Today I just did my first ever detailing. Okay, it took 2 days....
I recently bought an Audi Q5. I was thinking I was going to get it detailed and before you know it I’m going down the rabbit hole of doing it myself. I studied this up and got supplies and fresh products for a two bucket wash (3 if you count the wheel bucket). I also researched and ended up with a Griot’s G9, an assortment of pads and a 5 inch backing plate. The Griots kit came (from Cleaning Garage) with some Sonax 4/6. I’m going to save that for my Audi, because I decided I’d start my detailing adventure working my wife’s 9 year old Honda CRV... which might have been waxed once and gets washed once a year, whether it needs it or not. I chose the Griots Complete Polish from my local AutoZone.
As an aside, I do have some experience using a Makita orbital polisher, but that was to wax the gel coat on my sailplane many years ago. That was a long and hard job running a polisher at high speed, the danger wasn’t of burning through the coating but letting the “bite” of the polisher rip it from your hands and hurl it at some very expensive parts of a glider whose airworthiness depended on not damaging any flight controls.
Washed the wife’s CRV and then went to work on it. Did a test patch using Griot’s Complete Polish. I was still left with swirly scratches and thought I’d give the Griots Complete Compound a try. I knew this would double the work with the polishing machine but thought I’d at least try it, and it worked nicely, I was thrilled at how well it worked. I now have to do two passes over the whole car. Of course there are deeper scratches that I can’t get out and I think some of them actually are all the way through the clear coat, this car spends a third of its life in an airport parking lot. After I do the compound and polish of the whole car, the wife and kids are commenting that they think it looks better than the day it was new. I finish it off with the Griot’s “Ceramic” spray (SiO2) and a second coat 24 hours later.
A few thoughts and I welcome comments...
Initially I tried a synthetic clay pad and it simply didn’t get the years of stuff off the hood and doors. I bought real clay bars and it worked significantly better, this was my first experience with clay barring a car or part of one.
I used 2 microfiber pads (griots) to do the compounding. I thought I would need more from what I’ve been reading about best practices, either I’m not picky enough or wasn’t using enough product?? I used 4 foam pads (Rupes yellow foam), two 6 inch pads and two 5 inch pads. I really like the 5 inch pads. A few times I think they got loaded up with too much product and I had some splatter when I went over an edge. Initially I taped all the trim worried about irreparable white staining that I remember from the days of waxing cars. Completely unnecessary, in fact I eventually used a foam wheel with some polish to clean up some of the trim, I hope that wasn’t a mistake!
The Griots Ceramic spray seemed to work nice. I picked that because I was basically paralyzed with indecision over so many options for sealing a finish and I definitely wanted to tray a sealant versus a traditional Carnauba wax. I want the finish to last.
Next up is probably my Audi. It’s only a year old but I bought it used (it was a Certified pre-owned that was used as a loaner at the dealer) and I’m sure its been through car washes. It is black metallic.
I can see small swirly marks using my LED flashlight at the right angle. Hoping I can get away without compounding...
Then there is my daughters 2 year old Subaru Crosstrek... It’s going to need a serious clay bar treatment before compounding and polishing since it lives outside and gets hit by seasonal tree sap.
Last, I had never used a DA Orbital polisher before. All my experience has been with a Makita orbital on gelcoat and if you want more cut—press harder. I’m not sure what the best way is to get a little more cut from a DA polisher. Is it just the pad and compound that really makes a difference ?? I read that the Flex polisher uses a direct drive system. Is that the middle ground between something like the Griots or Rupes and the direct drive orbital polisher/sanders??
Thanks.
