Can you help me choose a polish product?

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xilex

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I have a Hyundai Sonata that has accumulated some fine scratches/swirls from car washings. In the past I have clayed and applied wax by hand (ultimate liquid wax). This time I want to do a polish step in between to get rid of these defects. It will still be done by hand. I think I'm going to use the Chemical Guys Hand Pad (Chemical Guys BUFX_202 - Hex-Logic Polishing Hand Applicator Pad, White (3 x 6 x 1 Inch)) for application.

For the polish, I wanted to ask for help selecting one to use. I'm not going for perfection, but rather something easy to use and safe for the paint. I've never polished by hand before. I was planning on using Meguiars ultimate polish, but I've also seen Chemical Guys v36/v38 (do I have to use both? or would one suffice?). Do you have any recommendations for me? Thanks.
 
Going to be a lot of work by hand. If it's a lighter color you might try Ultimate Compound first, you'll have a better shot at correcting by hand. If it looks good after that, then just go to your Ultimate Wax. If not, you can follow with the Ultimate Polish before wax.

If it's a dark color you can try the Ultimate Compound (UC) on a small spot and see if it looks hazy, the Ultimate Polish should remove any haziness. Whatever you do don't use the UC on the whole car without a test spot!
 
Meguiar's Ultimate Polish and Ultimate Compound are good choices for hand polishing. You may not think you need the compound but it is nice to have for the pesky spots. Read Mike Phillips' articles regarding polishing by hand. It's not easy but can be done.
 
I use UC and UP with great success and find them easy to use, but I have a DA. I'm not sure I'd attempt to correct an entire car by hand.
 
It's a dark gray color paint. I would use a DA, but in my building I don't have access to a electric plug. How much pressure do you need to apply by hand, in terms of pounds or kilograms? I haven't found anything that mentions this.
 
It's not the pressure (well, yes, that's part of it), it's the number of strokes. When you have a DA that's doing thousands of orbits a minute, it takes a lot of strokes by hand to do the same work.

Not that it can't be done. I would try the UC/UP on a small area and see how you do.
 
Polishing an entire vehicle by hand will result in two things:

Sore arms

Disappointment


Even the least expensive DA polisher is a 500% improvement over anything that can be accomplished by hand

Find a Friend who will let you borrow his garage or an electrical outlet


If you still insist on proceeding by hand, do a 12"x12" Test Spot before proceeding to do the entire vehicle. This step will limit your disappointment to a small area
 
xilex....where to you live? If you're near me I'll let you use my DA.
 
allenk4 said:
Polishing an entire vehicle by hand will result in two things:

Sore arms

Disappointment


Even the least expensive DA polisher is a 500% improvement over anything that can be accomplished by hand

Find a Friend who will let you borrow his garage or an electrical outlet


If you still insist on proceeding by hand, do a 12"x12" Test Spot before proceeding to do the entire vehicle. This step will limit your disappointment to a small area
Click to expand...
no truer words have been written. being a newbie, I tried to polish by hand. Luckily, I tried on the wife's car. As stated by Allenk4, the results sucked and all I had to show for it were sore arms and "that's it" look on the wife's face. Save your money and get a DA. Start with 7424, you can sometimes find them used. if you want to still "do something" to make paint look better, get a good glaze (to backfill the light scratches).. you can apply those by hand.
 
Hazcat said:
xilex....where to you live? If you're near me I'll let you use my DA.
Click to expand...

I live in Orange County. Maybe I'll just cover everything up with wax so at least no more scratches show up. One day when I move out of here I'll have an outlet to work with. Heh.
 
tenblade2001 said:
no truer words have been written. being a newbie, I tried to polish by hand. Luckily, I tried on the wife's car. As stated by Allenk4, the results sucked and all I had to show for it were sore arms and "that's it" look on the wife's face. Save your money and get a DA. Start with 7424, you can sometimes find them used. if you want to still "do something" to make paint look better, get a good glaze (to backfill the light scratches).. you can apply those by hand.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Compounding by hand wasn't worth the time it took to complete the job. I used to use M80 with one of those 6" orbital "wax spreaders" from sears.

In that regard, the Ultimate Polish sounds like a great idea to cover up / fill in the scratches, and clean up the paint.
 
xilex said:
I live in Orange County. Maybe I'll just cover everything up with wax so at least no more scratches show up. One day when I move out of here I'll have an outlet to work with. Heh.
Click to expand...

You realize that the Meguiar's headquarters is in Irvine, and that they hold monthly Thursday Night Open Garages, where if you are lucky your car could be a sacrificial offering with the group helping you polish it. Allen might even help you.
 
Better yet maybe Detailing.Com might give you some pointers they are located Detailing.com
15801 Rockfield Blvd., Ste. A
Irvine, CA 92618
 
Aside from being tired, you may also be disappointed with not using a DA. The DA gives you a better shot at getting good, consistent results. Plus, you can use more products I imagine. Not sure if you can use DATs by hand?? Probably not as you need to break down the abrasive during the process. Seriously, if you're gonna be doing this periodically it pays to have a DA. You can get a decent one at Harbor Freight for about $60, or look on eBay and Craigs for a more popular brand.

What if you tried an AIO sealant that has swirl removing capabilities? I just corrected a black Yukon and had real good results with Griot's All-in-One Paint Sealant for removing anything left after Megs swirl remover. The Griot's has a little bit of swirl removing capability.
 
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