Curious to know which ones you use as I'd love to get that deep gloss shine asap. I've never been able to get it on a silver car. It just looks clean, but not a deep gloss finish.
in my experience, silver (or any lighter color) will never capture the true depth gloss of darker color. Extreme example: white car vs black. All factors equal, the black is going to get the rich, deep gloss.
That aside, here is what has worked for me. Assuming a mild level of swirls already present and car has minimal (if any) wax/sealant on it:
1)Wash with whatever car wash I have around. Typically its Meguiars gold. (but Im not wed to that brand. It just suds nicely in my cheap foam gun)
2)I then clay it. No fancy spray. While the car is still slick/sudsy I wipe back and forth with this to get off contaminants and get the surface ready for next steps
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Clay-Bar...MI19qBvumz6AIVkYrICh3fPwJnEAQYASABEgJ3PfD_BwE
3)I then use my Griots DA polisher (again, any brand polisher will do), a green pad and a mild slightly abrasive wax to work on any swirls and finish cleaning the finish. any liquid cleaner wax will do. I prefer Meguiars.
4)After that is done, I hand apply Turtle Wax ice. Spray on, wipe off with clean microfiber. After that, I finish buffing with another clean soft microfiber to bring out the shine.
Above is my quick and dirty method. if the paint is really in bad shape, I'll need to use more aggressive products (Meguiars Ultra Compound works well for me) along with the coarser orange pad. After that, I go to green or blue pad with a nice polish to get some gloss. After polish, I go straight to Turtle Wax Ice to seal in the shine.
for maintenance, once a month (every third wash) I go over the car with another fast spray of Ice. Once a year, I'll do the clay method again to get off airborne contaminants.
