Question

[magully]

Hi i have a red 1998 Escort ZX2 no pics, it has lots of swirls and scratches, some of the scratches are too deep for me or anyone to buff out, it is my daily driver and im not looking for a perfect finish, i will be doing it all by hand, dont have a lot of money to buy all the good prodcuts to do the job.....the question i have is turtle wax rubbing compound and polishing compound will it do a decent job on my car, and i will probably top that with turtle wax paste wax...thank you for looking and for al who has any input to my question

[Beemerboy]

I would start with the polish first and see how that cleans up the paint..if its real bad then the compound might be in order, but with most compounds your going to need and polish after. Compounds leave hazing in some cases.

Then your wax to top off.

The process will be all of how it turns out. My suggestion is that you work in small areas like 12x12 inch areas and with a cotton applicator (not micro fiber) work the with a dime size amount and work it well into the paint some elbow grease will do it.

[Concours.John]

Just like he said work in small areas. Finish a panel at a time. At least wash good and get a clay bar and some kind of quick detailer for lubrication prior to starting. Doing this by hand is alot of work. If you start on a weekend it should give you enough time to not be half done through the week and get discouraged. Been there good luck.:bigups

[magully]

Beemer...what would be the difference between a ( cotton pad or micro pad ) why would one be better than the other. if you dont mind me asking.

[chet31]

I`ve used and still have the Turtle Wax compound and polish. +1 on using the polish first. If you don`t have a machine, don`t even try to get the bigger scratches out. Spend more time getting a nice final finish. Nice final finish w/ a few deeper scratches > hazy finish w/ no scratches.

[Beemerboy]

Beemer...what would be the difference between a ( cotton pad or micro pad ) why would one be better than the other. if you dont mind me asking.

Micro fiber is very soft and in using polish and cutting products, it doesn`t give you the bite that you want. Cotton gets a much better bite on the product.

[magully]

Beemer, thank you i believe that is the way i will go then, when i do plan on starting this little project on my car i will try and take before and after pics...i will say that my experience of car detailing was taking it thru the self service car wash and then just wax it, this is going to be hurtfull to myself from what i have read on here doing it by hand, but as well it shall be something i should be somewhat proud of saying to myself that i did that to my car myself....

[magully]

ok i have purchased the rubbing compound and polish compound from turtle wax, i washed the car, dried the car, used a clean terry cotton pad with the rubbing and polishing compounds, i taped off a 12 x 12 inch square, i applied 3 applications of each compound and all i did was add more swirls to the paint, it is smooth as glass,but there are more swirls now.... am i doing something wrong.

[tuscarora dave]

I suggest picking up a bottle of Meguiars Ultimate Compound from Wally World or your local auto parts store and repeat the process with a new applicator and see how that works out. If you can swing an extra $30 also pick up a 5 or 6 inch palm polisher and try that to save your arms some hurt. These are not very effective machines but may be more effective than working by hand. Are you using the plastic cans of TW compound and polish? That stuff is like sand in a can and will certainly leave swirl marks. Megs Ultimate Compound should clean them up better. Working by hand is "very" demanding of elbow grease.

[magully]

i am going to say yes the TW in the green plastic containers...so basicly your saying the more i use this crap the more swirls i am going to be putting it my car

[magully]

ok, i went to o`riellys and purchased some ultimate compound some new pads and went over the area that i did with the turtle wax, excuse my french but holy sh**, what took me 2 hours to do with the turtle wax and what i thought looked decent, to me 5 minutes with ulitmate compound and by god there is a night and day difference.... thank you for guiding me in the right direction and using the UC,i am pretty sure if i had a cheap buffer i could turn my car into something it never was clean, swirlf free and an awesome shine...

[nyc_medic]

Well your on your way into detail madness. Seems that you have caught the bug for wanting a shiny car. It would help to update your profile as you never know who might be near you and able to help you out. Good luck and remember the search button is your best buddy, sure helped me.