Picked up a DA, pads, polishes. What to use with what?

[wolfe]

At the advice of people here (thank you), I've now got a Griot's DA polisher, 5" backing plate, and some lake country 5.5" pads in orange, white, and gray.

The polishes I picked up are Menzerna Super Intensive 81084, Menzerna power finish 81081, and Menzerna super finish 81080. The power finish has a little more cut than the super finish.

I've got two cars to polish, one white (bmw) with light swirl marks, and one red (MINI) with heavier swirling and light scratches.

Is there any way to figure out what pads/polishes to start with, or should I just try the milder ones and move up to more abrasive if they aren't doing the job?

From what I understand the orange pads are the most abrasive, though I'm not too sure if you'd ever use say the softer gray pads with the more abrasive super intensive polish.

I think I get the technique ok, the polishing pattern etc, I'm just not 100% sure which pads and polish to start with.

Thanks for any pointers.

[MuttGrunt]

For the most part, you'll want to use SIP with orange, Power Finish with white, and then Super Finish with black.

Take your time and don't expect to get a car done in a single day. If anything, have the goal of getting 1/2 or 1/3 of a car done in a day at most. The more you can learn and concentrate on getting the correct results, the better everything will turn out.

GL!

[wolfe]

Thanks, that's a lot more straightforward than I was expecting.

Would you think I'll need to use all three every time?

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by wolfe

Would you think I'll need to use all three every time?

No, you'll be fine for a quite a while if you use Menzerna water based polishes (not oil based, which can hide imperfections, rather than fully correcting them) and have your wash and dry methods down to minimize marring. I usually do two full details a year on my black car, and might go nine months on my previous red car.

Always start with the lightest polish you can to get the desired effect. You can mix up a lighter polish with an orange pad and get good results, if you're just correcting minor issues, and then use the same polish with a white pad followed by a polish on a black pad. Test things out, you'll get a feel for what works. I frequently use a more aggressive approach on upward facing surfaces and less aggressive on the vertical surfaces, but see what works best for you and your cars.

[MuttGrunt]

Originally Posted by wolfe

Thanks, that's a lot more straightforward than I was expecting.

Would you think I'll need to use all three every time?

Red Bread left some nice advice based of his (or her) experiences above.

To add and to try to answer your question directly, you shouldn't need to use all three every time. Part of polishing AKA correcting your paint is to have a fresh start for your own maintenance. If you wash and care for her gently from here on out (two bucket wash method, etc), you shouldn't install the types of defects that need three polishing steps to remove.

In the future, you may just need the last step. Hopefully at worst, you only need the last two steps.

[Detailers Domain]

the guys gave some great points.

after you have done the correction on the car just make sure to maintain it correctly. this way instead of doing 3 steps or 2 steps you cut it down to one step.

[wolfe]

Thanks guys, I'll start at the milder end and work my way up I think.

Appreciate the advice.