What polishing combo is the best bang for your buck/time with a new car?

[Sandalwood]

Would love to hear your thoughts on what the best bang for your time is as far as noticeable results? 

I like to polish for leisure and to get a bit of pop, but I don't want to be too aggressive on the paint and I'm not concerned with getting every scratch out. 

Which of these three options would you recommend?

1. Correcting and Finishing Polish on color matched foam pads

2. One step polish on microfiber pad

3. One step polish on foam pads 

Thoughts?

Edited October 18, 2019 by Sandalwood

[Rich]

That'll work.   I have a new Equinox (4 months) and I did the Ceramic Spray Coating on it.  Did the full steps including polishing and was really happy with the results. 

[Sandalwood]

6 hours ago, Rich said:

That'll work.   I have a new Equinox (4 months) and I did the Ceramic Spray Coating on it.  Did the full steps including polishing and was really happy with the results. 

Which one? 

[mc2hill]

12 hours ago, Sandalwood said:

Would love to hear your thoughts on what the best bang for your time is as far as noticeable results? 

I like to polish for leisure and to get a bit of pop, but I don't want to be too aggressive on the paint and I'm not concerned with getting every scratch out. 

Which of these three options would you recommend?

1. Correcting and Finishing Polish on color matched foam pads

2. One step polish on microfiber pad

3. One step polish on foam pads 

Thoughts?

 

The least aggressive method would be #3 - One Step with foam pads.  Do a test spot to see if that gives you the results you are looking for.  If not, try a 2nd section pass with the same combo.  If it still does not provide the pop you are looking for, try the same polish on the MF pad (I am not certain if the One Step on the MF pad is more aggressive than CP on a orange pad, guessing they are about the same). 

The problem with the MF pads is they do not always provide a mar-free surface when done, and may need to be followed with FP + a white pad.  I have been lucky with them and only needed the polishing step, but on very dark colors you may need the 2nd finishing step.

[RayS]

The least aggressive would be Revive Hand Polish and I wouldn't rule that out according to the condition of the vehicle.  I had one vehicle come in that was pristine and was absolutely beautiful after using Revive so I didn't touch it with anything else.

[Sandalwood]

11 minutes ago, RayS said:

The least aggressive would be Revive Hand Polish and I wouldn't rule that out according to the condition of the vehicle.  I had one vehicle come in that was pristine and was absolutely beautiful after using Revive so I didn't touch it with anything else.

Hmm, I have some revive but stopped using it because I didn't really notice a justifiable difference for the elbow grease it was taking.

I figured that even finishing polish with the swirl killer would be less work and better results than Revive while not being too aggressive? Could be way off base though.

[RayS]

Revive can be used with a Blue or if you need a bit more cleaning power Orange hand pad.  I especially like what it does to the tail and marker lights in getting them clean and shiny, but tend to use it on many vehicles.

[Yo-Yo Ma's Cousin]

Back packing on revive. I love it, I think it’s great. 
 

 

i have been wondering, has anybody used it on a white pad for machine polishing? I’ve been wanting to test that out for a while.

[Rich]

13 hours ago, Sandalwood said:

Which one? 

 

Just Finishing Polish with a white pad. It's brand new, didn't need heavy correcting, and black besides, and turned out great.  

[Rb1274]

On 10/18/2019 at 6:42 PM, Rich said:

 

Just Finishing Polish with a white pad. It's brand new, didn't need heavy correcting, and black besides, and turned out great.  

I just did my new black car with small swirls with Finishing Polish and white pad and it looks amazing... I was surprised it cleaned up the swirls easily... I really don’t think you need to go orange unless it’s a couple year old car with lots of swirls and scratches

[Black Bowtie]

Revive is a great paint cleaner!

[Chris@Adams]

On 10/17/2019 at 11:00 PM, Sandalwood said:

Would love to hear your thoughts on what the best bang for your time is as far as noticeable results? 

I like to polish for leisure and to get a bit of pop, but I don't want to be too aggressive on the paint and I'm not concerned with getting every scratch out. 

Which of these three options would you recommend?

1. Correcting and Finishing Polish on color matched foam pads

2. One step polish on microfiber pad

3. One step polish on foam pads 

Thoughts?

You have to remember that each paint-clear is different, what might work on one might not as easily on another.

If I was going to have only one system it would be #1.