How can you get more gloss?

[sparoz]

How can you get more gloss from polishing with a Flex?

I am washing my wife's new car (AW125i), after 4 months without washing apart from Foam, Karcher and air dry. The whole story will come in a different thread, but cut the long story short, I decided to polish the car after discovery of some swirls, starting with the hood. I tried a couple of passes with 106FF and it doesn't seem to take out all of the scratches, so I stepped to a orange Pad (from black) with 106ff and finish off with 85rd with a black pad (Lake country). On problematic areas, I have to use the Yellow Cutting Pad with 203S - more about this in another thread.

What I found is comparing the unpolished part - I just couldn't get the same gloss levels, the unpolish side is cut up but have just an edge with gloss (for the non swirl parts), although overall it gives a much better reflection. I thought OEM uses Menzerna 106FA for their final polish, so is it because the Flex just can't produce a deeper gloss than a rotary? Or is there anyway to make it better?

[Lester]

Swissvax Crystal Rock.

[Greg@DetailedImage]

Originally Posted by sparoz

How can you get more gloss from polishing with a Flex?

I am washing my wife's new car (AW125i), after 4 months without washing apart from Foam, Karcher and air dry. The whole story will come in a different thread, but cut the long story short, I decided to polish the car after discovery of some swirls, starting with the hood. I tried a couple of passes with 106FF and it doesn't seem to take out all of the scratches, so I stepped to a orange Pad (from black) with 106ff and finish off with 85rd with a black pad (Lake country). On problematic areas, I have to use the Yellow Cutting Pad with 203S - more about this in another thread.

What I found is comparing the unpolished part - I just couldn't get the same gloss levels, the unpolish side is cut up but have just an edge with gloss (for the non swirl parts), although overall it gives a much better reflection. I thought OEM uses Menzerna 106FA for their final polish, so is it because the Flex just can't produce a deeper gloss than a rotary? Or is there anyway to make it better?

Some of the pad and polish combinations you used may have been a little off to maximize your efforts. With the Flex I would definitely use the PO106FA with a white pad, the black is far too soft unless you are jeweling the paint. I would most likely use the PO203S with an orange pad and follow that up with the PO106FA and a white pad. Taking the time to finish down the PO106FA with the white pad will be critical to removing any haze and removing any haze from the previous step. While using these polishes it's really important to have the speed at speed 6 for optimal cutting power. I also apply medium pressure to the top of the buffer to help really work the polish in. It's critical to move nice and slow with lots of overlapping passes for best results. Lastly I use a fresh pad half way through as a heavily sautrated pad will not work too well. Let me know if you ahve any questions or if I can help you any further.

Greg @ DI

[sparoz]

I will have a go tongiht with the white and 106 - I thought the black and 85RD would be able to remove the haze caused by the Orange and 106FF. Do I need to slow down the speed say to 5 or even 3 towards the end? Or should I leave it at 6, and run a slower speed with the black pad with jewelling? I am hearing people talknig about you have to slow down the speed in the last step to get the best result?

[sparoz]

Originally Posted by Lester

Swissvax Crystal Rock.

yes, that would help, but I was talking about pre wax stage.

[1013mm]

I do a polish, then glaze (really helps with dark colors), then wax. soooo goooddddddd

[sparoz]

Yes, I know I can get more gloss from glazing and waxing - I was just comparing the bare paint...

[Greg@DetailedImage]

Originally Posted by sparoz

I will have a go tongiht with the white and 106 - I thought the black and 85RD would be able to remove the haze caused by the Orange and 106FF. Do I need to slow down the speed say to 5 or even 3 towards the end? Or should I leave it at 6, and run a slower speed with the black pad with jewelling? I am hearing people talknig about you have to slow down the speed in the last step to get the best result?

Again make sure you go really slow with lots of passes and apply some light/medium pressure to the buffer above the pad. Towards the end I personally still keep it at speed 6 but I back off the pressure entirely. I understand the logic behind slowing it down and I think both methods work just fine. This will only help you get that jeweling effect, not necessarily remove more swirls. To remove more swirls it would be important to add in that medium polishing step, keep it at speed 6 and apply good pressure to the buffer for both polishing steps.

Greg @ DI