1) Green + Optimum Polish = swirls
2) Orange + " " = swirls
3) Blue + Optimum Poli-seal = great results. (Swirls in pics above are completely removed)

It's odd to me that 2) resulted in swirls. I didn't think 3) would remove the swirls but I'm glad it did and I don't have to lay a coat of wax. Swirl removal and sealant all in one step.
No pics but I'm impressed with the results and I have a good idea on what to use on the RX300 and G35 now. I probably don't have to touch either of the optimum compounds except for maybe spot detailing.

Notes. The foam pads are waayy better than the wool as far as ease of use. I'd say the risk of burn though with foam is at least 1/2 or maybe 3/4 less vs wool. It was tons easier to control and keeping the pad flat was way easier except when the pad started loading up (3/4 of the way though). It started hopping on me a bit but didn't cause any swirls.

 

Detailing is as much about finding the products that work for you as it is about technique and care. It really is. I don't know if it's the products that work for you, or if its just that most people are ****ing idiots and don't know what a well detailed car looks like...but either way it's a process of buying a lot of ****. Eventually you'll get your process nailed down and won't want to change it anymore.

I know what you're saying with the foam pads but let me warn you: DONT get overconfident. I definitely did and I got burned (ha!) by it. The best advice I can give is to reduce the speed to 900rpm or less when you're in an area that's not flat, that has raised moldings, or is tricky to control the machine in such as around spoilers and such.

That's what we meant about the wool...wool is not a finishing pad by any definition. If the car needs wool you will 100% need to hit it with a foam pad afterward because the wool will always cause marring even if you're a pro...it's just a REALLY REALLY harsh way to polish paint...you take a LOT of paint off with it. It's just like any other abrasive...you start harsh and have to scale down to fine to get a good finish. With the foam pads you can do all the work you can do with wool, it will just take a bit longer.

Glad you got some good results!

 

I wonder what combos Gone has used. I think the bmw/toy would have scratches closer to what my G has vs the Avalon.

I'll try blue + optimum poli-seal 1st. Then blue polish?

 

+1 on finding the right combo.

It can take awhile to perfect it, but once you find the right combination of pads and compounds, stick with it.

 

Start low and work up. The pad colors vary between manufactures

It's hard to say because I've never had Optimum Polish leave swirls. If I were to do the Avalon when I dropped off the stuff I probably would have gone straight to my orange or yellow (both cutting pads) and Optimum Polish. Sometimes I'll use Optimum Compound and a Polishing pad (less aggressive), it's more just finding the combo that gets the best results for what I'm doing. (in this case I'm talking about removing the swirls, not fixing imperfections).

Aside from that I normally really only use Optimum Compound and Hyper Compound to fix imperfections in the clear. But remember that's DA vs. Rotary, it probably doesn't take you nearly as long to get the same results it would me with the DA (hence the swirling using Optimum Polish... or the pad was contaminated but you'd know if that was the case).

There is a decent learning curve to it but after a while you get a good idea for what each compound and pad combination will do for a car and it goes a lot faster (and gets rid of the guess work).

 

 

I think the DA vs Rotary is the difference here. As far as speed, I don't know. BUT I did note that once the foam pad went over an area, it was done way fast. The material got worked extremly fast and dissappeared. I can see how the rotary would really speed up things. I think I have to be careful as my lowest speed is 1500 rpm. I think that's the upper end of the recommended speeds for a rotary. At least for the Optimum line. I've seen other polishes that want you to use 2500-3000 rpm.

The rotary must be why I had to go down to almost a finishing pad and almost the finest polish (opti-seal) is basicly a super light polish to get rid of the swirls. Good thing I have two blue pads that have foam on both sides.

 

1500 is definitely pretty fast! Watch those edges!

 

It is. The optimum line rpm recommendation is 1000-1400 rpm. I'll be taping the jack out of the G and RX when they get done. But truthfully it would be for avoiding splatter vs protection. There are a few dangerous edges on the g though. Front fender topline is one.

One tip I read is to notice how hot the surfaces got after a pass. TOO hot and that's dangerous. So I'd work an area and put my hand on it. It was barely even warm.

 

Ugh. For the G, I 3 stepped the hood and front fenders.
1) green .+ optimum compound
2) orange +.... " polish
3) Blue .+ .... " poli-seal.
The hood had some deep scratches that I wanted to take out. Even after all this, there are a few scratches here/there. I might work on them but I'll probably just conceed that not every little thing is going to be polished out.
Rest of the car, I did step 2) and 3). I spot performed 1) on some areas. ie.. some deeper scratches and some egg stained clear marks I was able to get out.
Finished w/ the optimum wax. This stuff goes on like Mequire's quick detail. If it lasts 3 months, I'll be impressed. But this is on top of the poli-seal that's already on the car.

I wish the orange/green pads were a bit softer like the blue/white ones. I wasn't able to really lay the these pads flat so the contact patch was really small. The blue is soft so I could do alot more area on one pass.

The green/orange ones have a small concave curve in the middle if it. Odd and it makes getting good contact difficult. Maybe it's because the pad size is small?