Compound and then Wax (no polish)?

M

MJT

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Jun 20, 2013
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Hi guys, just wondering if when having compounded a car (m105) if I can then jump to the waxing stage instead of the in between polishing stage. I know the polish gives a deep gloss look but to be honest the wax seems to do that as well. Am I right in saying that? Obviously the wax is primarily there to protect the car but it always seems to give the car that added gloss look. So why polish in between the compounding stage and the wax stage?

Thanks!
 
It depends on the car, the color, what you are looking for. M105 finishes pretty well, so on hard paint, lighter colors, etc. you may do fine going to wax without an intermediate step.
 
Would you suggest on a black car then that the polishing stage becomes more important?
 
In my experience, you must use a polish on black paint. Very, very, rarely will a compound finish black to perfection.
 
Also, you might be really surprised at how hazy your paint actually looks after 105 if you're viewing it in the right light. A Brinkmann might really shed some light on the situation.. pardon the pun.
 
Black is the least forgiving color, but it would also depend on the hardness/softness of the paint on the car you are working on.

The simplest answer is just to check your work after the compounding stage with proper lighting. If there is any micro-marring or hazing from the compounding stage, then use a finishing polish before your wax/sealant. If you check your work after compounding stage and there doesn't seem to be any compounding related marring and you are happy with the level of clarity, then you can move directly to the wax or sealant.
 
OK, so am I right in thinking the main reason for following m105 with polish is to actually take out swirls etc left by the m105?
 
MJT said:
OK, so am I right in thinking the main reason for following m105 with polish is to actually take out swirls etc left by the m105?
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Yep, that's right.

After compounding, I just do a test spot with a finishing polish. I look at the two areas (compound only and compound + polish) side by side. If I can see a difference, I'll go ahead and polish the entire car. If not, I'll go straight to LSP.
 
You'll be much happier if you follow up with the 205, it really finishes off nicely.
I have a black car and can see a big difference after using the 205.
If the car isn't too bad and you can get away using a white pad and 105 then maybe you'd get it to finish nicely.
 
I haven't used the 105/205 combo, but have used the UC/UP combo which some say are similar.

When I finished using UC the finish was smooth and looked pretty good. However, hitting it with UP made all the difference. The shine and feel was much better afterwords. I'm sure that's because the UP was finishing off the corretion done by the UC.
 
Can apply the wax with a finishing pad after m105 have the same affects at all as polishing up?
 
I have found that you can go straight to LSP after using Megs UC. I have done it on a couple black Hondas. I did polish a couple areas for comparison and wasn't seeing enough benefit from the polish compared to just the UC, so I just went straight to Coll 845. If you are getting paid, I guess it matters too what the customer is paying for. Here's a shot of one I did this weekend (I told the guy I would shoot for about 75% correction since he brought it to me full of brush marks from the self-serve car wash - SMH). Took 5 hours to correct to this level using 24x24 sections and 6 section passes each (LC CCS Orange Pads 6" and 4"):
 
MJT said:
Can apply the wax with a finishing pad after m105 have the same affects at all as polishing up?
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No, neither the wax nor finishing pad have any cut that would polish out any micromarring from m105.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
It depends on the car, the color, what you are looking for. M105 finishes pretty well, so on hard paint, lighter colors, etc. you may do fine going to wax without an intermediate step.
Click to expand...

Like Setec said. It depends on your car, the color, and if you are satisfied. I finished my car off with m105 and I am quite happy with the results. I did a test panel to see if m205 would bring out anymore clarity to my paint. I hit it with 8 passes and honestly, to my eyes (20/20) it looked no different. So I said, why bother polishing it if it doesn't look any better? But like I said, my clear coat is super hard german clear coat. If you are working on a soft clear coat like on most japanese cars, it would probably be noticeably different if you hit it with a polish.
 
Put the car outside in the sunlight and look at it from different angles.
Often the car looks great inside of a building with fluorescent lighting.
Put it in the sunlight and you sometimes will be amazed, any swirl marks will show up pretty quickly.
Good luck
 
wdmaccord said:
No, neither the wax nor finishing pad have any cut that would polish out any micromarring from m105.
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Yeah I think that sums it up - that there is some haze after using m105, I definitely found that on the black car I was doing. And a wax/finishing pad has not cut so a polish in between makes sense!
 
If you don't want to polish, then don't start with 105. You'll be amazed at how much correction you can get with 205, not to mention the learning curve is way way waaaaaaaaaay much easier.

Need more cut? Use an orange, or even a yellow pad with 205. Follow that with a white or green, or blue pad and it'll finish out fantastically well.

All too often someone has seen the mention of 105/205 and thinks they need to start with 105 to get something done. Most of the time 105 just isn't needed. It's easier to have a lot of different pads to adjust your cut than 2 pads and a lot of compounds and polishes. (In my case I have a lot of everything!) :laughing:
 
:iagree:

cardaddy said:
If you don't want to polish, then don't start with 105. You'll be amazed at how much correction you can get with 205, not to mention the learning curve is way way waaaaaaaaaay much easier.

Need more cut? Use an orange, or even a yellow pad with 205. Follow that with a white or green, or blue pad and it'll finish out fantastically well.

All too often someone has seen the mention of 105/205 and thinks they need to start with 105 to get something done. Most of the time 105 just isn't needed. It's easier to have a lot of different pads to adjust your cut than 2 pads and a lot of compounds and polishes. (In my case I have a lot of everything!) :laughing:
Click to expand...
 
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