Ask the Detailer

I'd definitely get a couple of the orange pads at a minimum. I've found them to be pretty versatile.

Then a couple of polishing and maybe one finishing. Depending on what you use as a finish product, you probably might not need a finish pad. Spray, wipe, spray, wipe.

If that's the case, maybe some nice microfiber towels (although, I usually get those from Rag Co.)

Having said that, I ordered some of these thinner pads the other day in hope they don't load up with product like the thicker ones. My buffer is a Porter Cable which isn't the most powerful random orbital out there so I have experienced some stalling when the pad gets loaded up.

I have also had it produce enough heat in the center of the backing plate to melt the little plastic Velcro hooks. Pretty sure most of that was/is user error so I pay a little more attention these days.

 

I saw the thin ones and was wondering about heat dissipation since it seems less air behind the pad, but maybe I'm not thinking about it correctly. Although I agree with the less product soaked into it going to waste and/or clogging into it.
I get my rags from TRC as well. Usually the eagle edgeless ones and have been pretty happy with them. Maybe @Pudge and/or @briarpatch can fill in before order closes out for BF deal

 

I like thin pads because they're easier to maintain pad rotation than thicker pads....that's why I use Griots BOSS 5.5" pads. They have the hole in the middle to help with heat dissipation. If its a 5-pack....two cutting (orange) two polishing and one finish pad.

 

I have a torq polisher. I'm sure these will adapt fine to the velcro backing plate right?

 

As long as it's a 5" backing plate...then yes

 

I'm thinking of this line up...


It threw me off because of the text in red. But I'm sure it should work

 

Pull the trigger!

 

Dun did!

 

Good call......Griots pads are on the 'light' side anyway......their orange cutting pad is really a light cutting pad.....it's cut is light enough that I use it with AIO's like Speed and Megs D166

 

awesome. i'm using the ultimate line of polish, compound, and wax. But thinking that when I run out, i may step up to their mirror glaze line. unless there is something else i should go towards.

 

The M series is what I almost exclusively use. M100, M110, M205, M210. The Ultimate line is fine for a hobbyist but lacks certain cut and refinement qualities.

 

i've been trying to get out of my own personal "meguiar's rut", but have seen some results from novice to experts with their M line and have been pretty impressed. I don't think I'll ever need anything from their extreme cutting area, but their polishes and maybe a light compound could benefit me I think. my only "problem" is getting them. there was a place in town that sold it, but since covid i haven't been able to go in. I guess I'll just have to order it. Hopefully in just the simpler 8oz bottles and not the 32oz or gallon size haha

 

Can find a lot of their stuff on Amazon for cheaper than in store and sometimes cheaper than the detail specific website dealers. There are plenty of other great quality products from other brands. But, I follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" methodology. Meg's has been kind to me with their paint correction products so I stick with them. Certain cuts and polishes have their quirks, but there are easy work arounds once you've used them enough. For you, I'd suggest the M110 and M210 products. Very user friendly, minimal or no dusting at all with the 110, and it'll get everything done you need. M100 is their original compound and is notorious for dusting, but it's cutting potential is endless with the right tools.

Edit: if you're looking for a one stage product, 3D One is the best I've found. And 3D Speed for an AIO.

 

That is great advice if you want to stay within the Meguiars line....definitely true what he said about the 'ultimate' line

 

More good advice

 

Ok. So I have some slight issues with my paint that I plan on trying to do some correcting. I gave it a wash this evening. Now, looking at other pics I post, it's very difficult to see that the paint has some water spot etching. I just got in the griots boss 5.5 pads yesterday. I'm thinking I'll start with polish and maybe move up to compound if needed. But looking for opinions for removal and/or prevention. I'll admit that our city water sucks where I live and it's hard. My neighbor washes his vehicles as well and says the same thing. I'm hoping once I get to build the shop in a couple years I can put on a water filtering system as well as just wash it in the shop. In the pic below, I was able to catch the lighting and angle enough to where you can see it bear the light reflection. Thanks in advance detailing gurus.

