Scratches by wet sanding

[bomber]

You could but with a piece of cloth, either microfiber or terrycloth and some passion behind the pad, (elbow grease), then UC works very well.

It was the first compound I know of besides it's cousin M105 that provided aggressive cutting action while finishing out like a polish when used by hand on scratch-sensitive clearcoats.

This is from a guy that taught classes on hand polishing for Meguiar's for 7 years in Irvine and I've been hand polishing (and machine polishing), for probably over 30 years now.


Check out this article...


How to use a hand applied abrasive polish or paint cleaner by hand


When working by hand you're hand should be a blur... if it's not.. you're not going to remove any defects...

These are #3000 grit sanding marks in the hood of a 1970 El Camino streetrod I did the wetsand, cut and buff on...

Put a little passion behind the pad - Mike Phillips

Hi MIKE, thanks for this again.

However I'm not sure are we talking about the same UC in aus?

the UC i 'm talking about is Ultimate compound , I think it's only availalble in AUS.

I tried to remove the hairlines by that however I tried it many times, the main scratches, yes they're removed but those hairlines are very very difficult to remove by this UC.

Are we talking about the same product? becoz AUS doesn't have a lot compound products like US.

THX

 

[bomber]

Hi MIKE may i ask why should rub it in the middle of the blue line? thx

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hi MIKE, thanks for this again.

However I'm not sure are we talking about the same UC in aus?

the UC i 'm talking about is Ultimate compound , I think it's only available in AUS.

Nope... I'm talking about the exact same product.

Also, the car on the label of that bottle? That was one of the Extreme Makeover Project Cars we buffed out at Meguiar's when I used to run their forum and teach their Thursday Night Open Garage Classes.

I also did the BMW (by myself), that you see on the bottle of SwirlX

And if you do a little looking around you can still find the write-ups for all my car projects on MOL and all the pictures are still in the threads (not red x's) because I don't use Photobucket. :laughing:

I tried to remove the hairlines by that however I tried it many times, the main scratches, yes they're removed but those hairlines are very very difficult to remove by this UC.

Hmmm.... kind of like I always try to explain to people...

Polishing paint by hand actually requires MORE skill than working by machine. The machine never gets tired. You and I get tired. It's easier to maintain equal pressure to the surface with a foam pad oscillating at speed than it is for you to take your hand, hold some type of applicator pad and push down with equal pressure, rubbing fast for any length of time.

PLUS after you start out rubbing the paint aggressively to remove enough paint to remove the defects then you have to RE-Polish using a less aggressive applicator or using less aggressive material.

For example, start out with UC and a microfiber or terrycloth applicator pad

Follow this with Ultimate Polish or any FINE CUT polish and a FOAM applicator pad.

Polishing paint is an art form, not a grinding process, it requires the right pads and products PLUS the human elements of care and passion.


Most people that work by hand, when provided the opportunity to work by machine and I mean a simple, entry level machine like the Porter Cable, Griot's or Meguiar's dual action polishers always say the same thing...

I should have done this years ago...

Are we talking about the same product? becoz AUS doesn't have a lot compound products like US.

THX

Yeperdoo... same product UC stands for Ultimate Compound in forum lingo...

Of course now there's Wolfgang Uber Compound or Wolfgang UC and it too is a compound that you can use by hand. I point this out because not all compounds use great abrasive technology and while if you rub them by hand onto a clearcoat finish they may remove the deeper defects they can and will level behind their own scouring scratches.

It's all about the abrasive technology used on products. The abrasive technology is the MOST important factor as it relates to your results. I see guys say it's technique but they're wrong.

You can possess and use the BEST technique possible but if you're using a product with crappy abrasive technology the paint is still going to look bad when you're done.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hi MIKE may i ask why should rub it in the middle of the blue line? thx

Good question....

I think if you re-read my post above you see that I stated I machine wetsanded the 1970 El Camino.

The reason there is 3M Blue Vinyl Tape covering up the raised body lines running down the length of the hood is to protect the paint on the raised body line.

Now follow me...

When wetsanding clearcoat, the clear paint turns whitish as it's abraded and creates a white slurry on the surface.

If you don't use a visual indicator of where the raised body lines are, like th 3M Blue Vinyl Tape, then it's REAL easy to accidentally sand over the raised body lines and this leads to burring through the clearcoat.

Remember,

• Sanding remove paint.
• Compounding removes paint.
• Polishing removes paint.

And paint is thinnest on high points. A raised body line is a high point. A really long high point.

So to your question....

I'm rubbing the paint on both sides of the blue tape line to remove the sanding marks. There are no sanding marks UNDER the tape line.

I also did this to show people how to use their hand to remove sanding marks or ANY type of paint defects and that's with the picture of my hand blurry because I'm moving it at the speed of light and pressing down very hard while I rub.

Most people when trying to use their hand to rub paint and remove defects move their hand,

Very slowly - Like applying skin lotion to their face.
Very softly - Like applying skin lotion to their face.

Guess what? They don't do anything, by this I mean they don't remove any defects.

Working by hand should get you breathing very hard because if you're doing it right you're going to be out of breath.

And that my friend is why it's kind of ridiculous for anyone to think they can take a car where the finish over the ENTIRE car is filled with swirls and scratches and actually think they can rub the car out by hand.

And by rub the car out by hand I mean remove all the swirls and scratches over every square inch. And done correctly this would mean going over the car three times.

