I KNOW this is the right way to BUFF OUT smudges/scratches but I have questions!

[GRocks10]

Hi everyone,



My sisters car recently got some minor smudges/scratches that she wanted to have removed.. I recommeneded her this body shop by me that does work on cars. They do buffing for great prices.. I went along with her to go get it done. Basically, while watching the guy do the work ( yeah, I made sure to watch to take into notice what is done in the process so I can figure out how to do this myself in the future.. besides taking out scratches, it makes the car look more wet shiney like which is great! ).



Anyhow, this is what I saw being done while asking questions:



Things you need:



water, soap and washing cloth..



size 100 very thin good quality sandpaper



WASH area with cloth with water and soap.. then get sandpaper and put in the water and soap and WASH the area of the scratches..



WAIT for a good 5-10 minutes..



THEN STEP TWO



take the BUFFER and buff the areas with smudges/scratches, etc.



GET a special compound that is like a brown color and another one which I believe is a conditioner that looks white. Put good drops of the brown compound so you can continue to use the buffer.. and then put some of the white stuff later and buff some more.. ( its probably the same type of stuff ).



STEP 3



JUST WASH THE AREAS OF WITH THE SOAP AND WATER AND HOSE OFF..



YOU`RE DONE!



Here is my question: What is the special compound that is like a brown color and the other one being white? And the guy kept saying that he was using size 100 good quality sand paper, where do you get this stuff, how much?



I`m thinking of making a business possibly doing this stuff around my local area.. I know plenty of people who wouldn`t mind getting little scratches out of their car. I wouldn`t mind doing this to my car aswell but you`d be hard press to find much defects on the exterior since I keep it in such great condition.



Thanks for the help!

[EBPcivicsi]

:think: :nervous: :soscared:

[the other pc]

First off, :welcome to Autopia GRocks10.



Secondly, If by "size 100" sandpaper you mean 100 grit paper (#100 either CAMI, the American standard, or FEPA, the European standard) STOP!



Unless you`re deliberately trying to strip to bare metal you`d never use #100 paper on paint!



Even if you use papers that are appropriate for paint like #1200, #1500 or finer, buffing out the scratch pattern without imparting more damage requires skill (and the correct products, pads and machine).



For the sake of your paint, please spend a whole lot of time reading around here before you try it yourself.





PC.

[GRocks10]

First off, :welcome to Autopia GRocks10.



Secondly, If by "size 100" sandpaper you mean 100 grit paper (#100 either CAMI, the American standard, or FEPA, the European standard) STOP!



Unless you`re deliberately trying to strip to bare metal you`d never use #100 paper on paint!



Even if you use papers that are appropriate for paint like #1200, #1500 or finer, buffing out the scratch pattern without imparting more damage requires skill (and the correct products, pads and machine).



For the sake of your paint, please spend a whole lot of time reading around here before you try it yourself.





PC.



Thanks for the welcome! :) I won`t try anything until I`ve read up enough on the topic before doing this myself. That is why I came here looking for information since I recommended by someone on another forum that I visit letting me know that this forum would be of help to me which I can see a ton of information built onto here with great members.



Anyway, from what I remember it was called # 100 sand paper.. maybe it was not 100 and instead 1000? Either way, The wetsanding part looked pretty easy.. all the guy did was put these thin sheet type of rubber which are square like in the water with soap and then he just rubbed them onto the spots where these small smudges were on my sisters hood which were like scratches but not deep at all.. they were more like smudges. Anyhow, he put the rubbers with the water and soap and it made the smudges turn into a whitish grey color.. he let it sit for like 10 min and then went ahead and took the brown compound type substance and put drops on the smudges and took the buffer machine and started going to work.. got each smudge completely removed within 5-10 min.



It looked REALLY easy! Something anyone can do.. just need to figure out how to use a buffer but I think if I do it the way I saw the guy, I`d be fine.



Also, I want to know what was the compound stuff he used.



Thank you!

