HELP! Is this clay marring or scratches? (time an issue!)

[LuxuryMobile]

I know this sounds silly but are you wiping it off after polishing? If so, it may just be haze that needs to be polished over again with a less agressive polish.

 

[LuxuryMobile]

You may want to watch some of Mike P's videos on a section pass and how to use the PC to save you a ton of frustration.

If you dont have time for that, just seal it or wax it until you feel ready to tackle to task or hire someone to help.

 

[Mk23]

You may want to watch some of Mike P's videos on a section pass and how to use the PC to save you a ton of frustration.

If you dont have time for that, just seal it or wax it until you feel ready to tackle to task or hire someone to help.

I actually watched those videos via youtube before taking this project on. I'm doing the right amount of section passes and am pretty sure I'm doing everything else right, but is it possible I have the wrong tape? It appears to be a haze where the tape was once I pull it off. I am using regular blue painters tape with medium adhesion. Should I go buy some of the green auto tape and try that? Also, the haze does appear to be coming off if I use a microfiber cloth and put a lot of elbow grease into it. Though it is very tiresome...

 

[LuxuryMobile]

Are you using the machine or doing it by hand?

And as far as tape, it may leave some residue but that should be easy to reckognize and residue, and not mistaken for haze from polishing.

 

[tuscarora dave]

I actually watched those videos via youtube before taking this project on. I'm doing the right amount of section passes and am pretty sure I'm doing everything else right, but is it possible I have the wrong tape? It appears to be a haze where the tape was once I pull it off. I am using regular blue painters tape with medium adhesion. Should I go buy some of the green auto tape and try that? Also, the haze does appear to be coming off if I use a microfiber cloth and put a lot of elbow grease into it. Though it is very tiresome...

Good thread. The green tape makes more of a mess than the blue tape. If you polish to the edge of the green tape it seems to get adhesive residue smearing all over the area being polished. This has been my experience with it anyway. If you wipe the polish residue off with a QD do you still have the haze?

 

[LuxuryMobile]

I have been talking with Ryan a few times over the phone, I think he is going to get his problems worked out and be very happy with the results. But I agree, that this is a great thread that shows how helpful the AG community is.

 

[tuscarora dave]

I have been talking with Ryan a few times over the phone, I think he is going to get his problems worked out and be very happy with the results. But I agree, that this is a great thread that shows how helpful the AG community is.

Props to you Stephan!!rops: Good to hear.

 

[HarryK]

I just got a da polisher and plan to try it out soon. I have been reading and learning as much as I can. I am impressed with the people on this site and their willingness to help those of us that are new to polishing etc. Thanks to all that offer help freely.rops:
Harry

 

[slickooz]

I just got a da polisher and plan to try it out soon. I have been reading and learning as much as I can. I am impressed with the people on this site and their willingness to help those of us that are new to polishing etc. Thanks to all that offer help freely.rops:
Harry

We all started some where and its always good to give back to the community. :dblthumb2:

 

[Rsurfer]

I actually watched those videos via youtube before taking this project on. I'm doing the right amount of section passes and am pretty sure I'm doing everything else right, but is it possible I have the wrong tape? It appears to be a haze where the tape was once I pull it off. I am using regular blue painters tape with medium adhesion. Should I go buy some of the green auto tape and try that? Also, the haze does appear to be coming off if I use a microfiber cloth and put a lot of elbow grease into it. Though it is very tiresome...

Be careful using UC by hand with a lot of pressure. Some have gone thruough their clear coat. UC is a compound. BTW why are you taping?

 

[dad07]

Props to you Stephan!!rops: Good to hear.

:iagree:

 

[Mk23]

I have been talking with Ryan a few times over the phone, I think he is going to get his problems worked out and be very happy with the results. But I agree, that this is a great thread that shows how helpful the AG community is.

+1

Wne to town with the PC 7424xp, white pad with Ultimate compound. I stopped taping off the sections as it was creating more problems than it was solving, I kept getting a hazy line whre the tape was that only come soff with more polishing. So I now eye it up and polish in sections that way (thanks to Steven, props!). I am getting much better results this way and have just a few more spots to touch up today before I move on to Opti-seal and Natty' Blue wax.

I just got a da polisher and plan to try it out soon. I have been reading and learning as much as I can. I am impressed with the people on this site and their willingness to help those of us that are new to polishing etc. Thanks to all that offer help freely.rops:
Harry

+1

This is a great online community with lots of patience for the newbies (which you don't see very often on other forums).

Be careful using UC by hand with a lot of pressure. Some have gone thruough their clear coat. UC is a compound. BTW why are you taping?

I was taping as that what was instructed to do in Mikes videos on youtube... :nomore:though.


