Christmas-gift pressure: need polish recommendations pronto

[rx280]

Relatives are clamoring for Christmas-gift ideas for me, and some suggestions from the gang here could expedite things. I don’t get to frequent the forums nearly as much as I used to, so I’m really not up on what people are raving about right now.

I need suggestions for a plastic polish and a couple of paint polishes for use with my P-C polisher. Ideally, everything would be available from a single online retailer.

My most pressing need is for a plastic polish. The bottle of Griot’s Plastic Polish I’ve had for what must be about 10 years is basically empty. It’s the only plastic polish I’ve ever used, so I don’t know how it compares with the others that are out there. (Telling you what I’ve used the Griot’s polish on would probably help: headlights, taillights, B-pillar plastic, HVAC/radio display shield, dust cover on my mid-’70s Technics turntable.) I could put another bottle of the Griot’s polish on my wish list, but I don’t really need anything else from Griot’s, and paying to have a lone bottle of polish shipped doesn’t seem very sensible. If there’s an equally good or better polish available from, say, AutoGeek, it’d make more sense to make it part of a larger order.

I’d also like to get a couple of polishes for the P-C – a primary polish and a finishing polish – mostly for use on the Nighthawk Black Pearl paint on my 2004 Acura TSX. (Hard to believe I’ve had the TSX for nine years now.) I’ve been using the Sonus polishes (SFX-2. and SFX-3) that I bought way back when I got the polisher, in 2005. I’m sure there are many better choices available today. It’d be nice if the primary polish was a bit more aggressive/effective than the SFX-2. (Of lesser importance: Greater ease of removal would be another plus.)

Lastly, I could definitely use more pads, so please make suggestions. My assortment of pads for the P-C is minimal. All I have are the three pads I bought back in 2005 along with the Sonus polishes: the DAS orange (firm), green (medium) and blue (soft) pads by Sonus – just one of each – plus an old Griot’s orange pad (which is a little smaller in diameter and somewhat thinner than the DAS pads). I’ve also got a half-dozen 3- to 3.5-inch pads; most of them came with the Polishing Pal hand polisher, but I have used a couple of them on the P-C.) And if you think I need more than one pad of a particular type, please say so.

Repeating what I said at the top, it would be ideal if everything was available from one place. (That’s not an absolute must, though; two sources would be fine.)

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[Nth Degree]

What size backing plate do you have? I would recommend going with a six pack of LC pads. 2 orange, 2 white, 1 black & 1 for LSP application (red, blue or gold). A few MF pads would be good too.



I usually use regular polishes for plastic as well; it all depends on what the plastic is.



I like Menzerna polishes and there are many that can fill your needs. My go-to is Power Finish. For a DIYer it provides enough cut to deal with most swirls and, with enough patience, will do a reasonable job with RIDS. Finishes well too so I use it often as a one step, even on black. 85rd (4500) or Super Finish (4000) will give an awesome shine.



Blackfire SRC compound and polish is also a good, simple combo.



There are a lot of possibilities and everyone has favorites for a variety of reasons. Take a look at some of the kits to see if it meets your needs. That would make it easy to tell someone else what you want rather than a long list of things they have to search for. Gift cards would solve the problem too.

[Scottwax]

Nighthawk Pearl paint? Probably should look into Meguiars #205, seems to be the only polish I can reliably wipe off that nightmarish paint.

[rx280]

What size backing plate do you have? I would recommend going with a six pack of LC pads. 2 orange, 2 white, 1 black & 1 for LSP application (red, blue or gold). A few MF pads would be good too.



I usually use regular polishes for plastic as well; it all depends on what the plastic is.



I like Menzerna polishes and there are many that can fill your needs. My go-to is Power Finish. For a DIYer it provides enough cut to deal with most swirls and, with enough patience, will do a reasonable job with RIDS. Finishes well too so I use it often as a one step, even on black. 85rd (4500) or Super Finish (4000) will give an awesome shine.



Blackfire SRC compound and polish is also a good, simple combo.



There are a lot of possibilities and everyone has favorites for a variety of reasons. Take a look at some of the kits to see if it meets your needs. That would make it easy to tell someone else what you want rather than a long list of things they have to search for. Gift cards would solve the problem too.



I`ve got two backing plates: 5-inch and 3.5-inch. (The 5-inch one actually measures at a little less than 4.75; I assume that`s typical, whatever the reason.)