I need to get up to speed. I missed last 20 years in detailing

[Accumulator]

Scratch that part about bringing prices down, Griot is charging 399 for this polisher, lol.

Heh heh, yeah...it`s one pricey little polisher all right! But it can go battery or AC too, if that matters.

[Bert]

Heh heh, yeah...it`s one pricey little polisher all right! But it can go battery or AC too, if that matters.

That`s nice but not a deal maker if that makes sense.

[Accumulator]

That`s nice but not a deal maker if that makes sense.

Makes *perfect* sense to me...but I bet somebody here will think it`s a big deal.

Actually...OK, if I ever get one of those for Xmas I`ll use the battery-function to do a quickie on our ss mailbox, maybe get it a little nicer than I do by hand.

[Bert]

Bert- If you do try the decon towels, I hope you`ll post about how it goes. I can`t see any way of using one without inducing *some* degree of marring. (I know clay can do that too, but it hardly ever does for me given how nutty-careful I am about it (hours and hours to clay a whole car, going inch-by-inch...). Not that I have to do much claying with that FK1000P on there, what with the way it sheds contamination so well.

Hey Accum, I wanted to follow up about the perforated towel like you asked. So back in early March, due to the sun going down so early in the evenings (don`t own a garage unfortunately), I decided to do a quick detail and did use the perforated Rag Co. Ultra Mitt in the process. After washing the truck with Meg`s Hyper Wash, I sprayed it down with a solvent to get rid of any tar possibly on the surface and washed again and blew it dry with a leaf blower. Then I sprayed Meg`s Iron Decon (whatever they call it) and allowed it to dwell on the surface and then clayed with the perforated mitt using the iron decon as the lubricant. If doing so caused any new marring, I couldn`t find it amongst all the other marring on the surface. After that, thoroughly rinsed the truck and used Meg`s 101 and Lake Country White pads with my Flex 3401 followed by HD Car Care Speed on Lake Country Black pads also on the Flex 3401. I was curious how the HD Speed would last without any toppers and over the past three months, it did pretty dang good. However, in the sun light, I noticed the Meg`s 101 and LC White pads did pretty good with marring but there was still some that was pretty noticeable so last weekend I decided to hit them with Meg`s 101 but this time on LC Force Orange pads.

So I made up a wash concoction with APC in it to remove what was left of the HD Speed (which was still hanging on respectably). I wanted to test out the perforated mitt so I sprayed the surface down again with Meg`s Iron Decon, let it dwell for a bit and then clayed the truck with the perforated mitt again using the Iron Decon as lubricant. I couldn`t find any new marring anywhere. I guess the claim that perforated towels/mitts/pads/whatever are considerably safer than original clay towels is not BS. I was quite impressed that I could find nothing new. I used the Meg`s 101 on the Lake Country Orange Force pads on the Flex 3401 and that combo wiped out the marring that the White Lake Country pads left behind three months ago and left a nice surface. I probably could have skipped following up with Megs 210 on Black LC pads but did so anyways and the finish is great. I used my old Meg`s paste wax. I think it is called Meg`s 16? The one that Meg`s had to discontinue about a decade ago due to VOC`s. The wax was not as "hard" and I remembered it being when I bought it years ago. It was much softer. I hope nothing is wrong with it. If it is, I will just strip it off and use old faithful FK1000P.

I just wanted to follow up and give Accum and assessment of the perforated mitt. As summer comes to an end, I may do another iron decon/peforated mitt claying. When I do that one, the paint will still be mostly marring free and I will really be able to tell if the perforated mitt is causing any marring which I do not believe it is so far.

[Accumulator]

Bert- Thanks for the update, sounds like it turned out really nice.

FWIW, I don`t think you`d have liked how that M101 (which I use) finished out when you really inspected it, so I`m glad you followed up with a finishing polish.

Yeah, the M16 is good stuff! Even if it seems "all dried out" it has always worked just fine for me (still have several tins of the stuff). Soft, hard..whatever...it has always performed OK.

Now that it`s all corrected, I`ll be interested to hear how the next use of the decon towel goes. I may well be stuck in an incorrect mindset, but I just can`t imagine how such a thing could work marring free since I find most *anything* will mar autopaint once it has a speck of (abrasive) contamination stuck to it. Heh heh, I`d *really* like to be proven wrong about that!

Thanks again for the good explanation of how it`s been going so far

[Bert]

FWIW, I don`t think you`d have liked how that M101 (which I use) finished out when you really inspected it, so I`m glad you followed up with a finishing polish.

The Ford clear is pretty dang hard so I would have to imagine that is why the leftover haze was so mild. Granted, I was working in the shade, had I pulled out into the sun, that may have revealed a whole knew view of the haze.

but I just can`t imagine how such a thing could work marring free since I find most *anything* will mar autopaint once it has a speck of (abrasive) contamination stuck to it. Heh heh, I`d *really* like to be proven wrong about that!

It is my understanding that the specks of abrasives get stuck in the perforations where non perforated towels would drag them across the clear coat. Late summer early fall when I towel/mitt clay again should provide more feedback.

Thanks again for the good explanation of how it`s been going so far

You`re welcome.

[Bert]

It is my understanding that the specks of abrasives get stuck in the perforations where non perforated towels would drag them across the clear coat. Late summer early fall when I towel/mitt clay again should provide more feedback.

The Rag Company just released a video of their ultra clay and their perforated towel, mitt and block and go into how it protects paint. Worth taking a look.

[Accumulator]

Bert- Huh, interesting that Ford clear is hard these days. I`ve only done Crown Vics, and those were always good examples of "Medium", far easier to correct that my GMs/Audis.

On the marring, I don`t want to be all fixed-mindset about it..just don`t see how it`s possible. TBH I doubt I`ll watch the video (I`ve never watched a full Detailing video in my life!), but maybe I oughta rethink that if I`m gonna go positing my opinions In the meantime, I`ll look forward to any updates if/when you redo. And yeah...the right lighting/inspection conditions can be, uhm...enlightening. My biggest challenges are usually related to stuff that can only be seen under specialized conditions.