Got to get back to work! Thanks again guys! Will post pics in a few days! :buffing:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

This is a great online community with lots of patience for the newbies (which you don't see very often on other forums).

Good to hear this kind of feedback, we want people to feel like when they come to AutogeekOnline.net they're going to get the help they're looking for without any negativity or condescending attitudes... it's not professional and it's not needed...


:xyxthumbs:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I was taping as that what was instructed to do in Mikes videos on youtube... :nomore:though.

Everyone can and will find their own way... I try to show all the options and people can figure out what works best for them...

One thing for sure, I don't ever want to be the guy that leaves splatter in places that cannot be reached to be cleaned...


Tape it off and avoid a lifetime of ugly...

Here's an example, the 1969 El Camino I used for this article on Dampsanding,

Damp-Sanding Tools, Tips and Techniques by Mike Phillips


Upon inspecting the paint I found the typical ugly compound and polish residue splattered inside the fresh air grill left by the guy that buffed the paint out before me.

Here's the 1969 El Camino...

Here's the ugly part...

Because the bottom side of the sheet metal where the slots are stamped out are rough and jagged, all the compound and polish residue that was splattered by the rotary buffer has embedded like cement and will be very difficult to fully remove, especially now that it's a few years old...



Close-up...

So while this is a very beautiful 1969 El Camino, every time someone looks at the hood area from the side of the car their eyes will be drawn to the very apparent white compound and polish residue that is encrusted where it's hard to reach and remove.


The first thing I did upon finding the compound splatter inside the grill was to point it out to the owner so he would know that I didn't create the problem and then while he was standing there, I took photos of the crusty splatter so that it was established that the splatter was there before I ever worked on the car.

This is a good best practice for your own detailing business because you don't want to get blamed for The Other Guy's Wax or TOGW

TOGW = The Other Guy's Wax



So here's a tip...
Before machine polishing any vehicle with areas that will be hard and even impossible to detail later should any compound or polish residue be splattered into these areas is to take a few moments to tape, cover and protect these areas from splatter before starting.

For example, here at Autogeek's Show Car Garage we are regularly asked to test out upcoming products for many of the manufactures we represent and then file a report with our results and observations. Yesterday I had 4 different products from 3 different manufactures to test that involved machine sanding and using a rotary buffer.

My test vehicle was our in-house 1964 Ford Falcon which has extreme orange peel, so it offers plenty of real-estate for testing a variety of different products.

As far as I can tell this car has never been machine polished, either before it was repainted nor after it was repainted because there are no signs whatsoever of splatter underneath the fresh air intake grill.

I'm not going to be the first person to get splatter into this area so before starting the testing I simply taped the grill off using a brand new masking tape made especially for use on automotive paints.


Meguiars Professional Masking Tape


Taping off areas like this takes just a little time in the beginning of a detailing project as compared to the massive amount of time it will take to try to remove any splatter after the project is finished. And in some cases, it's all but impossible to remove splatter residue in hard to reach areas, so taping off and covering up ensures no splatter and protects your customer's car's appearance and your reputation.

Zero splatter under the grill of this 1964 Ford Falcon

Meguiar's Professional Masking Tape

After the sanding and buffing, remove the tape and no spatter... no ugly... no worries...

On the Autogeek.net Store...Meguiars Professional Masking Tape


Here's another tip...

The Beach Towel Tip

 

[sportscarhiatus]

Very interesting thread. It went from clay marring to polish hazing to tape residue but still, very informative, and am glad the AG community was able to help.

To the OP:

1) Some degree of clay marring/streaking is normal... at least for me, it's more dependent on the type of clay I use. For example Pinnacle Clay is very soft, but takes multiple passes to get the surface completely smooth. The Meguiar's or Mother's clay is more aggressive and takes fewer passes to remove contaminants. Obviously, less aggressive clay = less chance for marring. Also be sure to use light pressure. Let the clay do the work. Instead of pressure, you should focus more on making sure the surface of the clay in contact with the paint is nice and flat and free of foreign residue. Because that's how the clay works and removes contaminants from the paint, as you glide it across. And lastly, follow Mike P.'s thread on how to properly hold a piece of clay. It did wonders for me. (Thanks Mike!)

2) Regarding polishing, make sure you follow Mike's video's for advice. When using a DA, just apply ample pressure to compress the pad. Again, let the DA, pad, and polish do the work. Apply enough pad conditioner, perform the right # of passes, then remove immediately. I found that the more aggressive polishes tend to dry up quicker and may have a tendency to gum up quicker. Just wipe off with an MF... might take more elbow grease if it dries up too soon.