[Rolla]

I would suggest practicing on a test car/test panels before adventuring out on your own... No offense, but you were about use 100 grit sandpaper on a car finish! Read up on here as there are a plethora of wet sanding articles. But read up and practice!

[White95Max]

What? :lol



We can`t just identify what product this guy was using from a color description.



Smudges are easy to remove with a light polish and a PC.



And your title is interesting "I KNOW this is the right way to BUFF OUT smudges/scratches..." because that is surely far from the right way.





EDIT: I just read the whole post again. :rofl

[White95Max]

Here is my question: What is the special compound that is like a brown color and the other one being white? And the guy kept saying that he was using size 100 good quality sand paper, where do you get this stuff, how much?





This guy apparently doesn`t even know how to classify different grades of sandpaper. :rolleyes:






I`m thinking of making a business possibly doing this stuff around my local area.. I know plenty of people who wouldn`t mind getting little scratches out of their car. I wouldn`t mind doing this to my car aswell but you`d be hard press to find much defects on the exterior since I keep it in such great condition.







How many cars do you expect to sand with 100 grit paper before you go broke from repainting the cars?

[Accumulator]

Gotta be a type/misremembered number- 1000 grit is still mighty coarse and 100 is what you use to grind paint of and texture the metal so it`ll hold bodyfiller. Heh heh, take some 100 grit to a piece of scrap metal and see what happens ;)



No way would I wetsand with anything coarser than 3000 grit and if a scratch is that bad I`d probably leave it rather than thin the clear that much. Better imperfect paint than a repaint.



Heh heh, surgery, watch repair, and all sorts of other skills (like wetsanding and polishing) look easy when you watch somebody else do them ;)

[AlexRuiz]

Hey my friend, why don`t you ask directly the guy doing the buffing directly what is the name of the compound he used? He should know, after all, that is the right way to buff..... Post results once you try.

[GRocks10]

This guy apparently doesn`t even know how to classify different grades of sandpaper. :rolleyes:









How many cars do you expect to sand with 100 grit paper before you go broke from repainting the cars?



Ofcourse I don`t know much about grades of sandpaper.. obviously, I am here telling you what the buffing pro used while seeing him in action and directly asking him what he was using... you know, I wasn`t in the office waiting for him to be done, I was actually there watching him do the job. Who knows, maybe he said # 100 sandpaper so I can purposly screw up if I had done the job myself and then come back to him to fix the mess.. this is why I`m here asking you fine folks if what I thought he said was right. Apparently, it worked great when my sisters car was done and it looked so easy to do!! SERIOUSLY!



Also, I asked what the brown compond was and the white one.. he said the first one is professional grade compound.. didn`t give me the name of the stuff, didn`t ask at the time. Said you can buy it from car wash type of stores. The white compound was a condition for the paint to keep it looking fresh or something of that effect.

[imported_truzoom]

Sounds like a job that can be done with 10 minutes and some ScratchX.

[Rolla]

Read your title, I KNOW this is the right way... Apparently it is not, these guys are trying to help you and prevent costly mistakes.



Best is call ask him *** white and brown stuff is... If you had any clue about detailing there are ALOT of white colored products, etc etc... Color is no help to anyone...

[Rolla]

Sounds like a job that can be done with 10 minutes and some ScratchX.





That would also work, but he knows what is the right way... :chuckle:

[White95Max]

Ofcourse I don`t know much about grades of sandpaper...





Hey I wasn`t trying to insult you. When I said "this guy" I was referring to the guy that did the work. You`d think somebody that was wetsanding someone else`s car would know about how sandpaper is classified.



There are probably several compounds that could match your brown color. SSR3 is brown, and I believe #80 and #7 are both brown too.



As for white products, there are tons of white/colorless products.

[sQuashed]

I would suggest practicing on a test car/test panels before adventuring out on your own... No offense, but you were about use 100 grit sandpaper on a car finish! Read up on here as there are a plethora of wet sanding articles. But read up and practice!



Good advice, but get 50 to 100 test panels :hairpull