Plan of Action, and sealant question

[Randomhero]

Hello! I run a small detail operation for the past few years that brings in a little extra cash during the summer. Ive been doing everything by hand. Recently i purchased a Porter Cable 7242xp and would really like to start getting more serious, especially with my own cars. I have built up a mild plan of action for my car to get a feel for using the PC, here it is.

Meguiar's Gold Class wash
Meguiar's Claybar
M105 with LC white or orange pads for spot corrections
M205 with LC orange over the whole car
Klasse AIO with LC green pad
Klasse Sealant Glaze by hand
Thoughts on this plan?

To my understanding, KSG will not bond to the paint very well unless it is super clean. I've read the M205 has alot of polishing oils in it. If i used KSG directly after M205, would there be any bonding issues? If no bonding issues, then would KAIO be a pointless step? What are the Pros/Cons of using KAIO between M205 and KSG? A final question: Would the level of cut change dramatically using M205 with an orange pad vs a white pad?

[Randomhero]

Re: Plan of Action, and sealant question

For a 1-step polishing, which would be better with M205. the LC Orange or White?

[vrodri16]

I've had similar questions about using a sealant after a polish. After searching on autogeek.net most suggest wiping down the car with a 15% solution of isp alcohol before applying a sealant to a freshly polished finish. Not sure if its the right thing to do, but I hope it helps. Hopefully more experienced persons will chime in.

[Randomhero]

Re: Plan of Action, and sealant question

Yes, hopefully sometime soon. Ive posted on a few forums and no-body seems to reply or care.

[RPPM]

Re: Plan of Action, and sealant question

The Klasse AIO will remove the polishing oils from the 205. It is an effective chemical cleaner without much if any cut. It will prep the surface for you to use Klasse SG. I don't think the Klasse SG will bond too well to the surface after using 205 without using the KAIO 1st. I find the Klasse twins to be pretty durable, if a bit sterile in look.

I have played with a ton of products over the past 3 years and Klasse is top notch. With that said, I honestly can't say a bad thing about the Meguiars Ultimate line of products. They are very affordably priced, will hold their own against pretty much any product you can find, and have an ease of use most competitors can't match. For my autos, I use UC, UP, ColorX, ULW, UPW, UQW, UQD, Meguiars Consumer clay kit, Quik Detailer, and Gold Class Wash. Those products with the Micro Fiber kit, G110V2, and the Soft Buff 2.0 7" and 4" polishing and finishing pads can pretty much do it all. My cars have never looked better, and the look lasts much longer now than it used to with some of Meguiars older products. Meguiars is really moving the bar forward.

[Detailing by M]

Re: Plan of Action, and sealant question

use it right after using 205. Do it all the time

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Plan of Action, and sealant question

Let's see if we can help clear some of this up for you.

First off, regarding sealants in general and the prep of the paint before applying them: as you probably know, "sealant" is a fairly broad term that most usually indicates a synthetic paint protectant rather than a carnauba wax protectant. Products like our NXT Tech Wax 2.0 and Ultimate Wax are technically sealants since both are 100% synthetic man made polymers. Within our own line of products we see no issue with bonding or curing of these sealants when applied over polishing oils - from M205 to Ultimate Polish to M07 Show Car Glaze. In fact, with polishing oils doing such a good job of filling in the micro texture (pores, microscopic cracks, etc) in the paint our chemists actually feel that they aid in the crosslinking and bonding of synthetics. Having said that, however, we always recommend following manufacturers directions, so if you're using a product other than Meguiar's and the directions implicitly state that the surface must be completely devoid of any waxes, oils, silicones, etc then by all means, follow those directions.

As for the plan you've put together, let's look at the various steps and your questions surrounding them:

Meguiar's Gold Class wash
Meguiar's Claybar
M105 with LC white or orange pads for spot corrections
M205 with LC orange over the whole car
Klasse AIO with LC green pad
Klasse Sealant Glaze by hand
Thoughts on this plan?

