Just an FYI, you can't always polish/compound out deep scratches. Pics would be helpful. But here are 10 commandments of correction I just made up:
1. The pad needs to be clean
Not just clean, but SURGICALLY CLEAN!
2. The pad needs to be primed (all fibers wet - but not too wet or "hyper lubricated")
3. Your arm speed should be as slow as 1" a second - measure your area and count slowly in your head. If it's 16", slowly count to 16
4. Your downward force on the polisher needs to be about 15lbs.
5. A Rupes may correct faster and finish better, but there is nothing a Rupes can do a GG6 can't with the correct technique. I have both machines - trust me there.
6. The pad needs to remain parallel to the polishing surface and remain spinning. Mark your BP with a Sharpie.
7. A spritz of DI water can make cutting a bit more aggressive.
8. You have to check the pad is not getting too hot. Heat helps nothing, created dust, & destroys pads.
9. I wouldn't go above speed 5 with MF pads.
HOLLA!!!!
10. Do a test spot on the worse scratched area. If you can fix or improve the worse area, the rest should be easy.
Can I get an Amen my brutha?
Amen, AAAAA men, A-men a-men amen.......... sing it all together brothers and sisters.
That is one the great things about detailing. Often there are many options and using touch up paint is just one option. I have found that you must have a large "bag of tricks."
I expected perfection the first time I tried to correct a car.
Preaching to the choir there brother!!!!!!!!
I have since learned that rarely can you achieve perfection. There is a reason that great detailers can set a high price. If it were just the products and tools, anyone willing to buy those tools and products could achieve the same results as the experts. Sometimes we have to remind our selfs that Mike Phillips is the Michael Jordan or Joe Montana of detailing. He makes it look easy, but it is not. That ease comes from years of experience and practice.
As far as the OP, I think he should work on his technique and be cautious about quickly moving to a more aggressive tool or product. It sounds like he has done just that.
HELLO!!!!!!
Nothing about that paint that the GG6 can't fix!
I had a local guy last summer that called me out to help him with a clients black Porsche. OMG, black Porsche.... who's been there before?
So I get there and he rushes out, tells me to use MAXIMUM cut, do it with microfiber pads, and didn't even leave me a spray bottle, tape, IPA, towels, and MOST IMPORTANTLY....
no freaking AIR! None, zero, zip, nada! And this guy, SHOULD HAVE known better. But he was new to microfiber pads. He figured go at it with a brush, which DOES NOT WORK.....EVER!!!!!! But he is good at, and charges in accordance with what he does. He just had a brain fart, and of course blamed me for it.
When I told him the pads were hazing (micro-marring) the paint he said it was OK to use foam, but use MAXIMUM cut. Still, no air! But the problem there wasn't just no air, it was the whole idea of using maximum cut. Soft paint and maximum cut just don't go together. Grabbing the hardest cut compound you have with the hardest cut pad is more times than not going to end up micro-marring. Don't do it! Run Forrest RUN! :bolt:
FG400 will cut that paint, no doubt about that. I don't think it's needed. Instead of starting that hard, what about PG-1000 or SI-1500? I've seen both of those, heck even IP-2000 correct soft paint start to finish and make it sealant, even coating ready.
Remember, DO THE TEST SPOT.
Use the LEAST CUT you can to GET THE JOB DONE.
CHECK your work.
I had a fellow forum member drop by Saturday morning to learn a bit about detailing, and it turned into SUNDAY. Next thing I know it's after midnight and he's still going at it. He ended up with 85% of the car cut & buffed, as in WET SANDED! But what was going on with him working the right rear quarter panel was exactly what the OP is talking about. I didn't let him jump right on 105 (or 101), instead I had him working with D300 and the Microfiber pad. For a while it had been going well, then when I took a break (because I literally can't walk these days without a cane or a walker) I came back and the quarter panel was micro-marred. Looked at the pad he was using and he had gotten behind on the cleaning. Of COURSE I had air, but he was getting ahead of himself and the pad was both matted down and full of product. The middle looked like a dried lake bed!
Microfiber pads don't need a ton of pressure, and do NOT need a ton of product. Prime them, wet the fibers, then use just a few drops with each section. Keep the pads clean. Keep the pads COOL. Keep the arm speed down. Keep the MACHINE speed down!!! Too fast of a machine speed just makes it worse. You're not getting little circles with the orbit and rotation,
you end up getting little points with a lack of full orbit while the pad rotates.
What started as a "drop by and I'll teach you a few tricks" turned into a $2000 full paint correction. Is it perfect today? No it's not. But that has more to do with what was there to start with, which was a bargain paint job. There is orange peel in the base coat, lots of paint on that puppy fer' sure. Topped with a ton-o-clear that was also orange peeled to heck and back. I know by the time he left it was going on 4:00AM and we had to run the friggin' clocks forward. Between him pushing for 13+ hours and me half that, there was easily 20+ man hours put into his car and a LOT of it wasn't done to my satisfaction. Like hood, trunk, door jambs. Inner fender wells. Gaskets, trim, weather stripping, grill(s), headlights, etc. But by George the paint got sanded! :laughing:
Hopefully this week we'll get a thread up. He has some photos on his camera. I really didn't take but a few with my phone as I thought that it was going to be where I gave him the basics and he finished it out later. Ended up I think his wife hates us as she was wondering where he was all night, then he slept all day Sunday! :laughing: OTOH CarMomma don't care, as she knows.... same song different verse.... been there before doing all nighters. MAN I love that girl!
To the OP......................................
I'd suggest moving to an orange LC pad, even a CCS pad. If you want to use Menzerna that's fine. But start with 1500, work it 4~5 passes on speed 4.5-ish medium arm pressure SLOW arm speed. Pull it away, do a VERY LIGHT distilled water spritz on your pad, turn your speed up half a notch, do LIGHT arm pressure just a little faster arm speed (not FAST, just say 1½~2" per second versus 1" per second) and do 2~3 more section passes.
If SI-1500 doesn't totally correct it, THEN go to PG-1000. Same working method. I would say white pad, but if it's already micro-marred you're going to need to clear that up.
OR.....
Go to Megs 205 with a orange pad, or Meg UC (
which works darned near as long as Menzerna). Both of these will cut as long as you care to work them. Megs UC will probably give you what you want on soft paint. I like correcting with SMAT better than DAT, just do. You know how it cuts, and that it'll continue to cut the same with each pass. Hit it, 2 passes work then stop, 3 passes, 4 passes, pick your poison.
Clearing up the marring though you may end up with 105/101 for a VERY SHORT working time. White pad, maybe orange, speed 4.5/5, medium arm pressure, SLOW arm speed, 2 passes, 3 tops and it'll clear it up. Don't have to worry about "working it down" as you do with DAT/Menzerna.
Test spot, test spot, T E S T (space) S P O T. Technique..... both have 9 keystrokes.
I keep finding myself reaching for my GG6 just for that reason.