So I had a white Ford Fusion in pearl white today. It had major road grime embedded in the paint everywhere but the client was set on a AIO(because of wanting little to no abrasives and price). After claying with meguiar's white clay I noticed a little marring where excessive claying was necessary to remove "rust dots" and what seemed to be tar or rubber(little spots all down side of car and a few on hood). While the car was pretty badly swirled it was hidden by the pearl unless looking at it perfectly, and se with the marring. What can I do in the future to quickly and SAFELY remove this without marring for people who do not want abrasives or simply cannot afford them? I don't have pics of the marring as I inly noticed it in perfect lighting conditions just before the client picked the car up but I do have a pick of some of the grime.
Clay marring paint but client on wants AIO
- Thread starter Nutbolt
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- #3
The grime actually wasn't where I had the marring occur. It's where(and no I didn't get a pic as I was already taking too long on this detail, my ocd kicked in on the interior where I was only payed for a quick wipe down but I started cleaning thoroughly) the "rust dots" were. The clay removed the. But it also left some slight marring from excessive effort to remove. Yet the customer wasn't willing to pay for a two step and didn't want any heavy abrasives even though the car needed it. Ended up using gg6 with 5" plate and Meg's microfiber finishing pad and gg one step sealant.
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- #5
So how do these products work and how to use them without marring? Spray on use microfiber towels to agitate? Seems like another expense to add in. Just now working out my pricing. Thanks for any help
Paul A.
New member
- Dec 21, 2007
- 5,276
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Yes, i can understand how that will affect pricing however i don't get any marring from either product. Thinking that was your primary concern i thought some easy (but, yes, somewhat expensive), rather non abrasive methods might be considered.
I spray on my Iron X and let it dwell for maybe a minute or two. I then spritz a little on a grout sponge and gently wipe it all in and then rinse the vehicle thoroughly. This stuff is amazing at reacting to the imbedded metallic contaminants, turning purple as it finds them.
My Tar X routine is very similar. Spray on the tar area, let it sit for about a minute and then spritz a MF towel and wipe the tar away. Again, a full rinse off and good to go.
I don't let either product dry on the paint. Plus both of these methods take very little time for me to do.
Just some thoughts...
I spray on my Iron X and let it dwell for maybe a minute or two. I then spritz a little on a grout sponge and gently wipe it all in and then rinse the vehicle thoroughly. This stuff is amazing at reacting to the imbedded metallic contaminants, turning purple as it finds them.
My Tar X routine is very similar. Spray on the tar area, let it sit for about a minute and then spritz a MF towel and wipe the tar away. Again, a full rinse off and good to go.
I don't let either product dry on the paint. Plus both of these methods take very little time for me to do.
Just some thoughts...
J Cole
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- Jan 30, 2015
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You've gotta use an iron removing product, such as Iron X. Just spray it on these spots let it sit for a few minutes then rinse it off. This will remove a majority of the iron deposits that are causing the rust spots as well as a majority of the rust. Or you could try TriX I think it is? It's a tar and iron remover combo.
If you only use those products where you've got visible problems they'll go a long way.
Further - have you tried a polishing pad with GG one step sealant rather than a finishing pad? I would think that an AIO would be able to take care of light marring from clay.
RTexasF
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- Jun 2, 2006
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It is your job to educate your customer. If they insist on a procedure that you know will not work then tell them so. You are letting them tell you your job instead of telling them (selling them) what is required to do it properly. If they just won't come around then let them walk. I've done it several times with those that thought they knew more than I did and never regretted it even once.
- Thread starter
- #10
I've only had this situation a couple times on white with the hard to rove iron deposits and neither of the others got the marred paint. So this was a first for me. I even hit one area with a orange ccs pad and gg one step and it didn't help. Of course again I had to look at it just right under flourescent light is to see the marring. But after one section pass of four slow passes the Orange finished well but at the time didn't notice the marring and didn't seem to need the cut so I moved to the megs finishing MF. Thanks for the reponses so far
geekdout
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- May 5, 2013
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Did the customer specifically say they wanted little to no abrasives or something to that effect?
