I am relatively new to paint polishing, but I have had pretty good success using the Poorboys SSR product line (they seem very user friendly, especially for a novice like myself).
Well, today I was doing a neighbor's car which had a ton of swirls and some scratches on a black Maxima. I thought I would try some 3M Perfect-It Fine Cut Compound since it is readily available in auto stores here.
I applied it to an Orange Sonus Cutting pad, dabbed around the car panel, spread it at 1-2 on PC, and then bumped it up to about 5 to work the polish. The first few times it seemed to go okay, the product worked for a minute or so, dusted, and I removed the residue to reveal a surface with maybe 1/2 or 2/3 of the swirls gone.
However, after a few cycles of applying polish, spreading, working in, etc. the pad got all gummed up. I tried to clean the pad with a soft bristle brush (from Autogeek made for cleaning PC pads), but the gumming up continued.
I was in my garage, about 60 degrees. I think I got all the water off the car from the washing/claying, but I can never be sure if a drop or two snuck out from under a crevice somewhere.
What did I do wrong? Too much product? Too little product? Wrong PC speed? Too much/little pad pressure? Wrong product? Do you think a water drop contaminated my pad?
Thanks in advance for any advice or experiences you might have. Until then, I think I will stick with Poorboys since they seem more forgiving but I still want to learn from this experience.
Well, today I was doing a neighbor's car which had a ton of swirls and some scratches on a black Maxima. I thought I would try some 3M Perfect-It Fine Cut Compound since it is readily available in auto stores here.
I applied it to an Orange Sonus Cutting pad, dabbed around the car panel, spread it at 1-2 on PC, and then bumped it up to about 5 to work the polish. The first few times it seemed to go okay, the product worked for a minute or so, dusted, and I removed the residue to reveal a surface with maybe 1/2 or 2/3 of the swirls gone.
However, after a few cycles of applying polish, spreading, working in, etc. the pad got all gummed up. I tried to clean the pad with a soft bristle brush (from Autogeek made for cleaning PC pads), but the gumming up continued.
I was in my garage, about 60 degrees. I think I got all the water off the car from the washing/claying, but I can never be sure if a drop or two snuck out from under a crevice somewhere.
What did I do wrong? Too much product? Too little product? Wrong PC speed? Too much/little pad pressure? Wrong product? Do you think a water drop contaminated my pad?
Thanks in advance for any advice or experiences you might have. Until then, I think I will stick with Poorboys since they seem more forgiving but I still want to learn from this experience.
