So, I'm still trying to figure out the best approach to correcting the finish on my car on a budget (in other words, without having to purchase 10 different products). I returned the Meguiar's 7" pads as everyone here agreed they were just too big for use with the Porter Cable, and I am now looking at buying a 5" flexible backing plate and some 5.5" pads. I'm leery of the Lake Country pads as a few people are saying they got some that were cut badly, so now I"m looking at Uber pads from Detailers Domain. These come in five different types, and I'm not sure which I should go with if I were to buy only two.
The car is an '07 Mazda 3, red, that only has very light swirling and water spotting. I'm thinking I can go with the Uber Green Polishing and Blue Final Polish pads, and then wax by hand. Is the green aggressive enough for light to medium swirls and water spots? I have some Meg's Ultimate Compound and some Swirl X. So I figure try a spot with the blue and Swirl X, and if it doesn't do enough step up to the green and Ultimate Compound, then if necessary go over it again with the blue and swirl X.
Or maybe I'm completely off base again
So please someone confirm if these combos will work before I place this order! I can go two levels more aggressive with the pads, the next two are the orange medium polish pad, and the yellow cutting pad. I'm 99% positive I don't need anything that aggressive though.
About the Swirl X, can someone clarify for me if this stuff actually reduces swirls or just fills them and reduces the APPEARANCE of them? The bottle claims that it is NON abrasive, which makes me think it doesn't reduce them at all.
EDIT: I see a few people are saying even 5.5" is too big for any real correction... should I go with a 3.5" backing plate and 4" pad like the Meg's soft buff 2.0 yellow, or even a 5" backing plate and the Meg's 5" MF pads? GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH at this rate I'll never actually get to work on my car!!
The car is an '07 Mazda 3, red, that only has very light swirling and water spotting. I'm thinking I can go with the Uber Green Polishing and Blue Final Polish pads, and then wax by hand. Is the green aggressive enough for light to medium swirls and water spots? I have some Meg's Ultimate Compound and some Swirl X. So I figure try a spot with the blue and Swirl X, and if it doesn't do enough step up to the green and Ultimate Compound, then if necessary go over it again with the blue and swirl X.
Or maybe I'm completely off base again

About the Swirl X, can someone clarify for me if this stuff actually reduces swirls or just fills them and reduces the APPEARANCE of them? The bottle claims that it is NON abrasive, which makes me think it doesn't reduce them at all.
EDIT: I see a few people are saying even 5.5" is too big for any real correction... should I go with a 3.5" backing plate and 4" pad like the Meg's soft buff 2.0 yellow, or even a 5" backing plate and the Meg's 5" MF pads? GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH at this rate I'll never actually get to work on my car!!