I KNOW this is the right way to BUFF OUT smudges/scratches but I have questions!

G

GRocks10

New member
Hi everyone,



My sisters car recently got some minor smudges/scratches that she wanted to have removed.. I recommeneded her this body shop by me that does work on cars. They do buffing for great prices.. I went along with her to go get it done. Basically, while watching the guy do the work ( yeah, I made sure to watch to take into notice what is done in the process so I can figure out how to do this myself in the future.. besides taking out scratches, it makes the car look more wet shiney like which is great! ).



Anyhow, this is what I saw being done while asking questions:



Things you need:



water, soap and washing cloth..



size 100 very thin good quality sandpaper



WASH area with cloth with water and soap.. then get sandpaper and put in the water and soap and WASH the area of the scratches..



WAIT for a good 5-10 minutes..



THEN STEP TWO



take the BUFFER and buff the areas with smudges/scratches, etc.



GET a special compound that is like a brown color and another one which I believe is a conditioner that looks white. Put good drops of the brown compound so you can continue to use the buffer.. and then put some of the white stuff later and buff some more.. ( its probably the same type of stuff ).



STEP 3



JUST WASH THE AREAS OF WITH THE SOAP AND WATER AND HOSE OFF..



YOU'RE DONE!



Here is my question: What is the special compound that is like a brown color and the other one being white? And the guy kept saying that he was using size 100 good quality sand paper, where do you get this stuff, how much?



I'm thinking of making a business possibly doing this stuff around my local area.. I know plenty of people who wouldn't mind getting little scratches out of their car. I wouldn't mind doing this to my car aswell but you'd be hard press to find much defects on the exterior since I keep it in such great condition.



Thanks for the help!
 
First off, :welcome to Autopia GRocks10.



Secondly, If by "size 100" sandpaper you mean 100 grit paper (#100 either CAMI, the American standard, or FEPA, the European standard) STOP!



Unless you're deliberately trying to strip to bare metal you'd never use #100 paper on paint!



Even if you use papers that are appropriate for paint like #1200, #1500 or finer, buffing out the scratch pattern without imparting more damage requires skill (and the correct products, pads and machine).



For the sake of your paint, please spend a whole lot of time reading around here before you try it yourself.





PC.
 
the other pc said:
First off, :welcome to Autopia GRocks10.



Secondly, If by "size 100" sandpaper you mean 100 grit paper (#100 either CAMI, the American standard, or FEPA, the European standard) STOP!



Unless you're deliberately trying to strip to bare metal you'd never use #100 paper on paint!



Even if you use papers that are appropriate for paint like #1200, #1500 or finer, buffing out the scratch pattern without imparting more damage requires skill (and the correct products, pads and machine).



For the sake of your paint, please spend a whole lot of time reading around here before you try it yourself.





PC.
Click to expand...



Thanks for the welcome! :) I won't try anything until I've read up enough on the topic before doing this myself. That is why I came here looking for information since I recommended by someone on another forum that I visit letting me know that this forum would be of help to me which I can see a ton of information built onto here with great members.



Anyway, from what I remember it was called # 100 sand paper.. maybe it was not 100 and instead 1000? Either way, The wetsanding part looked pretty easy.. all the guy did was put these thin sheet type of rubber which are square like in the water with soap and then he just rubbed them onto the spots where these small smudges were on my sisters hood which were like scratches but not deep at all.. they were more like smudges. Anyhow, he put the rubbers with the water and soap and it made the smudges turn into a whitish grey color.. he let it sit for like 10 min and then went ahead and took the brown compound type substance and put drops on the smudges and took the buffer machine and started going to work.. got each smudge completely removed within 5-10 min.



It looked REALLY easy! Something anyone can do.. just need to figure out how to use a buffer but I think if I do it the way I saw the guy, I'd be fine.



Also, I want to know what was the compound stuff he used.



Thank you!
 
I would suggest practicing on a test car/test panels before adventuring out on your own... No offense, but you were about use 100 grit sandpaper on a car finish! Read up on here as there are a plethora of wet sanding articles. But read up and practice!
 
What? :lol



We can't just identify what product this guy was using from a color description.



Smudges are easy to remove with a light polish and a PC.



And your title is interesting "I KNOW this is the right way to BUFF OUT smudges/scratches..." because that is surely far from the right way.





EDIT: I just read the whole post again. :rofl
 
GRocks10 said:
Here is my question: What is the special compound that is like a brown color and the other one being white? And the guy kept saying that he was using size 100 good quality sand paper, where do you get this stuff, how much?
Click to expand...