 

Traditional wisdom says to start with the least aggressive method. There are some specific water spot removers, like IGL Delete, that you can try, but from the pic, they look pretty significant. I'd guess you're going to have to go as far as a compound, but if they're etched.....even a compound might not do it. I would pick up some Meguiars 105 (does dust some), and attack a test spot with a cutting pad (or even a microfiber cutting pad) and see what you can achieve.

As a last resort, you may have to wet sand....a step which I'm only vaguely familiar with...hopefully that will not be the case.

 

thanks man. i'm not going to get into wet sanding...especially since i'm not 100% sure how long i'll have the vehicle and don't want to put that kind of effort into something that, in most cases, only i recognize and see. i'm gonna start with the polish first then see about the compound. if not, oh well i guess. about a year after I got it, i went to a metal yard and there was metal dust all over it then it rained on it not long after. i feel like thats when i noticed it. cuz it got wet, then sun came out later and i think baked it into it. idk. thanks for heads up and i'll see how it comes out when i tackle it prob in a few months.

 

Give polishing a shot....put it on a cutting pad and see where that gets you....it might end up being enough.....make sure you wash and decon first though....keep us posted

 

I keep my vehicles protected better than most people, but with our insanely hard water and intense sun I still have to battle the water spots. I agree with starting with a polish. Like I said, I keep good protection on our vehicles but every now and then I'll have to hit it with some Megs 205.

 

i waxed mine with meg's ultimate liquid wax and now have bead maker topping it and generally apply it every 2 weeks while drying it. i'll have to ease up and let the protection come off and strip off the rest when i'm getting ready to do it. i may end up making an order of a couple from the mirror glaze collection soon

 

If you can find some, try wheel acid. One of two methods to get water spots off paint. The other being polishing. If you use wheel acid, don't get any anywhere but on paint. That is essentially the easiest method, wipe on, wipe off... Now if you are needing since paint correction and water spot removal, two birds with one stone. As mentioned above, start light then go heavier. Might try griots correcting with an orange pad, if that doesn't work, go to a uro fiber pad. If still nothing, go to live sonax cut with a uro. Tons of different combos you can try. Here is a video about the different methods to get water spots off if you are curious

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SNPtBeyOlNA

 

I watched this same video a while back and tried the MDR. It worked better than everything else I tried, though I didn’t go as far as using wheel acid. That just seemed too harsh for me. The MDR worked well on my truck, my countertops, and shower doors. A cheap and easy thing to try.

My water is ridiculously hard. Though expensive, the CR Spotless system has been a godsend for me.

 

I'm probably gonna see about stripping the roof's down and try the polish and/or compound in a test spot. Hopefully that does it. If not, I'll see what other avenues to go down. Hoping I'll get it sealed in with some mop n glow once done

 

Highly recommend it.

 

My uncle actually had some really nasty water spots from a rv park sprinkler, I polished them out using a Uro fiber with shine supply burnout, worked really well. Just gotta do slow passes

 

If you catch them before they get a chance to etch.....you can get them without having to get aggressive. Those Uro-fibers are the ticket....so versatile

 

I like to think I do decent paint correction work and I wouldn't even trust wet sanding any newer Toyota paint without a digital depth gauge. I've checked my trucks and my wife's 2018 Camry and they're in the VERY low 4 mils (thousandths of an inch, clear coat accounts for roughly 1.5 of that on average across the board). Undoubtedly water spots generally only penetrate clear if they etch, but depending how deep they are, you can get into dangerous territory wetsanding already thin clear.

 

Wet sanding is one technique I’m staying far away from. Not worth it in my opinion. Way to much risk.

 

Aside from not being confident enough to do it, this is another reason I worry about it. Not to mention, it'd be across almost the entire truck. I'm not wet sanding my whole truck lol