how to cut/ polish

well, I started to try and cut some light oxidation and scratches from my hood and roof today with Meguires #2 which is a medium cut polish.

I found this stuff hard to use, no power tools so I would drizzle an ample amount, swirl the hell out of it, and try and wipe off. THIS STUFF DID NOT WANT TO COME OFF! working in shade, maybe 75-80 deg. today. it would dry up super fast, and just stick. took hours to do just the hood and im not happy with how it came out. seems dull, like I didn't remove all of it. I went ahead and waxed over to try and protect my newly exposed clear but wtf! what am I doing wrong?

I badly need to do the roof the next fairly cool day I get and apparently need some advice

 

A machine would really really really help. It makes sure you don't leave ugly swirls and shines everything up very nicely. The machine will also be able to take out scratches that you won't ever be able to get out by hand. The pad+wax swirling on the paint heats up the clear and repairs it. The lowest setting on my polisher is 800 RPM all the way up to 7000. Working with the machine at like 1300ish if you work a small section for a few seconds and feel it after it can get very warm. You can't even get close to that without your shoulder exploding . By hand you won't be able to get much out other than light scratches.

It's a bit pricey but a good polisher is definitely worth it.

I don't know much about the Mothers wax system but you need to get the swirl remover and use it after the cut polish. If you just use cut polish it leaves really ugly swirl marks especially on dark colours. I use the 3M system which has 3 steps and I assume other companies have something similair.
1) Cut Polish
2) Medium (optional if it's not a dark colour)
3) Swirl Remover
4) Handwax

Medium polish can be a pain in the ass to use sometimes because it tends to cling to the paint. I usually just keep running the machine over it and it eventually heats up and spreads. I have no idea how warm or cold 70F is but if it's on the cooler side it's worse I find.

 

awesome, thanks for the reply! not mothers, MEGUIRES I meant lol. I will have to try from the beginning I guess. I want the paint to look good again

 

Get a porter cable or a flex if you want to correct paint. Highly recommend checking out Adam's Polishes. Excellent products plus several how to videos.

 

Hi all.

Hey OP, I ran into the same issue - here's my story and solution ...
I detail lots. I own a '12 nautical blue taco. From new I wax every 2 months in the summer - too cold here in the winter. I did a 3 step (clay, glaze, wax) when it was still new. I use Meguires products except for the glaze (Mothers).

Last fall I did a 3 step using polish in step 2 instead of glaze. All my rubbing was done by hand at that time. That polish dried and was near impossible to get off ! I mean you could barely rub hard enough to get it off. Tried detailer as well and it helped some but what a pain in the ass ! I finished the day with a wax job.

I then spent all winter looking at the buff marks I put in the finish trying to remove that polish ...

This spring I purchased a Dual Action Polisher (Meguires). I just did a 5 step last weekend (alcohol/H2O to get all the sap off, clay, polish, detailer to get a clean finish, wax). I am very happy with the results - no more buff marks and most of the swirls gone. The trick I found with using the polish and the DA machine is to use lots of polish and do small areas (2 by 2) then get the polish off while it is still wet. I found that even with the machine, if the polish dries it is a bitch to buff off by hand.

Moral is:
- you cant rub enough by hand to do any correcting before the polish dries.
- get the polish off while it is still wet.

I will only use the polish once a year and use glaze every other time I do a 5 step. Oh ya - mask off any trim you will be getting close to, esp. with the glaze. It is virtually impossible to get off textured black plastic.

Cheers
Ray.

 

cool, thanks guys, I talked to some people I know in real life and hands down, I need a machine lol. I appreciate the input

 

Just purchased this and used it for the first time this past weekend.
Well worth the investment in my opinion.

 

Never polish without a radom orbital buffer. You can never wipe as fast as a machine can.