Read the guide but still have questions

[Frenzy]

Sorry I'm a complete noob to detailing, i want to care the best i can for my GTI and i have read Jules86's guide about 3 times and some other posts in this section. However i don't think i've got a strong enough idea in theory of what i'd supposed to be doing in practise and whether i'd have bought the correct kit for the job i had in mind of doing. The last thing i want to do is screw it up by not fully understanding what level of detailing i'm aiming for.

So my questions are:

* how important is it to polish the car if you are wanting to wax it?
* I don't think i understand cut, why would you do this and do you have to have a degree of cut no matter how weak in order to correctly polish? This notion of cut is scaring the bejeebus out of me - it gets me thinking i'll just fubar the paint
* Could you just wash the car, clay the car, remove the clay and then just wax it? I appreciate that it wouldn't produce as good a finish as going through all the stages but would results be better than just simply washing?

I'd be doing all this by hand.

cheers 

[JPC]

I never clay a car without polishing it afterwards, purely because if you clay a a car with a lot of contaminants, you are going to mar the paint finish slightly. I can argue this until the cows come home, people always say that it doesn't. But the people say it doesn't are doing it on the drive with not that much light available at all angles

[Frenzy]

Thanks JPC.

So would you advise that as someone new to the process that if i do use a polish that i use one with a mild cut so i can't go too wrong. My car is reflex silver if that has any bearing on matters.

[stealthwolf]

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=63859

guide on polishing. based on machines but have a read. Swirls and scratches are indentations in the clearcoat. Some polishes contain fillers and fill the indent but it's temporary and not always that good. Polishing is lowering the level of the surrounding clearcoat.

Would recommend polishing after claying but if you've already waxed the car once, I would just wash, dry and apply the top up wax.

[Frenzy]

Cheers Stealth, that's a good point. I just bought her little more than a week ago from the Stealers so i'm uncertain as to the level of detailing they did. It was certainly shiny when i bought it but a week of driving around London's grimy roads means that whilst she aint dirty she's already begining to lose some of that shine and wow factor.

I think at this stage a wash, dry and wax top up is the route to go. 

[stealthwolf]

VW garages don't have detailers. They have valeters.
In all honesty, I'd wash, clay, rewash, dry and then use something like autoglym super resin polish which can be done by hand.

[Frenzy]

Thanks for that advice. If i went that route does it mean no glazing or waxing after the resin polish?

[stealthwolf]

A true glaze will be fine but most have paint cleansers which would remove the fillers that SRP puts in. I would avoid the likes of lime prime. Use something like megs #7 glaze or red moose machine glaze. Otherwise just finish with a wax. Some people use Autoglym's extra gloss protection.

In the past, I've used SRP followed by EGP and then something like collinite 476s without any problems.

[Frenzy]

*Edited* Answered my own dumb question by finding out that Collinite 476 is a wax