Need Advice, New Pad or Different Polish

First off I am a total noob and am blown away by the results of some of the threads in here. I have been using a Griots DA along with White CCS pads and Pinnacle XMT 360 all in one. On my old car it had very minor swirl marks and the above products cleaned up the paint nicely. When I purchased my 2013 it had obviously been ran through many car washes as it had a lot of swirls in the paint. I tried the same procedure as above but this time I had quite a few swirls left over. Im ready to make another attempt at correcting the paint and am seeking advice from the pros.

My question is should I step up to a better cutting pad such as a CCS pink or orange pad or purchase a better correcting polish in combination with a cutting pad? I am a fan of the all in one products simply because of time constraints so the less steps the better. I have been using the XMT polish followed by a coat of Collinite 845, far from perfection but it gets the job done. I am not looking for a perfect finish just want the swirls gone as they drive me crazy. The car is garage stored and gets driven a few times a month at most, between work and kids my cars get little love these days.

Thanks for reading and please remember the less steps the better.

- Leonard

If you want to keep the steps to a minimum and like your AIO (all in one) you are using, then definitely step up the aggressiveness of your pad(s).

Just remember to go with the least aggressive method first--same AIO least aggressive pad first, then step up your pad if needed.

Also, a more aggressive pad may not finish down as nicely as you want and you may have to follow it up with your white pad as a final step.

Hope this helps and keep us posted with your progress!

I hear you on as little steps as possible. Using an aggressive pad with an AIO is something I often do for clients who don't want to pay extra for compounding. However when you have severely abused paint and especially if the paint is hard (like in many Vettes for example) the only real way is to do the extra step of polishing/compounding. The wax in the AIO will mask the problem for a while but once you wash it a few times the swirls become visible again. If it was me I'd use my Megs AIO with an LC orange or yellow pad. If I don't get the results I wanted I'd step up to either Megs 105/205 or Menzerna FG4000. Then like NastyGT500 said follow it with a white pad and the AIO.

Yes, the polishing/compounding step adds time, however you will likely not have to repeat that step for a long time - especially if you put a good wax like you're using already.

Before I do any polishing on a car that isn't mine or is a new car I've never done before I do a test square.

Tape off a square on something flat and easy like your hood.

Start with the least aggressive method and see if it works. If not step up to the next aggressive method and so on until you get the result you want.

Make sure you use some kind of IPA wipedown after your polish so you really know if your work is removing the swirls or just hiding them.

Thanks for all the responses, I never considered that the rougher pad will more than likely need to be gone over with a smoother pad. With that said if Im going to have to go over it twice then I might as well purchase a polishing compound/polish and do it right. I decided on Chemical Guys V36 cutting polish and V38 final polish followed by a coat of Collinite. I have some leave planned in April so maybe ill dedicate a day to the car and see what happens. Ill stick with the AIO products on the rest of our vehicles.

Riddick said:

Thanks for all the responses, I never considered that the rougher pad will more than likely need to be gone over with a smoother pad. With that said if Im going to have to go over it twice then I might as well purchase a polishing compound/polish and do it right. I decided on Chemical Guys V36 cutting polish and V38 final polish followed by a coat of Collinite. I have some leave planned in April so maybe ill dedicate a day to the car and see what happens. Ill stick with the AIO products on the rest of our vehicles.

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Get a sample of V34 if you are going to stick with CG.... CG products aren't bad, however, I'd at least get Megs M205 especially with your GG DA.

Finally had some free time to get the car cleaned up.
Washed with Chemical Guys Wash and Wax Soap
Chemical Guys V36 Optimal Grade Cutting Polish with CSS Orange Pad
Chemical Guys V38 Final Polish with CSS White Pad
Collinte 845 Wax

For the most part I really liked the Chemical Guys polishes, although I wish the V36 had more cutting power. I had to go over certain areas a few times and there are still a few light scratches in clear, but minimal. I also purchased their v34 and v32 hybrid and extreme cutting compounds for scratches. I used them with a CSS yellow pad. I think they did ok, took out most of a couple deep scratches. Im still very new to detailing so I probably wasnt using the best methods.

After the V36 cutting polish I really wasnt that impressed, paint felt a little rough and like I said there were still some marks in the clear. However, after the V38 the paint was really smooth and the paint really popped. Id love to experiment with other brands but the stuff I have now will last 4-5 years I bet. I plan to stick with a AIO product on my other vehicles. Here are a few pics of the car completed. Like I said im new at this so my lighting is far from ideal for these pics but you can still see the reflection good.

Looks good to me!!! Did you clay the vehicle after washing/prior to polishing?

NastyGT500 said:

Looks good to me!!! Did you clay the vehicle after washing/prior to polishing?

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Thanks, I always review all of your threads and you do amazing work. I know I will catch crap for this but I did not clay the car. When I purchased it in July I did clay it when I used the AIO product and the car needed it. Car rarely gets driven and never sees bad weather so I decided not to it this time.

Since I only put maybe 1500 miles on the car since the last time it was clayed should I have? Like I said car never sees rain and gets wiped down with a quick detailer after every ride.

^^^^Thank you!

Well: if it passes/passed the 'baggie' test and didn't need to be clayed, it wouldn't have really benefited from it. However, I always think it's a good idea for a quick clay session prior to polishing.

No worries, damn thing looks great!

NastyGT500 said:

^^^^Thank you!

Well: if it passes/passed the 'baggie' test and didn't need to be clayed, it wouldn't have really benefited from it. However, I always think it's a good idea for a quick clay session prior to polishing.

No worries, damn thing looks great!

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What are your thoughts on the clay bar vs nanoskin autoscrub thing? Last time I did clay, it was a chore and hated if I dropped it. Since then I have been using the blue nanoskin autoscrub and it appears to do the job, plus dropping it is okay.

OP - Car looks great!

I like them. So much faster and easier to use--drop it, just wash it off and keep on going!

I use those more and more, however I still use traditional clay.