How to proceed with really, really soft paint...

[benpocock]

The battered old Merc I`m working on at the moment seems to have paint no harder than cream cheese, which poses a slight problem - I can`t touch it with a towel without marring the finish.



Where does one go from here? I`ve got all the swirls and marks out with a combination of #83/polishing pad on PC and rotary, and have finished it down with #82/finishing pad/PC, but I can`t remove all the #82 without instilling some towel marks. I`ve tried everything - brand new MF`s, brand new terry towels and just about anything else I can think of. I`ve even tried the above with so little pressure it takes about 10 minutes to wipe off one panel, turning the cloth after every pass and the marks still go into the paint!



I`ve tried applying #80 by hand and removing that is better, but still not perfect. Is there anywhere I can go from here or am I just going to have to accept that I won`t be able to get all the marks out?



I strive for perfection in everything I do and this is really starting to wind me up now!



Ben

[stilez]

Use a glaze and heavy carnauba to finish it up. Mist some S+W or QD before removing the residue.

[EBPcivicsi]

Yeah, I was going to suggest using a bit of QD for removal of the residue.



You could also try to use a product with less "drag" upon removal in combination with the QD. SSR1 seems to fit the bill. I wonder is #3 machine glaze with a finishing pad would be mild enough to remove the #82 residue while leaving a perfect finish?



*EDIT* What about using a foam finish pad on the PC to remove the residue, eliminating the need to for toweling? Might be worth a shot...if you have a lot of finishing pads around. :)

[Accumulator]

That idea of using the foam finishing pad to remove is good, I`d forgotten all about doing that. But you really will need a good number of the pads as once they load up (and/or the product on them dries) they could do more harm than good.



Don`t let the polish dry all the way before you buff it off. #34 is a good QD for polish residues.



Some people never quite get it right with #82 so I`d just use something else like #9.



On some super soft paints I`ve used products with hardly any cut and easy removal, and I`ve had good results. Pinnacle`s Paintwork Cleansing Lotion and 1Z WaxPolishSoft come to mind. There are a lot of possibilities once you look beyond Meguiar`s.



I posted a bit along these lines over at MOL but I didn`t mention any non-Meg`s products.

[Spilchy]

My 10 year old Honda has the same "cream cheese" paint (and it`s a white car too!)



I have found that a mild paint cleaner works well. I have had tremendous success with Meguiar`s Medallion Paint Cleaner. It has just a little bite to remove micromarring.



Do you have and One Grand products? Omega Glaze topped with Blitz is nice after the paint cleanser. Or, a Meguiar`s glaze followed by #16.

[Richt]

Ben have you tried Vanilla Moose and tried removing with a very plush soft MF?

[scottabir]

As a fellow very soft paint brother I feel your pain, try having it on a black car once (nightmare on wheels). I find that the above mentioned QD or S&W product to be the most effective way to minimize marring when removing products from the paint. A little FPII works wonders for the polishing aspect. That too though can be a little too much for light marring and that is where SSR1 and VM come into play in my arsenal. Hope this helps.....oh and dont stare at the paint too long it will scratch it ;)

[benpocock]

Thanks guys - I`ve got a fair few things I can try now.



Accumulator - I`m not adverse to looking beyond Meguiar`s, it just so happens that every product I seemed to pick up on this detail was Meguiar`s! I`ll try a few other things in my arsenal and see where I can get.



Ben

[Intercooled]

My GN has custom german soft paint as well. I found removing with a QD (Z-6) and useing a sealant(Zaino) will help protect my finish product better and help reduce towel marring. I also found that Z-5 really help hide all those small annoying marks. Soft black paint is terrible to deal with! I hate it too!

[spotpad]

My 10 year old Honda has the same "cream cheese" paint (and it`s a white car too!)



I have found that a mild paint cleaner works well. I have had tremendous success with Meguiar`s Medallion Paint Cleaner. It has just a little bite to remove micromarring.



Do you have and One Grand products? Omega Glaze topped with Blitz is nice after the paint cleanser. Or, a Meguiar`s glaze followed by #16.



I like MPCC too! Too bad it`s been discontinued. I can still get some locally though. A few online stores still carry it.

[Ed Fisher]

I would go try the Sonax Intensive series if you have access to them if I were you... I got superb results on one 2004 Honda Euro Accord. The car felt as though it was painted with tar instead of paint ! Even the 3M MF towels I used marred and scratched it ! But Sonax Intensive series (the numbers decode how agressive they are) worked out just fine. I applied a final go around with the Spray "Speed Wax" and now my friend is quite happy with it... (One of these days I will decide to go start a detailling biz, quitting my executive position of this airline !!) :)