# First Machine Polishing



## Charlie15 (May 17, 2014)

Evening folks,

I have been getting more into this detailing malarkey recently and thought I would share my first attempts.

The routine I undertook was as follows:

1. Snow foamed
2. Washed with 2 bucket method
3. Clayed
4. Snow foamed again
5. Dried using waffle weave microfibre towel
6. Polished with Menzerna 85RE and a hex logic white pad
7. Glazed with Poorboys black hole
8. Waxed using Poorboys Nattys Red

The correction I achieved is by no means perfect, but this was my first attempt using the machine polisher and I thought best to get to grips with it first. Perhaps in the future I will use the more aggressive Menzerna 204 and/or the orange cutting pad.

Anyway, pics are below. Any comments, tips, constructive criticism is welcomed.

Snow foam:
IMG_2181 by Charlie_46, on Flickr

Wheels cleaned:
IMG_2184 by Charlie_46, on Flickr

Claying:
IMG_2186 by Charlie_46, on Flickr

After claying:
IMG_2185 by Charlie_46, on Flickr

Paint condition before:
IMG_2187 by Charlie_46, on Flickr

Paint condition after:
IMG_2188 by Charlie_46, on Flickr

Completed:
IMG_2189(1) by Charlie_46, on Flickr

IMG_2194 by Charlie_46, on Flickr

IMG_2196(1) by Charlie_46, on Flickr

Then it rained, so I thought I would investigate the beading:
IMG_2199 by Charlie_46, on Flickr


----------



## Stueyturn (Jun 29, 2011)

Great write up!

Which snow foam did you use and how do you rate the Nattys red?
Stu


----------



## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Nice job 8)


----------



## Volcom (Apr 24, 2014)

Come do mine!


----------



## basky (May 26, 2009)

8) Nice job matey


----------



## mullum (Sep 16, 2011)

Clayed, polished and waxed mine over 2 whole days last weekend (for the first time). Absolute nightmare, hated it. I'll be cleaning the dried polish dust out of every nook and cranny (of the car) for god knows how long ! I "corrected" the paint in general, but actually managed to cause some deep scratches here and there during the process. Even completely ruined one area where I tried to "fix" some lacquer peel - ended up going down to the original paint :-(
I now understand why detailers take so long and charge so much !
DA polisher, clay and polish probably up for sale soon :-/


----------



## Cloud (Sep 4, 2012)

mullum said:


> Clayed, polished and waxed mine over 2 whole days last weekend (for the first time). Absolute nightmare, hated it. I'll be cleaning the dried polish dust out of every nook and cranny (of the car) for god knows how long ! I "corrected" the paint in general, but actually managed to cause some deep scratches here and there during the process. Even completely ruined one area where I tried to "fix" some lacquer peel - ended up going down to the original paint :-(
> I now understand why detailers take so long and charge so much !
> DA polisher, clay and polish probably up for sale soon :-/


Blimey, you must be a bit heavy handed! I must admit, I've heard horror stories about causing deep scratches, but I've used my machine polisher and clayed twice now with spectacular results. Mind you, I am female and we're really good at multi tasking, as you probably know! :lol:


----------



## mullum (Sep 16, 2011)

Sorry i didn't mean from the actual polishing - as I was working I discovered new scratches and somehow I might have scratched the car whist working.


----------



## Lollypop86 (Oct 26, 2013)

Cloud said:


> mullum said:
> 
> 
> > Clayed, polished and waxed mine over 2 whole days last weekend (for the first time). Absolute nightmare, hated it. I'll be cleaning the dried polish dust out of every nook and cranny (of the car) for god knows how long ! I "corrected" the paint in general, but actually managed to cause some deep scratches here and there during the process. Even completely ruined one area where I tried to "fix" some lacquer peel - ended up going down to the original paint :-(
> ...


ha ha  lol

Great write up got some good tips 

J
xx


----------



## dextter (Oct 29, 2007)

Nice one Charlie, a credit to you, and EXACTLY how a Red and Black QS should look.......!! 8)


----------



## Charlie15 (May 17, 2014)

Thanks for the comments folks, much appreciated. I will admit that I was nervous cracking the machine polisher out for the first time. Having said that...the first time I ever used one was when my friend was offering some training...on a TVR Tuscan :?

If I had any advice it would be to ensure that the paint is properly prepared to begin with, fully decontaminated etc. Also I was lucky enough to borrow a garage to do this indoors, it makes a huge difference without the fear of pending rain or dust damaging the paint.

Cheers


----------



## Renegade79 (Feb 26, 2010)

stunning car. well done...


----------



## TomQS (Aug 2, 2013)

Lovely mate. Top work and the best colour for a QS. (Shortly followed by Avus)..


----------



## Mbulleyment (Jul 29, 2014)

Nice


----------



## Duke of Fife (Jul 13, 2014)

Cracking job on the TT mate. What did you use to take out those scratches seemed to make a big differnce.


----------



## Bartsimpsonhead (Aug 14, 2011)

Good job well done!

One thing though - Meguires don't recommend using Ultimate Quick Detailer with clay bars. I've no idea why (guess there might be something in it that affects claybars or something), but they say to use the red bottle Quick Detailer with them (which is cheaper than Ultimate too!)
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/sh ... k-detailer

It's funny Halfords only sell bottles of UQD rather than QD along with replacement claybars - I guess they make more money out of it.


----------



## Leebo310 (Sep 22, 2011)

Bartsimpsonhead said:


> Good job well done!
> 
> One thing though - Meguires don't recommend using Ultimate Quick Detailer with clay bars. I've no idea why (guess there might be something in it that affects claybars or something), but they say to use the red bottle Quick Detailer with them (which is cheaper than Ultimate too!)
> http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/sh ... k-detailer
> ...


It's because the quik detailer is just a gloss enhancing spray, whereas the ultimate one has actual water repellent properties. By using the ultimate as a clay lube you're effectively smearing a sealant unevenly over the paint!


----------

