Are YOU over polishing your paint?

I had this in mind when my new car arrived and I was (and remain) determined not to use the PC on it and do any "polishing" by hand - this seems to have worked this far and like Accumulator said, I tend to accept imperfections in my daily drivers way more than my garage queen - and I've not washed GF's car in, cough, 5 weeks :o



I guess I've to a degree used the garage queen as bit of a test bed for new polishes and glazes and I've noticed some thinning of the paint on the roof and a small section on a raised lip on the bonnet - PC or not I can't be sure but I now avoid those areas with the PC (which I have to say has yet to be beaten by anything other than deep scratches on any of may cars)



Plus my garage queen's been away for some time having new uprated suspension fitted in a converted chicken shed on a farm down a potholed muddy track :shocked but hey she now handles and drives superbly :D



I have some Sonus pads on order and intend to use only mild polishes on her as there's nothing requiring anything more aggresive - the markes which mild polish/PC can't remove are probably there until she has a repaint - which won't be until after June 06 when I get married.
 
i wish i could start the day over after reading this information. i purchased the poorboys's ssr suite on recommendation from autogeek. the paint condition on my vette was getting rough from my ignoring her. i thought the nice fella on the phone told me i had to use all of the polishes (3, 2.5 and 1) one after another to get the best results. now i read that poorboys 3 and maybe even 2.5 should have been used as a spot treatment?



my paint has a nice gloss to it now, but when I take it out in the sun the finish is cloudy and hazy marks everywhere. what did i do wrong? the autogeek website says to use a white pad and that is what came with my polisher from the home depot. also, on one panel, the pad started turning red. is that normal?
 
Problem is, I like to polish my car regularly, at least once a week! I have been known to not polish and just wash every other week, but I really like to polish and wax my car often.



Having said that I have just (today ironically) applied z2pro with the intention of trying not to polish it as much - I don't know if I can stand it .. I am already looking for other cars to polish!



I take it davidb that you believe the polishes that were designed to be used with a rotary (ie pretty much ALL of the polishes out there) that we so readily use with our DA's would NOT cause scratching/swirling if used with a rotary? - of course the problem of thinning the clear coat would be exaggerated too using a rotary I guess ?
 
Sig said:
We need to be clear here that polishes and paint cleaners are two different beasts
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Paint cleaners clean and perform the least abrasive polishing duties. There are some really good paint cleaners (gliptone) that will perform as good as a mild polish. Gliptone still remains as my favorite single otc paint cleaner. Slightly off the path, but I was just reminded of it.
 
I'm still new to useing my pc, but I just used s100 cleanser with a green sonus pad and s100 wax by hand and it looks like a totaly different car. I am really impressed with the results, I didnt remove all the imperfections but it did seem to hide alot and it looks great. This car is a daily driver and the front bumper has alot of chips but it looks much better than most everycar on my street. And this should be very safe for my paint right?
 
Sounds like what I really need is a paintwork cleanser that also fills in minor imperfections, or else to clean the paint and then use a wax with fillers.



Is there a way to do this and still use sealants, given the bonding problem, if we use something with fillers?



How abrasive is Poorboy's Polish with Carnauba? Is it basically like Sonus Paintwork Cleanser? (which I just ordered after reading this thread.) If so, I could PwC and then use EX.



Would VM be another candidate for this; i.e. fillers before sealant? Which sealants work, bond, etc with VM as a base?



Any other candidates come to mind, given the goal of hiding imperfections versus polishing them out continuously, while still using sealants instead of wax?
 
Whenever I get the urge to 'polish' one of my Father's older Jag's I take a dep breath and then-



Check surface condition- using a fine mist, spray the surface with a 1:1 solution distilled water and Isopropyl alcohol (IPA), using an aqueous solvent solution will almost eliminate static from the paint surface

â€Â¢Leave it to dwell for 30-45 seconds, agitate the surface before wiping the paint surface with clean, dry 100% cotton (DF Alpine) towel to remove sealant/wax residue. Repeat as necessary

â€Â¢The use of an electronic paint Mil thickness gauge (Checkline Model DEF-900) and a 20X, or greater magnifier to check the clear coat is highly recommended

â€Â¢Place your fingertips on the paint surface, by running your finger tips along the surface there should be resistance (tension) this is indicative of a clean paint surface i.e. without any sealant / wax /oils.

â€Â¢With suitable lighting (see Dark Field Micro Inspection) and a 20X or stronger lighted magnifying loupe, you may well see some surface marring at this magnification but the less there is the better the wax/sealants will optically reflect light.



â€Â¢For surface imperfection that if removed could compromise the clear coat apply a glaze

JonM
 
Yep, that's the procedure I use, especially in between polishing steps. This way the paint "tells me no lies" ;) before I move on to my next step.
 
