As I was walking through the parking lot at Home Depot the other day, a guy saw my car and asked me if I was a member of the RX-8 Club. I knew nothing about it, so I checked it out. Holy crap!!! This site is chocked full of info you just can't get on "normal" cars. So, to the guy with the blue 8 in Fort Worth, thanks a ton dude!!!

Now for my question to you:

I will be giving my baby her first claybar/wax this week, and would like some feedback from the folks here on hand wax vs. orbital wax. I've always waxed by hand in the past, but in the interest of time savings, I thought I might try an orbital waxer. Anyone have any thoughts/opinions?

 

I have an orbital waxer, but I use it on my mustang and RV. Not the RX-8. I don't want swirl marks on the new car

 

i'm a Zaino convert and find it easy to do everything by hand.

 

i use a dual action buffer. It's amazing. Its faster to polish and wax, and no swirls. check out this forum. http://www.autopia.org/

 

A good hand-job is hard to beat.

 

Well, I just don't hear much good about the orbital waxer, so I'll stick to the hand job. Hopefully I can get some pics after she's polished up.

 

LOL

 

Couldn't agree more. The Porter Cable dual action is the way to go. Far better results than by hand. No swirls. And less time. I'll never wax by hand again.....ever!

 

I found this site last night when looking for some good info. It seems that they prefer hand jobs, but don't have any problems with power tools

http://www.web-cars.com/detail/wash.php

The reason I found the site, is that it had some good info for doing paint touch ups. Anyway, they have lots of good tips/info and they break it down for us wax novices. I just bought some zaino and if it ever stops raining here in Pensacola, Florida I'm going to give it a try.

 

Well, I went down to the local AutoZone for my supplies. No claybar of course. I figured since the car is still pretty new, I'll just do it next time. Bought some Meguier's Tech wax and some diaper soft buffing towels. The car looked perfect after I finished. That is until I pulled it out of the garage into the direct sunlight. Swirls, swirls and more swirls. In fact, it didn't even buff out some of the water spots. Anyone have any good tips on removing swirls in the black paint? And what is the zaino stuff?

 

Especially on black cars...the Porter Cable buffer is the way to go. I detailed my buddy's Lexus GS400...wash, clay, Meguiars #83 (cleaner polish), then NXT. Applied with the buffer. Results speak for themselves...and no swirls.

 

Wow! This website has really opened my eyes to car care! I've always been the Pep Boys kind of detailer, but those days are over.

It appears as if I won't be able to get the swirls out by hand, so I think I'll be buying a Porter Cable dual action.

Anyone have any tips on the best ways to use one? Such as the best pads and polishes?

 

This should help you out a lot with the buffer info.....
http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-pc7424.html

Also....search the forums on that site....tons of imformation about any detailing question you can think of.

 

dude.... coffee from nostril.....

 

dont use orbitals thy take off clear coats and eventualy ruin the paint.seen it happen.

 

Uh, not you didn't.

An "orbital" polisher is also called a "random orbit" polisher.
It cant burn paint because it doesent move in a circle.

A "rotary" polisher/sander, which spins on only one axis, can easily remove paint. It also can do a lot of great things in the right hands.

People here claiming "swirls" with an "orbital" need to re-evaluate their techniques because you can only create swirls with an orbital if you are using toothpaste or something more coarse as a polish.
There are almost no commercially available polishes on the market anymore that actually contain abrasives, so polish away.

Now, if you want REAL results, take a lesson with a pro detailer who can show you how to use a real polish and a wool pad on a rotary buffer.