3) Taping - what works for me is that I only tape the areas where the paint meets a surface that I do not want to have passed over by my pad. These surfaces include door handles, trim, lights, emblems, etc... but I never tape the actual paint, unless I am trying to purposely show a "before and after" pic. I just work in sections, broken down into 2 x 2's. If a door for example, has three 2 x 2 sections, I simply finish off the first section, then when I wipe off the residue I leave just a tad bit of residue so I know where I went over already. Then I overlap the next section... and repeat. Therefore, no taping smearing issues or whatever.

Good luck... and remember to keep it simple, simon!!!

 

[Mk23]

Everyone can and will find their own way... I try to show all the options and people can figure out what works best for them...

One thing for sure, I don't ever want to be the guy that leaves splatter in places that cannot be reached to be cleaned...

... snip ...

I didn't mean to imply that I don't tape ANY areas, just not the area around where I am working. I do tape off trim and areas I don't want polish to get into. It is definitely working for me better to just tape the areas I am not working on and eye ball the area I am. Thanks for the very informative post! I could never work on some of those classics without extreme fear of messing up their one of a kind paint.

Very interesting thread. It went from clay marring to polish hazing to tape residue but still, very informative, and am glad the AG community was able to help.

To the OP:

1) Some degree of clay marring/streaking is normal... at least for me, it's more dependent on the type of clay I use. For example Pinnacle Clay is very soft, but takes multiple passes to get the surface completely smooth. The Meguiar's or Mother's clay is more aggressive and takes fewer passes to remove contaminants. Obviously, less aggressive clay = less chance for marring. Also be sure to use light pressure. Let the clay do the work. Instead of pressure, you should focus more on making sure the surface of the clay in contact with the paint is nice and flat and free of foreign residue. Because that's how the clay works and removes contaminants from the paint, as you glide it across. And lastly, follow Mike P.'s thread on how to properly hold a piece of clay. It did wonders for me. (Thanks Mike!)

2) Regarding polishing, make sure you follow Mike's video's for advice. When using a DA, just apply ample pressure to compress the pad. Again, let the DA, pad, and polish do the work. Apply enough pad conditioner, perform the right # of passes, then remove immediately. I found that the more aggressive polishes tend to dry up quicker and may have a tendency to gum up quicker. Just wipe off with an MF... might take more elbow grease if it dries up too soon.

3) Taping - what works for me is that I only tape the areas where the paint meets a surface that I do not want to have passed over by my pad. These surfaces include door handles, trim, lights, emblems, etc... but I never tape the actual paint, unless I am trying to purposely show a "before and after" pic. I just work in sections, broken down into 2 x 2's. If a door for example, has three 2 x 2 sections, I simply finish off the first section, then when I wipe off the residue I leave just a tad bit of residue so I know where I went over already. Then I overlap the next section... and repeat. Therefore, no taping smearing issues or whatever.

Good luck... and remember to keep it simple, simon!!!

I actually think I am going to get a less aggressive clay for next time and try different lubes with it. :xyxthumbs:

 

[G37]

Good to hear this kind of feedback, we want people to feel like when they come to AutogeekOnline.net they're going to get the help they're looking for without any negativity or condescending attitudes... it's not professional and it's not needed...


:xyxthumbs:

:dblthumb2:

 

[G37]

I have a thought about clay..Before I tried clay I really thought it was a professional type product but after using it I still believe this product can be trouble very fast. I just purchased some Sonus SFX ultra fine clay which I will use to spot clean when needed.

To get to my point. Shouldn't clay best be used by intermediate to advance as well as professional detailers due to the fact that claying technique is so important and the fact if something does go wrong which will happen eventually that these detailers will be able to correct and properly polish the marring or scratches that can happen when claying goes wrong that a novice or beginner would not be able to correct?

 

[LuxuryMobile]

I guess you could make that statement about claying, but you can also cause alot worse damage by improper washing techniques.

Like most things, with a little practice you can get the hang of it. I wouldnt reserve the use of a clay bar to an intermediate level detailer, especially with all the online resources and how to videos etc. I feel that the use of clay could quickly be added into the process of a very novice detailer or "weekend warrior"

 

[sportscarhiatus]

I have a thought about clay..Before I tried clay I really thought it was a professional type product but after using it I still believe this product can be trouble very fast. I just purchased some Sonus SFX ultra fine clay which I will use to spot clean when needed.

To get to my point. Shouldn't clay best be used by intermediate to advance as well as professional detailers due to the fact that claying technique is so important and the fact if something does go wrong which will happen eventually that these detailers will be able to correct and properly polish the marring or scratches that can happen when claying goes wrong that a novice or beginner would not be able to correct?

Sorry but I disagree. Claying, polishing, buffing, etc... can be accomplished by anyone who is willing to learn and is patient. This person or persons don't have to be professionals. It just takes patience, some reading of instructions or helpful threads in communities such as AG...sometimes even helpful videos are a plus.