To polish or not to polish

I

imported_carnut00

New member
My buddy has the swirl problem. I recommended 3M IHG and Meguiars QD as a quick detailer. He uses some wax ive never heard of.



QD: He says the QD leaves streaks and clouds like crazy.

Im not sure what to tell him because I never had this problem. He claims to have all types of cloths what is he doing wrong?



3M: He says the 3m is very difficult to remove so he used terry towels to remove it. Causing MORE swirls... He also said it left a greasy residue on the car which is visible.



He says his car is shinier than before, but has more swirls than before...



What do you guys suggest!? Are these things happening because of the wax on his car? or because of his technique?
 
The swirls are being caused by the towels and probably poor technique.



As for the IHG, it sounds like he is putting it on too thick making it hard to remove. Tell him to remember, thin layers. You don't need to glob it on.



As for the streaking of the QD, it could be a wide range of things. If the surface of the metal is hot or even warm, you can get streaking. Also, caranuba based QD, or QD with silicone in them are a little more prone to streaking.
 
Hey Showroom--



You mentioned "thin layers" of IHG. Can IHG be layered for a better result? I haven't seen any reference to doing this before but it sounds interesting.
 
3M IHG can not be layered. It can be applyed repeatedly to increase the level of shine and wetness to the finish due to a better cleaning action with each succesive application.



The mineral spirits in the first coat will be cleaned and refreshed by the second coat.



3M IHG is not durable, only about a week/a wash or two is MAX durability. 3M IHG topped off with a wax willextend the life of 3M IHG.



Thin applications is imperative as ShowroomLincoln stated. Anymore will be waste and will cause these streaks and smears. The surface must also be cool and out of direct sunlight, this will speed up the dry time and make the residue hard to buff out. This also applies to the Meguiars QD.



If this friend was anywhere around bay ridge brooklyn or in staten island along the SIR, I can probably help. I think I have a free hour or two after physical training.



Jason
 
This may be a stupid question and probably been answered before but on a fairly new car that's kept in the garage. if the paint is in great shape, do you really need to polish after claying ? Or can you skip polishing and go to waxing.
 
Well I am no professional, just a weekend warrior. Let's see if the pro's agree....
you don't have to polish after claying if the paint is in good shape. Claying is very important; however.
 
No, you do not have to polish after claying. You can go straight to waxing if you would like

Alot of it depends on your taste and how marred/swirled up the paint is. After washing get the car in direct sunlight and see how bad the paint looks. If it looks pretty decent for your taste then by all means commence to waxing
 
Flash Gordon said:
No, you do not have to polish after claying. You can go straight to waxing if you would like

Alot of it depends on your taste and how marred/swirled up the paint is. After washing get the car in direct sunlight and see how bad the paint looks. If it looks pretty decent for your taste then by all means commence to waxing
Click to expand...

Great advice,

Sometimes just a cleaner wax works great too.
 
Whether or not to polish depends on your goals and expectations. If the car looks great to your eyes then you never 'have' to polish it. If you notice swirl marks in the direct sunlight or feel your car doesn't have the luster it once did, then you can test polish a spot to see if the results are worth it to you.

PS Great car!
 
The car I'm talking about is my Challenger. It is 8 mo. old and never been in the weather. I striped the old wax and polish off with Dawn dish washing liquid. I clayed it and used Griot's speed shine as a lubricate. It looked so good I just applied wax with Griot's 6 in. buffer and red applicator. Then I hand wiped it off and used Griot's buffer pad. It looks amazing. Got a car show Sat. and been working on both cars this week. I'M READY. :biggrin:
 
Starbuck said:
The car I'm talking about is my Challenger. It is 8 mo. old and never been in the weather. I striped the old wax and polish off with Dawn dish washing liquid. I clayed it and used Griot's speed shine as a lubricate. It looked so good I just applied wax with Griot's 6 in. buffer and red applicator. Then I hand wiped it off and used Griot's buffer pad. It looks amazing. Got a car show Sat. and been working on both cars this week. I'M READY. :biggrin:
Click to expand...

Yea that Griots machine is a lil beast. Didn't care for there odd sized BP & Pads though :Snowman:

Hope you win 1st place in both categories Da Rules!
 
I was contemplating this on my 04 325i. It's Alpine White and the paint looked fine to me. I decided that polishing would only produce marginal results and the effort was not worth it. So I just skipped to glaze and wax.

Now if I still had my black car, I would be polishing.
 
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