Super Tanooki

Wow, Junkman, that's a great write-up, thanks very much man, I really appreciate it. I had actually previously watched your videos before posting this thread - very informative and, actually, very entertaining to watch.

(Before I start, questions for you are in bold, for easy return-reference).

Here's the thing (and don't take this the wrong way, I have saved every shred of information you offered and will use it all); I think there are certainly different degrees to which one can go to achieve a certain result with this.

You take it to the highest degree - professional, order-only products, PCs, and all that. It's the whole hog. And so you get a professional finish. The reason why I watched your videos and then, seemingly arrogantly, proceeded not to buy all the stuff you used and copy it exactly is simply because, right at this very moment in time, I'm not ready to go that far.

The reason is a mixture of confidence and money. I just bought the car. I basically picked up my bank account like a giant pot and tipped it upside down into the lap of a Nissan salesman. Therefore, while I respect the fact that you get what you pay for when it comes to car products, and I totally aimed to avoid getting 'the cheap stuff', I'm certainly not ready to hit one of those $400 PC packages on Adams. I need a few months to recover the cash to spend on stuff like that.

Confidence-wise, I really just didn't want to take any sort of machine to my paintwork. Like, I know that these processes basically wear down a tiny layer of your clear coat. I know my car's relatively new and so I should have plenty of clearcoat to play with. But I just didn't want to go so far as using a machine - just yet.

All in all, I'm not going to achieve your professional, perfect results. I know this.

So, basically, my intention was (is) to - for now - do the best possible job I can by hand without having to buy bottles of insanely-priced super soap or specialist machines, but also without doing further damage to my paint.

Of course, I fully respect your methods, and I know that achieving the perfect paint you show in those pics will require me to go further than some over-the-counter products and a bit of elbow grease. That's why there are professionals, like yourself, in the world - because the average people using average methods don't garner the same spotless results.

I guess I'm aiming for that level just below professional, but well above the typical spit-wash normal people do who don't know or care about the finer condition of their paint.

So here's what I want to do. I want to wash and dry the car the best I can. Then I want to polish (if possible) and wax the car as best I can by hand. Taking on all this advice, I'll get the grit guard buckets (I already had those on my list), I'll order those towels (Are they for washing or just drying, or both?), and I'll throw away my shammy and towels.

Surely not everyone on here who wants to take care of their paint goes the whole hog with all the machines, right? I mean, is it impossible to polish to any extent without a machine? Is the below statement really true?:

So, no machine means no polishing - to ANY extent? Is that how it is?

If so then I guess I'll keep my swirls for now, and just clean, clay then wax the car and maintain it as it is right now until I'm ready to go to Junkman-levels of perfection.

But I feel that statement is a little too black-and-white. Is there no grey area? If I CAN achieve some degree of polishing by hand - without damaging the clear coat - then that's all I want to achieve for now. Again, that's for now.

Can I use SwirlX by hand? Is the Adam's Swirl remover much better? If so, would it then be ill-advised to use the Megs Tech Wax after the Adams polish? Also, the Tech Wax came with a little buffer pad in the box. Is that garbage too?

I'll get those towels you suggested - but which towels should I use for each stage: Wash, dry, polish, wax?

And Claying - it seems pretty easy and non-invasive. After using a clay bar on a spot, I just wipe clear with detail spray and drying cloth, right?

That'll do me for now.

Again, please don't think you've wasted your time, or that I'm dismissing your expertise. I will come back to this thread, now bookmarked, and go for that perfect finish in a few months, and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to provide me with such extensive information.