As a former detailer I know how to photograph cars to really make them look good to advertise my work. As such I also know how to really highlight the before and after. Well today I just finished my seasonal polish. These are some details to show just what's possible with just a 6" cheapy random orbital, wool bonnet and Meguiars Ultimate Compound.
The last big compound I've done was about 4 years ago with Meguiars M105. I keep up with seasonal polishing usually with D151, sometimes with M205 and a waxing with Collinite 915. But usually I just one step it and when the D151 protection wears off I rewax with Collinite. I can say Ultimate Compound removes more swirls than D151 which removes more than M205 but doesn't remove as much as M105. But it has more lubricant so a longer work time allows you to jewel down the finish without adding lubricant like spray detailer unlike M105 which needs additional lubricant to jewel down (I'll explain jeweling later).
This was my entire kit. Cheap Turtle Wax 6" random orbital which I custom modded with a 15 foot extension cord, the 5 inch short cord it comes with is absolutely stupid. It's got on it a wool bonnet, I have several and I make sure to clean them after really well. Collinite 915 for after, keep in mind that all the after shots were done without wax and after an alcohol wipedown to reveal any swirls not hidden with oils or fillers. It's the real deal correction which people assume is impossible with a cheapy random orbital. And in the spray bottle is my homemade spray detailer, I'll tell you more on that later.
Here are a couple before shots. These were taken in direct sunlight which really serve to highlight swirls, holograms and hazing. I also happened to have polished the hood in direct sunlight, generally a no no but cooling the hood with spray detailer before polishing and using Ultimate Compound which has much more lubricating oils in it actually make it feasible to polish in direct sunlight. I know that's an absolute impossibility with M105.
This is a closeup of the side door. Pretty swirly but they're mostly light swirls.
Wide shot of the hood the swirls here are more numerous and definitely deeper but sorta hard to get the lighter swirls to stand out.
Closeup of the hood before to highlight more swirls
A little more on technique. I say you can achieve swirl correction and a hologram and mar free finish with a cheapy random orbital and a wool bonnet but there is a technique. And it's one that took me a while to come up with and master. So trying to be smart and substituting products and technique or rushing it won't get you the same finish. Some people say you can't do any correction and you're better off not buying one and doing it by hand well that's total nonsense. While you can achieve minor correction by hand, the pressure most people apply induces marring in the finish. Plus every person that I've seen that claims they can remove swirls by hand I ask them to tell me where they started and where they finished. Every time I bring out my inspection LED flashlight I can always show them they left marring and they did more correction where they started than when they finished simply because they get tired and or lazy.
To start with make sure you start with a new or well cleaned wool bonnet and make sure it's dry. Before starting with the first panel I prime it by running a whole line of polish down the center. Then work it in by hand to spread it, press the polisher against a panel and turn it on to work the polish into the bonnet. It's now primed. To begin polishing I work small sections at a time. I don't bother doing OCD things like taping lines since this is my daily driver and all I want is for it to look good I don't need concours perfection. Generally I work by features, sheet metal creases individual curves on each panel, etc, on the hood I work lines from top to bottom, on the roof I just work 1/4 at a time on my small car, larger cars obviously means more areas to subdivide it into. It helps me subdivide large panels and get more even correction.
The technique is when the polish is fresh quickly spread it out over the whole small area you're working on. This is where Ultimate Compound really shines as it doesn't flash off as quickly as M105 so is a lot friendlier for the necessarily slower random orbital technique. Then comes working the polish. You need to press down about 3 or 4 pounds of force and move the polisher very slowly, about 15 to 30 seconds per foot overlapping each row you passed previously. This lets the polish work itself down since you don't have the power of a DA you need to move slowly in order to get any decent correction. Now the trick to not leaving marring and holograms is after the polish is worked to a clear consistency, you need to jewel the leftover polish. To do this go back over the polished area with the lightest of pressure and again go slowly. The very light pressure lets the machine spin up to very high rpms and both orbit and rotate quickly and the broken down polish and leftover lubricant help to remove any marring left over. After this immediately wipe off the residue. After the first section you don't need to use as much polish, two half-pea size drops are all that's needed. Don't use too much or it'll sling and also clog the bonnet.
