Applying wax with DA polisher - any tricks?

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mossyoakglock

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Today was my first time using a DA polisher on my CC silverado. First off let me say that it made applying the polish so much easier and quicker. For my first attempt I feel like I did pretty good. My question involves applying wax.

I was using LC 5.5 foam pads with Ultimate Wax. When I put the wax on the pad and started to apply it, it seemed like it didn't go on very well. I let it dry for a bit to dry to a haze but a haze never formed. So I tried putting a little more wax on the pad and it did the same thing. I did it a few times, adding more and more product but it kept doing the same thing. You couldn't even tell that I applied any wax at all. I stopped trying and just applying it by hand (it didn't take that long) but was kinda bummed that I didn't get to use my pads and DA for applying the wax.

With doing it by hand I was able to get good coverage and the wax dried to a haze.

Is there a trick to applying wax with a DA to where you get good product coverage and so it will dry to a haze?

I'm going to work on my wife's car tomorrow to practice a bit. My truck is light gray so I couldn't tell how well the polish worked but should be able to tomorrow since my wife's car is dark green with some minor swirls.
 
Which pad did you use? When I apply with DA I usually use 3 inch pad with no problem. Use a pretty quick arm speed also, because remember you are not compounding or polishing you are just applying wax. One other thing you might want to try is overlapping, meaning go up and down and then left to right to insure even coverage.
 
The whole idea of using a DA to apply wax or sealant is to aid in applying a thin, thin coat so at times it is hard to see any hazing IMO. That being said I use a Buff & Shine red pad--very soft but extremely dense so that very little product is absorbed into the pad. Apply on speed 3 and relatively fast arm movement as mentioned above with overlapping passes. I do one pass up/down then one side to side for an even distribution of product.
 
I was using LC 5.5" black pad. I overlapped each pass just like I did when I applied the polish.

I used speed 3 (HF DA) and a pretty quick arm motion. I guess I'll just have to do 2 thin/light coats next time.

Maybe it was because my truck is light gray. When I tackle the wife's car tomorrow it might show up better since it's Audi's dark hunter green and should show the haze a little better.

Overall I'm impressed with the DA and thought my first attempt went well.
 
The trick with applying wax with a DA polisher is applying it super thin. Less is more. You should have very little residue to remove.
 
Hi there

The same happened to me when trying out applying sealant with the DA. In my case it was Wolfgang DGPS 3.0. Even after half an hour it didn't haze whereas when I had done it by hand it had hazed. Ive a light color car too.

But then I performed the Swipe test and saw that it was ready to be removed. Surprisingly the panel was beading and felt silky smooth too and this confirmed that the sealant was applied, albeit a bit thin.

This is a good thing really. Less wastage of product. Did you try feeling the panel and checking the beading before and after application of the wax?

Regards.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
Odds are good you are applying a thin layer of wax with the DA/Black combo and at the same time the black pad was absorbing some of the wax as well. If you were using a paste wax the black pad would have absorbed less. If there is a negative it is that you will probably use a little more UW than normal to counter the initial absorption.
 
Go figure. It's raining this morning.

I detailed the truck yesterday mainly because it wasn't going to rain for the next 2-3 days. Wake up this morning to thunder and checked the radar and there is a small band going right over Nashville. The rest of the state is clear. @!$%^&$#?

Doesn't it always happen this way. Freshly waxed/washed truck and then it rains. At lease I got to have a fresh truck for a day.
 
Did you get some pics of the water beading? Lets see them.
 
I think it rains everywhere , been raining for one week here aside from last Wednesday I guess .
 
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