What is your favorite compound/polish?

[lizardrko]

Finally got my DA polisher for Christmas. The Griot's Garage G9. What is your favorite polish/compound to use? I hear 3D one is a good 1 step as well as the Sonax Perfect Finish. TW also just released their Hybrid Solutions Pro one and done compound that Apex Detail said cuts the same but finishes better than 3D one. So many choices!

My car only has light swirls at the moment.

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[XS]

I've tried so many it's kinda embarrassing. Most are not much different from each other to be frank. I've also seen reviews from Apex, Forensic Detailing, and Chicago Auto Pros, Pan The Organizer, amongst others, and usually my results are closest to Forensic Detailing. I'm always on opposite ends of the spectrum from Apex so I don't watch him anymore. Not saying it's a bad channel, just saying I disagree with him a bit.
All that said, my top two compounds right now are good ol' Megs M105, and Rupes DA Coarse Compound. M105 dusts like crazy where Rupes doesn't, but nothing I've found deminishes (breaks down) like M105 either. It's old school, but it works. The Rupes is much easier to work with but doesn't break down as good as M105, so you may need to polish twice.
My top two polishes right now are Meg's Ultimate Polish (not M205, rather the consumer grade polish). And Rupes DA Fine Polishing Compound. Meg's Ultimate Polish is nearly the same formula as M205 but with more oils to cut down on dusting - which makes it more consumer friendly. The Rupes polish is a bitch to work with, but it jewels the paint like crazy. The pictures are of my car using M105 to correct and Rupes Fine to polish.
Also, congrats on the polisher!

 

[Aaron1085]

Tuned into this thread for sure.

 

[Labradog]

Sonax Perfect Finish

 

[whitestang5]

Menzerna polishes and sonax perfect finish, Rupes yellow and white pads and your in business

 

[DFB5.0]

I have used Menzerna, Meguiar's, CarPro, Auto Glym and Zaino polishes over the years.

I have just finished using Scholl S20 Black on my blue Falcon earlier this week.
https://www.schollconcepts.com/en/shop/premium-rubbing-compounds/s20black-compound

Scholl S20 is a one step compound that produces minimal dust and wipes off easily. I keep coming back to this product because it is super forgiving to use and gives excellent results.

I would love to try Sonax Perfect Finish but it is extremely expensive here in Australia.

 

[Juantrickpony]

 

[lizardrko]

Love the variety from everyone. I am very new to polishing so I would prefer to start with something user friendly. Because of this, the one step products caught my attention like 3D one and TW hybrid pro. I did watch some videos on the Sonax perfect finish and that one is also good as well.

 

[lizardrko]

Do our cars have a soft or hard clear coat? I am guessing softer since its a newer car?

 

[Juantrickpony]

Yes I was a noob at first too. Watched hours and hours of videos. Check out Larry Kosilla with Ammo NYC (Ammo Car Care). He’s a high end detailer with a wealth of knowledge and great videos. Esoteric is also a great rabbit hole of videos to go down. They’re a high end detailer in Ohio. Apex is okay too.

A big key to success is preparation. You need to first remove any contamination with mechanical and/or chemical decontaminants. ‘Mechanical‘ being a clay bar and ‘chemical‘ being an iron remover. Then once you’re ready for correcting you want to take baby steps and remove as little clearcoat as possible. Do a small ‘test section’ to test your process/products. If the swirls are still there you can then bump up aggressiveness with pads or compounds. I never really had major swirls so a ‘one-step‘ was all I needed using Sonax Perfect Finish, Rupes yellow pads and my Rupes LHR15 DA. It came out great. Then of course you want to protect that beautiful finish with a sealant, wax or coating of your choice.

I believe our cars have a ‘hard’ clear coat which will take a little more effort. I used the same process on my black 4Runner which is super soft and the results were also amazing. Ford and GM are typically hard while Japanese are usually very soft. It all varies though. That’s why test spots are key. Plug that thing in and get to work! DA’s are really pretty safe. It’s hard to really mess up with those.

 

[lizardrko]

Yes I was a noob at first too. Watched hours and hours of videos. Check out Larry Kosilla with Ammo NYC (Ammo Car Care). He’s a high end detailer with a wealth of knowledge and great videos. Esoteric is also a great rabbit hole of videos to go down. They’re a high end detailer in Ohio. Apex is okay too.

