How can I cut down on my 6 hour polish sessions?

P

Preachers Sheets

New member
I find myself polishing a car for 6+ hours before I am able to layer any type of sealent and because I need to wait between layers to allow some time for the product do it's magic I am usally left with giving the customer a car I know could of shined more if I had more time.



What can I use to cut my 6-8 hour polishing sessions down to an hour maybe 2?



I don't get it how you guys can polish a red car that looks orange in under 2 hours. Are you people hiding the swirls or fixing them for good, does your product last a while? Do you not correct all of them and hide the rest with a good final sealent that will last xx amount of months or xx amount of car washes.



I'd like to do more than one car per day.
 
Are you working by hand or my machine?



If you are doing everything by hand, well then talk to Scottwax. He seems to detail pretty fast, with all his customers. He can also read fast too... (heh ;) Scott)



If you are working by machine you should have no problem polishing in un under two hours. What kind of polish(es) are you using that you have to wait 6 hours for it to work? That dosent seem right to me, but theres a lot out there I havent tried.



I can do a SMR/Polish/Wax job on an oxidized older S-Class MB in about 3 hours by hand. I used Scratch X to start out, then went over that with a finer SMR, 3M SMR DC, then followed with IHG (hard to remove, but well worth it), then topped with Souveran. Results were great too.



Definately, check out the polish you are using, 6 hours of waiting is too long.
 
Klasse AIO helps to clean and protect and there is no required drying time. AIO is easy and fast to use. You may be able to polish then go directly to AIO without having to do a second wash. Experience will tell you if the second wash is required or not. Do a little testing and see what works for you.



good luck
 
I am having trouble trying to find a "pro" grade polish that will remove heavy swirling. I can't detail cars with AIO, that stuff is as mild as soap.
 
I reccomend you try the Menzerna line of polishes , CMA sells the Intensive & Final Polishes. These should be what you'll need most of the time , unless you have really bad swirls to remove then I reccomend Menzerna Compound CMA doens't sell this but I can get you some at cost if you like. I use it on my PC with a wool pad and it takes out some nasty stuff.
 
Joe, if you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend the 3M Perfect-It III line. They have a compound and also a lighter-duty "glaze" (really a polish) that work together. I have been using just the polish for over a year now and with the CMA Yellow Pad it produces some incredible results. These products truly "get rid" of swirls, not just hide them. I can generally do an everage size car with the polish in an hour with the PC.



Mike
 
Malibu is correct the 3M line is very effective too , that is what I used before Menzerna and still you it from time to time.
 
joed1228 said:
I am having trouble trying to find a "pro" grade polish that will remove heavy swirling. I can't detail cars with AIO, that stuff is as mild as soap.
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AIO isnt designed to remove swirls ....



:rolleyes:



SMR or DACP, is better, depending on how bad they are.



AIO is there to clean the paint and fill in any small marks that are left after compounding.



That topped by a good sealant or wax is as much as you need to do.



A common mistake is to not use a coarse enough abrasive and spend hours and hours trying to polish out marks with a product that just isnt abrasive enough to do it.

If they aint gone in a coupla passes then your using the wrong stuff.
 
Smoke - That's what I'm wondering, what do the pros use to fix the swirls, not to hide them yet not spend more than 2 hours on a car????????????????
 
detailbarn, I haven't heard much about the Menzerna compound, do you follow that up with the Intensive and then Final or just go to the Final after that. It sounds like a great product,
 
"How can I cut down on my 6 hour polish sessions?"



easy.... do it in 5 hours! :p



sorry, I don't have any advice to give thats different than anything else I've read in this thread, so thats about all I can say... :D
 
Shiny Lil Detlr said:
"How can I cut down on my 6 hour polish sessions?"



easy.... do it in 5 hours! :p



sorry, I don't have any advice to give thats different than anything else I've read in this thread, so thats about all I can say... :D
Click to expand...



Listen tuna boy! :p I need some help here, I'm detailing cars like they are going to win a 5,000,000.00 prize. I need to cut down on my polishing time and your not helping :eek: I guess I'm the ONLY one with problems.



Seems like DACP is the cloest I can get to a straight answer.
 
Greg said:
DACP will tackle the tough stuff.
Click to expand...



Works for me too.



Joe, if the strongest product you are using is Swirl Remover 2.0, it is going to take time to take out moderate to serious paint defects.



What you should do is find a Megiuars or 3M distributer in your area so you have access to their full line of products. You will also be able to buy in bulk and save a lot of money. A pint of Swirl Remover 2.0 is $9.99 at Pep Boys, but I can buy a gallon of Swirl Free for $25. 8 times the product for only 2.5 times the price.
 
The strongest I've used that works great for really bad surfaces is Meg Diamond cut... then DACP, then either SMR or straight to ihg/wax.
 
I used Diamond Cut for the first time the other day on a badly painted black jeeps door.



Its much like DACP, but I guess it cuts a little deeper before it starts to diminish.

No marking up as far as I could tell, and a quick run over with DACP fixed anything that might have been there.



I didnt pay too much attention as some bozo had attacked the hood with a rotary and a wool pad and I was concentrating on getting those out.



Have a look -



Before:



rotarymarks.jpg




After :



rotaryafter.jpg




Still, I can vouch for the fact Diamond Cut wont make a mess!

Another valuable tool in the armoury against nasty paint finishes :cool:
 
How long did it take you to fix the hood?



What machine did you use to polish.



That was an example I wanted to see, now if the time it took was not that long and you used a PC then I'm all set.
 
What machine did you use?



I'm guessing a purple pad is about as rough as the yellow CMA pads?



5 minutes, thats a wonder product if there's such a thing.
 
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