To my understanding, KSG will not bond to the paint very well unless it is super clean. I've read the M205 has alot of polishing oils in it. If i used KSG directly after M205, would there be any bonding issues? If no bonding issues, then would KAIO be a pointless step? What are the Pros/Cons of using KAIO between M205 and KSG? A final question: Would the level of cut change dramatically using M205 with an orange pad vs a white pad?

As you lay it out, odds are it's a good solution. Of course, without seeing the level of defect in the paint, or knowing what your ultimate goal is, or even how the paint will react (and that is ALWAYS the biggest variable) it's difficult to say if this is the right solution. As we always highly recommend, do a test spot first before attacking the whole car; find out if the paint likes M105 with the orange or white pad, whether it hazes, corrects quickly, or does something totally unexpected. You may well find much more cut with M205 on the orange pad vs the white pad, and you might find you need M105 on the orange pad followed by M205 on the white pad for the entire vehicle. Or not. That's what the test spot will tell you.

As for using Klasse AIO between M205 and Klasse Sealant Glaze, in this case it's probably not a bad idea. K-AIO is generally a prep for K-SG anyway, so it will remove anything that M205 may leave behind. If you were applying Ultimate Wax, NXT or M21 you could easily go straight from M205 to any of those with no problems at all. Does this mean you should skip M205 altogether then? It depends. M105 may leave some haze, it may not. The paint will tell you that, and if it does haze a bit then M205 will clean up the haze easily. We were working on a black Porsche 911 Turbo in our training garage earlier today that was loaded with swirls. Ultimate Compound did a great job removing the swirls but following an IPA wipedown it was obvious that the paint was pretty soft and delicate and we hazed it noticeably with UC. So a quick once over with M205 on a foam finishing pad, another IPA wipedown, and we had beautiful black paint ready for LSP. We progressed with the rest of the car that way, skipping the wipedown after M205 and just going straight to our new Black Wax. Our test spot told us everything we needed to know, and we progressed accordingly.

For a 1-step polishing, which would be better with M205. the LC Orange or White?

Again, depending on how the paint responds it could be either. Whether the orange pad itself causes a haze, or whether the white pad offers enough cut, is up to the paint to decide. Tool speed, arm speed and pressure will also impact the result but a test spot will give you the answer pretty quickly.

[Randomhero]

Re: Plan of Action, and sealant question

WOW thanks that clears it up alot for me. I had the DA Power System with Ultimate Compound and the dark red pad, and that hazed my paint. So i know im gonna have to followup with M205.

This test spot had...
Ultimate Compound with DAPS cutting pad -hazed alot (I drive a black Honda Accord 2004)
Mothers Pre-Wax Cleaner with DAPS polish pad
KSG by hand

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Plan of Action, and sealant question

That test spot shows a huge improvement in the finish on this car - good for you! It's not a big shock that on very delicate paint the burgundy cutting pad creates some hazing, but that haze should be quite easy to knock down with M205 on a polishing pad, or even UP on the polishing pad. Sometimes you need the aggressiveness to remove the defects even if doing so means trading out a set of really bad defects for a lesser set, and a second step to refine that. You can't always go straight from compound to LSP.......more often than not we'd expect to see an intermediate step when an aggressive approach is used.

[Randomhero]

Re: Plan of Action, and sealant question

That test spot shows a huge improvement in the finish on this car - good for you! It's not a big shock that on very delicate paint the burgundy cutting pad creates some hazing, but that haze should be quite easy to knock down with M205 on a polishing pad, or even UP on the polishing pad. Sometimes you need the aggressiveness to remove the defects even if doing so means trading out a set of really bad defects for a lesser set, and a second step to refine that. You can't always go straight from compound to LSP.......more often than not we'd expect to see an intermediate step when an aggressive approach is used.

I ordered:
PC7424xp
LC 5in backing plate
LC orange, white, and black flat pads
m105
m205
K-AIO

I've been detailing cars the last few years as an amateur in the summer. Brings in some extra cash, which is nice since im still a student. I was thinking as a general package i could do M205 with the white polish pad, KAIO with the black finishing pad, and KSG by hand. As a general "plan of action" how does that sound.

[thepanchmx]

If you can afford mf cut disc you wont be dissapointed, i trully love what they do and how much time i save, it gives very nice cut and very nice finish