Dennis C

Our local club attended an event this morning at Adam's Polishes in the Boulder area. It was a great session, and I realized that I didn't know as much about car washing and polishing as I thought. It was a very informative session. I was especially interested in the session on how to use a random orbital polisher. What I realized is that I simply haven't been putting enough pressure on the polisher to allow the polish to work properly. I'm looking forward to using mine again soon...

I also found some cool products that I had to have, including an merino wool wash mitt and a "turbo stick" for cleaning the inside of my wheels and my calipers. They have pretty cool stuff.

I have no affiliation with Adam's Polishes, other than the fact that I was there this morning and I think they have cool products. You can buy stuff from them online at www.adamspolishes.com.

silotwo

Thanks Dennis - I think you just answered why I felt using the orbital was a waste of time. I put almost no pressure on the unit as I still have a fear of burning through the clear. I just clay barred the C4S about two weeks ago, that came out so good that I didn't drive the car for three days - just kept looking at in the garage. Did they say that you clay bar the car before using the orbital? I think I read that somewhere so maybe it is time to break out the toys and see what I can do.

Dennis C

They said to use the clay bar first to remove surface contaminants. You should then select the least abrasive polish necessary to achieve your goals. Pressure on a Porter Cable or similar type of random orbital polisher should be 10 - 15 lbs. This will allow the pad to rotate slowly as you apply the polish. It's important to work the polish with the polisher until it reaches the "flash point", where it's fully depleted of abrasives. It gets a cloudy hazed look when it reaches this point. I believe that I was stopping too soon before.

I'm going to try paint glaze between polishing and waxing too. It should help provide the "wet" look.

David Clarke

Clay bar. --> swirl remover. --> glaze. --> wax x2

I only use the machine for deswirl, rest by hand. Did mine yesterday, looks great. Don't forget to do the tail lights while you at it

morganabowen

They had one of those classes a couple of years ago with a local Pcar club, and I missed it I've been keeping my eye out for another one I know that they are very informative.

Dennis C

You should clay bar, polish and wax your headlights too...

They also recommended clay bar on the glass.

mpd425

I just had a friend detail my car. I was able to stop in and watch him for a while. He showed me what to do and more importantly what not to do. Results are amazing. I don't want to drive it it's so clean. He also just finished an R8.

babylonboots

I went to Adams last year. I spent $500 in total which included the orbital buffer. All and all good. Lot of work but Adam has good products. Sorry I missed the one in Boulder today.

Dennis C

He's actually got a new shop. They just opened up a week ago. It was nice...

I had lots of products from Griot's Garage already, including their re-branded Porter Cable random orbital buffer. I bought roughly $200 worth of products today, but I learned lots of new tips and tricks.

philooo

the main problem is that the car really get dirty really fast... in the end I think there is no need to bother unless you really have something special to do with the car like a photoshoot or high school reunion lol

fpena944

That's interesting about the pressure on the random orbital buffer. I'll have to remember that when I use mine again as I also think I wasn't pressure enough on it.

wross996tt

where is the new shop in boulder?

dennis hiip

I recently have been spending time on the Autogeeks.net detailing forum and now find that there is a wealth of information, skills, and techniques out there that are shared on the forum. Also, an almost endless variety of high quality products on the market. Seems like many members are fanatics and share their hands on experience. I'm kinda excited about trying some of the latest stuff that give amazing results.

Dennis C

It's just outside of Boulder.

Adam's Polishes
587 S. Taylor Ave.
Louisville CO 80027