light defects/scratches

[Howard4Lakers]

Noob question



I`m a little overwhelmed with what products I should be using to remove light scratches on paint. These ``scratches``, on the rear bumper, look like light gray marks on the paint, size of an index finger. I drive a dark blue colored car. My initial plan was to clay -> polish -> wax. But my question is do i just do it on the area that has the defects or the entire car after a wash?



Or do I find a paint scratch remover thats made by many different reputable brands and use that on the area instead?



I searched the forum and came across this http://www.autopia.org/forum/autopia...scratches.html which is the polish technique

[imported_RZJZA80]

If you just have scratches on the bumper then of course you can just polish them out and wax the car, but if you inspect the entire car, I would imagine that you will find more scratches/swirls throughout, so I would suggest inspecting all the paint, and then going from there. If they are true scratches, a polish may or may not remove them, depends how deep and what kind of paint. What car do you have?

[Dan]

"Light scratches" usually mean compound. Light swirls can be removed with a polish. There is no magic formula though, its a good idea to grab several levels of polishes and pads. Are you doing this by hand?

[Howard4Lakers]

If you just have scratches on the bumper then of course you can just polish them out and wax the car, but if you inspect the entire car, I would imagine that you will find more scratches/swirls throughout, so I would suggest inspecting all the paint, and then going from there. If they are true scratches, a polish may or may not remove them, depends how deep and what kind of paint. What car do you have?

I drive a 2011 hyundai sonata, pacific blue pearl color

"Light scratches" usually mean compound. Light swirls can be removed with a polish. There is no magic formula though, its a good idea to grab several levels of polishes and pads. Are you doing this by hand?

So by compounds you mean polish or something more abrasive? I will be doing this by hand. I understand microfiber applicator pads are used right? There not swirls, there just scuffs. Yes there are more I come across around the car. Again, there not deep scratches, so I`d like to use one method where I can go around the entire car and do whatever is best to lessen the appearance of the scuffs.



So a clay -> polish -> wax works best? Once I`m done doing that and it doesn`t get rid of all the scratches then maybe I could go for a different approach

[Dan]

I think you`ll lose a lot of people with the whole by hand approach. I`d grab Ultimate Compound and Polish from your favorite parts store. They will work by hand, but its going to be blood, sweat and tears.

[Howard4Lakers]

I think you`ll lose a lot of people with the whole by hand approach. I`d grab Ultimate Compound and Polish from your favorite parts store. They will work by hand, but its going to be blood, sweat and tears.

Meguiar`s products? Found them, thx.



They got good reviews so thats a good start. Yeah I plan on doing it by hand, infact I plan on waxing using a liquid wax ?(collinite 845) by hand too lol. Is that out of the ordinary? Is using a polisher/buffer machine more beneficial?

[pwaug]

If you are doing this by hand it will be allot of work, but at least use the orange side of one of these applicators for the UC and UP as it may help some---Car Polishing Pad - HD Duo Pad for Polish & Wax | 3D Products

[Accumulator]

Meguiar`s products? Found them, thx.



They got good reviews so thats a good start. Yeah I plan on doing it by hand, infact I plan on waxing using a liquid wax ?(collinite 845) by hand too lol. Is that out of the ordinary? Is using a polisher/buffer machine more beneficial?

Yeah, doing the polishing by machine is leaps-and-bounds beyond doing it by hand, both in efficiency and efficacy.



Using the 845 (and by-hand is fine) after the Meguiar`s compound and polish is a good approach.



The "compound" can be considered a more aggressive "polish". After you use that to fix/improve the scratches, you use the polish to refine things (like using progressively milder types of sandpaper).



Oh, and Welcome to Autopia!

[imported_RZJZA80]

Using a polisher isn`t the only way to go, but it`s the best way to go. The results and the finish will be better when using a polisher than by hand, but by hand will work if a polisher isn`t an option, it`ll just take a long time. 845 by hand is fine, just about any LSP is fine by hand for that matter. Stick with the UC and UP with a MF applicator and see how that works for you.

[Dan]

Polishing a car by hand is totally possible, but its like walking to the next town, on a hot day. Doable if you want to prove someone wrong, but miserable. You can get a great DA polisher for under $100. Polishing a car by hand is going to take you DAYS, not hours. How much do you value your time?

[Howard4Lakers]

Polishing a car by hand is totally possible, but its like walking to the next town, on a hot day. Doable if you want to prove someone wrong, but miserable. You can get a great DA polisher for under $100. Polishing a car by hand is going to take you DAYS, not hours. How much do you value your time?

Wasn`t expecting to shell out money for a polisher, but if i can find a decent one for $30-40 then i`ll do it.



The scratches are actually right below the rear license plate, on a small platform, where a buffer/polisher will not completely fit, so I guess I will have to do it by hand there? I`ll snap a picture to clear things up.



how does this plan look?



-Wash the car

-Should I clay bar?

-Meguiars Ultimate compound

-Meguiars Ultimate Polish

-Collinite 845 liquid wax





what do i need to apply the compound and polish? just MF applicator pads? Or do I need a microfiber cloth to remove it after applying?



