Mike Phillips
Active member
- Dec 5, 2022
- 51,004
- 7
Myself and other detailers were just chatting last night on how modern compounds and modern hard clear coats finish so well theres no need to second step with a finishing polish
and on test spots the finishing step didn't add anything.
You can one step with compounds on hard clear coats now days.
I would respectfully disagree and I'll share why - at least in my experience which forms my opinion.
Test Spots are vitally important but if they don't include stripping off the oils they may not tell the complete story.
If we use BLACK paint as the only test to prove the end results of a compounding process then my experience is that if you're using one of the great compounds on the market today with a a foam or fiber cutting pad, after wiping off the residue the paint clan look perfect.
If you were to wash this black car to remove the polishing oils you would see sections of paint that look dull and hazy. The polishing oils immediately after wipe off can mask or hide dull paint.
The dulling effect can be caused by the aggressiveness of the pad used. It can also be a combination of the pad and the compound.
To be safe and to ensure a UNIFORM appearance over the entire car my opinion and practice is follow an aggressive compounding step (no matter how great the results may look), with a follow-up polishing step using a less aggressive polish and pad.
On a vehicles with light colored cars you can get away with it because the human eye cannot detect the dulling or hazy appearance as well as on black paint but if it's happening on black paint then it's happening on all colors of paint.
