# Advice for virgins – DA style



## Trowb (Jul 27, 2010)

Apologies in advance but most of you are going to really disappointed with this post after reading the title!

My overall verdict is detailing is like s#x....
The photos/videos and professionals make it look easy, they have the proper equipment for the job, know how to use it & how to achieve the ultimate satisfying finish.
Your first attempts will not match these standards. Your tool is unlikely to be as big & powerful and you won't know how to use it quite as well even if it is. So don't beat yourself up about it. 
A scrap panel is like a blow up doll. OK for practice but not like the real thing.
Once you’ve done one you want to try a different one.
The more you do it, the better you get & the more grateful the recipient.
OK I'm gonna stop now or this will end up a feast of innuendo!

Now I finished my lay down in a dark room I thought I'd write this so all the other detail virgins get a feel of what to expect when they lose their DA virginity on some real bodywork.
After 'doing' my car (well MGF if that counts) these are my findings (constructive or otherwise). I’ve probably missed several vital things, but hopefully others can correct/ridicule me as this is based on my first go.

Cost – Whatever your budget add 50%!
Like most others I spent ages reading up on guides and which polisher, which polish, which shampoo etc. before buying anything. I parted with some hard earned cash.
Settled on a Kestrel DA, 6" Sonus pads SX2 & 3 & 4" SX1, 2 & 3 with Megs #80 & #83. After reading up, these seem fairly established brands which covered enough to do 90% of the jobs I was ever likely to do. 
OMG over 10% of the cars value spent on cleaning equipment – Unbelievable!

First off washing (2 bucket method):
Starting top to bottom, I tried to follow the methods detailed on this site, but in practice I found myself either cleaning a dirty patch before I should or missing a few spots by not going back again.
Also, I’m not sure when rinsing the mitt whether you should squeeze the mitt juice (ooer missus) back into the rinse bucket or not. I didn’t notice any difference. Didn’t have a grit guard I just rubbed the mitt with my other hand, I don’t understand how much improvement they offer – dare I say, possibly a bit of a gimmick …. (lights blue touch paper and retreats!).
Also found that a lambs wool wash mitt didn’t seem to shift all dried on dirt, bugs etc. so reverted to a sponge on a couple of spots - not sure what the ‘big boys’ do.
I think that practice should sort these issues out.
Other thing I found was Eurorow waffle drying towels (used out of the box) are crap. Reverted back to using about 126 small microfiber cloths from Asda.
Try to ‘dab’ rather than wipe to reduce the risk of adding scratches, and don’t use it if you drop it on the floor, even if you do shake it first (yes I learnt the hard way!).

Claying
Using Bilt Hamber clay because you can lube up (here we go again) with water & I’m a tight git & didn’t want to buy quick detailer.
Added a splash of car shampoo into the bottle just for kicks which seemed to help.
Claying seems pretty straight forward to me, and VERY satisfying. Keep the clay wet, rub it up and down a few times until it feels more slippery than when you started and spend another 5 minutes feeling the difference with a un-clayed part. I started off with a light pressure to pick up the ‘big’ bits before increasing pressure as it got easier to use.
Note – don’t rub a hand with rings on over your clayed panel as you can introduce more scratches (even Elizabeth Duke jewellery can do some damage). Licking the panels is also inappropriate, but does make the neighbours avoid eye contact!
The clay bar didn’t seem to pick up that much visible debris, but did go grey. Remember to fold it over regularly & keep it moist. I used approx ¼ of the bar to do the whole car (using the used stuff for the wheels). Bear in mind it’s a small soft top, but I reckon 1 clay bar could do about 3 normal cars (about £4 per clayed car).

