Detailing today: Best OTC products?

C

card00d85

New member
I want to detail my car today because I'm noticing some swirl marks/spiderwebs. I already clay barred last month so I think I'm just going to do a simple detail:



1. Wash

2. Polish

3. Wax





I'm going to be doing this all by hand. I know that's not the best way, but that's all I can do. What it a good OTC product to get rid of or fill in the swirl marks? And what is the best OTC wax.



Also, what would you recommend I apply the polish and wax with? Microfiber towels or one of the applicator pads?



Thanks! Here is a pic of the car (blue one):



2266535_55_full.jpg
 
I've used/liked



3M rubbing compound



Megs #9 Swirl Remover



Mother's Power Polish (nos sure if they still make this)



Megs NXT2.0



Mother's Liquid Pure Carnauba



Armor All All Purpose Cleaner



Megs Hot Shine tire spray



Megs Quik Detailer
 
If you got a Carquest by you go pick up some Duragloss products.



Otherwise Megquires Gold Class Car wash



Polish....to be honest there just really isn't anything that works by hand for a whole car. Your arm would fall out before you got done. Scratch X and similar products have there place but it isn't for doing a whole car. Megs. #7 Glaze is not to bad of glaze to use by hand and will help fill some minor imperfections. But it seems to wear quickly.



Wax: If you got Harbor Freight Tools in your are try the Collinite 476. Very good wax all the way around (won't do much for hiding imperfections though). Last a long time. Otherwise Megs NXT 2.0 is a solid over the counter product and does a good job of hiding imperfections. Though only last about 4 weeks or so. If you have a Harley Davidson shop around you they sell sometimes sell P21S and there in house brand name wax is P21S just repackaged for less money. Excellent end result though isn't the greatest at hiding imperfections.
 
I've decided to just wash and wax. The swirls aren't really that bad (unless you look REALLY close). I'm gonna use the megs #26.
 
I use Meguiar's Gold Class wash, and Megs #26 yellow wax (auto zone). Duragloss Aquawax goes on top (Carquest), and I use Viking microfibers (plus my nicer Cobra and CG towels).



All of those products rock. 26 wax is very easy to apply and remove by hand, and Aquawax is even easier (and very fast... whole car can be done in <15 minutes).
 
It may not be otc but you can get great results without nearly as much effort with m105. Follow it with #9 and you'll have a great combo that makes great results if you have to go by hand. But for the price of about 20 bucks get a 6" random orbit polisher from the auto store or walmart. You can get great results using those and a wool bonnet. Trust me you'll spend more on otc chemicals experimenting trying to get good results by hand when you could just as easily have bought this and the combo above and get spectacular results easily without much effort.
 
If this guy has limited experience, M105 is a not good idea especially by hand. He should start with a much less aggressive method such as M82 or M80 and see what kind of results he can get. I am skeptical on what a $20 polisher fro Walmart can do.
 
You can get good results removing swirl marks by hand with Megs M105 applied with a MF applicator and a little passion followed by a coat of ColorX applied by hand with a little passion. It is allot of work by hand, but this combo works well. ScratchX might take 3 applications before you get the same results as M105.
 
You can get great results with that cheap polisher. Most peoples bad experiences are with those huge ridiculous 10" polishers. I specifically mention the 6" because it has the same motor as the big 10", which if you do the math has 2.78 times the power per square inch, it may not have as much power as a PC but how many times are you turning the PC up to max when using an aggressive compound?



I've used the same cheapo coleman for 10+ years and can tell you I can achieve a flawless finish. I even used it while I was doing a mobile detailing business on the side back in high school and on weekends while in the military, didn't even need a generator. I just used a 120v inverter connected to my car's battery (I had a big stereo at the time and had 2 batteries so I never ran out of juice in the middle of a detail). With M105 it just gets there a lot faster than my usual combo of polishes. The trick is to go slowly, I move that polisher about 1 foot every 20-30 seconds. Using a wool bonnet and m105 and going that slow I can say it finishes just about perfect, for the most part I'd say lsp ready so following with #9 is all that's necessary. I think when people say m105 doesn't finish as fine as they like it's because they were using a foam pad and too much pressure because I'm using a wool pad and extremely light pressure and it comes out without extra swirls or holograms.



I'm about to polish my father's BMW he bought it used and damaged. So he repainted the hood and bumper himself, my uncle owns a professional paint shop so now that the paint is nice and cured I'll try and post pics. Does this site host pictures? Or do I just link?
 
qwertydude said:
You can get great results with that cheap polisher. Most peoples bad experiences are with those huge ridiculous 10" polishers. I specifically mention the 6" because it has the same motor as the big 10", which if you do the math has 2.78 times the power per square inch, it may not have as much power as a PC but how many times are you turning the PC up to max when using an aggressive compound?



I've used the same cheapo coleman for 10+ years and can tell you I can achieve a flawless finish. I even used it while I was doing a mobile detailing business on the side back in high school and on weekends while in the military, didn't even need a generator. I just used a 120v inverter connected to my car's battery (I had a big stereo at the time and had 2 batteries so I never ran out of juice in the middle of a detail). With M105 it just gets there a lot faster than my usual combo of polishes. The trick is to go slowly, I move that polisher about 1 foot every 20-30 seconds. Using a wool bonnet and m105 and going that slow I can say it finishes just about perfect, for the most part I'd say lsp ready so following with #9 is all that's necessary. I think when people say m105 doesn't finish as fine as they like it's because they were using a foam pad and too much pressure because I'm using a wool pad and extremely light pressure and it comes out without extra swirls or holograms.
Click to expand...

Man I wish I had seen your post before I did my wife's 97 Escort by hand with M105 and colorX. Everything I read said the cheapo buffers were useless. I had been thinking of getting this one-- Craftsman 6 in. Buffer/Polisher - Model 10720 at Sears.com as it seems a little more powerful than most. What do you think?
 
I personally like:



Mothers/Meguiars clay bar with QD

Meguiars gold class car wash (2-bucket method)

ScratchX (not for whole car)

NXT paste wax
 
DG 901 or Meg Gold class

Meg smooth clay kit

Scratch X (I used this one time just on the trunk and hood, long and tiresome did an ok job) or try color X

DG 501

Top with DG 105 or 111 or Meg NXT 2.0
 
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