Black - the cleaner it gets, the worse it looks!

J

JimHare

New member
My two Black cars, for the most part, are in pretty good shape for their age and environment - 4 & 5 years old, outside 24x7 in New Jersey, subject to everything from dust, nuclear fallout and acid rain to farm chemicals, seagulls with irritable bowel syndrome and cats that love to climb on them and have hissy fits with each other...



My question is this - and I'm sure others have noticed it. Both cars are subject to literally thousands of tiny pits and pockmarks from road debris. When I polish and/or wax, the material will collect in these tiny 'depressions', showing up as white dots that seem impossible to clean. Against the black finish, they really stand out.



How do you pros handle this? I can pretty much clean them out with my AIO but then as soon as I apply a polish, they're back - since most polishes and cleaners seem to be light in color, as soon as I apply them, the spots jump right back out because they've got stuff in them now.



I've tried that ColorX stuff in black, and it seemed to work a little bit, but I don't know how well any other polishes/sealants/waxes would bond over top of it....



Here's an example of what I mean - really close up ,and then reduced for board posting limits.



Any hints? (besides getting rid of the Black Beasts???) Thanks!



Jim
 

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I haven't personally tried it, but you might consider the touchup123 if you have those all over your car, assuming they're chip-like.
 
Not familiar with Touchup123 - but to clarify, these aren't really 'chips', per se - and they are maybe toothpick-point sized at best. The best way I can describe them is perhaps as a "ding" or depression in the clearcoat. As mentioned, when the finish is completely clean after an Wash/Clay/AIO sequence, they are pretty much invisible - it's only after a treatment with some other material that they show up...



Perhaps my methods lack finesse - I've tried by hand, and by PC, with several different varieties of M/F, Meg's White Polishing cloths, terry cloth, cotton, etc etc etc. There seems to be little difference.
 
It's tough and tedious, but you will want to do the following:





After polishing, in the shade, soak your respective panels down with a 50/50 mix of water and IPA. Repeat until squeaky clean (1-3 applications). From there, choose a sealant or wax that does NOT stain and has some fillers in it. This will help the overall appearance of the surface.



In the end, the only choice for perfection is a repaint... Pits are inevitable and many times go down to the metal.
 
G35stilez said:
<snip>From there, choose a sealant or wax that does NOT stain and has some fillers in it.
Click to expand...



Ahh..there's the rub. Can you suggest any particular names?



I will try the 50/50 H2O/IPA soak too..thanks
 
Ill have to agree with you on that.. They are driving me nuts.. I am about to try the black wax just on places that are bad so that I can at least hide them until I get it repainted..try that
 
The problems with products that contain "fillers" is that those fillers won't do anything for deep problems, but rather often make things worse by "drying white".



I'd use polishes that don't do that so badly (1z doesn't seem bad in that regard, despite leaving lots of stuff/wax behind) and then top with a LSP that doesn't do it either (e.g., Collinite 845). I used that approach (1z topped with 845) on the beater-Blazer and it worked great (well, not as great as a repaint ;) ).



Whatever you use, don't use an excessive amount of product and buff the polishes off before they dry all the way (usually a good approach anyhow). Keep the "no white residue" goal in mind as much as the "marring removal/cleaning" goal.
 
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