Hand Polishing, In depth please!

Hi all,

I am finding my self hand polishing more often than ever,
due to my motorcycle, I hand polish anywhere from my helmets
to spot polish around the tank area where swirls are often induced from hands,
and also the instrument cluster plastic, this is also true for my cars and wooden
and carbon fiber pieces in the car/bike.

Whats the most effective way to polish? what is the most effective polishes out there?
I got them all from Enzit to Menzerna "all versions" and others like poli-seal and
countless other products.

I am not finding Poli-Seal to be a really corrective product, it is more like a cleaner
sealant. although the idea of AIO "all in one" is very tempting and the fact
I don't want to remove allot of surface clearcoat because those areas
such as helmet and tank need polishing regularly so a mild product is a must.

is it me or are towels not the most effective applicator for polishing by hand? the pressure
is not even and it does get tiring pretty quick, also I have seen the CCS
applicators from autogeek but they look too large for some of those small areas,
whats the best applicator out there?

whats the best way to go about hand polishing guys? in all aspects of it, I have read
countless threads for 2 years now but there is not one definite answer to what works
best :help:

 

I own a 2000 Suzuki Intruder 1400 (chopper style) that I usually polish by hand. The other hand polishing I would do before I got some small 3 and 4" pads would be the A pillars. I would use a terry towel with the product on it and usually use straight back and forth movements. Removal with a mf. Hope that helps.

 

Hey Richy, you would think by now there is maybe an effective applicator for those tight places,
unfortunately I have seen none this far. maybe someone can point to the right direction

 

In tight places, I just use a corner of the terry towel, or wrap it around my finger.

 

ok whats the products u use and how aggressive should you go?
example if it take menz 85rd and a white pad to correct with rotary on a given paint hair line swirls;
what would you use to correct the same thing by hand? would you use SIP or 106FF?
and if u r to use SIP do you follow it up with a finer polish?

also how much pressure do you apply throughout the process?

 

As for the products, it depends how bad it is. I've used PG and 105 by hand (as aggressive as you can go). The same products will work. If you are trying to do a bigger area, it will just take longer. You can generate heat by hand too. And yes, if I start with an aggressive compound, I will follow it up by a milder one. Same theory, just different application. I only do by hand what I can't get at with a rotary. Once you are used to it, nothing compares with the quality of work and the speed. At least by hand you get accustomed to the products.

 

Same here Richy, it is really hard on a sport bike like the Ducati 1098s I have to polish with a machine
to much curves and sharpe edges plus damn bolts if touched with the pad, it normally tears
my pads up. but I do it anyways and the results are spectacular! my friends also ask me
if I ever get bugs on my paint and how to remove them, I then will give them a little course about polish and LSP and
direct them to this site!

Thanks for all the help!

 

I had some microfibers and cotton rags stiched to fit around a sanding block, it works great for defect removal.