1. Using a compound and microfiber or terry cloth to actually remove the defects.

2. Using a fine cut polish and a foam pad to refine the results from the aggressive compounding step.

3. Sealing the paint with a wax or paint sealant.
​

It's a great idea.... but like I've already said... most people don't process the skill, patience, muscle and experience to successfully polish out a car by hand.

 

[bomber]

Good question....

I think if you re-read my post above you see that I stated I machine wetsanded the 1970 El Camino.

The reason there is 3M Blue Vinyl Tape covering up the raised body lines running down the length of the hood is to protect the paint on the raised body line.

Now follow me...

When wetsanding clearcoat, the clear paint turns whitish as it's abraded and creates a white slurry on the surface.

If you don't use a visual indicator of where the raised body lines are, like th 3M Blue Vinyl Tape, then it's REAL easy to accidentally sand over the raised body lines and this leads to burring through the clearcoat.

Remember,

• Sanding remove paint.
• Compounding removes paint.
• Polishing removes paint.

And paint is thinnest on high points. A raised body line is a high point. A really long high point.

So to your question....

I'm rubbing the paint on both sides of the blue tape line to remove the sanding marks. There are no sanding marks UNDER the tape line.

I also did this to show people how to use their hand to remove sanding marks or ANY type of paint defects and that's with the picture of my hand blurry because I'm moving it at the speed of light and pressing down very hard while I rub.

Most people when trying to use their hand to rub paint and remove defects move their hand,

Very slowly - Like applying skin lotion to their face.
Very softly - Like applying skin lotion to their face.

Guess what? They don't do anything, by this I mean they don't remove any defects.

Working by hand should get you breathing very hard because if you're doing it right you're going to be out of breath.

And that my friend is why it's kind of ridiculous for anyone to think they can take a car where the finish over the ENTIRE car is filled with swirls and scratches and actually think they can rub the car out by hand.

And by rub the car out by hand I mean remove all the swirls and scratches over every square inch. And done correctly this would mean going over the car three times.

1. Using a compound and microfiber or terry cloth to actually remove the defects.

2. Using a fine cut polish and a foam pad to refine the results from the aggressive compounding step.

3. Sealing the paint with a wax or paint sealant.
​

It's a great idea.... but like I've already said... most people don't process the skill, patience, muscle and experience to successfully polish out a car by hand.

Wow ,you answered all my questions clearly and they're very useful. I learnt something these days from you, i'm glad. rops: well I will try harder to fix those hairlines with UC after, however i am using the turtle scratch & swirl remover, is the meguiar's better? i can switch to that.

If you don't mind that if I ask one more question here:


- few weeks ago I tried to repaint the 2 fingers size of scratch on the driver door ( I smashed my door to mailbox one day) , I couldn't find any factory paint in spray can, so I had to order the factory brush one. Well i found that it's freakin hard to use brush to repaint a bigger area (bigger than a stone chip size at least) it looks uneven and ####, had to wet sand it with finer papers all the time, and when I over sanded the corner or one of any small spot, I had to repaint that spot again, and sanded it again. And one of the spot appears like white patch http://i579.photobucket.com/albums/ss233/joeporto/DSC00101.jpg

Well this is not my car, the affected area is like 1/3 finger size, couldn't find similar pictures at the moment.

Have I over sanded that causes this happen? when I repaint that white area and wet sanded again before, it's very easy to become white patch again. is that any other way to fix this patch?

Thanks Mike, you are my lord. :dblthumb2:

 

[bomber]

http://media.supercheapauto.com.au/sca/images/thumbs/13201-thumb.jpg I can only found this in aus auto shop, are they same? thxx

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Have I over sanded that causes this happen?

when I repaint that white area and wet sanded again before, it's very easy to become white patch again. is that any other way to fix this patch?

Need more info?

Are you working on a a basecoat/clearcoat finish?

Or

Are you working on a single stage finish?


If basecoat/clearcoat, hard to say from your description and the picture but one possibility is you sanded through the clearcoat and then sanded through the basecoat and have exposed white primer.

If that's the case, then the only way to fix is to re-spray the basecoat and to do this right you really need to re-spray the entire panel.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I can only found this in aus auto shop, are they same? thxx

ScratchX is not the same as SwirlX but you can use it the same way and it should work pretty good.

 

[bomber]

Need more info?

Are you working on a a basecoat/clearcoat finish?

Or

Are you working on a single stage finish?


If basecoat/clearcoat, hard to say from your description and the picture but one possibility is you sanded through the clearcoat and then sanded through the basecoat and have exposed white primer.

If that's the case, then the only way to fix is to re-spray the basecoat and to do this right you really need to re-spray the entire panel.

Hi Mike,

I have repainted the base coat and see, but i always have to sand it down to smooth as the brush one is very hard to paint it like spray can. and then I apply the clear coat agaiin is that right?

It's very frustrated for me.

Let me check if there's any swirl X on ebay, if not i have to stick with the scratch X then thanks!!

 

[Sheriff41]

Hey Bomber, I've been able to rent both random orbital and rotary buffers from a local detailer supply store. The rotary buffers are available at some of the local equipment rental stores, also. You may have that option available to you where you live. Good luck!

 

[bomber]

Hey Bomber, I've been able to rent both random orbital and rotary buffers from a local detailer supply store. The rotary buffers are available at some of the local equipment rental stores, also. You may have that option available to you where you live. Good luck!

oh is it? will try to ask around then. reli can't afford them at the moment (sad) thanks for telling me that!