A couple years ago I wet sanded and buffed my bc/cc finish. This year, I noticed that by some of the body lines where I didn't buff as aggressively as the rest of the car, it has dulled a little. Do I need to remove the wax before I buff again? My instinct says yes. Thanks, Jeff
If you are a little nervous around the edges you can just take some paper towel and heavy(scratchy)compound by hand. Most of our newer materials don't polish out so easy,so if you have a little peel or rough areas you will likely have to sand it out rather than just buffing. If you are already happy with the flatness of the finish just start out with heavy and work into lighter. A waffle pad with foam pad glaze is nearly impossible to burn the finish if you want it to really shine. It is not necessary to remove any wax because the compound is cutting much coarser than the wax buildup and it is basically polished off.
^What he said^.....Wash the car first, then if you're going to sand some more or even if you're just going to buff, there's no need to remove the wax. The sandpaper or cutting compound is going to remove the wax for you and it'll be just like you started over on that section.
Depending on how much area you need to polish you might consider a 3m 3000 trizact pad and work it by hand or random orbital polisher and then buff it out with 3m 3000 perfect-it compound, again, by hand. The random orbit polishers are easy to use and can make a novice look like a pro. Porter Cable 7346 is a great tool for right around $100
2000grit foam pad fold it in half, as long as the paint isn't unusually thin, that will give the best results, remember your on an edge so be cautious, the 3000 will work but won't level much if any texture, unless it's very minor, the 2000 will and will hand rub out easily, use a small bucket of soapy water
Since you should wash it before you sand or rub, use Dawn dish soap to wash with, that will take any wax off. A lot of times if you try sanding while theres still wax on the car, the wax will clog the paper.
I use the Griots stuff for wash/wax/detail duties, have had good results with it. They have bonnets formulated to remove the old wax, and all of the clays to remove the surface contaminants before putting the new wax on. Try to use micro-fiber cloths for doing the buffing, paper is too abrasive & can leave deep scuffs on the surface.
Lighter fluid excellent wax and grease. But I would Dawn dish soap 1st. We have a 55 gal. Drum at our shop. We buy direct from Ashland chemical.
