Polishing vs Finishing vs Cutting HELP!

C

Chas09

New member
Good Afternoon everyone!

What specifically is the differences between a polishing pad, vs finishing pad, vs a cutting pad? Do each type of pads all have the different "levels/colors of pads?"

I have very minor spiderweb swirls on it, but one moderately noticeable scratch. Planning to use Mothers Polish, Glaze and combine that with Griots Correcting cream, and doing the final wax by hand.

Lastly, anyone suggest any good swirl finder lights? Google has a ton of ideas. Thanks!
 
The difference between the pad is often the firmness of the foam and the coarseness of the working surface of the pad. Even if you used the exact same polish, each one would polish the surface differently. Sadly each vendor has their own color scheme for the levels of cut of the pads. In many cases the color differ between product lines by the same company! Nothing is standardized.

Which pad should be used with which polishing product really depends on the paint and the level of swirls/scratches you are trying to remove. You need to do test spots to figure out which combination gives you the results you want. I wouldn`t bother with the finishing pad and try out the cutting and polishing pads. Start with the least agressive pad and polish and go from there.

If you are going to polish the surface I wouldn`t bother with the glaze. Glazes are designed to hide defects, but if you are polishing them out, there is nothing to hide.

Lights are a personal preference based on price and what you want to do. I personally found it better to use my work lights placed at the right place to see my progress rather than using a small light which has a very small beam. I like to see the "whole picture" all at once.
 
Chas09- esides the firmness, there`s Porosity to consider, most (of my) Cutting Pads have larger/fewer pores than my milder pads.

FWIW, and I`ve alluded to this before in my rants about hating certain Finishing Pads, it`s not always necessary to use an extremely soft/Finishing pad. I`ve never had a vehicle yet that couldn`t be done to the nth degree with a mild Polishing Pad (but I`ve never had stupid-soft/BMW Jet Black-type paint either, at least not after the curing was finished).

I agree with DesertNate- skip the glaze.

I predict that you`ll find that even "very minor marring" takes a more aggressive approach that you`d expect ;) Not to worry, just didn`t want you to be too surprised.

For the Inspection Lighting, and I`m *not* up-to-date on the latest, you want "Point-source Illumination", and as DesertNate said, you need to be able to position the lighting *just right*. Note that you generally do *not* want something extremely bright, and FWIW I`ve never found the "color" to make any diff at all so I wouldn`t pay a premium for lights that are perfect for color-matching if you just want to see flaws.

Note that *any* Inspection Lighting will work best when used in an otherwise dark environment. So it`s really about "Dark Environment, Point-Source Illumination" when it comes to spotting marring like swirls.
 
What machine do you have? What vehicle & year? Is it a repaint?
There is a whole lot to consider here.
Griots Boss line are premium products and you probably cant go wrong with them.
The rupes yellow pad is a good start for you probably
 
re-tired said:
What machine do you have? What vehicle & year? Is it a repaint?
There is a whole lot to consider here.
Griots Boss line are premium products and you probably cant go wrong with them.
The rupes yellow pad is a good start for you probably
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for responding! Sorry for the delay, I didn`t check this thread. I have the PC7424XP. 2017 Subaru Legacy. I doubt it`s a repaint, but I have no idea...I got it from the dealership.

I just got a bunch of Lake Country Pads.

Any swirl finder light you suggest? Thanks!
 
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