Best way to polish out marring between door edge and handle

[toml]

Hey all,



I`ve got some marring to polish out between the back edge of the driver`s door and its door handle. There`s three scratches, not all that deep but noticeable. The longest scratch is 1" long.



I`m a bit concerned how best to tackle this because:



(a) it`s tight quarters. The distance between door edge and handle is 1 3/4", and the longest scratch extends to approx. 3/4" from the handle.



(b) all the marring begins at the door edge where the paint thickness may be thinner than elsewhere ... at least I think I read that`s the case at body seams, creases, edges, etc.



I do have 4" Propel turbo pads as well as the larger Propel pads, but is machine polishing the way to go? With any size pad, I`d have to bridge the gap between the driver`s door and the rear passenger door. I could tape everything but the affected area and polish over the tape as well as the paint, but I`m not sure if that`s the greatest thing to do either.



Any suggestions? Would hand polishing be better in this case? If so, I have Optimum polish and compound, #80, and SSR 2.5 ... not what I would consider great hand polishes, but would one of these do or would I need to go with something like ScratchX?

[Accumulator]

toml- I`d either use the outer edge of a 6.5" pad (not as risky as it sounds IMO) or do it by hand, probably the latter. Of the products you listed I`m only familiar with the #80 and IMO it`s probably too mild for this.



I`d open the door as an easy way to keep your efforts off the other door. You could keep it open with an old pillow/wad of towels/etc. stuck between that door and the passenger one. Another idea is to stick a piece of thin cardboard (like the stuff that comes with dress shirts and ladies` pantyhose) in the doorjamb to act as a barrier for the areas you don`t want to touch.



Yeah, the paint may very well be thin around the edge of the door, so proceed with caution.



I`d do it by hand with my old 3M PI-III RC (05933) or maybe 1Z Ultra/Extra, following up with something milder before the LSP.

[toml]

Accumulator, the suggestion for keeping the polish off of the rear door sounds good. Thanks! I`ve also done some more research here ... it seems like 1Z PP would do the trick by hand ... what do you think? I have an unopened bottle of it that was given to me along with 1Z MP (which I understand would be too mild). Both of these are from 1Z`s Personal line.

[Accumulator]

The PP would sure be a good start. Remember that it leaves wax behind (I dunno which LSP you`re using now and some sealants don`t bond to it very well).



If the PP doesn`t *fix* it, it`ll at least make it better. I`d live with it while you order up a can of their Ultra/Extra, and if *that* stuff doesn`t do it then you`d just better live with it.



Yeah, the MP will be too mild but it makes a nice follow-up after the PP (and after the Ultra/Extra too).



If the door handle has textured black plastic/etc. I`d either tape it off or wipe the polish off ~immediately so it doesn`t stain. 1Z stuff isn`t awful about this the way some products are, but better safe than sorry.

[toml]

Thanks for the further input! Door handle matches the paint, so no worries about staining it (polish inside the little crevices is a bigger nuisance). Didn`t know that PP leaves wax behind, but I`m planning on following up with VM/RMG and then topping with CMW, so that shouldn`t be an issue.

[Accumulator]

Didn`t know that PP leaves wax behind, but I`m planning on following up with VM/RMG and then topping with CMW, so that shouldn`t be an issue.



OK, just watch for the "marring coming back" phenomenon since the wax in the PP might do a little light filling and the VM might clean it away (before the RMG fills it back in :D ). I think I might consider skipping the VM if things look good after the PP, but see how it goes.

[toml]

OK, just watch for the "marring coming back" phenomenon since the wax in the PP might do a little light filling and the VM might clean it away (before the RMG fills it back in :D ). I think I might consider skipping the VM if things look good after the PP, but see how it goes.

Thanks for the heads up. :up In the interest of time, I may just go the "pink Moose" route.