Suggestions for buffing/polishing pads/liquids
 

It's about that time I do a real good detail/wax etc. for my car again. I've got a Porter DA Buffer and a bunch of Meguiar's cutting/polish/buffing pads, but the pads are needing to be replaced and I'm running low on some of the actual chemicals to go along with them.

Any suggestions or positive experiences with any other companies? i've heard Chemical Guys mentioned before but that was about the extent of it. Also, if you know of a good retailer to buy these items, that would be great. I've seen a lot of them with a large varying range of products and prices with very little feedback. I figured I'd get some input from here. I don't plan to make any extra money on the side with this stuff, but I wouldn't mind some quality products for when I do use them.

Re: Suggestions for buffing/polishing pads/liquids
 

Meguires products are fine. Generally if you compound with brand x you should polish and wax with brand x.
A wax with synthetic will give longer life, then a carnuba wax will put out that little extra shine.

I watch the sale paper. Then stock up.

An oldie but goodie product called TR3 will bring back a dull finish without a lot of time or effort spent provided the dull isn't clear coat fail. It works when in a hurry to give your ole jelopy a nice gleem for a date or a short notice event. It's a resin glaze that beads like wax and lasts several months.

I use a meguires drill mounted da for compound, then polish and wax by hand. Then a buff takes place about an hour later.

Re: Suggestions for buffing/polishing pads/liquids
 

Meguiars 105 & 205 are amazing at attacking swirls and minor paint defects. Get you some Lake Country flat pads, the CCS pads are fine but you pay a little more for them. I have found that the 5" pads are better for cutting than the 6". Some cars have harder paint than others. Always use the least abrasive product first. Ex, on my BMW, I had to go with Meguiars 105 on a yellow pad (this is really aggressive) to correct the swirls from too many automatic car washes. On our MX-5, a white pad with Meguiars 205 took care of the some swirls that had developed, easy day.

If you are looking for an All-In-One (AIO), I recommend Meguirs Cleaner wax. Wash, dry, and clay. Then apply the cleaner wax with a white pad. This will do a little more than just cleaning. Then, go back at it with with the cleaner wax and a black, blue, or red pad.

Have fun, and make it shine.

Re: Suggestions for buffing/polishing pads/liquids
 

Re: Suggestions for buffing/polishing pads/liquids
 

I've got some of the meguiar's pads, they're just in rough shape as I got them used and they weren't stored/cleaned the way I wish they would have. My car is black and last year, I clayed it and then used Meg's ultimate compound, then polish, then finished with ultimate wax. I've used the Cleaner wax before and it works pretty good, especially since it's three steps in one, but was a real bitch to get off without it dusting everywhere. I'm not a big fan of the Tech wax as it seems to have a little bit of hazy aftereffect going on, at least on my car.

yeah I see that now, when I did my search, in hopes of not duplicating a thread I searched specifically buff, buffer and polishing... never crossed my mind to search wax and soap since I have that covered.

Overall, I was really just trying to see what kind of DA buffer pads people use for what and where they got their stuff from. Also, if they have tried other products like Minzerna or Chemical Guys and what their thoughts were. I'm in no way trying to win shows or anything, but Nissan did a shitty job with its paint imo, especially when it comes to the orange peel you can see if you're OCD about it, but at least I don't have any metal flake in the paint.

Re: Suggestions for buffing/polishing pads/liquids
 

Any reason for using same polish/compound/ and wax brands bykfixer?

I have never done that before, just wondering the reason behind it

Re: Suggestions for buffing/polishing pads/liquids
 

Just thought I would leave this here, had this miata hood in my backyard and got bored. Used Meguiars ultimate compound on my porter cable, with an orange CCS pad. Buffed with a terry since I didn't want my good Microfibers turning red lol

Before: http://i44.tinypic.com/1zogks8.jpg

Before: http://i44.tinypic.com/ajnztg.jpg

After: http://i39.tinypic.com/e5kcj9.jpg

After: http://i41.tinypic.com/dqq9t.jpg

Not sure if you can tell, but my buffer pad is pale orange, I just took off a bit paint to get it looking like this