Thanks for all of the input guys. I realize I won't know how well I will like the PC until I actually try it out. But your insights are greatly appreciated. I dove into the detailing world just a tad over a week ago, so my head is still spinning with every article, forum post, and video I can lay my eyes on.
On Youtube, I have to say Mike Phillips' tutorials stood out to me above the rest (his videos led me here to AG). The way he delivers the material, you can tell he is a natural teacher. So after watching his videos and reading a number of his articles, I certainly respect his opinion, and if the PC is good enough for Mike, it is probably good enough for me.
Before discovering AG, I made several car care purchases on Amazon and ebay--some good and some not so good! I just missed the holiday coupons here, but the next time they come around, I would like to try the Pinnacle and Wolfgang product lines. In the meantime, I will try to work with what I have and fill in any essentials that I am missing.
Last week, I ordered the 5" Lake Country back plate and six 5.5" LC CCS pads. I ended up ordering one pad of each color I thought might be useful: orange, white, green, black, blue, and red. I know one pad of each isn't enough for most cars. How many of each type of pad should I stock up on? Are the flat pads better suited for the PC compared to the CCS pads that I bought? And is it important for me to buy a 3" back plate and 4" pads for smaller sections of the car? Lastly, what type of painter tape for polishing and waxing do you recommend? I was looking at this 3M tape on Amazon, but one reviewer said the glue separated onto the paint after polishing with a DA.
3M 03435 48 mm x 32 m Automotive Performance Masking Tape : Amazon.com : Automotive
I'm certainly far from being the forum expert here, but looking as the LC CCS Line, I would say the most useful, or perhaps I should say the most commonly needed pads would probably be the orange, pink, and white pads. And I say this as these are probably what would generally be needed to be used for an "average" paint correction with a variety of polishes, and mild compounds.
I would assume the softer pads "could" be used with a polish, or a compound, but they won't work nerarly as good, or as fast.
Bottom line is, do keep some form of reference as to what Pads should be used for what?
It is a simple process to always just come back here if unsure, and look in the AG Store to see the listings-descriptions.
I would say having at least 3-4 of each pad type per vehicle that is being corrected will be a minimum. Larger vehicles such as pickup trucks, and large SUVs maybe 5-6 pads per job.
Working a pad too long will eventually tear up a pad from heat-overuse, they will load up with both product, and paint nasties after a panel or two. It is easier, to then just swap out a fresh pad, rather than stopping, washing, then trying to dry a pad. Cleaning on the fly does help, but only to a point.
As for the Green 3M auto Painter's Tape, this is pretty much the common gold standard of what we all use here. Meguiars has their own Tape, and so does Rustoleum I see. I have a roll of Rustolem Tape from Wally World, but have yet to try it. And Meguiars I understand is now actually owned by 3m, so the Meg's Tape may be indeed just rebranded 3M Tape?
Usually, most decent size towns have an Auto Paint Supply Shop where such tapes in different widths can be easily gotten locally within a moment's notice. Some of the auto parts stores such as AutoZone, Advanced, O'Reillys. Pep Boys also usually carry such Tapes.
It is a good idea to have a fair selection of a few different widths on hand. Wider widths cover more area easily, but also become a bit harder to conform to curving on panels, and trim.
I usually keep 1/4" 1/2" and 3/4" on hand.
Hope this helps. Mark
