I guarantee you that nobody here loves washing a car more than I do, and I can prove it. After 25 years in the commercial print/direct mail marketing world as a sales rep working with clients like Oakley, Petco, Nutro Pet Foods and many more, I made a major career change and went to work for Meguiar's. I'm now the admin of our online forum, I run our Social Media channels, and I teach our detailing classes and do demos at the Barrett-Jackson auctions, radio and magazine interviews/training clinics, etc. I'm not happy unless I'm washing a car or polishing paint - I really love the polishing paint part aspect though, from wet sanding to rotary, forced rotation or DA work. Forget trying to remove defects by hand - there's a reason power tools were invented!!

 

Steak dinner for my new bestest friend ^^^.. come on down!

I've acutally got a 10 year old buffer still in the box that was a Christmas present.. too worried I'll burn through the paint with it.. LOL.

 

Mike-in-Orange,

Well, give us the lowdown. What's the secret for the "showroom shine"? I've used the Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax for years; a great product.

 

Showroom shine? You need to shoot higher than that - I've seen too many cars sitting in the showroom full of swirls, and that includes a $430,000 Rolls Royce Phantom sedan.

To really get the kind of finish I'm hoping you want, you need to do a full and proper washing first, then fully decontaminate the car. This is usually done with a clay bar to remove all the above surface bonded contaminants that make the paint feel rough to the touch, but these days there are alternative products like the Nanoskin pad, Speedy Prep Towels and others. They're a bit pricier than a clay bar kit but they last longer, can do the job faster (the Nanoskin pad is actually used on a DA buffer) and if you drop them you can just rinse then in a bucket to remove anything they might have picked up from the floor (you have to throw away a clay bar if you drop it).

After that it's on to the below surface defects like fine scratches, swirls, etchings from bird droppings or acid rain, etc. This is best done with a good quality dual action polisher like the Meguiar's G110v2 or Griot's Garage 6" (skip the Porter Cable tools as they are really lacking in power). If you really want to speed through defects, pick up the new Rupes LHR21 dual action polisher. They aren't cheap at around $400 each but with a 21mm stroke they can cut like crazy and still leave a fantastic finish. These tools are NOT rotary buffers so the learning curve is very short and shallow and the odds of doing any damage to your paint are slim to none, unless you drop the tool on the car. A high speed rotary, on the other hand, is flat out dangerous if you don't know what you're doing with it, but an absolute dream in really skilled hands.

In any event, with the hardness of the paint on the Crossfire I'd go with microfiber pads for the cutting step (major defect removal) and Meguiar's D300 Correction Compound. Super easy to use, minimal product required, and very fast results. Far superior to foam pads these days. And if you spring for that Rupes 21 you'll be shocked at how fast you can create an amazing shine. In fact, on that tool you can use a microfiber finishing disc and something like Meguiar's M205 Ultra Finishing Polish to not only speed through those defects, but leave a finish that is ready for wax.

My personal favorite combo in a lot of cases, however, is to cut with my Rupes 21, a microfiber finishing disk, M100 Speed Cut Compound, and then do my final finishing polish with M205 on a soft foam finishing pad with my rotary running at 600 to 900 rpm. After that I use whatever wax I'm in the mood to apply because the wax won't make a huge difference after that. I'm a huge fan of Meguiar's Ultimate Wax Paste and the now discontinued M16 Professional Carnauba Paste Wax. And since I'm totally over the top with this stuff, I've actually melted down a can of both, mixed them together and let the mix resolidify. This is now my go-to wax for everything! Easy to apply, dries fast, easy wipe off and it's slicker than snot when done.

By the way, I do this kind of work on the side to make some extra cash, and I charge a minimum of $300 depending on what the customer wants and the condition of the car. My prices go up from there, and pretty quickly depending on expectations and the time it takes to meet them. There are no real shortcuts in this game - if you want a truly killer shine, it's going to take some time.

 

Mike it's nice to see you back on the forum. You raised the issue of Nanoskin pads, I have seen them in fine and medium grades. I'm thinking (again) that fine would be OK on a car that has been previously clayed, would I be correct in that assumption?
I see no Meguiar's product so I will not feel guilty in using another brand of product.

 

Mike, I just asked you this same question via PM. I'm (and others here, I'm sure) really tired of dropping, and replacing, clay bars. Do these work as well?

 

The Nanoskin pads and Speedy Prep towels are great clay substitutes although they tend to be a bit pricey for the average guy. But hey, if you're prone to clay dropping then these could be just the thing you're looking for as you an simply rinse them off if you happen to introduce one to your garage floor. The more aggressive versions of these things can be very aggressive and I'd recommend you stay away from them unless you fully intend to machine polish after use. Just because it's more aggressive and will remove more gunk from the surface in less time doesn't mean it's a time saver, especially if it hazes your paint when you had no other defects previously. Just follow the manufacturers directions and don't get overly aggressive when using them and you'll be more than fine.

 

Thanks, bud. I AM prone to clumsiness. I was thinking the same thing:

"...start with the LEAST aggressive product." Right?