GerryC

My process To clean: wash pad on top of the grit guard, in the sink. Use the sprayer attachment at 45 degree angle, from the center of the pad outwards. Inspect for and remove any small dirt particles. If the pad has visible staining, one shot of APC agitated will suds up big time to take care of it. To dry: wring out excess water and lay them flat on the dish rack. Next day, wring them out again (water will have settled) and flip them over. If the pad fibers start to "dreadlock" you can gently brush them out with a hair brush or wide-toothed comb.

Some major e-tailers such as Amazon and Newegg allow other shoppers to rate the reviews written by others in terms of helpfulness, and you can sort the reviews by which was deemed most helpful. I am shopping for some new computer monitors, and one of the options I narrowed my choices down to exhibited a perfect example of what Chris mentioned: On a "five star" system, sometimes people vote 4 or 3 stars because they don't fully understand the product or what its limitations are. Meanwhile, others will vote 2 or 1 stars for nothing to do with the product itself. There are multiple one-star reviews on Newegg for the monitor I am looking at; it far exceeded the satisfaction of many of these people, but they rated the product 1/5 because the rebate form was emailed to the customer rather than the physical paper copy being in the box. Of course nothing is perfect, so some of the lower reviews are indeed accurate. But it always helps to read them and judge for yourself whether or not the product deserved the rating based on what the customer says, good or bad. Some people, believe it or not, don't even understand the five-star system. 1 star, amazing product! 5 stars, arrived broken.

Correct. The smaller one is discontinued, was on clearance, and is now sold out. The larger one will continue to be sold, but is currently out of stock. I believe Nick said somewhere that they should be back within a week.

Mini is sold out

Confirmed this was an issue with Internet Explorer. Implemented a fix and confirmed it works. Try again and let me know.

A good rule of thumb is, polish corrects and wax protects. When you wipe polish residue off your paint, there should be nothing left behind (unless it has fillers, and Adam's polishes do not have fillers). When you wipe off wax residue, you are leaving behind a protective layer on top of your paint. There are polishes that aren't abrasive - Adam's Revive Hand Polish is one of them - no correction power, but more of a "paint cleaner".

I use QS for lenses, but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to use LPS on your tail lights.

I will be using diluted Rinseless Wash as my clay lube this year. Starting off with a 1:32 ratio, which works out to $4.50 a gallon.

Can you test this out in a different browser to see if the same problem occurs?

When you say "no quote", do you mean the quote box is empty, or the quote box doesn't appear at all in the reply field? What device/browser are you using?

You should always separate your towels based on their duties when washing them to avoid cross contamination. That utility towel with engine grime shouldn't be anywhere near your super plush doublesoft that was only used to remove sealant residue from your clean and polished paint. I separate into 3 loads based on type and use 1. Plush towels (close to, if not completely, dirt-free) 2. Glass, waffle weave, interior towels (lightly to moderately dirty) 3. Metal, utility, etc (will turn the water black) I wash them by hand within a day or two of use: clean bucket, warm water, revitalizer. Towels in the 3rd category get a drop of Woolite mixed in to help extract the grime. Hang dry.

Yeah, you're probably right. >.< In that case, I don't know what's up with them. I think they were stopped due to a combination of people complaining that they used way too much product compared to the traditional sprayers, and difficulty sourcing American-made foaming sprayers.

The polish itself will remove wax on the surface, so between that, and initially stripping it with APC in your wash bucket, that should get you down to bare paint. You will be able to tell if it's stripped by how the rinse water stands on the surface - if it beads or sheets right off, it's still protected...if the water "sticks" flat to the surface, then you're bare. You can also clay the area to remove the protection prior to polishing.

If you are referring to the Gilmour Foam Gun, Adam's stopped carrying them when it was discovered parts of it were manufactured in China. I found mine on Amazon for around $30.

You don't have to wait 45 minutes to layer anything on top of QS. It's pretty much ready to go right away. Depending on your vehicles storage/driving conditions, a coat of QS should last about 5 months, give or take. Sealant protects the clearcoat from environmental elements which can bond and etch the surface. It reduces surface tension so dirt, pollen, etc has a harder time sticking. It helps protect from re-introducing light swirls. Sealants need to be put on bare paint. They actually bond to the surface, whereas waxes sort of "sit" on top of it. Sealants last the longest, so if you put a 5-6 month sealant on top of a 1 month wax, your sealant will also only last 1 month.

Please post photos if possible. It is difficult to give advice and gauge how severe a scratch is without at least seeing it.

This hopefully will hold you over for now

I do not know about Dodges, but I believe the spoiler may be ABS plastic and not fiberglass. The spoiler and hood scoops on my G8 did not correct as easily as the rest of the car because they are plastic. Also, realize that since your car is black, you will see every tiny imperfection there is. Perfect paint on a black car is extremely tough to accomplish, so again, don't feel discouraged since this is only your first time polishing.

Unfortunately, you can't recommend products to others based on your own positive experiences without being labeled a crony. Just ignore them and enjoy your shine

I've found repeatedly that resprayed panels have harder clearcoat than factory. And don't worry about ruining your clearcoat. The Cyclo, these pads and these polishes are nowhere near the level of aggressive which can cause that type of damage.

He's using the Cyclo. If the microfiber pads made the paint look worse, then you probably have soft clearcoat. Did you do both the orange and white steps? In the process of removing the large swirls, the orange will impart some micro-swirls by nature, which the white will clean up. Make sure you are not using too much product, and you are moving the polisher slow like in the video. If you try to rush it, it won't have time to do the work it needs to remove the swirls. Slow, methodical movements, in one direction (up/down) then in another (left/right) until the polish turns clear (it will look like vaseline when it has been worked completely). Don't get discouraged if you don't remove of all the swirls right away. Polishing is a process, and once you dial in your technique it will be easier to get results. Where do you live? Maybe someone on the forum is nearby and willing to help get you started.

If you are planning on doing a full wash, then rinsing after foaming is a waste of soap, water, and time. After foaming, I go straight to washing. I use an electric pressure washer with the wide fan spray for my initial rinse. Adam's soap produces high volume suds and is perfect for your foam gun, foam cannon, and regular wash buckets. Just don't put it in your washing machine (moved into Wash, Dry & Claybar forum)

You certainly can, especially with the Cyclo (compared to other machines) because the smaller pads will fit inside the Americana tub. However, most people don't use a machine to apply paste wax because you'll be constantly picking up and putting down the machine since you are stopping every other panel to wipe off the residue. Plus, they like to get "up close and personal" with their car when putting down that final layer, which with paste wax is important, especially when removing the residue. If you do use the Cyclo to spread your paste wax, make sure you use it on a low speed.

Glaze can be done by hand or machine. With the machine you'd use the red pads if you have them. If not, the black ones will work just the same. If you have any chrome on your car, put the glaze on your chrome as well. To get the Americana on the applicator (pad should come inside the jar if you haven't already opened it) simply use the pad to agitate the top of the wax. I believe there is a thin paper liner between the wax and the pad that you need to remove before using it for the first time. Since it's a paste, Americana it will set much quicker than traditional liquid waxes, and the residue needs to be removed within a few minutes otherwise it could harden to the point that it becomes very stubborn. Because of this, when you apply Americana, do only one or two panels at a time. By the time you finish applying to the second panel, the first panel should be ready to wipe off. Work your way around the car in this manner, and make sure you knock off all the residue before moving on to another panel.

Don't worry Rich, I'll bring a copy of my paper to Carlisle so you can read it. Everything will make sense then.