This guy apparently doesn't even know how to classify different grades of sandpaper. :rolleyes:



GRocks10 said:
I'm thinking of making a business possibly doing this stuff around my local area.. I know plenty of people who wouldn't mind getting little scratches out of their car. I wouldn't mind doing this to my car aswell but you'd be hard press to find much defects on the exterior since I keep it in such great condition.
Click to expand...





How many cars do you expect to sand with 100 grit paper before you go broke from repainting the cars?
 
Gotta be a type/misremembered number- 1000 grit is still mighty coarse and 100 is what you use to grind paint of and texture the metal so it'll hold bodyfiller. Heh heh, take some 100 grit to a piece of scrap metal and see what happens ;)



No way would I wetsand with anything coarser than 3000 grit and if a scratch is that bad I'd probably leave it rather than thin the clear that much. Better imperfect paint than a repaint.



Heh heh, surgery, watch repair, and all sorts of other skills (like wetsanding and polishing) look easy when you watch somebody else do them ;)
 
Hey my friend, why don't you ask directly the guy doing the buffing directly what is the name of the compound he used? He should know, after all, that is the right way to buff..... Post results once you try.
 
White95Max said:
This guy apparently doesn't even know how to classify different grades of sandpaper. :rolleyes:









How many cars do you expect to sand with 100 grit paper before you go broke from repainting the cars?
Click to expand...



Ofcourse I don't know much about grades of sandpaper.. obviously, I am here telling you what the buffing pro used while seeing him in action and directly asking him what he was using... you know, I wasn't in the office waiting for him to be done, I was actually there watching him do the job. Who knows, maybe he said # 100 sandpaper so I can purposly screw up if I had done the job myself and then come back to him to fix the mess.. this is why I'm here asking you fine folks if what I thought he said was right. Apparently, it worked great when my sisters car was done and it looked so easy to do!! SERIOUSLY!



Also, I asked what the brown compond was and the white one.. he said the first one is professional grade compound.. didn't give me the name of the stuff, didn't ask at the time. Said you can buy it from car wash type of stores. The white compound was a condition for the paint to keep it looking fresh or something of that effect.
 
Read your title, I KNOW this is the right way... Apparently it is not, these guys are trying to help you and prevent costly mistakes.



Best is call ask him *** white and brown stuff is... If you had any clue about detailing there are ALOT of white colored products, etc etc... Color is no help to anyone...
 
GRocks10 said:
Ofcourse I don't know much about grades of sandpaper...
Click to expand...





Hey I wasn't trying to insult you. When I said "this guy" I was referring to the guy that did the work. You'd think somebody that was wetsanding someone else's car would know about how sandpaper is classified.



There are probably several compounds that could match your brown color. SSR3 is brown, and I believe #80 and #7 are both brown too.



As for white products, there are tons of white/colorless products.
 
Rolla said:
I would suggest practicing on a test car/test panels before adventuring out on your own... No offense, but you were about use 100 grit sandpaper on a car finish! Read up on here as there are a plethora of wet sanding articles. But read up and practice!
Click to expand...



Good advice, but get 50 to 100 test panels :hairpull
 
GRocks10- IMO that guy who was doing the work might not know as much as one might think. I wonder how those wetsanded cars are gonna look after, say, five years of UV exposure ;) Then there's the question of how much clear is left for future polishing.



I'd be a little more skeptical if I were you. Plenty of "professional detailers" out there who don't know what they're doing and a lot of them even have plenty of satisfied customers. It's often hard, or even impossible, to accurately gauge the quality of somebody's work unless you yourself possess expert knowledge. This is something the hacks count on, BTW.



Sorry this thread is sounding so negative, but you could take that as a clue that the guy's approach is pretty questionable at best.
 
Grocks



Wet sanding can be very touchy. You should invest in a paint thickness gauge if you plan on pursuing this. I would take a trip to your local paint supply store. These companies supply the body shop you took your sisters car to. I would pick up some 2000 grit paper and find out what compound and polish they would recommended what pads will work best with these products.



There are Schools that you can go to that will teach you different ways to correct paint problems. I would recommend you invest in your knowledge of paint and paint care be for you jump in make a mistake, get discouraged and give up.
 
Hi everyone,



Since I made a mistake with my title making it out to be like I knew exactly what I was doing, I apologize for the misleading title.. I am glad I have helpful members as yourself to correct me on things that I saw being done with the correct wording and know how from your personal experience.



Just wondering, can someone point me to the right direction on say like a free video I can watch that shows me step by step on what needs to be done? Sortof like a "Newbies guide to buffing vehicle smudges/small scratches". I saw the guide from this site on how to buff and liked what I saw.. will probably try those methods out but I don't know about the certain compounds and the wetsanding on how to do and what number size to get of grit paper.. etc.



Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate the positive and negative input from you all.
 
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