105 and 205 machine or hand?

[ccapital83]

i have two vehicles both have been clayed and washed with dawn soap. ive used cleaner wax, polishing compound and deffinantly helped. one is silver ones black. the black shows so much more so im going to use 105 and 205. i think the silver can get away with just 205 its my vehicle and ive babied the finish since i bought it in 04. its year round but its been taken care of very minimal scratches under heavy lighting angles. the other one black car is very scratched heavy. so im wondering will there be any benefit doing this by hand or should i skip right to da? rotary any good either?

 

[Apokiliptik1]

Forgot this was ask the expert section sorry! but you say heavy scratches in the black? well, if you do it by hand then plan on a weekend of rubbing. Use machine if the black is really bad use rotary and a wool pad but try da and orange pad see what that does before going to wool. just my opinion I am no expert so wait for Mike to chime in.

 

[Toymachine2009]

Always by machine. every answer will be by machine. It is VERY VERY hard to achieve the results by hand if it all possible.

 

[BobbyG]

Can they be used by hand? Yes
Should they be used by hand? No

I don't think you can achieve the same level of performance and consistency when using either of these by hand vs. a machine. Small spots are the exception here.

 

[PAR Detailing]

I have to agree with everyone else. If you are planning on doing the whole vehicle you definitely want to grab a machine.

If you are new to machine polishing I would get a DA like the PC or similar models. Sure you could use a rotary but there is more risk and it takes much more perfecting your skill to make sure you do not have buffer haze.
Best of luck with it
Jon