red97rs

i guess im ignorant and i thought you just put some wax on let it dry some and buff it off... i was always told that i shouldnt use a buffer unless i knew what i was doing because it can mess up your paint easiy, is that true?? and if not how do i use it? and on another website i saw a old thread about pads... but they never really finished talking about them... so should i use pads before i wax?? idk... just fill me in please
-thanks

94QuasarZ

All you really need to do is make sure your car is washed up good and dried thoroughly before you wax. I use a california water blade for a streak-free dry, and whatever areas I can't get with that I use a microfiber towel. Once you're dry, yes, it is as easy as doing it the old-fashioned way. Put on a thin coat with an applicator, let it dry to a haze, and buff it out with a good clean dry towel, preferably microfiber. I did my '94 with some good old turtle wax this past spring and it worked out great on it. Mothers carnauba cleaner wax is good too if you're willing to pay a bit more, but I use it on my rims too so it justifies the higher price. Mothers helps restore your car's natural color too so it's worth the few extra bucks IMO. A buffer would be ideal if you can get your hands on one, my buddy's stepdad uses one on his 5th gen SS but I never heard of him having any issues with it damaging his paint.

red97rs

Ok. Well I dry mine by driving it haha. Well I own one a buffer... Would I used that to like get the wax off?

94QuasarZ

Yeah the buffer is used to buff out the wax once it's dried to a haze, I personally have never used one but I would imagine as long as you don't stay in one spot for too long you shouldn't have any issues with damaging your paint.

chevy_dude97

I use a high speed with a cleaner wax (usually micro abrasive) to apply and blend scratches, buff out paint from others doors ect....

I use a low speed to remove a gloss coat wax after hand aplication.

The high speed can burn your paint pretty easy in high spots.

I also use lapping or stripping wax on head light covers with the high speed. This works on glass too.

brandons94lt1

Um I beg to differ, and with all due respect, but u do NOT use a buffer to take wax off after it hazes over, if u want to get any sort of results from the wax u need to put it on with the buffer/orbital polisher, thaen take it off by hand or by the orbital. Now if you are referring to a real buffer, looks like an angle grinder, but only turns approx 3000 rpm's or less, the u sure don't want to do it that way. U use the wax as a compound, apply it to the area and work it with the buffer, if u aren't careful u could beat the crap out of the car, break out the windshield, and beat the crap out of yourself if u wrap up the antenna. If u don't know what u r doing, then find a pos to practice on before u do something u will regret, burnt paint, and deep swirls look like s**t, and u r better off taking a less is more approach to this, trust me. I love to detail a car thoroughly, and I always cringe when I see a person who doesn't know anything about the process, decide to take a buffer to their car and they have a bottle of cutting compound, or worse, a leveling or very abrasive compound for really bad paint, and they decide to "polish their ride" swirls, broken glass, trips to the body or glass shop, not how u should learn to handle a buffer. Sorry but imho, if u don't have the experience, and u love your car, u should practice on a mustang first,!!!! Lmao, sorry, a pinto would be better, but either way, tear up something u don't care about, get fluent with the use and operation. Lots of variables can change how a buffer acts, too much compound, not enough, wrong angle, too flat with the pad. It's not something to learn on your pride and joy, or any car u care about. Sorry for the rant

lima 1818

I think rants are a good thing, we actualy learn something from them keep them cumming.

bill2129

lollol. dont dry the car by driving your just asking for brown water spots all over. just use a shamie they work fine. i wash my car then use meguiars wax after i dry it. it looks great

chevy_dude97

I do not use a high speed or DA for wax, I use good ol elbow grease when applying. The buffer I am refering to would be a random directional like the kind you can find near the wax at your local walmat chucks where ever you buy your wax. The buffer expidites the removal of the sealer or what have you. Whith these unless you are using a strong abrasive which would be for oxidation ect its almost impossible to burn the paint. Using a good micro fiber bonnet (clean) should keep any swirl marks. Then I will go back over it by hand with a clean lint free. I guess the amount I have done it with my method its pretty much impossible for me to mess up. I used this method not only to detail my own rides but profesionally with multiple limo services around town. the only time I even touch a diag or DA or anything high speed would be strictly for scratch removal or blending after colour sanding. The random orbitals that do not have multiple settings are just about the same as rubbing with your hand just quite a bit faster. And just about half the time I seen swirl marks it was because of someone using a dirty bonnet or too abrasive of a polish. And of coarse any time you "cut down,blend,clean, then polish" you will have to go back over it with a normal wax or sealant to remove any bi products or dulling. puting wax on for me is just easier with an aplicator as you can keep it off your windows and out of the cracks, I guess doing it on a POS first is a great notion to get the hang and a good stradigy that works.

87DJP2001

Wax on & Wax off......What is so hard or special about waxing a car.