Oh and one more tool I do use in detailing is a flashlight, it's a Solarforce L2 with a custom high powered XP-G module which is emits a very bright concentrated beam which helps easily spot paint defects, it's sorta dual purpose. It helps to easily spot when I've worked the polish enough to remove swirls or if I need to go over the spot again and in between panels when the wool starts to matte up I can use the crenelated bezel with the machine on to fluff up the wool and shake out the spent polish which comes out in a magnificent cloud of dust with the machine on and the crenelations on the bonnet pressed into the rapidly rotating bonnet.
And now the results. This is just polished with an alcohol wipedown to reveal any defects that may be hidden by leftover oils. So this is the true correction. With a decent waxing it obviously looks even better.
This is the side door. As you can see from the before there is a significant reduction in swirls.
This is a hood wide shot. Since it has deeper swirls I couldn't take off all of them but I'd say it's pretty well taken care of. If I spent even more time I probably could remove everything but this is a daily driver and constantly trying to keep the paint perfect means also removing more material than is necessarily good for the finish.
Closeup of the hood to show the amount of correction. Not 100% correction but I'd say it's like 90% there especially considering that's the worst part of the car with the deepest swirls. It looks darn near perfect after waxing anyways.
Are the results perfect and concours ready? No but it's pretty darn good plus go to a car show most of the cars there don't even look this good I always see them buffin' their beauties in front but when I go take a look, swirl city. On mine the swirls are definitely reduced, no holograms, marring or hazing, it's good especially considering this is with a polisher most people say is only good for spreading wax and is impossible to do any correction with. Obviously I was able to do some decent correction and the finish is wax ready, and yes it would definitely be quicker with a higher power DA and you'll get that last bit more reflection if you multi step it but I gave up the detailing business years ago, and getting a concours ready finish is kinda pointless on a daily driver since it's gonna get messed up anyways. Plus the DA's are darn loud and I don't wanna annoy the neighbors with hours of DA polishing, the random orbital on the other hand is nearly silent. Total time for polishing was about 4 hours. Keep in mind that's just polishing. I washed it a couple days ago so spray detailer was used to clean the panel before polishing. Waxing I do by hand with Collinite 915 and that only takes about a half hour to 45 minutes anyways. With a properly prepped surface 915 is very easy to use. I use a wax on wax off method. I don't let the wax dry before buffing it off with a microfiber. This puts a very thin layer but prevents the marring that can occur if you let the wax dry too thick and have to muscle it off.
Oh and if you're wondering about the spray detailer. Here's the formula. I use it and find it works quite well for cleaning and unlike others actually serves to put a little wax on. So it's a good booster when used to wipe up bird bombs or do a little in between wash cleanings.
In a 20 ounce soda bottle pour in two ounces gel wax. I've used Armor All Wax it Dry gel but unfortunately it's discontinued so it's now Eagle One Gel Wax. I've also tried Turtle Wax Carnauba but it tends to separate too fast. One ounce Armor All protectant, yes it's part of it, it's sorta a necessary evil to help emulsify the wax and lubricate the cleaner to prevent dust from scratching the finish. Considering how decent my car looks in the before shots I'd say it's not damaging the finish at all because I've been using it constantly ever since owning the car. And I've also compared it to the commercially available stuff when dealing with dusty cars my formula definitely scratches less and doesn't have nearly the alcohol concentration which I've found strips a little wax protection whereas this detailer adds wax protection.
And the last ingredient is a little harder to find. 1/2 ounce Kodak Photo Flo. It's a pure surfactant that won't leave any sort of residue when wiped off and is needed to keep the wax in suspension. I tried using car wash detergent but it foamed too much when shaking and left a residue when wiped off. So Photo Flo is a must.
The remainder of the bottle is filled with distilled water so as to make the concentrate easy to pour. This concentrate now can be used to make your detailer. I mix about 2 ounces per gallon of distilled water. So one concentrate bottle is enough to make 10 gallons of detailer and in total costs very little since when you get all three ingredients you can make several more 20 ounce concentrate bottles. Total spent is about $25 for the ingredients minus bottles of distilled water. Very economical considering a 32 ounce spray bottle of detailer costs about $8. Shake it before you spray and occasionally during use, spray on wipe off and turn the cloth to a clean side and buff off any residue left, usually best to knock off the loose dust with a car duster before. Works great.
