Bunky

I looked at the other car care products. It was interesting to read some of the choices for the various categories.

That is another way to do it. I have done this before where I washed with a waterless wash, did a test, and then finished it later. I was trying to figure out if the combo worked before I got started on the full detail.

As long as you have washed the car, you should be fine using the PC to wax. You should just use a finishing (soft) pad.

You can really stop anywhere you want. The risk is that you will have to rewash to continue the steps or do a complete phase on one section. If you are doing this over several days, I do not think lack of protection is an issue if you rewash. It will not need re-claying, etc. For example, tape off a section where you would wash, clay, de-swirl, etc as a minimum in the time you have alotted. No need to apply protection but you could You could repeat this and then wash one final time the entire boat prior to waxing.

The Flex is not just a more powerful PC. It is a significant upgrade. I moved up from a UDM 1.0 (faster PC) and it just took one panel to notice faster correction with a less aggressive pad and polish. My recommendation is borrow one for a test panel or two and decide for yourself.

Most microfiber suppliers recommend warm water only for washing and low heat dry. If you have problems with absorbency trying soaking in some warm water with diluted APC.

You should clean the pad. You do not need to be polishing with a pad with dry polish. It could easily mar the paint.

Polish is sorta like a controlled sanding process where the polish is a lubricant and abrasive. The pad also acts as an abrasive. Like sanding, pressure, hand speed, time on a spot, etc. effect how much paint is removed. There are many techniques but generally accepted basic technique with a PC is high speed (5 or 6) with enough pressure so the pc slows down some but not to the point it stops spinning at a linear speed of say 1 inch per spec. You can use different combos (speeds, pressure, etc) but you will generally get faster results with the basic technique. The orbital nature insures it is does uniformly and you do not burn through the paint like circular polishers can. You can play with a PC and a foam pad and notice that it really is pretty tame. I was working on removing some shower water spots and found a terry cloth towel with some strong hand pressure worked faster than a PC with a 4-in pad. Now, I would not want to do that on the entire glass by hand so the PC was a little slower but less tiring, etc.

How much have you polished?

Right.

My post was to highlight with a rinseless you can do a test spot at any time or just polish on demand. You can get as far as you want (one section, two sections, the hood, etc,.) then protect it and come back to it later. You can drive the car somewhere and then come back use the rinseless wash and continue polishing. No need to drag out a hose, etc. and let it stay while doing the polishing. I think many get rushed and try to do a major correction too quickly because it can take a very long time for a whole car correction. I think some get lured by watching a 5 minute demo and never realize the car has many 18 inch sections.

My comment about tape was to create a nice before and after section demarcation for making easy for comparisons and just define a work area.

This is good advice. Do not try to tackle too much the first time. With products like the Waterless Wash, you can do a test spot at any time. You do not need to dedicate a day. Just find some time, get some Waterless wash, clean the spot, tape it off, and take it slow and to work your test spot. When you run out of time or want to think about it, wash it again, remove the tape, put down some wax to protect it, and work on it again when you have some more time.

I use Micro-restore but have also used Woolite. He machine. Machine wash warm, 2 rinses, add a little vinegar (1/3 cup to rinse reservoir). No bleach. All consistent with 99% of the mf towel care instructions. Wipe down dryer prior to wash with a APC to remove any fabric softener on the interior. Dry using warm (casual setting) and dryer balls. You do not need to get them very dry.

When I was first learning tricks on polishing. one experienced detailer said. With these tools, what you put into the paint (micromarring) while taking defects out of the paint can be removed in a subsequent step so unless you drop the unit on the paint or burn through it (mostly a rotary issue), it is safe. The secret is to put in as little marring as possible with the pad/polish to minimize the work needed in finishing step (to clean up the prior steo). This is the moral behind using the least aggressive method needed. I can say a terry cloth applicator with a little passion behind it can do a lot more damage than a PC with a cutting pad. I learned this while trying to remove water spots from shower stall. Until I was able to get results with the terry applicator, did I appreciate the safeness of a PC even witha 4-in orange (LC) pad.

I have seen some people actually mount their halogens on carts like this. If you buy some halogens, the top section comes up and you can just set it on a shelf. Keep posting any improvements. I am working on a "wash cart" that I can put 2 buckets, brushes, etc which is really a wooden cart on casters. I hate bending over to dip the mitt in the bucket or toting the buckets around.

I have not been to Mt Mitchell in a long time but it is nice to see they have built a good observatory. When I was there last, it was cold (below 40) and foggy. Nice to see you are roughing it...

Where are the cars? All I see is something else. Attention fellas!

I kept a thermometer with a memory (recorded lowest temps) in the garage last year just to see how cold it got which is how I knew it was 50 F inside when I started and 55 F or so when I finished. Halogens can heat up the garage. I found the garage was usually 10 F warmer than outside but never seemed to drop below 45 F even when below freezing (20 F is cold here) since it is attached to the house.

On some painted plastic parts (like spoilers) the paint may be thinner so be careful but in general where there is paint you can polish. I have been able to do most anything I wanted at around 50-55 F in the garage when it was much colder outside (30's). This is where rinseless and waterless washes really come in handy.

I have 4 8ft banks in my garage but I need to add some on the extreme sides to get more side illumination. Now, I have been more clever about running AC to them first. The less I have to deal with halogens (hot, pain to position) the better. It does not replace halogens but then i have the dual xenon flashlight for spotting swirls.

I googled and found several places that sell Made in USA polos for under $40.

I spritz my pad with detailer or water since I do not want a dry foam pad rubbing against the paint.

There are many apparel places that sell nice embrodied shirts for around $20 to $30 and they use nice shirts.

I just purchased a Flex. All that I read is that you will need a less aggressive polish/pad to achieve the same correction as a PC. Now, my UDM seemed to do more than a PC but I wanted faster correction. We shall see.