Help w/ steps prior to buffing
 

Going to polish out some light to moderate swirling on my '19 black GS w/ 350 miles. Thinking of (1) washing , (2) clay bar ( 3 ) buff Griots G 21 ( what speed, 4-5 for buffing ) and blackfire one step with Griots yellow pads then seal and wax ( according to directions on sealer )
I was going to use Griots paint prep after claying but I am not sure it is necessary? Forgot to mention, I gave it a coat of wax in Jan.
Thank you for your advice !!
Rich

Nope, prep only is really needed before wax/sealant/whatever

I usually do another contact wash after polishing to get all the dust and residue off, then prep and apply your protection

,
I do plan to claybar, polishing W/ blackfire one step ( there are a few swirls, (black), then putting on blackfire sealer then a wax. Sorry if I didn't make that clear in my post.
Thanks

What is a contact wash, waterless ? California dusters ? ( do they work? )

Contact wash is just a formal wash so spraying then directing contacting the paint and washing and siping away all the dirt with a microfiber sponge/mitt.

Not a fan of waterless and no idea what dusters are. If you want a car clean, make sure the car is really wet then do a contact wash.

His car is black and your car is white, two completely different universes washing, maintaining and prepping.....

To the OP, for a car that new you don't need any paint prep after a machine polish and a wax or sealant final coat....

Thanks for that. But, I did put a coat of Royal Blue cleaner wax ( by hand) this past January. So I am not sure if I should I remove the wax with the griots paint prep or use odorless mineral sprits 50-50 solution with distilled water.
I want to buff (to remove light to moderate swirls it accumulated from sitting on the dealers lot for 6-7 mos before I purchased it in December) with the Griots 6" random orbital 3" and 5" pads and the G 21 with blackfire one step, then seal with blackfire sealant then later wax.
Thank you again,
Rich

This is getting way more complicated than it needs to be.

Don't use solvents to remove wax. The main reason is that there is absolutely no reason to whatsoever. If you want to strip the wax, wash with dish washing soap instead of car wash soap. DIsh washing soap will tend to strip the wax. You're also planning on doing a polishing step which will also remove any residual wax.

Wash the car with dishwashing soap. Clay any areas that need it. Polish using whatever polish you like - I'm not really familiar with Griot's polishes but if you're just removing swirls you shouldn't need anything too aggressive. Wax/seal with whatever you use.

As far as speed RO buffers are pretty gentle by nature so I tend to default to having the speed up fairly high. Turn it down on curves and edges for safety and control.

Thank you for that info. I DO appreciate the help.
Rich

I agree with endus. You’re making it harder than it need to be. If you waxed and you’re going to polish, you’ll need to strip that wax off as part of your wash regiment before you clay. . Either use Dawn or your regular car soap with a cap full of APC (All Purpose Cleaner) in your wash bucket and only for this wash. Some will argue Dawn won’t be strong enough but if you’re going to clay, you’ll clay off what ever is left that the Dawn misses. To be sure, use APC.

Then you should be good with the rest of your steps. If you really wanna step it up after you’ve polished and before you seal, you could do an IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) wipe of the car to remove all the oils and residue from the polish but it’s not as necessary if you’re sealing and waxing and used more when apply ceramics.

Hope that helps.

That does help a ton!
An APC as in Top Job ?, or is that too strong? As far as the IPA alcohol wipe prior to sealing , that would be a 50-50 mix of alcohol ( we have a 91 % version ) and distilled water. I appreciate this advice prior to starting this project !! I want to get it as right as possible.
Rich

RE: APC- I’ve been using Adams APC for years and love it. But it you don’t have any, any all purpose cleaner will do. Just a small cap full in your wash bucket. If you’re not sure or don’t have access to any, just use dish soap. Since you’re claying you’ll get everything else off with clay.

RE: Alcohol- I used 70% from Walgreens. Never had a problem.

Hope that helps.

Rick

Never thought of putting APC in the wash bucket. Could totally work.

I like dish soap because the lubricity is awesome. No car wash soap ever seems to be quite as good. Wish I could use it all the time instead of just when I'm planning on polishing and rewaxing.