There are several different products and methods to sanding an polishing paint. It seems like it is always evolving too. I'm always looking at new products. Here is the total procedure in a nutshell.
1: color sand (remove all defects and orange peel with 600-1000 grit sandpaper.
2: 1500 sandpaper to remove 1000 grit scratches. ALL OF THEM.
3: 2000 sandpaper to remove 1500 grit scratches ALL OF THEM.
4: 3000 sandpaper to remove 2000 grit scratches. You can actually start using a buffing compound on a rotary buffer with a wool pad at 2000 or you can continue up to 5000 grit sandpaper.
5:When you are happy and it looks shiny, you start polishing with an orbital buffer with finer grit polish.
6: Use a another polishing pad and a swirl remover using a sun light to check and make sure there are no halos or "ghosts" Ghost and halos are areas that need more buffing and still show un-buffed areas.
Like I said, "in a nut shell". Different people use different methods and products. They all seem to work.
The trick is to NOT skip a step and NOT completing a step and having to go backwards.
