I Cry Foul on Product Working Time

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BlackCoupe

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I'm sorry, but I call "FOUL" on these videos and instructions that tell me to work the PCDA for "Three to five minutes with a quarter-size amount of product over a 2X2 area". I would be extremely interested to know in the H*** get that working time. Really -- who? Time it. I get one pass, maybe two if I spritz--and it is about a minute, absolute tops. Indoors.
 
What polish are you using? I know first-hand Optimum polishes can easily be worked for that long.
 
what products are you using? in all reality, you should be looking more at like 5-7 minutes for the same 2x2ft. area...

makes sure the car is cool to the touch, out of sunlight, and you spread the product at speed 3. then move up to a speed 5 with a slower movement for a pass. then finish up with speed 6 and slighty faster movement.

i use xmt in direct sunlight with no problems for 7 minutes, SOMETIMES needing a spray of lubricant (quick detailer).
 
jesus, do you guys spend like 3 hours buffing your car then, damn. I can not imagine spending 7 minutes in one section. What if you are doing 2-3 steps, that's a whole day, damn, y'all need a rotary.
 
BetaB said:
jesus, do you guys spend like 3 hours buffing your car then, damn. I can not imagine spending 7 minutes in one section. What if you are doing 2-3 steps, that's a whole day, damn, y'all need a rotary.
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Many guys do spend close to 6-8 hours polishing w/ multiple steps.

If you are using good products, and are faimilar with pad/polish combo's you rarely need 2 steps with a PC.

I very much enjoy XMT polishes in the sun. They break down quickly but correct quickly. I can do an entire hood in about 5-8 minutes. Not bad considering that's usually the largest panel. Also, it's LSP ready after one combo.
 
your environment will place alot of control over product work time. Humditity, dampness, dryness all play a part.
 
killrwheels@autogeek said:
your environment will place alot of control over product work time. Humditity, dampness, dryness all play a part.
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Palm Beach Gardens, bro. About same as you. I also suspect that engine heat, heat from the sun, gets the car heated up, and even though I am working in the garage, the retained heat it bakes the product.
 
Whitethunder46 said:
Many guys do spend close to 6-8 hours polishing w/ multiple steps.

If you are using good products, and are faimilar with pad/polish combo's you rarely need 2 steps with a PC.

I very much enjoy XMT polishes in the sun. They break down quickly but correct quickly. I can do an entire hood in about 5-8 minutes. Not bad considering that's usually the largest panel. Also, it's LSP ready after one combo.
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Ok. Good example. You said:

"I can do an entire hood in about 5-8 minutes."

I am gonna say that in an "entire hood", unless you are working on a Mini Cooper, we are talking about at least 5 2X2 areas. And you do a hood in 5-8 minutes, that is about 1 2X2 area in 1min to 1min 36 seconds. Are you using a rotary or a DA (cuz my post was about DA)? I am assumng you let the product break down (because of the diminshing abrasives, right)?
 
Takes me a good 30-45 minutes to do one step on my hood with a PC and Optimum.
 
Grimm said:
Takes me a good 30-45 minutes to do one step on my hood with a PC and Optimum.
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Yup, I agree with you Grimm. Mind you though, Optimum has longer working time and with the PC I can totally see you taking this long or perhaps even longer. I got a sample of the Optimum and using the rotary it definitely cuts down on time.
 
I'm going to take you up on your though BlackCoupe. I have always wondered how long I worked on each section but never actually timed myself... I can tell you this, it is well below 5 minutes per panel. Next detail I'll try to remember to time myself. I'll take a guess, when I work with SSR2.5 or XMT2, on the PC, on speed 6, in a garage in NH, I probably work it in maybe 1-2 minutes, just a guess though.

In all reality though, every product, every vehicle, every state, every weather condition could effect the work-in time of products.
 
budman3 said:
I'm going to take you up on your though BlackCoupe. I have always wondered how long I worked on each section but never actually timed myself... I can tell you this, it is well below 5 minutes per panel. Next detail I'll try to remember to time myself. I'll take a guess, when I work with SSR2.5 or XMT2, on the PC, on speed 6, in a garage in NH, I probably work it in maybe 1-2 minutes, just a guess though.

In all reality though, every product, every vehicle, every state, every weather condition could effect the work-in time of products.
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Thoughts on Speed 6: To me, going from speed 5 to 6 is a much bigger change than any of the other speed changes (like 4 to 5, etc.) and it seems to want to mis-shape my pads and wants to tear them up, and kind of hop around. Am I alone in this?
 
BlackCoupe said:
Thoughts on Speed 6: To me, going from speed 5 to 6 is a much bigger change than any of the other speed changes (like 4 to 5, etc.) and it seems to want to mis-shape my pads and wants to tear them up, and kind of hop around. Am I alone in this?
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haha..it is a big jump to the 6...if your on flat parts of the car its ok to use 6...but never 6 when you around edges or spoilers or licence plates...well the list goes on...just be carefull and you should be ok
 
I noticed a major increase in work time between my XMT polishes and than with some optimum polishes I have. I am guessing that I work XMT 3 for about 3-5 minutes and I could easily work OC for 5-7
 
The long time of removing swirls has made me give up personally. Haven't had any good results yet with xmt 1,2,3,4. I'm just going to only buy white or silver cars and be done with it. swirls never bothered me before I got on this forum lol. It will be polish and wax from now on.
 
yea, im with grimm, its takes a good 30 minutes or so when i first polished to get my hood looking the way that i wanted it to. perfection comes through patience.
 
Very basic; the longer the working time, the more the correction.


Although I don't need 8 hours to do a one-step polishing. It can be done in about an hour. Heavy oxidized paint, severe swirls etc. all depend on the type of paint, product/pad combo, your skill & technique.


Blackcoupe, what type of polishing were you doing? What pad/products?
 
RallyMSP said:
The long time of removing swirls has made me give up personally. Haven't had any good results yet with xmt 1,2,3,4. I'm just going to only buy white or silver cars and be done with it. swirls never bothered me before I got on this forum lol. It will be polish and wax from now on.
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Polishing is using XMT 1,2,3 or 4. ;)
 
BlackCoupe said:
Thoughts on Speed 6: To me, going from speed 5 to 6 is a much bigger change than any of the other speed changes (like 4 to 5, etc.) and it seems to want to mis-shape my pads and wants to tear them up, and kind of hop around. Am I alone in this?
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The only problems I have from speed 6 is how bad it beats your hands. It's not fun holding the machine on speed 6 all day.

No tearing up my pads, nor does it hop around. That's why you apply pressure, so it doesn't hop around.
 
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