Detailing-recommended products! help!!

Hey guys anyway i bought a used car and the paint is completely covered in light swirles, minor scratches, a terrible touch-up paint fix, and has a deep scratch down to the metal.



so heres my question i do not have a porter cable or anything like that, i wish to do this all by hand. i plan to go to pepboys to pick up all these products. ALL i have right now is microfiber towels. so what products do i need to pick up tomorrow?



-clay

-polish (someone recommended scratch X, does this take place of polish?)

-sealer



SO if anyone can recommend products for me that would be awesome this will be my first time detailing anything and iv read up on stuff for the past 2 months trying to figure out everything i need i just need that one extra push.



Thanks in advance guys sorry for the long post and all the questions!!

B.Money- Welcome to Autopia!



Yeah the Scratch-X is a type of mildly abrasive polish that can diminish (if not completely remove) the marring (Autopian-speak for scratches/swirls/etc.). While it`s commonly available OTC, IMO there`s a better way to go:



For working by hand, I`d recommend you order some 1Z brand Paint Polish and then top it with Collinite brand wax. IIRC you can get both at Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing Supplies & Accessories



1Z stuff is *very* user-friendly and is my hands-down recommendation for people working by hand. Collinite brand wax will last as long as most sealants and works well on top of what the 1Z leaves behind. While everyone has their favorites and there are a lot of perfectly viable ways to go, IMO this combo simply can`t be beat for what you`re doing.

Thanks!



Also iv been getting a lot of comments on how i should just go out and get a porter cable. do you think this is something i should look at getting? will the results be much better? or do you think the 1Z polish will be enough to get the scratches out?



Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by B.Money

... iv been getting a lot of comments on how i should just go out and get a porter cable. do you think this is something i should look at getting? will the results be much better? or do you think the 1Z polish will be enough to get the scratches out?

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Generally, yeah, the PC is worth getting. It makes the job a lot easier and that in itself can often lead to better results (it doesn`t get tired and sloppy the way people tend to do ;) ). But you can do OK by hand if you don`t mind putting in the time/effort. "OK" won`t necessarily mean "perfect" but perfection is an elusive (and often unrealistic) goal, even with the PC.



The 1z Paint Polish may/may not be enough to get things good enough, depends on how hard the paint is and how bad the marring is. 1Z makes another polish called "Ultra" (or maybe it`s "Extra", IIRC they changed the name) that is mighty aggressive but still works OK by hand; you have to follow up with the Paint Polish as the Ultra/Extra leaves "micromarring" of its own.



So with the two 1Z polishes and some Collinite you oughta be all set. The polishes work great by PC too, so whichever way you go those products are still my recommendation.

awesome! thanks a million ill be placing my order soon!