I feel like I wasted a whole evening. :(

[atikovi]

Re: I feel like I wasted a whole evening.

I spent about 3 hours compounding my car, which was already in beautiful shape but just needed cleaned up a touch, and there was no improvement.

FWIW, I never do one process (except wash and dry) on an entire car before moving on to the next process. I do all the processes in succession on individual parts of the car. Maybe I'm impulsive and can't wait to see the final results, but at least you wouldn't go through all that and have it not look how you want it to. Clay, compound (if need), polish, wax the roof and pillars, then the hood, trunk, left front fender + front door, etc. Another benefit in the crappy weather we've had here is you're not left with a car that is polished but not waxed and then it starts to rain so you might have to polish the whole car twice.

[The Guz]

Re: I feel like I wasted a whole evening.

Is it okay to use the orbital buffer with a microfiber bonnet to remove compound and polish in the future? It sped up the process significantly with the wax!

It is ok to do it. But it will probably take you longer to do so instead of wiping it off by hand with a microfiber towel. The bonnets will tend to load up fast with product. There really isn't any shortcuts when it comes to "perfection".

[GLOCKer]

Re: I feel like I wasted a whole evening.

10-4! I'll reserve it to just removing the wax; it seemed to work really well.

I'll definitely work the car in stages by panel and not process next time!