I caught the bug!!

[lovemym3]

Hey guys. I've been browsin the forums for the last week and I caught the bug: auto detailing. I'm 17 and have about a year old mazda 3 in black. The color is slick when clean but when it gets dirty it's not so pleasant on the eyes.

After reading the countless articles and threads i'm looking for some advice.

Since my paint is new I'm thinking this for a full exterior detail

1. wash
2. clay
3. ssr1 pc w/ polishing pad
4. nxt wax
5. ex sealant

Any suggestions?

And I just got my pc and am looking at the propel pads and plates at excel. Should I just get one of each p1 pad?

Also through the year I've managed to get etched water spots on horizontal panels (hood/roof/trunk top). Will the pc with light polish get them out? I'll get pics of them. They are the kinds only noticeable in direct light at an angle.

Appreciate the help.

[dandydaniel]

sealant first then nxt wax. I usually carry two of each pad. SSR1 is a really light compound, usually intended to remove micro marring from much more abrasive compounds such as SSR2.5 . I'd step it up to maybe SSR2 on a green propel pad and that should get rid of the light swirling you're talking about.

[awahl63]

NXT wax does have cleaning properties and will strip the EX...I'm not sure how well EX will bond over NXT but I'm sure others will step in. I'm also guessing that you'll need SSR 2.5 to tackle the swirls as SSR 1 isn't very abrasive.

[lovemym3]

Alright after a whole bunch of reading I think I'll do ssr2.5 then ssr1 and after that nxt wax.

I have a couple of questions though.

1. Are waxes and sealants synonymous?

2. What does polishing actually do?

3. Why do you have to use a less abrasive polish after using an more mild one? (eg. ssr2.5 then ssr1)

From what I've read I think what it does is remove a thin layer of paint revealing a new finish to the car. If so wouldn't you eventually run out of paint or is the paint being removed by polishing so miniscule that it would be impossible to do so.

thanks for the help!

[Bigpoppa3346]

1. Waxes are natural, Sealants are man made.

2. Polishing removes defects(swirls, scratches) and burnishes the paint to an even surface

3. You use the less abrasive one to remove the compounding haze and micromarring from the more agressive one to restore full clarity.

Hope this helps.

[lovemym3]

I know the uses and results of polishing but what I don't get is what it actually does to the paint. Like does it remove swirls in the paint by filling them in with something?

[paradigm]

polishing removes very small amounts of the clear coat to lessen or get rid of swirls, marring, haze, etc. you are physically leveling the paint surface so it is smooth again. there are waxes and other products that simply fill in the scratches...but then the scratches reappear as the product wears away over time.

[metal]

Except sometimes that top layer will be the clearcoat, over the colour coat. Polishing basically removes paint until those scratches that you see in the diagram, are gone due to the paint that was removed and levelled.