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Depends on the pad manufacturer - unfortunately different colors can mean something different across different lines. Lake Country, Buff & Shine and Meguiars all make quality pads. it is also machine dependent. If your using a DA (dual action polisher-put aside that orbital unless you know what your doing) than let me recommend Lake Country Pads.
For a mild polish, Menzerna 4000 or Sonax 3/6 do really well on German paint - both have a cut level of 3 on a scale of 1-10 (with ten being the most aggressive). Another excellent mild polish readily available from you local auto parts store is Meguiars M205. Do a small test area first to make sure you have the right pad and polish combination. Least aggressive combination first, then step it up if that doesn't work.
Do yourself a favor and buy some quality MF (micro fiber) towels. Microfiber Madness sold exclusively at carpro-usa.com are the hands down best towels on the market and won't scratch your paint. http://www.carpro-us.com/microfiber-madness/ If I had to do to over again, I would only buy their towels. Waverunner for drying and Yellow Fellow for removing polish.
I've used the cyclo. It's pretty similar in results to the normal DAs, but it feels different. I would be worried about smacking the metal body against a panel. In my opinion, it's 1950s technology. DAs are already very gentile. I would rate aggressiveness in the following order:
Porter Cable
Cyclo
Griots
Rupes
Flex
Rotary
I've used the cyclo. It's pretty similar in results to the normal DAs, but it feels different. I would be worried about smacking the metal body against a panel. In my opinion, it's 1950s technology. DAs are already very gentile. I would rate aggressiveness in the following order:
Porter Cable
Cyclo
Griots
Rupes
Flex
Rotary
I would agree that a rotary is the most aggressive piece of equipment out there but I would consider all the other DAs in the same boat. It's not about the machine but it's the pad/polish combination that determines aggressiveness. Also there is a technique to using these machines that is very simple but worth learning. Autogeek.net has tons of instructional videos on the proper usage of all these machines - worth watching.
Remember that gloss is derived from how defect free the paint surface is, not from the LSP (last step product). If you wax a dirty car, it's not going to get shiny - it's all about the prep.
I'll ditto the comment earlier about different manufacturers use different colors for their pads.
Also, not only will tap water leave water spots from the minerals, but depending on where you live, acid rain will do the same thing - well, more accurately, it leaves water spots but for different reasons.
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