You really polish before claying? I would think it's always better to remove all surface deposits on the paint before polishing, not before.

 

I've always clayed, polished, waxed in that order myself.

 

I'm in B'ville so it's not as bad here yet but I have a nice yellow hue starting to show up on the hood and I just clay bar and waxed last Friday. What I've noticed over the years it seems like using a buffer on the car builds up a static charge immediately after waxing which causes the pollen to stick to the car worse. My eyes, nose and throat don't like it either.

 

I agree.

 

u should really invest in a porter cable and some pads. One of the best purchases I have ever made

 

I will second that. What a great purchase. I have done my cars and my GF's honda went from foggy to looking brand new. Most people dont realize that you need heat to really remove all the swirl marks and oxidation build up. You can only get that from a nice DA polisher. Lake Country pads FTW too.

 

I'm debating getting a machine. I just thought my hands would suffice.

 

Your hands and elbow grease will not be enough. The paint isn't like the old days. U really do need a machine to do it properly

 

No way, you gotta have heat and that only comes with rpms.

The porter cable 7424xp is $119 at amazon.com with free shipping. Its a sound investment if you give a care about your car looks. Its so simple to use too. Its impossible to f**K up using it, as it has a built in clutch that stops the spinning motion if you press down to hard. A child could use it and not damage your car.

I used mine to apply the wax on my GFs car last weekend. It saves so much time.

 

you claim you detail cars in the summer and you dont know what steps to do a wash?
using Ultimate compound by hand will achieve you almost no results as trying to do any correction by hand will be a fail and a waste of alot of energy and time.
Also the person who said polish then clay yea thats 100% wrong. Claying will most likely marr the paint depending on how aggressive of a clay it is. so any type of polish/compound ALWAYS come after clay barring. Waxing the car is THE LAST step. I dont know what else your trying to add on. 2 coats of wax is about all that needs to be done anymore then that is basically wasting product. 2 coats makes sure you get full coverage. Anyone else who says I have 20coats of wax blah blah does NOTHING and is just wasting wax and not adding any extra protection. Turtle wax is junk same with armor all..if you are just buying over the counter use Megs gold class or Mothers. If you have a car quest stop there and see if they carry Duragloss car wash. Thats one of the best shampoos around and only 4.99 for a 16oz bottle that last a good bit.