G
gigondaz
Guest
Hi, I'm new here, and having professionally detailed cars for more than 10yrs, I would like to share some of my experiences.
Different clearcoats exhibit different characteristics, and hence, respond differently to buffing.
HARD CLEARCOATS.
Hard clearcoats (eg: Akzo Nobel Sikkens, factory Audi finishes etc) might present some difficulties when you try to buff out your sanding marks. Under very strong metal halide lighting, when you use a strong, fast cut compound (eg 3M Extra Cut or Meguiars No85 Diamond Cut) + a 4ply wool pad, this combo hardly leave any noticeable swIrl marks on the clearcoat. It's a hard clear.
But most compounds have some degree of oils that partially cover up swirls that it produced.
Wiping with Prepsol/DX/M6000 solvent might not remove these oils completely.
However, 50% alcohol+50% water combo will remove the oils reliably and reveal the true surface.
For hard clears, I love Meguiars 105 compound.
It's very low-dusting, cuts very fast, easy to work with and finishes very well to a high gloss.
M105 leaves behind very negligible swirls....virtually none, on hard clears.
Follow up with the superb M205 Finishing Polish + Yellow Pad for a stunning finish. You're done!!!!
SOFT CLEARCOATS
Soft clearcoats (eg: Alesco Kansai - Japan, factory Honda finishes etc) might be easy to sand down, but after using a wool pad+compound to remove these sanding marks, the resulting swirls are much more difficult, time-consuming and frustrating to remove. On certain super-soft clearcoats, it is virtually impossible to achieve a swirl-free look unless you finish the job with a Dual Action and/or Orbital machine with very soft pads.
Do it wrongly, and the car still looks great indoors.
Take it outdoors, and it might look horrible.
After a few washes, when the compounding oils are washed away, you'll be devastated by the buffer marks and holograms.
The 4 steps below should generally give you jaw-dropping results on most soft clearcoats.
1. Rotary + Wool pad + compound (eg. Meguiars No85 Diamond Cut)
2. Rotary + Yellow pad + compound ( " )
3. Rotary + Soft/Finishing pad + light cutting polish (Menzerna 106FF)
4. Orbital or DA + Soft pad + ultra light cutting polish (Meguiars Swirl Remover)
Tip:
Never use solvent-wipes to check your results. Solvent wipes are not strong enough. Very mis-leading.
50% alcohol+50% water mix would be excellent.
Different clearcoats exhibit different characteristics, and hence, respond differently to buffing.
HARD CLEARCOATS.
Hard clearcoats (eg: Akzo Nobel Sikkens, factory Audi finishes etc) might present some difficulties when you try to buff out your sanding marks. Under very strong metal halide lighting, when you use a strong, fast cut compound (eg 3M Extra Cut or Meguiars No85 Diamond Cut) + a 4ply wool pad, this combo hardly leave any noticeable swIrl marks on the clearcoat. It's a hard clear.
But most compounds have some degree of oils that partially cover up swirls that it produced.
Wiping with Prepsol/DX/M6000 solvent might not remove these oils completely.
However, 50% alcohol+50% water combo will remove the oils reliably and reveal the true surface.
For hard clears, I love Meguiars 105 compound.
It's very low-dusting, cuts very fast, easy to work with and finishes very well to a high gloss.
M105 leaves behind very negligible swirls....virtually none, on hard clears.
Follow up with the superb M205 Finishing Polish + Yellow Pad for a stunning finish. You're done!!!!
SOFT CLEARCOATS
Soft clearcoats (eg: Alesco Kansai - Japan, factory Honda finishes etc) might be easy to sand down, but after using a wool pad+compound to remove these sanding marks, the resulting swirls are much more difficult, time-consuming and frustrating to remove. On certain super-soft clearcoats, it is virtually impossible to achieve a swirl-free look unless you finish the job with a Dual Action and/or Orbital machine with very soft pads.
Do it wrongly, and the car still looks great indoors.
Take it outdoors, and it might look horrible.
After a few washes, when the compounding oils are washed away, you'll be devastated by the buffer marks and holograms.
The 4 steps below should generally give you jaw-dropping results on most soft clearcoats.
1. Rotary + Wool pad + compound (eg. Meguiars No85 Diamond Cut)
2. Rotary + Yellow pad + compound ( " )
3. Rotary + Soft/Finishing pad + light cutting polish (Menzerna 106FF)
4. Orbital or DA + Soft pad + ultra light cutting polish (Meguiars Swirl Remover)
Tip:
Never use solvent-wipes to check your results. Solvent wipes are not strong enough. Very mis-leading.
50% alcohol+50% water mix would be excellent.