My products - what order would you use them?

[ol]

Hi chaps,

I want to get the paint on my car looking nice and shiny again. I have some shampoo which I'd use first (neighbour has a snow foam lance).

I recently bought a porter cable polishing machine, and have the following products:



- Meguires clay bar kit
- T-Cut
- Sonus polish (got this with the polishing machine)
- Insect and Tar remover
- Trafalgar Polish (used to work for a valeting company so this stuff is about 5 years old...)
- Turtle Wax
- Fast Wax (these were a gift...)

Plus the Porter Cable machine polisher with the pads in the photos.

So...

What order would you use them, and using what polishing pad?

If you think they're not up to the job what should I be looking at buying? I dont want to spend lots on this, as I do lots of miles so the car ends up being filthy after a very short period of time.

Thanks in advance.

[slimtater]

No expert, but the first thing I would do is bin the things that have been lay on the gravel!

Perhaps:
Wash/dry
Insect remover
Clay
Wash/dry
Polish
Wax

[Tokar]

I would also get rid of the T cut and turtle wax. Go online for some decent shampoo and washmitt, try detailingworld for advise.

Start off by giving the car a good rinse. Then use your shampoo (obviously) and rinse off. Clay the car next, using water or some detailer spray. I would then machine polish it using some decent polish (Meguiars or similar). Might need to wash it again to get rid of the dust. Dry and add your wax (something like colinite).

I would also look at the machine polishing guides on detailing world as they can do a lot of damage if used incorrectly.

HTH

[PJ S]

Depending on what you're planning on trying to achieve, and what's on the car, then it should be:

Insect remover, followed by rinse (after a min or two of letting the product soften the bugs' remains), then a two-bucket wash.
Any tar should be dealt with at this stage, and rewash those sections where it was used.
Leaving the rinse water on the car (not if it's a hard water area!) then clay the car fully or feel for any areas with clingfilm over your fingertips whilst wet.
If dried because of hard water, then you'll need a further wash after using the clay & lube, then dry.

At that point, you're ready to remove swirls starting with the least abrasive combo of pad and polishing compound.
Once done, apply your fast wax or turtle wax - there are other products better than these, but that's not being snobbish.
If you're happy to make do with what you have, then that's perfectly fine.

[ol]

OK thanks chaps, I think I#m going to invest in some good polish and wax. I don't want to make it a concours car, I just want to get rid of the swirls and scratches and give it a nice deep shine.

Are Meguires generally thought of as the best to buy?

[slimtater]

I have used Meguiars and found them to be ok - used the deep crystal 3 step system of paint cleaner, polish and wax.