defects in it, it's still not flat. Put them both there and the paint looks dull, with very poor reflections. In really bad situations the reflection it does offer looks out of focus. For instance, before full correction you may look at the reflection of a tree and be able to tell that it's a tree, but after correction you can now see the detail of the leaves in that tree.
It seems the "buffing to a shine" that you're thinking about is where the common misconception comes in (unless we're misunderstanding you're meaning, which is possible too!). A lot of people think the buffer is for removing product, and application is by hand. But since the application of these products requires some serious work to get the job done, but removal is comparatively simple, you should be applying the products with the machine, letting it do all the hard work, while you simply wipe off the residue. When waxing it's the same thing, yet people often think that they need to "buff to a shine" as they remove the wax, so they want to use the machine to do this. In reality, the simple act of waxing in and of itself should be very simple. It's the compounding and polishing that creates all the shine, and take all the hard work. Waxing with a machine just makes is super fast and easy to apply a thin and uniform coat over the entire car. Once that wax is dry, all you need do to remove it is to simply wipe it off with a clean microfiber towel. Continued "buffing to a shine" only serves to remove the last little bit of protection you wanted to leave behind in the first place.
We suspect, given the description of this product and the low speed you're using on the buffer, any real correction you're getting is more due to the mechanical action of the pad than the very mild product. We also highly doubt that the fine folks at TW would recommend rotary application of this product, although in reality at such a slow speed it shouldn't be an issue at all. But for removal of bonded contaminants and the real correction of below surface defects, this product and tool combo isn't the most efficient way to go. That said, if you end up getting results that make you happy, at the end of the day that's really all that matters. But we're pretty confident that most folks here on MOL, or on any other detailing forum you might visit, would clay this car, then use a dedicated paint cleaner and then wax, or at least a potent All-In-One like D151 or M66, to remove light defects and add protection.
Originally posted by CKL
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First off, to remove contaminants from the surface of the paint quickly and efficiently, a clay bar should be used. Clay is designed to do one thing, and one thing only - remove above surface, bonded contaminants. When using a buffer of any sort to apply a liquid paint cleaner or polish, you're doing so to remove below surface defects such as swirls, fine scratches, etchings, etc. Yes, with very light contaminants present you can use a buffer and compound to remove them, but when the contaminants are heavier this is not the best approach. While it can still work, you're basically stripping all the crud from the surface, holding in your pad, and grinding it back against the paint. It slows down the compound's ability to do it's job, and overall just slows down the whole correction process.
Now, as to your two specific questions, let's look at it like this:
Assuming you've removed all the contaminants from the surface of the paint with a clay bar, a liquid polish/paint cleaner/compound (those products with varying levels of abrasive material suspended in a liquid) is then used on a pad to address the below surface defects. And it's the process of working this "liquid abrasive" against the paint that levels down the paint to the bottom of the fine scratches and swirls (or at least just rounds off the edges of these very, very fine marks), etchings, etc. The physical process of leveling the paint is what ultimately creates the gloss. Gloss and reflectivity come from flatness, and when the paint has above surface contaminants bonded to it, it's no longer flat. When paint has below surface defects in it, it's still not flat. Put them both there and the paint looks dull, with very poor reflections. In really bad situations the reflection it does offer looks out of focus. For instance, before full correction you may look at the reflection of a tree and be able to tell that it's a tree, but after correction you can now see the detail of the leaves in that tree.
It seems the "buffing to a shine" that you're thinking about is where the common misconception comes in (unless we're misunderstanding you're meaning, which is possible too!). A lot of people think the buffer is for removing product, and application is by hand. But since the application of these products requires some serious work to get the job done, but removal is comparatively simple, you should be applying the products with the machine, letting it do all the hard work, while you simply wipe off the residue. When waxing it's the same thing, yet people often think that they need to "buff to a shine" as they remove the wax, so they want to use the machine to do this. In reality, the simple act of waxing in and of itself should be very simple. It's the compounding and polishing that creates all the shine, and take all the hard work. Waxing with a machine just makes is super fast and easy to apply a thin and uniform coat over the entire car. Once that wax is dry, all you need do to remove it is to simply wipe it off with a clean microfiber towel. Continued "buffing to a shine" only serves to remove the last little bit of protection you wanted to leave behind in the first place.
We suspect, given the description of this product and the low speed you're using on the buffer, any real correction you're getting is more due to the mechanical action of the pad than the very mild product. We also highly doubt that the fine folks at TW would recommend rotary application of this product, although in reality at such a slow speed it shouldn't be an issue at all. But for removal of bonded contaminants and the real correction of below surface defects, this product and tool combo isn't the most efficient way to go. That said, if you end up getting results that make you happy, at the end of the day that's really all that matters. But we're pretty confident that most folks here on MOL, or on any other detailing forum you might visit, would clay this car, then use a dedicated paint cleaner and then wax, or at least a potent All-In-One like D151 or M66, to remove light defects and add protection.
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