The last big compound I've done was about 4 years ago with Meguiars M105. I keep up with seasonal polishing usually with D151, sometimes with M205 and a waxing with Collinite 915. But usually I just one step it and when the D151 protection wears off I rewax with Collinite. I can say Ultimate Compound removes more swirls than D151 which removes more than M205 but doesn't remove as much as M105. But it has more lubricant so a longer work time allows you to jewel down the finish without adding lubricant like spray detailer unlike M105 which needs additional lubricant to jewel down (I'll explain jeweling later).
This was my entire kit. Cheap Turtle Wax 6" random orbital which I custom modded with a 15 foot extension cord, the 5 inch short cord it comes with is absolutely stupid. It's got on it a wool bonnet, I have several and I make sure to clean them after really well. Collinite 915 for after, keep in mind that all the after shots were done without wax and after an alcohol wipedown to reveal any swirls not hidden with oils or fillers. It's the real deal correction which people assume is impossible with a cheapy random orbital. And in the spray bottle is my homemade spray detailer, I'll tell you more on that later.
Here are a couple before shots. These were taken in direct sunlight which really serve to highlight swirls, holograms and hazing. I also happened to have polished the hood in direct sunlight, generally a no no but cooling the hood with spray detailer before polishing and using Ultimate Compound which has much more lubricating oils in it actually make it feasible to polish in direct sunlight. I know that's an absolute impossibility with M105.
This is a closeup of the side door. Pretty swirly but they're mostly light swirls.
Wide shot of the hood the swirls here are more numerous and definitely deeper but sorta hard to get the lighter swirls to stand out.
Closeup of the hood before to highlight more swirls
A little more on technique. I say you can achieve swirl correction and a hologram and mar free finish with a cheapy random orbital and a wool bonnet but there is a technique. And it's one that took me a while to come up with and master. So trying to be smart and substituting products and technique or rushing it won't get you the same finish. Some people say you can't do any correction and you're better off not buying one and doing it by hand well that's total nonsense. While you can achieve minor correction by hand, the pressure most people apply induces marring in the finish. Plus every person that I've seen that claims they can remove swirls by hand I ask them to tell me where they started and where they finished. Every time I bring out my inspection LED flashlight I can always show them they left marring and they did more correction where they started than when they finished simply because they get tired and or lazy.
To start with make sure you start with a new or well cleaned wool bonnet and make sure it's dry. Before starting with the first panel I prime it by running a whole line of polish down the center. Then work it in by hand to spread it, press the polisher against a panel and turn it on to work the polish into the bonnet. It's now primed. To begin polishing I work small sections at a time. I don't bother doing OCD things like taping lines since this is my daily driver and all I want is for it to look good I don't need concours perfection. Generally I work by features, sheet metal creases individual curves on each panel, etc, on the hood I work lines from top to bottom, on the roof I just work 1/4 at a time on my small car, larger cars obviously means more areas to subdivide it into. It helps me subdivide large panels and get more even correction.
The technique is when the polish is fresh quickly spread it out over the whole small area you're working on. This is where Ultimate Compound really shines as it doesn't flash off as quickly as M105 so is a lot friendlier for the necessarily slower random orbital technique. Then comes working the polish. You need to press down about 3 or 4 pounds of force and move the polisher very slowly, about 15 to 30 seconds per foot overlapping each row you passed previously. This lets the polish work itself down since you don't have the power of a DA you need to move slowly in order to get any decent correction. Now the trick to not leaving marring and holograms is after the polish is worked to a clear consistency, you need to jewel the leftover polish. To do this go back over the polished area with the lightest of pressure and again go slowly. The very light pressure lets the machine spin up to very high rpms and both orbit and rotate quickly and the broken down polish and leftover lubricant help to remove any marring left over. After this immediately wipe off the residue. After the first section you don't need to use as much polish, two half-pea size drops are all that's needed. Don't use too much or it'll sling and also clog the bonnet.
