From what I understand, certain (all?) polishes contain various amounts of oils that can fill the scratches and give you a false sense of accomplishment. And thus you're saying its important to clean these oils off after you do your correction to get an accurate gauge of the work you did, does this sound correct? What product does one use to remove the oils? Will my PH-neutral car soap do the trick or do I need something more specialized?
It is my understanding that all polishes have the potential to fill products. My theory, which I developed with several detailers (esp. with Ryan Blanchette aka Rydawg) and several product developers and manufacturers is that the polishing process itself can create microscopic marring in the paint that is extrememly small. Certain oils and lubricants can "lodge" into these small openings and act to hide the defects from being visible. In my experience, PH neutral soaps would not remove help. Even aggressive measures such as a solvent or alcohol wipe down can be ineffective in removing these oils. The best measure seems several hours in hot, direct sunlight, which is unrealistic for so many different reasons.
Water based polishes don't seem to fill (ZPC, System 1) but then again I don't think they are very good polishes.
From listening to the pitch of the polisher, it sounds like you did a bell curve as far as RPM's go. That is you started low, ramped up to a high speed and then ramped down again as you neared the end. So the ramp down at the end is to slow the rate of fracture of the polish to get more useful life out of it? Does this principle apply to DA and rotary alike?
Also, as far as instructional videos are concerned, if these videos are any indication I think you would do a great job and it would be extremely helpful for newbs like me and experts alike.
In general I will start the polisher at low rpm and spread and lightly work the polisher in (amost holding the pad off of the paint, very little pressure) to warm the lubricants and get a nice even coat of polish on the working area. Then I will quickly come up to speed and increase pressure until the polish starts to break down, then feather it down the rest of the way. The specifics are extrememly dependent on the type of polish and how it is reacting with the type of paint I am using, as well as the pad type and what my goals are for the detail.
Example one: The paint needs two application(series of passes) of Menzerna PO83 to remove all residual marring from the previous step. On the first application I would not focus on feathering the RPM back down, but instead keep it higher and flatter until the polish was the all the way broken int. This might not leave the finish at its highest potential, but since I will be doing an second application, it would be pointless since the fresh abrasives of the second application will ruin the finish that I worked longer to get (but that will be restored by working the final application of PO83 longer and stepping down the RPM).
I really don't start "polishing" the paint until I get it completely swirl free and free of defects. To a lot of people, polishing means removing the defects, and once that it is done, they are done, that is when I begin. Then again I have clients who want world class results and "good and shiney" isn't good enough, so I am paid to spend an additonal amount of time on the cars, even if it only means a 2% improvement.