A big key to success is preparation. You need to first remove any contamination with mechanical and/or chemical decontaminants. ‘Mechanical‘ being a clay bar and ‘chemical‘ being an iron remover. Then once you’re ready for correcting you want to take baby steps and remove as little clearcoat as possible. Do a small ‘test section’ to test your process/products. If the swirls are still there you can then bump up aggressiveness with pads or compounds. I never really had major swirls so a ‘one-step‘ was all I needed using Sonax Perfect Finish, Rupes yellow pads and my Rupes LHR15 DA. It came out great. Then of course you want to protect that beautiful finish with a sealant, wax or coating of your choice.

I believe our cars have a ‘hard’ clear coat which will take a little more effort. I used the same process on my black 4Runner which is super soft and the results were also amazing. Ford and GM are typically hard while Japanese are usually very soft. It all varies though. That’s why test spots are key. Plug that thing in and get to work! DA’s are really pretty safe. It’s hard to really mess up with those.

Cheers, thanks for the detailed explanation! I will have to check out those channels. I mainly watch Pan the organizer (the non sponsored videos), Apex, and Forensic Detailing plus a couple others at times, but those are my main 3 for tutorials.

I believe my car only needs the yellow pad with whatever product I end up going for as it only has light swirls in some places. I think I have it narrowed down to Sonax Perfect Finish or the new TW hybrid pro one and done. Both seem to cut and finish well with an easy application and wipe off.

My main worry with a full detail is the clay stage. I get paranoid I will marr the paint and cause more work during the correction stage. I have been researching that the high end clay towels/mits are much safer on paint while removing the contaminants, providing proper amount of lubrication is used.

 

[Juantrickpony]

Cheers, thanks for the detailed explanation! I will have to check out those channels. I mainly watch Pan the organizer (the non sponsored videos), Apex, and Forensic Detailing plus a couple others at times, but those are my main 3 for tutorials.

I believe my car only needs the yellow pad with whatever product I end up going for as it only has light swirls in some places. I think I have it narrowed down to Sonax Perfect Finish or the new TW hybrid pro one and done. Both seem to cut and finish well with an easy application and wipe off.

My main worry with a full detail is the clay stage. I get paranoid I will marr the paint and cause more work during the correction stage. I have been researching that the high end clay towels/mits are much safer on paint while removing the contaminants, providing proper amount of lubrication is used.

Actually some of those clay mits can be more aggressive. Plus they’re overpriced. You want a softer clay. I’ve always like the yellow Mothers clay you can get just about anywhere in a little kit that includes a detail spray lubricant and a towel. You definitely want lubrication with the clay bar. You could even just use it with car soap suds. Watch this video....

 

[Tacswa]

I find our newer mustangs have a soft clear coat. My opinion anyway.

 

[XS]

I agree, the Mustang has the softest clearcoat of the vehicles I own anyway... Also, my car had about 5.5 mils of paint on horizontal surfaces and 6 mils on vertical surfaces from new. It's not much depth to play with but there's a few compoundings in there.
If your car has light swirls consider if the AIO you're looking at is more cut than you need. Can you get away with a fine cut polish? If you stick with the AIO there's definitely ways to cut down, or increase if needed, the cut of the AIO as I'm sure you'll notice right away. You will get the hang of increasing/decreasing the working time of the AIO/compound/polish really quickly. What I did when I first started detailing is I went and bought a trunk lid from a junk yard and practiced on that. It allowed me to get the feel for everything. All that said, even with a heavy cut compound you have to really try to burn through the paint - just watch your edges, creases, and peaks.

 

[XS]

Yes I was a noob at first too. Watched hours and hours of videos. Check out Larry Kosilla with Ammo NYC (Ammo Car Care). He’s a high end detailer with a wealth of knowledge and great videos.

Larry is amazing, I've talked with him several times and he will actually respond to anybody about anything detailing related. I felt guilty about using his time so I bought some AMMO products to show I'm not just a mooch, and I gotta say, they're way too expensive for my taste, but they're pretty great products.

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