Oh and one more tool I do use in detailing is a flashlight, it's a Solarforce L2 with a custom high powered XP-G module which is emits a very bright concentrated beam which helps easily spot paint defects, it's sorta dual purpose. It helps to easily spot when I've worked the polish enough to remove swirls or if I need to go over the spot again and in between panels when the wool starts to matte up I can use the crenelated bezel with the machine on to fluff up the wool and shake out the spent polish which comes out in a magnificent cloud of dust with the machine on and the crenelations on the bonnet pressed into the rapidly rotating bonnet.
And now the results. This is just polished with an alcohol wipedown to reveal any defects that may be hidden by leftover oils. So this is the true correction. With a decent waxing it obviously looks even better.
This is the side door. As you can see from the before there is a significant reduction in swirls.
This is a hood wide shot. Since it has deeper swirls I couldn't take off all of them but I'd say it's pretty well taken care of. If I spent even more time I probably could remove everything but this is a daily driver and constantly trying to keep the paint perfect means also removing more material than is necessarily good for the finish.
Closeup of the hood to show the amount of correction. Not 100% correction but I'd say it's like 90% there especially considering that's the worst part of the car with the deepest swirls. It looks darn near perfect after waxing anyways.
Are the results perfect and concours ready? No but it's pretty darn good plus go to a car show most of the cars there don't even look this good I always see them buffin' their beauties in front but when I go take a look, swirl city. On mine the swirls are definitely reduced, no holograms, marring or hazing, it's good especially considering this is with a polisher most people say is only good for spreading wax and is impossible to do any correction with. Obviously I was able to do some decent correction and the finish is wax ready, and yes it would definitely be quicker with a higher power DA and you'll get that last bit more reflection if you multi step it but I gave up the detailing business years ago, and getting a concours ready finish is kinda pointless on a daily driver since it's gonna get messed up anyways. Plus the DA's are darn loud and I don't wanna annoy the neighbors with hours of DA polishing, the random orbital on the other hand is nearly silent. Total time for polishing was about 4 hours. Keep in mind that's just polishing. I washed it a couple days ago so spray detailer was used to clean the panel before polishing. Waxing I do by hand with Collinite 915 and that only takes about a half hour to 45 minutes anyways. With a properly prepped surface 915 is very easy to use. I use a wax on wax off method. I don't let the wax dry before buffing it off with a microfiber. This puts a very thin layer but prevents the marring that can occur if you let the wax dry too thick and have to muscle it off.
Oh and if you're wondering about the spray detailer. Here's the formula. I use it and find it works quite well for cleaning and unlike others actually serves to put a little wax on. So it's a good booster when used to wipe up bird bombs or do a little in between wash cleanings.
In a 20 ounce soda bottle pour in two ounces gel wax. I've used Armor All Wax it Dry gel but unfortunately it's discontinued so it's now Eagle One Gel Wax. I've also tried Turtle Wax Carnauba but it tends to separate too fast. One ounce Armor All protectant, yes it's part of it, it's sorta a necessary evil to help emulsify the wax and lubricate the cleaner to prevent dust from scratching the finish. Considering how decent my car looks in the before shots I'd say it's not damaging the finish at all because I've been using it constantly ever since owning the car. And I've also compared it to the commercially available stuff when dealing with dusty cars my formula definitely scratches less and doesn't have nearly the alcohol concentration which I've found strips a little wax protection whereas this detailer adds wax protection.
And the last ingredient is a little harder to find. 1/2 ounce Kodak Photo Flo. It's a pure surfactant that won't leave any sort of residue when wiped off and is needed to keep the wax in suspension. I tried using car wash detergent but it foamed too much when shaking and left a residue when wiped off. So Photo Flo is a must.
The remainder of the bottle is filled with distilled water so as to make the concentrate easy to pour. This concentrate now can be used to make your detailer. I mix about 2 ounces per gallon of distilled water. So one concentrate bottle is enough to make 10 gallons of detailer and in total costs very little since when you get all three ingredients you can make several more 20 ounce concentrate bottles. Total spent is about $25 for the ingredients minus bottles of distilled water. Very economical considering a 32 ounce spray bottle of detailer costs about $8. Shake it before you spray and occasionally during use, spray on wipe off and turn the cloth to a clean side and buff off any residue left, usually best to knock off the loose dust with a car duster before. Works great.