Removing mico swirls/spider webs on soft paint

**mini1** · 06-09-2009, 12:59 PM

I had some time yesterday so I brought my mom`s 08 Lexus ES350 (silver exterior, pano roof, 15k miles) over and got the exterior done. I tried out some new (to me) products to try to get the paint imperfections out, but they didn`t work 100%. Micro swirls/little scratches were still left. To be fair, the sun was setting and it was getting hard to see. It was 66 degrees. I only had one halogen light and I was more concerned about getting a durable glossy finnsh. This was the process:

Wash

Dry

Clay with yellow Zaino and Meg`s instant detailer lub

M105 with orange LC pad and Makita 9227C on speed 2

Z-5 pro with ZFX

remove z-5 by hand

Z-6 gloss enhancer

Z-5 pro with ZFX

remove z-5 by hand

Mom was thrilled with it, but under the light I could see the little scatches/spider webs still there. The M105 reduced them, by maybe 70%. I was doing almost an entire panel with M105, then buffing, so it may have had too much time to dry? I think M205 would have helped, but I am all out at the moment. Any ideas?

**imported_etml12** · 06-09-2009, 01:17 PM

Likely what you are seeing is the hazy microrarring left from the rather aggressive M105/polishing pad combo you used. If the paint is soft as you say, you`ll almost certainly need a finer polish to finish prior to you desired LSP.

**Less** · 06-09-2009, 01:26 PM

This is a perfect example of why you should always start with the least aggressive pad/product combination and work up.

i`m willing to bet that you would have got the same results or better if you had used M105 with a white pad. You probably could have gotten away with M205 and a white pad.

Did you experiment with any of these combinations.

**mini1** · 06-09-2009, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by Less

This is a perfect example of why you should always start with the least aggressive pad/product combination and work up.

i`m willing to bet that you would have got the same results or better if you had used M105 with a white pad. You probably could have gotten away with M205 and a white pad.

Did you experiment with any of these combinations.

No, I must admit that I was moving very fast. I got started at 3pm and ended at 8. I wasn`t getting paid for this (Mom`s), so I can redo it later when I have the right products and more pads. I`ll have access to the car for the next 2 months.