Doing one panel at a time

[levander]

Now, I thought I was doing one panel at a time. Washing the whole car, one panel at a time. Then, claying the whole car, one panel at a time. Then, polishing the whole car, one panel at a time. And doing the same with a sealant.



But, I was washing my car yesterday and the pollen was ridiculous. Before I even finished washing the last panel on my car, I could go back to the 1st panel I did and run my fingers over it. You couldn`t see it, but you could feel the grit, almost like fine pieces of sand, that had already begun clinging to the car.



So, now I`m thinking back to what I`ve seen mentioned here a few times. When you guys say "one panel at a time", are you taking a single panel and washing it, claying it, polishing it, then protecting it all at once? And then you move onto the next panel and do all the steps at the same time again?



I guess it just seems weird to me because in the past I`ve always gotten my cars done at those drive through places where they run the car through a machine, then at the end, there are guys all running around with towels finishing the car up. I`ve never seen the entire process broken down panel by panel like I`m now beginning to think that`s how I`m supposed to be doing it.

[David Fermani]

It`s not a good idea to totally correct vehicles 1 panel at a time. I`ll bet any amout of money that you`ll not be able to keep your buffer/polisher (while compounding) off of the adjacent polished finish. You`ll virtually be going 3 steps forward, with 1 step back constantly.

[craigdt]

Most of us dont take a vehicle through the complete process, one panel at a time.

[BlackSwanDetail]

To me the `one panel at a time` thing was just a way to work in smaller sections so whatever product I was using at the time didn`t dry out. For example, washing a car in the sun in the middle of summer for example.



It just so happens that vehicles have separate panels that make sectioning it simple. You don`t need to think of the gaps as hard limits though.



I haven`t heard of anyone doing a complete detail one panel at a time (washing, claying, polishing, protecting). It can be difficult to not overlap at least somewhat.



On high pollen days you may want to add an extra rinse or a quick wash between the major steps. That way when you hit the car with your buffer you are not grinding or sealing any new contaminants into the paint.