Chris,
For best results, ease of use, and eventual sanity of the detailer...try using 100% cotton terrycloth towels to remove most of the polish or wax in sort of a "quick once over", then go over the areas with a 100% cotton diaper cloth to get it the rest of the way to perfection. The terry has enough nap to pull off large amounts of #7 or wax, while the diaper is great for getting everthing perfect. Using those two in tandem seems to work every bit as well as a orbital buffer. BTW, after you polish the car with #7 you will not need to work too hard on the wax as #7 leaves the finish ready for waxing. Sounds like your on the right track and doing a great job.

Keep up the hard work....Lee