Please let me know so I can purchase these things in advance. Thanks!

[Accumulator]

-Should I clay bar?

Yes.

what do i need to apply the compound and polish? just MF applicator pads?

You can use either MF pads or foam "wax applicator" pads.

Or do I need a microfiber cloth to remove it after applying?

Yes, you`ll need MF cloths to buff it off too. And to buff off the wax.

[Howard4Lakers]

Yes.







You can use either MF pads or foam "wax applicator" pads.







Yes, you`ll need MF cloths to buff it off too. And to buff off the wax.

okay great.



I am not familiar with Hyundai paint and if its `soft` or not, but I`ve heard using a compound isn`t necessary sometimes? I`ve had this car for 2 months, its a 2011 hyundai sonata, so I`m not sure how long its been on the lot, it had 27k miles on it and I gave it it`s first hand wash 2 weeks ago.



Basically what I`m asking is:



How often should I clay bar it per year? Twice? Don`t wanna ruin the paint.

How often do I use the ultimate compound (if used at all)? Once a year?



it`s a daily driver and will be garaged.

[Accumulator]

I am not familiar with Hyundai paint and if its `soft` or not, but I`ve heard using a compound isn`t necessary sometimes? I`ve had this car for 2 months, its a 2011 hyundai sonata, so I`m not sure how long its been on the lot, it had 27k miles on it and I gave it it`s first hand wash 2 weeks ago...

If you`re working by hand, even "soft" clear will seem pretty tough



Think of compounds and polishes as differing grits of sandpaper; you use the coarse/aggressive stuff if necessary, but otherwise you`d stick with the fine/gentle choice. Some times it`s just a question of using a compound twice, followed by a polish once or using a polish alone maybe six or eight times. Other times you simply need the compound to make any headway at all. Best to have both, try the polish, switch to the compound if necessary.

How often should I clay bar it per year? Twice? Don`t wanna ruin the paint.

Done correctly (i.e, gently with lots of lube), claying won`t do anything to the paint at all. Ideally, (heh heh...yeah, right...in a perfect world maybe ) the clay will glide along on top of a film of lube, not even touching the paint; it bumps into contamination and shears said contamination off; it doesn`t "pull it out", it shears it off and the distinction is, IMO, significant.

How often do I use the ultimate compound (if used at all)? Once a year?

As seldom as you have to for the paint to look OK to you. Other than the occasional "oops!" where the paint gets scratched, it`ll all probably depend on how the washes go (hint hint...that`s the tricky part).

it`s a daily driver and will be garaged.

Don`t touch the paint, at least not when it`s dirty. Get the wash regimen sorted out so you don`t instill marring while doing that. Rewax it before you think it needs done. Try to ignore the marring so a) you don`t drive yourself nuts, b) you don`t spend all your time on this stuff, and c) you don`t thin the clearcoat by compounding/polishing it all the time.

[Howard4Lakers]

If you`re working by hand, even "soft" clear will seem pretty tough



Think of compounds and polishes as differing grits of sandpaper; you use the coarse/aggressive stuff if necessary, but otherwise you`d stick with the fine/gentle choice. Some times it`s just a question of using a compound twice, followed by a polish once or using a polish alone maybe six or eight times. Other times you simply need the compound to make any headway at all. Best to have both, try the polish, switch to the compound if necessary.

so the compound would be a little more aggressive than the polish which is more gentle? So it would be OK to just head straight for the polish, since in this case the compound would not really be necessary?

Done correctly (i.e, gently with lots of lube), claying won`t do anything to the paint at all. Ideally, (heh heh...yeah, right...in a perfect world maybe ) the clay will glide along on top of a film of lube, not even touching the paint; it bumps into contamination and shears said contamination off; it doesn`t "pull it out", it shears it off and the distinction is, IMO, significant.

Sounds good. Any clay bar will do? I heard the same company has the patent for them anyway.

As seldom as you have to for the paint to look OK to you. Other than the occasional "oops!" where the paint gets scratched, it`ll all probably depend on how the washes go (hint hint...that`s the tricky part).







Don`t touch the paint, at least not when it`s dirty. Get the wash regimen sorted out so you don`t instill marring while doing that. Rewax it before you think it needs done. Try to ignore the marring so a) you don`t drive yourself nuts, b) you don`t spend all your time on this stuff, and c) you don`t thin the clearcoat by compounding/polishing it all the time.

I wash using a meguiars microfiber wash mitt, meguiars gold class, and dry with the meguiars supreme microfiber cloths. I use two buckets, one for rinsing the mitt and the other for clean water. Car looks great but I see slight swirls in direct sunlight, I guess thats not supposed to happen and hoping the polish and wax will diminish that.



I want to add something else rather than making a whole new thread. I live in a condo with a detached garage and for now I don`t have access to water to wash here, so I wash at another location where I can use a hose at my convenience. However it`s a 10-15minute drive back home to my garage, and thats where I`d like to begin polishing and waxing. I know in that time period the car will accumulate light dust and was wondering if a quick detailer (meguiars) will help clean that off so I can proceed to polish on clean paint?