Polishing with DA
Add a black line to the backing plate or pad so you can gauge how the pad is spinning.
Take the time to mask off areas before you start as it will save you a lot of work in the long run. Polish on vinyl and other plastics is a git to shift.
Don’t leave the tape on for too long in the sun and rain. You’ll be left with a glue line that’s a git to shift.
My car is badly scratched all over so after a trial of pad combos I settled on the most aggressive combo I could (Sonus SFX-1 & Megs 83). It’s easy to get carried away and do a large area, but it really is better to focus on a small area at a time. Having said that, most of the guides say to work on 12-18” squares, but this is only 2 or 3 times the width of your pad (assuming 6”!). This looks really small & is hard to stick to, so in reality I probably did 24” squares because I kept over-spreading the polish.
Remember to downsize your work area if using a smaller pad.
Use polish sparingly. It goes a long way when on a DA, so 2 small spots is sufficient. It also helps stop you increasing your working area.
After spreading the polish at speed 1 I cranked it up to 5 & worked the area. Both Megs 83 & 80 seem to go clear quite quickly & then not much seems to happen.
After a while they can go a bit powdery which I took as a sign they had been over-worked.
I’m still confused as to what a ‘pass’ is but took it to mean from 1 side to the other, and a set to be 1 covering of the area. I probably did about 4-5 sets per section. The polish seemed to have gone clear and be virtually non-existent after this so I didn’t waste any more time on it.
The panel can get hot, but you should always be able to keep your hand on it without discomfort.
After doing a ‘heavy’ cut I couldn’t see any noticeable difference if I slowed the speed down for a few passes at the end or not. As I was going to refine this stage further there seemed little point in doing it, so didn't bother. 
The feel you get between different pads isn’t that noticeable, although the finishing pad is easier to keep spinning, but it is noticeable when you change size. The smaller pads are much harder to control evenly – (the load isn’t as spread out). I also found that I didn’t need to exert that much pressure over the pad to get a good result. To begin with I got a bit obsessed with trying to control the pad rotations at around 1 or 2 per sec. and as a result I found I was getting quite tense after a while. I settled on a comfortable speed using a light-ish pressure that kept the pad spinning all the time, but was sustainable.
There is quite a knack to getting the pad to work over curves. Practice will improve this, but basically you have to move the machine a lot to keep the centre of it tangential to the panel (apols for the big word).

Final Comments (for anyone still bothering to read)
Depends on what you want to achieve. I’m a realist with a knackered 11 year old car. It will never be a show car and isn’t worth trying to make it one. I want it to be clean & presentable. Using a DA it is actually quite hard to strike-through, but it is also quite hard to get really good correction.
Sort your technique out before trying to do too much. Don’t expect miracles. Practice will improve the end result. My car has some seriously deep scratches, but even light swirls are tricky to remove. By the time I’d done my car I could notice a difference between the first and last panels I’d polished.
In hindsight, I think I’ve picked up the basics quite quickly (thanks to all the guide writers on here) & having used a DA & learning what it can/can’t do I wish I had gone for a rotary to give me a bit more cut & speed.

Deep shine or heavy gloss look are dependant on the paint colour & I suspect quality to. I was disappointed with the depth of colour I achieved with a metallic BRG paint, but it did look shiny.
Some stuff is just hype or makes only a gnat’s chuff of improvement. I suppose if you’re a perfectionist, gadget snob or plain gullible you’ll be happy to pay for that 0.01% improvement. For example Pre-wax cleanser didn’t do much for me.
Megs Gold Class didn’t seem to shift as much dirt as Car-Plan shampoo on an unpolished car. However, once the car was cleaned it did give a good; relatively smear free finish from then on. Thinking about it, if you are washing a car for the first time with a view to clay & polishing etc, isn’t it a good thing to remove as much grime old polish etc. as possible? Therefore using a ‘cheap’ car shampoo or fairy liquid could actually make your job easier!
Meguiars #83 didn’t seem that aggressive despite being rated 6/10, if doing hard paint I think you could be a bit disappointed. It seems a bit powdery when fully worked, but could be me not using it right, or knowing when to stop.
Meguiars #80 Speed glaze is good for adding a shine, but does clog the bottle if left for a while. This means when next used the first pea sized blob you get is more of a brussell sprout!
Collinite 476S is really good. It seems quite thick to put on so spread it out as far as you can, but so far has lasted really well even on the wheels.
Don’t leave it on for too long before buffing as it becomes hard work.
Don’t get it on black plastic, glass etc as it dries on white & is tricky to clean off.
Sonus pads seem to last quite well, but nothing to compare against. The seemed to wash out well enough and there is no sign of the Velcro un-sticking.
Kestrel DAS6 does the job although can vibrate a bit. This could be my technique as much as the machine. The cable could do with being longer, but I’ve read this is a common problem.

As I sit back & admire my work a quote sprang to mind “You can polish a turd, but it’s still a turd!”. Shakespeare I think.


