max5ive0

Thanks! Had the Souveran lasted this long or have you reapplied? Does sealant bead water like wax? because how do you tell when the wax is gone and sealant remains?

CCTking

The Souveran has about worn away by niw but the sealant is still going strong. Sealants usually have a harder looking crisper shine as compared to the warm gloss found in waxes. Sealant works much like wax in that it still protects your car, but has been scientifically engineered to be stronger and last lo ger while still maintaining carnuba-like qualities. You can tell over-time the smoothness after a wash or how well the water beads pr sheets off the car.

FromZto5

I used to hand polish and hand wax as well. Did it for years. And just as stubborn as I was to accept iPhones and iPods, so was I for moving on to buffers. My hand and arm can't compete with a machine that rotates at 6k or more rpms. It does it quicker and better than I could ever dream of. I've switched to machine buffing for the last 9 years or so. Never looked back.

CCTking

Im a firm believer in the manual method. Yea the results could be better with a polisher but do the job right by hand and the level of personnal satisfaction is almost unbeatable

FromZto5

Bro... You know I love you and mean NO disrespect right?

However... Regarding hand polishing, either you have bionic hands or you are spending 300 hours buffing your car, but chances are you still have a LOT of remaining swirls.

Let me explain.

Using a buffer, a very high quality high speed buffer, I average 14 hours, of work. This results in about 95% correction. This effort includes 3 different pads... A coarse orange one, a fine gray one, and a super fine red one.... That's 3 different times I go over the WHOLE car. Going over the whole car means dividing it to 2x2 foot sections, then doing 6 to 8 passes each to make sure it's SWIRL FREE.

So just think about that.... All that work for a MACHINE that spins at thousands and thousands of rpms faster than any hand or arm does. And sometimes I don't get to correct all those swirls because they're so deeeeep... Meaning I need a coarser pad or a lot longer correction time. That's why I say 95% correction... The 5% is usually not worth it because you would eat through too much clear coat to get to it.

This is why buffing is far far far superior to hand buffing. It's virtually impossible to hand polish and get to the level of correction machine buffing would do.

Now don't get me wrong, hand buffing to some folks is still good, I guess, but it's more so doing it just to "do it".... But don't expect results to be anywhere close to machine buffing. Time is very precious to me now adays, so if I can get my show car shine in much less time and get truly swirl free yet still get my detailing fix and be "one" with my car, sign me up.

Just my 2 cents. Again no disrespect..... But just showing you how you can save a LOT of time, get better results, but still be in love with detailing

I know there is a significant up front cost to machine buffing, obviously. The buffer, the pads, polish, etc.... And you're a college student, so perhaps that's why you're pushing hand buffing... That's ok, I understand and respect that. If you were close to Iowa I'd detail your car with you, at least initially, for free

CCTking

Bro..... You know i know all or most of what you told me! But still just the feeling pf following the countours with your hand you really get a sense pf how the designers felt. Ypu really learn the physical body pf the car

Mustang259

I agree wholeheartedly, that machine polishing is faster and in some ways better than hand polishing, but I am like CCTking and enjoy the feel of the car and the satisfaction of the completed work.
Plus it is a lot quieter to polish a car by hand
BTW, I am probably older than Zto5 and CCTking combined, so some day I will have to break down and either have the detailing done or get a machine;(
I am really enjoying this thread and all the input!

FromZto5

Ok ok you win hehe...

I dunno. I'm pretty old

CCTking

Zto5 i wish i had a darker color to really snap necks Your 5.0 is easily one of the nicest ones here

Mustang4, well you could always ask one of us "young bucks" to take care of your car for ya!

MarcHarris

Sorry I'm currently out of town taking care of an owners car over the next few days and can't comment too much, but I agree with Zto5 a you can likely imagine.

I do understand the feeling of personal satisfaction, but you have to take into account your hand's natural pressure points and how the pressure exerted will change through your arm motion.

I in no way was trying to say it is impossible to hand polish, or that you can't get good results. I'm only making sure people know that using a machine will be both quicker, more consistent, and safer in the long term.

Keep the good convo up and I'll be back... with a tan

antdog

Had same problem on Monday, I used Zaino's paint cleaner. It took two tries, but it came off.

Stevedotmil

I really like this thread. I had been hand waxing and polishing for about 15 years before I finally figured out that I already had a PC2424 DA that I had been using for furniture projects (sanding). Once I started reading up on using the buffer to polish and apply stuff I was like, Heck Yeah!!!. The first time I did it I came back in the house and my wife was asking me if I was taking a break. I had to let her know I was done. Work smarter not harder. Having some shoulder problems lately makes me appreciate technology but I get what you are saying about running your hands down all the lines of the car. I still do for the tight spots just so I get good coverage.

FromZto5

This is possibly the smartest quote I've read on a detailing discussion in a long time. This quote, x 1000%

If you can cut the time down by a factor of 1000 or more, plus get better results by the same factor, it's a no brainer.

As for "feeling the lines of the car", that's what hand washing and waxing is for

shurtual86

FromZto5

just finished posting this

https://themustangsource.com/f659/20...mation-521204/

Getportfolio

How do you feel about those small hand held 6 inch orbital buffers? I'm not wanting to spend too much and also large buffers scare me. I've seen my dad burn paint off his old Monte Carlo.

The only thing I don't like about orbitals is when you graze certain flat black areas or trim and traps wax on decal edges. Its almost like you have to do it by hand because it keeps you aware if how hard your pushing on the car. The orbital could be used for large areas I guess..

I saw a buffet at wal mart that was like 25 bucks. Decent?

FromZto5

I'm heading to a meeting so I will respond to this later… But please do not buy any buffer from Walmart.

But your dad probably burned through his paint because he did not know how to properly use that buffer. There's also two types of buffers, the DA or a rotary. Rotaries correct much faster and better but Produce a lot of heat very fast. A DA will correct at about 80 to 90% of what a rotary can do, but will produce much less heat… But it will take a lot longer to correct

Walmart buffers can do neither of those. You will look to spend about $100-$150 starting price for it.

MarcHarris

With some of the newer DA's and technology, they can correct basically as fast with the same result as rotaries. That plus their relative safety is why they've become more and more popular.

Getportfolio

What is DA?

Hadtohaveit'13

Dual action