With that car being such a light color the more you clean it up the more those swirls are going to show up.
Its always hard to strike a balance between working with someones budget and trying to provide the services you know they need. But if you feel like you or the customer is not going to be happy with the results its just better to say no.
With that car being such a light color the more you clean it up the more those swirls are going to show up.
Its always hard to strike a balance between working with someones budget and trying to provide the services you know they need. But if you feel like you or the customer is not going to be happy with the results its just better to say no.
- Thread starter
- #12
It's a family friend and yes he actually said he just wanted a sealant. I went with the AIO after washing and seeing just how badly the paint was contaminated. When he showed up it looked like it was well maintained and fairly clean just in need of washing and seal. Once washed I saw what I was dealing with. Didn't think the clay was going to mar it as it didn't on the other two white vehicles I've had with the same issues. My 11 ram didn't mar with the same iron deposits all down the rockers and lower doors. His only marred in a few spots on the hood. The pic of the back door was the road grime. It came off easily with clay and no marring. Really have to zoom that pic in to see the iron. He also doesn't see what I do bc he honestly said to just vacuum and wipe down the interior and that it had only one stain. There were three stains on headliner 5 in the floor numerous small stains on the leather(the driver seat was so bad this is where I chose to over deliver and thouroughly clean. Upon pickup I showed him what was cleaned from the seat and on the towels. He never knew it was dirty(I showed this to sell a full interior down the road).
ryandamartini
New member
- Sep 22, 2006
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This is a situation you will consistently run into in the detailing business.
Person with soft paint comes in and it is just loaded with all sorts of goodies.. It needs claying obviously but its to the point where marring will occur as it's so bad? Well for it to be perfect, the paint will need a followup light polish to remove the marring at the very least.
I would tell the customer yes I can decontaminate your paint but it is rather bad. To make the paint clear, I will need to run a one stage polish on it for recommended gloss and condition. The alternative is that the paint will be smooth and have improved gloss but there will be marring.
Reading your post and it's just in spots, you could consider a light spot polish to remove marring but keep the overall condition of the paint somewhat uniform.
You need to educate your customers on what is right for the car and tell them how to do your job and not the other way around.
2011 Kona Blue
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- Mar 18, 2015
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I'm sorry to be a bit ignorant but what exactly is marring and how does one get it into the paint? What is AIO? I'm a newbee here so trying to learn. 
- Thread starter
- #15
I'm sorry to be a bit ignorant but what exactly is marring and how does one get it into the paint? What is AIO? I'm a newbee here so trying to learn.
Marring(imperfections or scratches in paint)
(
Aio(all in one, as in cleaner wax, one step sealant etc, has fine polish and protection in one step)
808_detail_nut
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- Apr 2, 2014
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I had the same method as you until I ran into some soft Toyota paint and had marring all over. I did more research and now I tell people during the estimate that before I start that if they want me to decontaminate, especially with clay, I will use a polish before sealing it. If you want to go with a AIO then get one that can remove marring. If they don't want me to decon then I just go with a cleaner wax and price on that. Good luck.
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2011 Kona Blue
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- Mar 18, 2015
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Thank you sir. I commonly use Meguiar's professional cleaner wax on customers cars but sometimes the paint is so crappy I just use Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and call it a day. The people only want to pay for one step but there cars need a full paint correction.
2011 Kona Blue
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- Mar 18, 2015
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What cleaner wax do you recommend? I have been using Meguiar's professional cleaner wax.
808_detail_nut
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- Apr 2, 2014
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Right now I use klasse AIO, megs 151, and poor boys polish with sealant on my mobile jobs that I can't get shade. You need to do your research and try them out for yourself. Poor boys is by far the easiest I used to apply and remove.
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