What does machine polishing do paint to hide the swirls?

MH996TT · 01-27-06, 11:53

Hi everyone, new to the forum -- what a great resource for car care...

I would like to know what polishing is doing to the painted finish. Is it just hiding the swirl marks or does it actually repair some of the swirls. Or, does it hide the swirls and most likely create more swirling that would be noticed when the polish is removed. Assume all work done by professional.

Also, please recommend a good place in south bay Los Angeles to get professional machine polishing and detailing services.

Thanks,

Matt

Lowejackson · 01-27-06, 12:03

Welcome to Autopia

The short answer is that polishing removes the swirls but you can you a product called a glaze which hides the swirls.

Removing swirls is not that hard if you have the right tools

Edit: Have a look at this http://www.guidetodetailing.com/arti...p?articleId=15

White95Max · 01-27-06, 12:52

Check out http://www.exceldetail.com
Patrick is in Thousand Oaks...I don't know how far that is from you.

A true polish will remove the swirls completely by wearing down the clearcoat to the lowest part of the scratches. They will not come back, unless improper methods create more.

As said above, a glaze is a product with lots of fillers. They typically have little to no polishing ability, but have the fillers to fill in the swirls. This will only hide the swirls, and they will come back as the fillers wear off.

MH996TT · 01-27-06, 01:15

thanks for the feedback - all is very helpful since I know very little about this subject.

How many polishings can the clear coat handle? Since my car was purchased used, is there something I can do to find out how much clear coat is left?

regards,

Matt

White95Max · 01-27-06, 01:21

That depends on the aggressiveness of the polish in question. If you're using a light polish like Clearkote Vanilla Moose, or P21s GEPC, you could probably use those hundreds of times without removing a significant amount of clear.
If you're using something strong like Poorboy's SSR3 or Menzerna PowerGloss, you're removing a fair amount of clear each time you use it. I wouldn't want to use either of those products more than a couple times in one area. They're made for very serious correction.

You can tell how much clear is left if you buy a paint thickness gauge. But those are not cheap. Honestly, I don't even know where you can buy them. But I know you're looking at at least a few hundred bucks for one.

Lowejackson · 01-28-06, 10:26

Agreed, unless the paint has had some very serious work ie wet sanding, I would not worry about it. However, the trick is always to remove the minimum amount of paint possible.

MH996TT · 02-04-06, 07:09

So I had a guy detail my car this week. He came highly recommended and he did a great job but he didn't seem to possess the wealth of knowledge towards aggressive swirl removing that I find on this forum. He used a foam pad Meg. DA with Meg. product. I think he said 90 something for polish and 60 something for wax (I really don't remember for sure...). He told me that many of the swirls were removed but that the remaining scratches would need a much more aggressive rotary method that he does not do. He also said that a DA cannot create enough heat to remove the remaining scratches.

My questions are, from what I've read here there are many other polishes that can be used with a DA to get the scratches out, true? And, is it true that DAs don't create enough heat to get deeper swirls? I am guessing that I would continue to see improved results if I were to do the same DA polish 3 more times over the next couple months.

Also, he made the DA look like a really safe machine to use. What is the most important thing to watch out for (other than contamination and product choice) when using a DA for the first time?

Thanks for the previous advice, this is a very important topic to me and you guys/gals are really great to share your knowledge like this... I've been in the dark for soooo many years...

mrecktid · 02-04-06, 07:16

1. There MANY different polishes that could possibly get the deeper scratches out. But the DA polishers do have their limits, extreme limits. Paul already noted 2 of the extreme polishes for the DA/PC polishers, SSR3 and Powergloss are heavy-duty compounds. Anything rated lower shouldn't cause any harm.

2. It's true that DA's don't produce a significant, if any, amount of heat. Heat does play a factor in removing hard swirls/scratches, which is why a rotary is so much more effective. But you should continue trying a few more times to polish out the scratches.

3. You named the two most important things already, just don't drop it on the car and just ease into it, be comfortable using the polisher on your car.

General Lee · 02-04-06, 07:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by MH996TT

My questions are, from what I've read here there are many other polishes that can be used with a DA to get the scratches out, true? And, is it true that DAs don't create enough heat to get deeper swirls? I am guessing that I would continue to see improved results if I were to do the same DA polish 3 more times over the next couple months.

Yes, there are numerous other polishes that can be used to remove defects. The PC (DA) has its limits so depending on how deep your scratches are, your detailer may be right by telling you they need the attention of a rotary. The PC does not create alot of heat making it safer to use then a high speed rotary, but remember it has it limits. Do some searching around on the site for product and pad combinations, there are some good combos that make for some pretty aggressive paint correction.