The same thing has happened to me. In between Wipe-On, Wipe-Off, and 'wait 'til dry', there's a zone where the
SG is sticky, and is very difficult to remove.
Rather than apply more elbow grease (potentially marring the surface), I simply work back over the area with my MF application pad, then wipe off. The SG left on the pad will re-solubilize (is that a word?) the SG on the car, and you can then easily remove the remaining product.
The other trick that works very well is to use the
Sonus QD spray on the difficult-to-remove areas. This also allows easy wipe-off of the remaining SG.
Also, I've found that removal of the SG is easier for me when I use a 100% cotton cloth than when I use MF for removal. I don't know why, but the SG definitely comes off easier for me with cotton.
Coming back to your question: I can't believe that hard hand-buffing with MF would 'undo your work'. Any SG that's bonded to the paint is stuck there. Only if you rubbed hard enough to heat the surface (not likely) could I imagine bonded product being removed from the paint.