Ardusv

I ned to paint m Camaro but I had a 1969 Ford F-100 a fewyears ago with he original factory paint job. If you use a carnuba wax and apply it by hand in sections on your car you will have no problems. The person above with the rant is right. Lots of people want to do the job quickly. Buffers can do more damage than just to the paint job. A friend min owns a body shop and he mkes the bulk of his money painting cars that people have used buffers on. He explained to me that the buffer heats up the paint and sort of melts it. After many uses the paint starts to swirls. He hates buffers and so do I. If you want to do it right it is gonna take time. Whether you use a buffer or not. It takes me the better part of a day to detail my car. I have always used turtle wax and love the results. When you get out there, if you love your car, you will spend hours detailing it. Show that car the love it deserves. Also do not over wax. Wax is good for 6 months to a year if you put a good coat on it. I know people who wax their car weekly and then wonder why the shine gets hazy.

Ardusv

Just looked over my post and noticed the keystroke errors. Using my kids laptop and the keys are not in the best condition even though the computer was a Christmas present this year for my 15 year old. Guess which car she is NOT learning to drive in.

brandons94lt1

Sorry for the previous rants lol, it's like this, what's so special about waxing a car? Well that depends on what u want your car to look like, and in my opinion, say about how u take care of it. There are lots of options, from the simple wash, don't use dawn or dishwashing soap unless you are intending to strip the wax. As dawn washes the oils of the wax right away. Now if u have rough paint and have some experience with a buffer, or your feeling very energetic, use a rubbing compound or a leveling compound, it will make scratches look a lot better by making the edge smoother, now if your paint is really bad, use what some call a mirror glaze system, meguires offers a lot of good compounds in their mirror glaze step by step products. U want your car to look like colored glass? Providing that your paint isn't down to the primer, and yes u can do a lot with the paint even with the clear coat flaking off, without painting it.. U simply use more aggressive compounds. At the start. Now after u go over the car with these compounds, use a soft dry towel and gently wipe over the entire car before proceeding to the next less aggressive compound. U don't have to use every step. I use a very very harsh and aggressive compound for step one, oh yeah, wash your car, shammy your car, then immediately start to polish, if it sits and all u r doing is waxing, u r waxing a bunch of dust and other things that will lead to more fine line scratches into your paint. Now for step two, (after step one my cars look like colored primer, I like to work the paint) I take a compound less aggressive than the first, but stronger than cutting compound, buff it back up, towel down the car, use cutting compound, towel the car down, then I use a good liquid wax like meguires tech 2.0 and buff that in really well, make sure to work out your swirls while doing the entire process, if u don't u will have swirls that are deeper in the paint and have a hell of a time getting them all the way out, u would have to use the heavier compound, work the swirl out and redo the process on that area. Now look hard down the side of the car, stand back, different angles, direct sunligh can help, but can also keep u from seing swirls on certain shapes and colors, when u dry towel the car bend down and look @ the paint while u r wiping away the excess compound and dust. Now also, if u r buffing, orbitaling, or using your own 2 hands, always change your pads, bonnets, towels, applicator pads before the next step. On dark colors use new pads, u will get better results, less swirls. Now after u have the swirls out from the first finishing wax buff, towel off the car, and put some wax down, and ps u move the compounds with the buffer, don't just wipe it on and knock tehe dry off, that's not buffing, that's not even polishing, to polish u have to work the compound into the paint. So buff another coat of wax into the paint, use a good soft microfiber towel and wipe the car down. Use a soft bristked detail brush, not stiff, and no metal on it holding the bristles, use the brush to get compound out of body gaps, emblems, window molding, etc. There's more too this but I don't need to take up any more space. One last thing, always apply your waxes BEFORE you amoral your tires, or whatever tire treatment u use. Reason is that if even a drop gets on your paint, and u wax over it, u r sealing it into your paint, it will look like a wet spot, wipe it away with a little cleaner wax if it does get on your paint and u don't intend to wax. Sorry guys, I put myself through college by detailing high end cars, I just hate too see smart people making a car look so so when they would do a better job if someone would take the time and teach them, or even explain why it shouldn't be done a certain way. Yeah people have different opinions, that's life, how many of them are willing to do exactly what they do, to their own cars. Just saying.

94QuasarZ

What "car protection film" are you talking about? I looked all over that site and I saw were the bras.

chevy_dude97

turtle wax the new one in the blue bottle.... that stuff is awsome... and yeah you should only apply it by hand... its not a cleaner or cutter... I think I should have been more precise buffing with a buffer or using cutting/polishing compound are for if your paint is not in good shape(IE... oxidation or scratches) otherwise yes you can swirl your paint. BTW that new nano wax is so rad you can get it on the black plastic and it wont turn white!! kinda smells like lighter fluid though...