Polsihing with polish, and Finishing with polish, is Finsihing necessary?

[gotGino]

Hello all!

I've been really interested in detailing my car and what not and I just a few questions.

I have read that many people follow their polishing step with a finishing step (ie. using a polishing pad with polish and then a finishing pad with even finer polish). I do understand that the polishing pads out there have a light cut vs the finishing pad which has little to no cut at all and that the finishing pad is used for Jeweling. I've also read and watched on YouTube that detailers sometimes get a perfect finish with just using a polishing pad with polish, and then not doing a finishing step at all.

So I guess my question is, does a polishing pad with polish (for example M205) leave that much marring/micro swirls that a Finishing step is required? Or can you get a perfect polish, free of swirls and scratches, that you can skip the finishing pad. I understand that the finishing step is used as a final step, but I have read and watched many clean and perfect results using a polishing pad alone. What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks!

[Shawn T.]

It really depends on what you are looking for. Some people like addjngnthat extra step bevause they see that it makes a difference in their paint. If you only want to do one step and you feel that the paint looks great then stay with one step. The secknd atwo is also good for removing the micro marring from the first step, if there is any. But overall, its up to you.

[wifpd4]

Re: Polsihing with polish, and Finishing with polish, is Finsihing necessary?

Your conjecture is correct, in some instances you can get good results with one pad, one product. However, the condition of the paint before the work was started, the way the paint responds to a particular pad and product, and the techniques used all will affect the outcome. So many variables have some influence on the end result.

This is where the ever popular, "Test Area" comes into play. Beginning with the least aggressive method in a small area the many variables are evaluated to determine the best method for YOU to use on the car in question. So yes, some polishing pads with polish MAY leave micro marring that a finishing step is required and sometimes....not!!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Polsihing with polish, and Finishing with polish, is Finsihing necessary?

It's also quite possible that the videos you're seeing aren't always being really specific as to which liquid is being used in which step. While not unheard of, it's not necessarily all that common to use the same liquid for both the correction step and final polishing step. Generally (and of course there are always exceptions) one will use a more aggressive liquid with the more aggressive pad for the defect removal step and then follow with a finishing polish and a finishing pad to get that final "pop" out of the paint. For example, M105 or Ultimate Compound might be used with a polishing pad to remove the defects, and then M205 or Ultimate Polish is used with a finishing pad to take the paint to the next level. This isn't done necessarily to remove any micromarring left by the correction step since sometimes there is no such micromarring. Of course this depends on how the paint responds, technique, etc as David points out above. Obviously if there is micromarring then a finishing polish is virtually mandatory, but if there is none it's not unheard of to go straight to wax.

Is it possible to both correct and finish with the same polish? Sure, and we've seen people do it with anything from M205 all the way up to M105. Yes, we've seen people use M105 Ultra Cut Compound as a finishing polish, with fantastic results. This is part of the fun of detailing once you've gotten a lot of experience under your belt, but also the source of a lot of confusion for people new to machine polishing. The possible combinations of tool selection, tool speed, pressure, pad, liquid, technique, etc is virtually endless. Here at Meguiar's we strive to cut through this confusion and try to get you on a path using fairly straightforward products and processes so that you learn the basics, learn proper technique, and start getting results right away without spending too much time scratching your head.

In our Saturday Classes this means a G110v2 buffer, a polishing pad with Ultimate Compound, a finishing pad with Ultimate Polish, and a fresh finishing pad with Ultimate Wax. You can look through all the threads of pictures from our Saturday Classes and the results pretty well speak for themselves. But again, and this is something we stress in the classes, the above is a starting point. It works extremely well on the vast majority of paints, as evidenced by the vast array of vehicles that come into our garage and go through this process. The critical part in all of this, however, is the technique. Regardless how good a given product is, if your technique is suspect then your results are going to be compromised to some degree. And even as broad a spectrum of paint systems that we get such good results on doesn't mean that this mix is perfect on everything, or perfect for everyone. But without a solid starting point in this game, it's easy to get totally and completely lost, waste time, duplicate steps, etc.

[smack]

Re: Polsihing with polish, and Finishing with polish, is Finsihing necessary?

Let me know if you would like any hands on as I am in north Las Vegas