I am no photographer, but I found this photo cool. Trying to practice with a 75-300 lenses. Difficult at night, the light was not working. and the little tripod I was using to stay level on the product was meant for a point and shoot, not a DSLR with a huge lens attached. Which is why so many pics are blurry.




What you see is about 2/3 my collection. 2 buckets with the guards (under the wash pads) I got them on special after I bought one. Car wash soap and 2 free pads which is why I have 3. A ton of pads on top of the bucket, and at the top are 4 inch pads which rule. Check my headlight! The little blue applicator is great for wax. So easy to hold. I have the polish line and a bottle of glaze. The yellow bottle is the chemical guys wax. The red and silver bottle are Klasse which is a sealant that is hard to use but really shines. I wouldn't recommend it though. See how much my tub of MF towels is?!! I can't believe I have close to 30, and whats pictured isn't even all of them! Learn from others and buy what fits your needs best without spending a ton of cash trying things until you get that basics down.

 

Very helpful. Looking forward to getting my first collection and getting started. Thanks!

 

The griots package looks good. Looking back at my collection of detailing stuff (and i have a lot....) I would skip the random orbiter they provide and go with a Flex Polisher instead. While more expensive, the random orbiter is a pain to use (literally) and results take an absurd amount of time.

 

What about the porter cable?

 

The Griots' dual action polisher and pads is a good place for you to begin. It consistently gets good reviews. But I would do some research before investing in other products. There are better polishes out there, for example. Check out the Menzerna line of polishes especially. I can't recommend specifically Menzerna products, as I find that Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and M205 more than satisfy my polishing needs. I suggest that you call Phil at Detailer's Domain and speak to him personally (201-233-0003). He sells the Griot's polisher and a couple polish lines. He'll set you up right. And be sure to order a dozen foam applicators. They come in handy.

 

importkid - why were the klasse sealants hard to work with? I wanted to try them as a sealant for the longer protection.. any other sealants you recommend? I also have sebring silver so we relate in trying to make it look its best lol

 

The removal if you add just even a drop too much makes it a real beast. The red bottle, AIO isn't too terrible (not super easy) but the high gloss sealant is a real bugger. I like the Adams machine sealant, on my list to try is CG 109 jetseal, and wolfgang sealant. I apply wax over sealant which is where you get the most depth of color. For the price on silver you can not beat chemical guys butter wet wax. It has a low durability, but that won't matter if sealant is below it because you then have the reliability. It really does make the car look wet. If I had some sample bottles I'd send you some Klasse to try.

 

ahh ic. are you referring to the wolfgang deep gloss spritz or paint sealant 3.0?
Will the spritz have the same reliability as the paint sealant ( ~6months) or less?
I may try that one out and let you know how well it works

 

WG 3.0 I'm not much into spray wax. Even for a quick way to add slickness. I'd rather just take an extra 10-15 minutes and apply CG wet wax. Look into the Menzerna sealant as well. It's about the only thing I can figure out in there 10 product line.

 

I don't know your budget, but any of the random orbiters will be painful and slow to use. The flex spins in a different way that gives less vibration (shock to your hand) and it corrects more quickly because of that. I believe it oscillates as oppose to how the PC/random orbiters work.

They're considerably a bit more expensive but will do a better job and have very similar forgiveness...PC's basically have complete forgiveness almost.

You can help with the PC vibrations by a) getting work gloves with anti-vibration shock padding b) getting used to it. But for me, when you're correcting in 2/3 stages...it numbing in the end of the job that you don't want to do it again if you had a choice.