WHich is the better way to go? Are you more prone to swirls by hand or with a PC? I have a ton of swirls and just bought like $100 worth of zaino products, but I want to do it the best way I can. I have no problem spending hours doing it by hand if that is the best way, not too mention I have never used a PC. Just lookin for some input. Thanks.

 

Now that is a pretty good question and open to some degree of debate. I will give you my opinions on the subject.

When it comes to polishing and swirl removal you are better off with a PC or even a rotary in some situations. Now, your question is in regards to waxing though. On that front, my opinion varies with product. I can get a nice, uniform coat of Poorboy's EX-P on my car with the PC. Is this quicker than applying it by hand? Not really. However, I do believe that I get a more uniform layer. If the pads are kept clean, I also don't induce any swirls. then again, if you keep your pad clean when applying by hand you would not get any either. however, the chances of getting some unevent pressure when hand applying are probably greater. This might lead to some damage.

Now you mention Zaino. The Z2 Pro is best applied by hand. You will waste a good amount of product just priming the pads on a PC.

When hand applying, be sure to avoid circular application or removal movements. Back and forth and side to side will lower your liklihood of creating swirls. Also be sure to buff with a clean cloth and turn the cloth frequently.

While being extra careful may end up taking you a few minutes longer at first, soon it will become a way of life and you will, in the end, end up saving a whole lot of time when you no longer have to remove swirls.

-GT

 

GTScott pretty much nailed it. Just make sure to apply that Zaino really thin. The thinner the better - 1-2oz should do the entire car easily.

As for polishing, I'm a big promoter of the PC - I do all my work using it.

 

most other sealants i agree w/ using a PC, that being said, i've never had any luck w/ applying anything zaino by using a PC (I haven't the Z polishing product).

 

I pretty much have your exact same car (2003 6MT in black), and I just finished hand-waxing my car the other day. It has ~40K miles on it and had begun to develop serious swirls and "ghosting", especially just after a wash. I bought a bottle of Meguiar's NXT wax and applied a thin layer the other night. The difference is night and day! The car looks the best that I can remember since the first 6 months I owned it.

I know that Zaino is THE name for detailing so mentioning Meguiar's might be heresy. But it was incredibly easy to apply and very effective. I don't know how expensive Zaino is, but this wax is like 3x more expensive than anything else Meguiar's makes. Money well worth it in my opinion.

 

NXT is good for that sort of use because it's chalk full of fillers. Keep it applied regularly and the car will look good. Just don't be shocked if next time you wash it the scratches and swirls come back as the NXT washes off.

 

So its pretty much as I expected, you will have advocates for both. I figured a PC would be a good tool to use and probably do a better job, I am just concerned that if not done right, it could turn out terrible

 

It depends on what products you are using. Polishes are much more important to have a buffer with. I'll talk about the Porter Cable 7424 and hand applications because that is the buffer most people are familiar with.

The difference between the Porter Cable 7424 and hand applications:
Heat and Pressure - The buffing pads are 6.5 inches in diameter as oppossed to hand applicators, typically 3 inches in diameter. Additionally the heat and pressure is evenly distributed throughout the 6.5 inch pad while hand applications have the majority of the force exerted through just your fingertips. Also varying levels of pressure throughout a hand application means that products are going to have different results. The buffer doesn't get tired, you will (or atleast I do).

Products must be broken down to perform optimally.

Waxes - Sealants - don't need that much pressure/heat to break down and adhere to your paint. The more even your break them down the more likely the job will look and perform uniformly.

Chemical Polishes - Glazes (Klasse AIO, Poorboy's Pro Polish, etc) - Need more pressure and heat to clean the surface of the clear coat and work deep in to the surface.

Abrasive Polishes - (Poorboy's World SSRs, Menzerna Intensive Polish, Final Polish, etc) These need the most heat and pressure to break down the micro abrasives so they can remove a micro thin layer of the clear coat. These products generally need a lot of constant pressure and multiple passes. This is very difficult to achieve by hand. Products like Poorboy's World has larger sized abrasives therefore its easier to polish by hand or with an orbital buffer. The rotary buffer is great for products like Menzerna IP and FPII because they use many very fine micro abrasives that require more time in contact to work optimally.

Another huge difference is having different textures on the pads. Different kinds of pads have different applications. Abrasive polishes have very firm pads (recommend lake country mfg orange cutting pad) to really work it into the surface, while sealants are known to use very soft pads. This makes a HUGE difference in overall results by using the appropriate pad. Until recently there was no equivilant to this for hand applications. A new hand applicator allows you to use different pads with a hand applicator. If you still want to do the job by hand this would be the tool of choice.



Each Hand Applicator Kit comes with the following:
1x Ergonomic Hand Applicator with Velcro Backing
1x Yellow Cutting Pad
1x White Polishing Pad
1x Blue Light Polishing Pad
1x Black Finishing Pad

For Swirls - both are equally likely to create swirls really, you just have to keep both very clean and remove with CLEAN microfiber towels.

Hope this information helps, if you have any questions don't hesitate to post here or pm me.

 

The nice thing about a PC is it's very difficult to damage paint with. It just doesn't product enough heat to burn through paint like a rotary would. The only ways I can think of that it would damage your paint is if you dropped it while polishing, or if one of your pads was cleaned incorrectly and caught a peice of something in it (and spun on the paint). For polishing I think we can all agree the results are better and much easier to achieve with a PC than without one.

 

Me personally I would suggest using the buffer on something else as a trial.
I once had my friend use the high speed on an old kitchen freig.lol..no kidding.

It's not that u will burn up the paint. It's just to get use to the weight of machine and the amount of pressure needed (really just the weight of the machine is all u need/for pressure). The other thing to be mind full of is the trim areas around the car (roof/doors/window/under mirrors..exc.. Machine touching rubber/vinyl trim is a NO-NO..

Good Luck!

 

Like some of the others have said, PC is strictly for polishing duties, almost any detailer will apply wax/sealant or other LSP by hand, because it shouldn't have any polishing properties and is purely for protection purposes. Waxes/sealants with cleaners usually are consumer products which aren't meant to be used with the PC anyways, about the only exception I can think of is Klasse AIO/SG which is sometimes applied with a PC. So, if you are only going to be applying wax, then a PC is uneccessary. If you are planning on a full detail and polish to clean up the paint before the wax, then a PC will help out greatly.

 

thanks guys... big help

 

This is true generally with rotary buffers. The PC 7424 is orbital and quite safe to use, although you will get better with time and experience.

 

I have the PC7424 and some others. My bro borrowed it for his vett with my nice pads and still took paint off his door/painted molding. Ya still got to be careful.

 

http://www.detailedimage.com/Flex-M26/XC-3401-VRG-P128/

just wondering what is the diffrence between

http://www.detailedimage.com/Porter-...l-Buffer-P110/

other then the price?