TOGWT said:
Whenever I get the urge to 'polish' one of my Father's older Jag's I take a dep breath and then-



Check surface condition- using a fine mist, spray the surface with a 1:1 solution distilled water and Isopropyl alcohol (IPA), using an aqueous solvent solution will almost eliminate static from the paint surface

â€Â¢Leave it to dwell for 30-45 seconds, agitate the surface before wiping the paint surface with clean, dry 100% cotton (DF Alpine) towel to remove sealant/wax residue. Repeat as necessary

â€Â¢The use of an electronic paint Mil thickness gauge (Checkline Model DEF-900) and a 20X, or greater magnifier to check the clear coat is highly recommended

â€Â¢Place your fingertips on the paint surface, by running your finger tips along the surface there should be resistance (tension) this is indicative of a clean paint surface i.e. without any sealant / wax /oils.

â€Â¢With suitable lighting (see Dark Field Micro Inspection) and a 20X or stronger lighted magnifying loupe, you may well see some surface marring at this magnification but the less there is the better the wax/sealants will optically reflect light.



â€Â¢For surface imperfection that if removed could compromise the clear coat apply a glaze

JonM
Click to expand...



hi Jon,



that looks like a reference from a book or something. is that something you can share?



thanks,

charlie
 
TOGWT said:
Whenever I get the urge to 'polish' one of my Father's older Jag's I take a dep breath and then-



Check surface condition- using a fine mist, spray the surface with a 1:1 solution distilled water and Isopropyl alcohol (IPA), using an aqueous solvent solution will almost eliminate static from the paint surface

â€Â¢Leave it to dwell for 30-45 seconds, agitate the surface before wiping the paint surface with clean, dry 100% cotton (DF Alpine) towel to remove sealant/wax residue. Repeat as necessary

â€Â¢The use of an electronic paint Mil thickness gauge (Checkline Model DEF-900) and a 20X, or greater magnifier to check the clear coat is highly recommended

â€Â¢Place your fingertips on the paint surface, by running your finger tips along the surface there should be resistance (tension) this is indicative of a clean paint surface i.e. without any sealant / wax /oils.

â€Â¢With suitable lighting (see Dark Field Micro Inspection) and a 20X or stronger lighted magnifying loupe, you may well see some surface marring at this magnification but the less there is the better the wax/sealants will optically reflect light.



â€Â¢For surface imperfection that if removed could compromise the clear coat apply a glaze

JonM
Click to expand...
I just love your posts, I know that when I see your avatar that I am going to get straight answers to the point, concise yet detailied. Cheers to you!
 
hadboosttroy said:
davidb,



can you tell me how often one would could use sfx-2 and be totally safe? I figure you are the person to ask about Sonus

:)

thanks!
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hadboosttroy... I don't want to spam the forum with product info, so let me answer you this way. Most "swirl reducer" polish formulas are light abrasive polishes that can be safely used 2-3 times a year and not significantly reduce paint film thickness. Polishes in this class (e.g., 3M Perfect-It III SMR) will improve gloss and overall paint finish quality. They slowly reduce the appearance of swirl marks by rolling over the hard edges of the micro-marring, to the sides of the "scratch" do not reflect as much light. Over time, the SMR formula will remove enough paint film to get below the marring, but it is a slow process.



That said, I am alarmed by a few of the swirl mark remover formulas I am testing. I have a few products in my garage that cut so fast they should only be used by a professional. If used as a regular polish, these polishes would cut paint life very short.



I have always used 3M polishes as a reference for abrasiveness. Anything more aggressive than 3M SMR should not be used as a regular polish.



Be aware that polish aggressiveness has many factors. The size of the abrasive material is one factor, as is the hardness. You can have a small, hard abrasive that cuts as fast (or faster!) than a larger, softer abrasive. Or you can have a large diminishing abrasive that comes out cutting fast, but breaks down too quickly and canâ€â„¢t properly remove its own cutting marks.



All good things require a little work. So it is with polishing. If a polish works too fast, itâ€â„¢s too aggressive for normal, regular use.
 
DavidB said:
hadboosttroy... I don't want to spam the forum with product info, so let me answer you this way. Most "swirl reducer" polish formulas are light abrasive polishes that can be safely used 2-3 times a year and not significantly reduce paint film thickness. Polishes in this class (e.g., 3M Perfect-It III SMR) will improve gloss and overall paint finish quality.



I have always used 3M polishes as a reference for abrasiveness. Anything more aggressive than 3M SMR should not be used as a regular polish.



Click to expand...





David I'm a little confused about what product you are refering to here. There is no 3M perfect It III SMR. There is 3M Perfect It III Machine Glaze, Perfect It 3000 SMR and 3M Perfect It II SMR. Which one are you talking about? I think you are refering to PI II SMR.
 
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