Next weekend I plan on clay-baring my mini, as well as a good wax and perhaps a polish inbetween. I don't have an orbital buffer however. Is there anything wrong with applying polish by hand?

 

absolutely not!

 

It will make you really appreciate you new PCDA (when you get one)!

 

not if you accidently have a pebble stuck in your polish pad!

 

I have polished clear coats before with very fine polish meant for the hand. I have yet to do anything with a mini though. I am anti machine for as long as I can hold out. If I had a used car, I probably would try octaneguy's video and technique as there isnt a better one out and m80 sounds like the best substrate.

5-6 years ago I would use simonize hand polish/cleaner. It is mad old school but it worked so well. It didnt do 100% job but it did like a 80% job which was great for my tastes back then. When polishing by hand I dont think you can go wrong. It is really a gentle method if you use fine polish grits.

 

I did the Sonus perfect shine kit by hand which included claybar, 3 polishes, Klasse AIO, & P21S carnauba wax. The results looked amazing at the end (not a swirlmark in site) but after about 2 weeks the swirls were back with a vengance. I don't believe they were new swirls, I just think that I had masked them with all the products in my "by-hand" detail job instead of actually removing them. So about 2 weeks they later showed back up. No harm done & my car still looks great but next time I am def gonna use a PC to actually remove the swirls (& hopefully keep my arms from falling off )

 

Spoken by someone who obviously doesn't use a PC.
If you have a pebble in your pad, then you better stop waxing your car over gravel or better start taking a broom to your garage floor or stop using your PC to wax your floor!

Nothing wrong to polish a car by hand. It's doable, but takes longer and more effort if you want as flawless a finish as possible. Use a system like Zaino that will mask swirls to make life easier for you. =)

 

Well I already plan on doing a claymagic clay bar, and waxing with Zymol, since that's what I currently have. I also have meguiars step 2 polish. Should I get something better than meguiars? My mini is an 02, and has pretty decent paint with no swirls that I can see, but I haven't taken a really meticulous look at it yet (only bought it a few weeks ago.)

 

exactly! i would say orbital can do the work in about 1/10th of the
time, so that's x10 faster you can damage your paint.

im happy we haven't heard of such issues yet... just a matter of
time, i suppose.

 

Do yourself a favor, and get some Eagle One Nano-Wax.

When I have lots of time to polish my "Wikked One" - I usually use a PC and some Wolfgang's 2-step products, but when I wanna do it by hand, nothing beats "Nano-Wax," and here's why.....

1. Goes on and comes off EASIER and FASTER than ANYTHING out there (trust me, I have tried at least 30 products)

2. It will never leave residue on the plastic bits, in fact, if you get some on the plastic bits, it just helps shine them up also....

3. The finish and protection it gives it fantastic, I have a JET BLACK mini, and I have won multiple car-show trophies using it - you can see my pics online here in my gallery (and in MC2 magazine)

4. IF you have any swirl marks/fine scratches, it will quickly "hide them" (But that is why I use a PC occassionally with some 'Wolfgangs Pre-Polish' or '3M's - Finesse-It" - to actually remove the fine scratches).

In any case - polish with loving care....and GOOD LUCK!

-B