So I have attempted to detail my car for the very first time today and will try to finish tomorrow. Goal was to remove swirls and slight scratches then apply sealants then wax. So far I have cleaned the wheels, washed and clayed the entire car. I started polishing the car using the PC 7424, Wolfgang Swirl Remover with the Orange Lake Country Pad and have about 5 panels left.

I have a question though. When I was working with the polish, the orange pad was turning red??? Is that normal? I kind of got scared at first because I thought it was cutting the paint, or am I? I cant think of another reason for it to turn red so Im just curious before I do any damage. The orange pad had a wax like build up colored red after doing the entire hood. Do I clean the pad when the build up occurs or continue using it?

So tomorrow I plan to finish with that then apply the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze. Should I use the Blue or White pad for the Finishing Glaze? Im debating and dont know which is best.

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

red cars are known to "bleed"- i have read that this is due to the use of pigment in the clear coat...
i wouldnt worry about it- if you are worried you can have your clear coat measured.
o.k. to use the pad with the red- it should wash off when you are finished.
you can go minimal, or no cut with your glaze

 

If you are getting build up on your pad, you can simply just brush it off between each panel. I use an Orange foam brush, I believe Phil carries it.

 

Oh ok cool. Thanks guys. I will try to take pix after the job is done. No before pix though because I didnt have a camera yesterday.

THanks,

 

I use a tooth brush to clean off pads between panels, works great

 

Damn, doing a full detail is tougher than I thought. This is a pain in the ass. lol.

 

wow, good note on the red paint wanabe...i probably would have freaked out if i saw some car color on the buffing pad.

are there any other car colors that have this property?

 

My orange pads were literally red when I got done. Blues a little less, blacks even less.

 

Finally done detailing my car. I was not fully satisfied because I ran out of time. I finished like around 7pm and I just left it as it is.
Heres what I did:
-Washed the wheels
-Washed the car
-Clay
-Polished
-Finish(Glaze)
-Sealant
-Didnt have time to apply wax so i will try to apply next weekend.

Overall, I was happy with the result. I say about 90% of the swirls/scratches were gone. Applied the sealant and car looks totally clean and shiny. I will try to take pix someother time because it was already dark when I finished. Hopefuly its still clean by the time I take the pix. Just checked the weather channel too and its suppose to rain Tuesday.