Best Hand Polish Before NXT 2.0

[wolverine_man]

Hello everyone. I'v been using NXT 2.0 for about a year now and love it. I have a 2008 Galaxy Gray (mica) Mazda3. I have some light swirl marks and scratches on my vehicle and I am looking at a good polish to use after claying but before the NXT 2.0. I polish and wax by hand.

Now, I have been using Mothers California Gold Scratch Remover (fairly abrasive, I believe) and 3M Ultra Fina liquid (milder), in that order. I find that these products do alright but don't last too long. I guess I am looking at a fairly easy-to-use polish (not a cleaner) that is light to medium in cut and which I can apply by hand on my newer vehicle. I don't need antioxidant agents, since my car is pretty new, thus I don't think I need a cleaner. And again, I will be using it after a clay and before the NXT 2.0 wax. I've been reading to the point of confusion and what I have found so far, which might work are:

Meguiar's #2
Meguiar's #5
Meguiar's #7
Meguiar's #9
Meguiar's #81

What do you all recommend?

Thanks,
Damien

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Best Hand Polish Before NXT 2.0

How about SwirlX





Quick question, do you want to remove swirls or just try to fill them in? Removing swirls means removing some paint as explained here,

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...

[wolverine_man]

Re: Best Hand Polish Before NXT 2.0

Good question. What I'm using right now seems to only mask the swirls and scratches and then not even that completely. I guess it would be nice to remove the swirls, but I also don't own a PC 7424 (yet) and I am worried about ruining my clear coat and paint on my new car.

Originally, I went to Napa and bought the #2, as it said it could be applied by hand. However, I returned it today because I think that product might be too abrasive for a novice like me. Just looking for a good polish/swirl remover to use all over the car and as a step before the NXT 2.0 wax application.

So is Swirl X then just a trouble spot type of product and not something to use as a stage between clay and waxing like other polishes? Would I need swirl x plus a dedicated polish? I read the link by the way.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Best Hand Polish Before NXT 2.0

M02 can be applied by hand but best results are by machine.

SwirlX on the other hand is in our Consumer Line and that means it is focused towards people working by hand because the majority of do-it-yourselfers do work by hand.

Maybe pick up a bottle and give it a try to a small section and inspect your results. Meguiar's Consumer Line is very safe to use for people with a wide range of experience levels so SwirlX would be a very safe product to test out.

The biggest thing to focus on when learning to remove swirls by hand is to make sure everything is clean to start with, that means the paint, your work environment and your applicator pads.

Next is to only tackle small sections at a time, that is an area about a foot squared or so. The reason for this is because removing swirls means removing small particles of paint in a way that levels the surface and is done in a way that makes the paint look good. That means using good technique in the way you apply and work the product over the section.

Doing a test spot to start with enables you to check both the results of your product choice but also your skill and ability to do this kind of work.

It's a lot easier and faster to use a DA Polisher to machine clean and polish the swirls out of a clear coat finish as compared to doing an entire car by hand but it can be done by hand you just have to take your time and only tackle small sections at a time. After working one section, when you move onto a new section you need to overlap a little into the previous section to insure a uniform appearance over the entire panel.

The cleaning step by hand is not a fast process, we don't like to scare people by telling them how long it will take but 2, 3, even 4 hours depending upon how large the car is and how bad the swirls are is normal.

Besides the cleaning step you will probably have started by washing and drying the car, that's an hour or so, and then after the cleaning step you still need to apply a wax or paint sealant and that's another hour or so.

A complete detailing session for an average size car will take you anywhere from 5 to 8 hours. Of course some people are faster and some people work slower so that's just an estimate.

Another option is to just tackle on panel at at a time, that would be tackling a hood one Saturday, then the next Saturday tackling a door, etc.

Than as you move around the car you need to make sure you're doing a careful job of washing and drying the paint so you don't put swirls back into the paint. This usually means you can't run the car through the average car wash either, so balance your goals for your finish quality for the paint to how you use the car and how you wash the car.

It's probably not a good idea to expect a daily driver, parked outside 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and run through a brush style car wash to have a show car finish. If however you can park your car in a garage when not in use, and you accept ownership of the car washing process, then you can create and maintain a show car finish on a daily driver.

[wolverine_man]

Re: Best Hand Polish Before NXT 2.0

M02 can be applied by hand but best results are by machine.

SwirlX on the other hand is in our Consumer Line and that means it is focused towards people working by hand because the majority of do-it-yourselfers do work by hand.

Maybe pick up a bottle and give it a try to a small section and inspect your results. Meguiar's Consumer Line is very safe to use for people with a wide range of experience levels so SwirlX would be a very safe product to test out.

The biggest thing to focus on when learning to remove swirls by hand is to make sure everything is clean to start with, that means the paint, your work environment and your applicator pads.

Next is to only tackle small sections at a time, that is an area about a foot squared or so. The reason for this is because removing swirls means removing small particles of paint in a way that levels the surface and is done in a way that makes the paint look good. That means using good technique in the way you apply and work the product over the section.

Doing a test spot to start with enables you to check both the results of your product choice but also your skill and ability to do this kind of work.

It's a lot easier and faster to use a DA Polisher to machine clean and polish the swirls out of a clear coat finish as compared to doing an entire car by hand but it can be done by hand you just have to take your time and only tackle small sections at a time. After working one section, when you move onto a new section you need to overlap a little into the previous section to insure a uniform appearance over the entire panel.

The cleaning step by hand is not a fast process, we don't like to scare people by telling them how long it will take but 2, 3, even 4 hours depending upon how large the car is and how bad the swirls are is normal.

Besides the cleaning step you will probably have started by washing and drying the car, that's an hour or so, and then after the cleaning step you still need to apply a wax or paint sealant and that's another hour or so.

A complete detailing session for an average size car will take you anywhere from 5 to 8 hours. Of course some people are faster and some people work slower so that's just an estimate.

Another option is to just tackle on panel at at a time, that would be tackling a hood one Saturday, then the next Saturday tackling a door, etc.

Than as you move around the car you need to make sure you're doing a careful job of washing and drying the paint so you don't put swirls back into the paint. This usually means you can't run the car through the average car wash either, so balance your goals for your finish quality for the paint to how you use the car and how you wash the car.

It's probably not a good idea to expect a daily driver, parked outside 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and run through a brush style car wash to have a show car finish. If however you can park your car in a garage when not in use, and you accept ownership of the car washing process, then you can create and maintain a show car finish on a daily driver.

Thanks for the sound advice!! The car is my daily driver and is parked outside. However, I never drive through car washes and I do wash it myself, by hand. Previously, it was already taking me 6 hours or so to do the wash, clay, scratch fixing, and wax, so time is not a concern. I will pick up some Swirl X and try that out.

[gjohn28]

Re: Best Hand Polish Before NXT 2.0

So is Swirl X then just a trouble spot type of product and not something to use as a stage between clay and waxing like other polishes? Would I need swirl x plus a dedicated polish? I read the link by the way.

Swirl X would typically be used as a cleaner/swirl remover step after claying, before waxing/sealing, to remove light swirls/scratches over the entire vehicle. Not to say you couldn't use it for spot type applications, but I would think Scratch X might be more appropriate for that.

Swirl X finishes really well and there is no "need" to use a pure polish prior to applying a wax/sealant, but you certainly can if you want. Usually, darker colors benefit a little more from a pure polish step than lighter color cars. It really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

Whatever products/steps you decide on, do a small test spot first to make sure you are happy with the results before doing the entire vehicle.

Have fun.