Do I have the sequence right?

[Paddy]

So am I doing this in the right order?

Snowfoam
Rinse using 2 bucket
De-tar
Clay
Rinse with pressure washer
Compound
Polish
Rinse with pressure washer
Wax

Or what?!? I still seem to have swirls after and I never totally feel satisfied that the paint looks well enough!! Mainly use the meguairs (or what ever way it's spelt!) gear but I have the likes of cotton candy too and a few other bits and bobs! Is it just that I have the method wrong or I'm missing something? I don't have a machine polisher either!

Cheers!!

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[fluffmister]

Snowfoam
Rinse using 2 bucket
De-tar
De-Iron/Fallout Remover
Clay
Rinse with pressure washer
Compound
Polish
Rinse with pressure washer
Sealent
Wax


if you want everything

[Paddy]

Cheers Adam. Don't have fallout remover or sealant actually. Well I do for wheels not for paint. Maybe that's what I'm missing!

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[fluffmister]

if its to cover swirls you could use a glaze which would have fillers in it to mask them between waxs. personally i like fusso its a great sealant and has fillers in it to. if you can't machine the swirls out something with a filler is the way to go

the fallout remover is great on wheels to have to say not just body work

[Korsam]

So am I doing this in the right order?

Snowfoam
Rinse using 2 bucket
De-tar
Clay
Rinse with pressure washer
Compound
Polish
Rinse with pressure washer
Wax

Or what?!? I still seem to have swirls after and I never totally feel satisfied that the paint looks well enough!! Mainly use the meguairs (or what ever way it's spelt!) gear but I have the likes of cotton candy too and a few other bits and bobs! Is it just that I have the method wrong or I'm missing something? I don't have a machine polisher either!

Cheers!!

Sent from my WT19i using Tapatalk 2

Are you trying to correct swirls and marring by hand ?

[Paddy]

So am I doing this in the right order?

Snowfoam
Rinse using 2 bucket
De-tar
Clay
Rinse with pressure washer
Compound
Polish
Rinse with pressure washer
Wax

Or what?!? I still seem to have swirls after and I never totally feel satisfied that the paint looks well enough!! Mainly use the meguairs (or what ever way it's spelt!) gear but I have the likes of cotton candy too and a few other bits and bobs! Is it just that I have the method wrong or I'm missing something? I don't have a machine polisher either!

Cheers!!

Sent from my WT19i using Tapatalk 2

Are you trying to correct swirls and marring by hand ?

Yep, I know by hand will never correct fully but I thought claying and compounding would help massively. It's not a disaster but I do feel a bit disappointed with the results when all's done! I might try re-compounding and I'll have to pick ur some filler. Probably try blacklight seems to be the product of choice lately.

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[ciars]

I think your problem might lie in around the snowfoaming Paddy. I would always snowfoam with a 5-10 min dwell, then pressure wash to rinse without putting any lambswool mitt near the paint. You can use the dwell time to start working on agitating the wheels which would've been the first thing I hit, with some wheel cleaner (I use a combination of Orchards de-tar and 50Cal retaliate wheel cleaner).

[Curran]

Sorry Paddy, dont know how I missed this!

The lads have pointed you in the right direction regarding the wash stages and prepartion!

Since you doing have a machine polisher, you will always have the swirls, but its trying to hide them that is key. A wax or sealant will go some way to doing this, and even giving it a light hand polish will help restore some depth and shine...and hand polishes have fillers in them too to help hide light swirls. A glaze can also be considered, Blacklight, Glossworkz Glaze, 50Cal Cover-Up are all good choices. These will hide defects and give that extra wet look, but they need to be locked in with a wax or sealant or they will simply wash out after two or three washes, and you are back to square one!

[Paddy]

Cheers Dave! It's probably a silly request but maybe you'd pm me with the right kinda order I should be doing this as in polish then filler glaze then seal and wax? I know I'm probably just confusing myself by over-thinking the process! But at least if I have that in a pm when I get something like via blacklight then I know exactly what to do!

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[Curran]

Will post it here, so everyone gets the learning!

So, all out prep....and 90% of the battle to achieving the 'look' is in the prep!
Wash - snowfoam, rinse, wash with 2 bucket method, rinse
De-Tar
Rinse
De-Iron
Rinse
Clay
Wash
Dry
Polish - optional depending on condition of paint or might not be necessary if going for a glaze..will be if the paint is looking dull and faded
Glaze - again optional depending on condition - if the paint is swirl free, there is no hiding to be done, so can be skipped.
Sealant or Wax - some do both, sealant first if you do....not necessary to do both, but the wax becomes a sacrificial layer.

Now thats the all out prep....some people like to skip a step or two....de-tar'ing and de-iron'ing, take out a large percentage of contamination, so skipping claying, though not ideal, can be done, but might take away from overall finish and appearance.

Considerations to complicate things a little further - the durability of a wax or sealant is only as good as the weakest link - so if you apply a hand polish, buff it and want the fillers to remain to hide swirls, then it will limit the bonding of a wax or sealant, so it wont be as durable as it might have been recommended. Same goes for a glaze.

Ideal situation is perfect paint, and after the car has been decontaminated (after claying step) that the Last Stage Product / Protection (LSP) is applied to the bare paintwork; this results in the bonding to its full potential and then getting the recommended durabilty.
That said, paintwork that only has light swirls, the wax or sealant will have some amount of hiding ability also!

So lots of different options, the problem is deciding where your paintwork is in terms of condition, and making a plan for it! But without that experience of what is and isnt good, average, bad, etc, it can be a bit of trial and error. So say just waxing didnt work, then try something to combo it to improve....you get the idea!

Perhaps this might help somewhat, though at the polishing steps its more aimed at machine polishing... but if you've further questions, just shout!