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Only strongly disagree with only one of your observations / comment. 

Budget, add 50% LMAO :lol::lol::lol: 

My Ex Mrs even had DW in her divorce petition (of course that was only three days after having her truck polished and the full Nanolex treatment ) The highs are fantastic but there can be another side to OCD that creeps up on you as well as blowing your budget :lol::lol: 

Life is great now though, no one nagging ' my wheels are dirty again


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## sfstu (Aug 3, 2010)

had my first polishing experience on the wifes car last weekend (ooeeerr missus!) and agree with all you said above..:thumb: was a little disapointed with results (took so long i only ended up doing roof and backend) but at the same time was relieved and happy with the shineyness..hasn't put me off and am planning on tackling rest of car over next week or so then mine when i've had a bit o practice...:lol::detailer:
rgds stu


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Always good to hear others experiances


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## maxtherotti (Mar 2, 2009)

brilliant post

Rob


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## beko1987 (Jul 25, 2010)

Brilliant! Taking my first DA step next year and this seems more realistic of what to expect (2001 ford puma washed with a dirty sponge from day 1!)

I tend to say 'You can't polish a turd, but you CAN roll it in glitter...' when I've valeted someone's car (using a hand srp and black hole over the DA atm) when it achieves pretty stonking results, but is still really an N reg astra with 140k and a second engine under it!


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## buddy2shoes (Aug 11, 2010)

Good write. From someone who is just in the process of preparing for his first Machine Polish, I thank you.


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## Jai (Mar 16, 2010)

An interesting read. I got my da back in October but with weather and time being an issue recently, I've only managed to play with a scrap panel. Left my previous job on Christmas eve and now working for myself, so I have all my days free to finally get some proper practice in with the da now! I have a lot of new products to give a go with now as well so roll on a few dry days! Was great to read about your first time experience and completely understand where you're coming from. I'll make sure I don't set my expectations too high. Car is only 2 and a half years old, but a haven for swirls!

Cheers


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## J90CVC (Nov 21, 2010)

Haha, nice analogy :lol:


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## The_Bouncer (Nov 24, 2010)

Great post - although to add I'd always recommend taking paint depth readings prior to taking a polishing machine to any part of a car.

:O)


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## Jinksy. (Jun 30, 2010)

Great write up! Sorta makes me want to start off on a rotary and just take it easy...


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## RivieraV (Mar 17, 2010)

Start Rotary,, I tried a DA years ago when I started, a double headed machine, thought it was useless to be honest and went straight to Rotary,... Bit like a woman, the DA is a half a cider girl, you cant really go wrong,but the rotary is like the wind and meal type, needs more care but once loosened up willl make you smile a whole lot more.


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## CarlPIL3080 (Feb 14, 2011)

Like the post. I'm thinking of buying a DA in the near future and its nice to hear of other peoples opinions and expeiences.


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

grate read. im planing on getin a machine but wasnt suer what one and then made my minde up for the das6 pro but reading posts like thes makes my thourts go back to getin a rotary


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## the_allstar (Jan 26, 2011)

Thanks for taking the time to write this. I'm a DA virgin, having just bought a DAS 6 Pro, I'm sure this'll come in really useful. 

Thanks


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## Teejay (Jun 8, 2006)

Nice write-up. Expect my first few forays will be similar!


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## MarkMac (Mar 4, 2011)

Teejay said:


> Nice write-up. Expect my first few forays will be similar!


+ 1 :thumb:


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## WopaDoBop (Nov 9, 2009)

Almost exactly the same 'first time' as me.

A very good read for DA virgins.


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## msa1712 (May 5, 2010)

Great write up!


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## thedonji (Oct 7, 2011)

Brilliant post thanks 

Sent from my Nexus S4g using Tapatalk


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Excellent post, thanks for taking the time to type this thread, will help alot of people on here.

Kind regards.


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## B-mah (Oct 4, 2011)

Very good post as i am a 57 year old virgin thinking about doing it for the first time


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## Ricey155 (Mar 15, 2011)

Worth the read cheers for sharing :thumb:


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## dcampbell42 (May 4, 2011)

all your mini rants about grit guards being a gimmick and using fairy liquid to strip old wax i completely agree 100% we think very similiar me and you :L


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