question about white paint

[gkcomp22]

I just got my order the other day with my udm/polishes and I had a question about polishing white paint. The polishes i'm going to be working with are sip/106ff. The car i'll be working on is a white ford explorer.

How can I tell if i'm breaking down the polish correctly on white paint? On all the videos I saw the polish was being applied to a darker color paint. Will it be hard to tell when the polish is broken down? Does anyone know of a video of someone polishing on lighter color paint?

I just want to know what to look for when polishing. Any advice would be appreciated.

[gkcomp22]

any suggestions? would a light help me see the polish breaking down easier?

[karburn]

I have a white car, and it's a little difficult when working outside to see just when to stop. Working indoors makes it a lot easier, but if you have to stay outside, just keep looking at the pad and use some polarizing sunglasses if you can. Inside, put a light at an angle to where you're working. In truth, experience is the only way to get a feel for working on white - I'm still an amateur. Good luck. After a few passes, you'll get a feel for it.

[gkcomp22]

Well i'm going to be working inside, but I was just looking for some advice from someone who worked with white paint before. Menzerna 106ff is a little darker than the Sip so maybe I'll be able to see the different stages easier. The Sip looks almost white in color so that one might be a little harder to tell.

I'm just trying to figure out what i'm supposed to be looking for. What kid of light would be best to use? Halogen? Thanks for the help.

[///alpinepower]

i have two white cars. it is easiest to do them at night or in a garage with dark walls because the light is easier to control. otherwise, you go blind looking at the paint and can't see the swirls and scratches.

[///alpinepower]

and unfortunately, polished white cars look best at night.

[Sprzout]

Well, if you're like me, you just hope that the vehicle polishes up to where there's a shine on the car! My gf has a 1999 white Toyota Corolla, and the only way that I could tell that the polish was breaking down correctly on the car was that the car was going from "oxidized" to "shiny", and that was with using ColorX on a PC 7424 & polishing pad.

Best I can tell you is, work at it, change your angle often to see if you can see the polish breaking down and getting the scratches/swirls out, or else just live with the light swirls that are going to be hard to see, except at the right angle, at night, etc...

[gkcomp22]

Originally Posted by ///alpinepower

i have two white cars. it is easiest to do them at night or in a garage with dark walls because the light is easier to control. otherwise, you go blind looking at the paint and can't see the swirls and scratches.

Would a garage with the door open with the sun shining in for light be good to see the polish breaking down? Or would you still need a halogen light or some other light at an angle towards the panel to see it working properly?

Whats kind of light would work best? Halogen, fluorescent? I'm going to try to polish this weekend so i'm making sure I have everything I need.

White sounds like a pain to polish, i'll do my best though.

[gkcomp22]

Originally Posted by Sprzout

Well, if you're like me, you just hope that the vehicle polishes up to where there's a shine on the car! My gf has a 1999 white Toyota Corolla, and the only way that I could tell that the polish was breaking down correctly on the car was that the car was going from "oxidized" to "shiny", and that was with using ColorX on a PC 7424 & polishing pad.

Best I can tell you is, work at it, change your angle often to see if you can see the polish breaking down and getting the scratches/swirls out, or else just live with the light swirls that are going to be hard to see, except at the right angle, at night, etc...

I was thinking the same thing. I'm hoping I don't spend a lot of time and not be able to tell the difference. As long as the swirls are gone i'll be happy. I'm thinking the 106ff and a white pad should be what I need. I'm not an expert so we'll see how that works for me.

Thanks for the tip on changing the angle to see the polish breaking down properly. I'll have to try it. We'll see how it works out.