P/C polish without micro marring

W.S. · 01-19-08, 04:57

While I like the work time of my Optimum polishes, they leave too much micro marring. What polish, please name specific polishes, that will leave extremely little micro marring. I know that I will sacrifice work time, but that is okay.

Wade

wannafbody · 01-19-08, 05:37

ZPC
Mernzerna FP2
Menzerna 106FF
3M Ultrafina SE

tdekany · 01-19-08, 05:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by W.S.

While I like the work time of my Optimum polishes, they leave too much micro marring. What polish, please name specific polishes, that will leave extremely little micro marring. I know that I will sacrifice work time, but that is okay.

Wade

You are using way too much OP. It finishes perfect. Even OHC.

W.S. · 01-19-08, 05:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdekany

You are using way too much OP. It finishes perfect. Even OHC.

Not on my BMW and SAAB paints. I only use a little bit, a few pea size drops for a panel or two.

tdekany · 01-19-08, 05:43

Speed 6? I have never seen op mar.

smprince1 · 01-19-08, 06:08

I've also never seen marring with OP ... is it possible your pad itself is causing the marring (i.e. contaminated)?

W.S. · 01-19-08, 07:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by smprince1

I've also never seen marring with OP ... is it possible your pad itself is causing the marring (i.e. contaminated)?

quite likely

kaval · 01-19-08, 10:18

As others have said, your pad is likely contaminated. I've never had marring with OP. What pad are you using with OP?

a.k.a. Patrick · 01-20-08, 06:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdekany

You are using way too much OP. It finishes perfect. Even OHC.

Thomas, same happened to me on Friday with a Mica Blue Bimmer X3. I went with Orange/OC, then Orange/OP. Of course I was in direct sun which may have contributed to my issues. And I should have left well enough alone with the Orange/OP. But I persisted on obtaining the perfect finish. I mean the Op was good enough, met finishing standards, but I wanted to take it just a 1/2 step further. I tried OP and a white pad, that was worse. OP and a grey pad, much worse, Surf City Finishing Polish/White pad, even worse. It just appeared that the polishes werent finishing out, but I couldnt figure out why! So I called up Spoiledman who lives maybe an hr or so away from me. We talked and he confirmed that the Bimmer paint was obviously soft, and the polishes werent abrading themselves out with the soft pad. He suggested I go back up to the Orange pads (which I originally started with). The firmer pads would give more resistance against the abrasives thus helping them abrade completely. And thats where I should have left it alone was with finishing with the Orange/OP stage.
So, being in the sun, I slowed everything down a little bit (UDM and arm movement) and all came out well. Hit it with some OptiSeal and called it a day....

RAG · 01-20-08, 06:36

Everbody here has given you good responses in my opinion. I've done a ton of experimenting with micromarring and a dual action polisher and can feel the biggest factor is the polish you are using, then pressure and pad choice. I find that the standard green foam which is both soft and porous doesn't gouge the abrasives into the paint so hard. When I last compared a variety of polishes on some soft black paint, I got significantly less micromarring with PO106ff than with any other polish (but I didn't try the Ultrafina).

kaval · 01-20-08, 10:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by a.k.a. Patrick

Thomas, same happened to me on Friday with a Mica Blue Bimmer X3. I went with Orange/OC, then Orange/OP. Of course I was in direct sun which may have contributed to my issues. And I should have left well enough alone with the Orange/OP. But I persisted on obtaining the perfect finish. I mean the Op was good enough, met finishing standards, but I wanted to take it just a 1/2 step further. I tried OP and a white pad, that was worse. OP and a grey pad, much worse, Surf City Finishing Polish/White pad, even worse. It just appeared that the polishes werent finishing out, but I couldnt figure out why! So I called up Spoiledman who lives maybe an hr or so away from me. We talked and he confirmed that the Bimmer paint was obviously soft, and the polishes werent abrading themselves out with the soft pad. He suggested I go back up to the Orange pads (which I originally started with). The firmer pads would give more resistance against the abrasives thus helping them abrade completely. And thats where I should have left it alone was with finishing with the Orange/OP stage.
So, being in the sun, I slowed everything down a little bit (UDM and arm movement) and all came out well. Hit it with some OptiSeal and called it a day....

if the paint was that soft, i wonder how Poli-Seal would have worked. I did a repaint 745li and the paint was so soft that poli-seal + white pad was taking out about 70% of the defects.

Great job on the BMW btw!

wannafbody · 01-20-08, 08:05

I'm of the opinion that a PC needs a dense pad to fully break down abrasives. Soft, squishy pads just don't do it.