Can I machine buff revive hand polish and LPS?

[Dkhazlett]

I just spent 7 hours on Saturday doing a strip wash, clay bar, revive hand polish, LPS, Brilliant Glaze, and detail spray on my wife's Merc. An unseasonably hot/humid day in San Antonio too, but the less said about that the better. Anyway, I did the whole thing by hand. Car looks great but It kicked my you-know-what.

 

My Ram 1500 is next, same routine, when the inclination and opportunity strike at the same time. Differences - a lot more sheet metal, and I need to be on my small scaffold to reach parts of the roof and hood. I would love to use my orbital polisher to buff off the Revive and LPS just to save some elbow grease and hopefully time. I don't see any soft microfiber pads on the web site or know of a good way to pin a single soft over an applicator pad to do it. Any suggestions? Or am I doomed to hand buffing the truck too? If anybody has a tip it's you guys...

[falcaineer]

Grey foam pad for the PS, http://adamspolishes.com/shop/accessories/buffing-pads-applicators/adam-s-new-6-gray-foam-waxing-glazing-pad.html. The Revive is actually designed to be used by hand with the blue hexgrip applicator, but someone else may have input on another one you could use (white foam pad, maybe?).

 

I don't know the condition of your paint, but what led you to try Revive vs. CP or another more suited to a polisher? Granted starting least aggelressive first is the general rule, but it sounds like this may be the first time you're doing this, so the swirls may not be fully removed with the Revive.

[mc2hill]

Adam demonstrated removing polish/wax with a machine in an old video.  He put a foam pad on the PC, then placed a MF towel around the pad.  The key seemed to be using a very low speed, so the towel does not spin, but just 'giggles'. 

[Nathan]

I saw the same video that Michael saw and I tried putting a microfiber below the pad on the machine, but honestly it didn't work very well. You probably are better off just hand buffing, the machine was hard to control.

[Dan@Adams]

Grey foam pad for the PS, http://adamspolishes.com/shop/accessories/buffing-pads-applicators/adam-s-new-6-gray-foam-waxing-glazing-pad.html. The Revive is actually designed to be used by hand with the blue hexgrip applicator, but someone else may have input on another one you could use (white foam pad, maybe?).

 

I don't know the condition of your paint, but what led you to try Revive vs. CP or another more suited to a polisher? Granted starting least aggelressive first is the general rule, but it sounds like this may be the first time you're doing this, so the swirls may not be fully removed with the Revive.

 

David was asking if he could use the machine to remove the residue/haze from applying by hand rather than applying by machine. 

 

As Michael and Nathan said, you can put a Single Soft Towel around a foam pad and run the machine at a slow speed to wipe off the haze from the polish or wax, but for me it was more hassle than I wanted to deal with - the towel flops around sometimes and can fall to the ground, so for me it's much faster and easier to just wipe off the residue by hand. 

 

If the residue seems difficult to remove, do one panel at a time and wipe off so that the product isn't sitting on the paint as long, or use a light mist of Detail Spray on the surface to make removal easier Sometimes I'll start with the hard-to-reach areas first (roof, doors, bumpers) since that is when I have the most energy when starting a job. Then I'll switch to a new fresh pad and do the hood, fenders, and trunk since there's less bending and stretching for these areas.

[vobro]

I know this isn't what you're asking but to me wiping off the product is really a small fraction of the work, I would use the polisher to apply which would save you a lot of time. Side benefit is your arms and hands will thank you the next day

Edited May 29, 2017 by vobro

[falcaineer]

David was asking if he could use the machine to remove the residue/haze from applying by hand rather than applying by machine. 

 

As Michael and Nathan said, you can put a Single Soft Towel around a foam pad and run the machine at a slow speed to wipe off the haze from the polish or wax, but for me it was more hassle than I wanted to deal with - the towel flops around sometimes and can fall to the ground, so for me it's much faster and easier to just wipe off the residue by hand. 

 

If the residue seems difficult to remove, do one panel at a time and wipe off so that the product isn't sitting on the paint as long, or use a light mist of Detail Spray on the surface to make removal easier Sometimes I'll start with the hard-to-reach areas first (roof, doors, bumpers) since that is when I have the most energy when starting a job. Then I'll switch to a new fresh pad and do the hood, fenders, and trunk since there's less bending and stretching for these areas.

Oops! Umm, then what Dan said!

 

Thanks for the correction, Dan.

[Dkhazlett]

Thanks for the quick replies! No correction necessary on either vehicle. I baby both of them as an Adam's disciple. Neither has ever been through an automatic car wash. I have been tempted at times but resisted successfully. I know that hand removal of the residue with soft microfiber towels is the purist approach and one that I have followed but am looking for a short cut that won't compromise the finish or the shine. The juice has to be worth the squeeze though. I don't want to spend my day chasing towels that get flung off by my orbital. I pondered using alligator clips to hold the towel onto the pad but the visual image of one of those things skipping across the hood like a flat stone on a lake makes me sit bolt upright in a cold sweat. My wife is an angel when it comes to running towels though the laundry room but there is a point at which she will wonder what in blazes I'm doing out in the driveway. Come to think of it she may already be wondering that. Not sure I want to ask...

[LT1xL82]

Bonnets are available to place over machine pads. They come in varies sizes for everything from huge "WaxMaster" size to smaller ones. Cyclo, for example, sells them to fit some of their 4" pads.

 

That said, I haven't used them since I gave up using my "WaxMaster"!

 

Now, I pretty much apply liquids by machine, apply pastes by hand, and remove both by hand.