Scooter,
If I remember right, I think Ian used a SOS pad with the blue soap on it, soaked with the Green Polish and scrubbed like H***. He then polished with the green and followed with Ultra. I'll find out for sure.
I can't honestly say how long it took to do 4 wheels for tandems and 2 steer wheels.
I'll called and left a message. I'm imagining it took a quite a while. I'm not implying this polish is magic. It takes work. But now that it's done, he says it's a matter of wiping down with a coat of Ultra and buffing a little and wiping off.
As far as the wheel and bar of rouge, I've never used one. Everything in my listings and pictures are hand polished. I don't own a buffer. This polish is meant for convenience when you're out on the road or on a trip. Your surfaces can be cleaned up fast and easy without having to worry about having an expensive buffer,electricity and wheels and bars along.
And don't even let me begin on the mess it saves. I'm thinking that wheel has to make quiet a mess and then clean off the tires and surrounding areas.
But like I said, I've never used a power buffer.
I would assume a buffer would give a better shine if you know what you're doing. I've seen fuel tanks machine buffed that looked perfect and others with many swirls that looked like crap. I've polished sections of tanks to near perfection. Hand polishing is work, but satisfying work. And then when you get a harsh soap stain on the wheel or that rotten brown grease lines that shoot out from the hub that can't be wiped off, I just touch them up. No getting out the buffer, wheel, rouge and going through that whole process.
I don't have to polish anything at work. I don't have an assigned truck. I drive on the road, spot trailers in the yard, wash trucks in my spare time.
I polish wheels and tanks on a few select trucks at work for my pictures and my own satisfaction. I get a lot pride looking at the trucks I polish.
Most of our drivers don't even say thanks. But I enjoy it. It's more for my own benefit than anything else. I love polishing. There's a lot of pride in a finished job for me.
Once a surface is polished it's a matter of minutes to clean a wheel up.
If you're a power buffer and that's what you do, I'd say stick with that.
If the Dow foamy bathroom cleaner will work, then go for it. The main thing is for Munchie to get his wheels cleaned up like he wants. Best of luck to him.
Take care,
Steve