Meguiars Ultimate Polish - cloudy / hazy: user error?

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heinzbush

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Hi All,

I‘m an avid reader of this forum and also read the existing posts where some people had issues with Meguiars Ultimate Polish.

I‘m still „beginner“ and started using my DA Polisher with Meg4‘s UP... unfortunately, the results were not good... I got a lot of cloudy / hazy paint and I am not sure if its leftover polish that does not easily wipe off, or if there were really fine scratches.
I could remove the haziness by using more product on a hand applicator and polishing by hand, then quickly wiping it off.

Few days later I thought I give it another shot and record it... (un)fortunately, this time, there was almost no cloudy/hazy paint... there was still some, but it was too fine to capture with a camera and I was a bit under time pressure to play with lighting to really capture it.

Nonetheless: here is the video of what I‘m doing! I would appreciate some feedback on user errors, e.g. am I using too much product, am I going to fast, is the area I work in too big, etc etc.


Thanks
 
I can’t help because I’m also new to detailing, but I noticed you did three passes horizontally. I thought a crosshatch pattern was recommended. So two horizontal passes and one vertical pass, or two vertical passes and one horizontal pass?
 
Try using it with a foam pad. Microfiber can haze paint.
 
As guz mentioned a polishing foam pad would be a good choice to finish the paint with. Is that a mf cutting pad? Maybe a little slower armspeed 1"/second as a guideline. The polish should be clearing up a little. Then it's useally easier to wipe off the polish residue. Seems like it's a porsche you polish. They can be on a very soft side of hardness of the clearcoat. Which gets easier to leave micro marring if haveing a to of aggressive combo.
 
SWETM said:
As guz mentioned a polishing foam pad would be a good choice to finish the paint with. Is that a mf cutting pad? Maybe a little slower armspeed 1"/second as a guideline. The polish should be clearing up a little. Then it's useally easier to wipe off the polish residue. Seems like it's a porsche you polish. They can be on a very soft side of hardness of the clearcoat. Which gets easier to leave micro marring if haveing a to of aggressive combo.
Click to expand...

This pretty much covers exactly what I was going to say.


Dan Tran
High Quality Car Detailing at the Comfort of Your Own Home
 
Thanks a ton for the input! Few remarks:

- yes its a Porsche 993
- I used a Meguiars Microfibre Finishing Pad which I thought is the perfect match for UP... I also have a Chemical Guys white foam hex pad which I could try.. but my plan was to use this one for the final application of liquid wax

Understood that I should go a bit slower!

However, what exactly do you mean by saying „polish should be clearing up a little“? you mean I stopped too early? I read in other posts that Ultimate Polish should be removed while its „still wet“ and not polish until its dry...

Thanks!
 
The Guz said:
Try using it with a foam pad. Microfiber can haze paint.
Click to expand...

^^ this. MF is for compounding and heavier cutting. Polish is for polishing and would best be served by a foam polishing or perhaps light cutting pad.
 
The Guz said:
Try using it with a foam pad. Microfiber can haze paint.
Click to expand...

This is it.

Looks like you were using the finishing microfiber. On some cars, that pad works great with Ultimate Polish, but apparently not this one.
 
heinzbush said:
Thanks a ton for the input! Few remarks:

- yes its a Porsche 993
- I used a Meguiars Microfibre Finishing Pad which I thought is the perfect match for UP... I also have a Chemical Guys white foam hex pad which I could try.. but my plan was to use this one for the final application of liquid wax

Understood that I should go a bit slower!

However, what exactly do you mean by saying „polish should be clearing up a little“? you mean I stopped too early? I read in other posts that Ultimate Polish should be removed while its „still wet“ and not polish until its dry...

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I can't get the video to play at work, but here are my thoughts in addition to the advice already given. I've used UP for several years on very soft Toyota paint, which may be a similar situation to your Porsche.

- You mention having "a Chemical Guys" pad. You will need several pads. On a small car I use 3~4 and rotate them to keep the pads for getting too hot and getting too saturated.
- I'm not familiar with the hex pads, but a white Lake Country Flat or Thin Pro polishing pad with UP has always worked very well for me on soft paint.
- Look up Mike Phillips instructions on how to clean your pads, "on the fly". This will also help with the pads getting too saturated with product.
- On soft Toyota Paint I typicaly will make 4~5 passes. I work in a cross-hatch patter, so going across the area vertically is one pass and going over it horizontally is another, etc.

UP has served me well on soft paint from Toyota and Subaru. It leaves a decent shine and has a long working time which makes it a great polish to learn the art of DA polishing.
 
The Chemical Guys Hex Logic pads were once made by Buff and Shine. Not sure if they still are.

It's what I started with about 4 years ago and still have some. The white pad is for polishing. That's the one that could work with the Ultimate Polish for you. For final wax application, you will want [from Hex Logic line] the black or the red pad.

Several pad choices available. Many great options. You could even use Meguiar's foam pads (yellow for polishing, black for wax) to keep it "in the family."
 
Thanks a lot everyone for providing helpful guidance and insights...

I tried again with a foam pad and results were better, yet not perfect. Main reason is that I do get some awful, sticky residues from Ultimate Polish that are difficult to remove causing again scratches...

I tried removal of the residue with IPA as well as Meguiars Quik Detailer... it works ok, but still, not perfect... Sometimes I get small areas where the UP is really "dried on" and I initially thought I actually burnt through the clear... after lots of wiping I can get rid of it, leaving fine scratches around it. (fyi - using the Meguiars Supreme Shine Microfibre Towels)

I plan to redo the whole exercise with M205 instead of Ultimate Polish and see if that is better...
Another typical problem is around trim lines / plastic where residue sits and once I try to remove, I get fine scratches again... will keep you posted.
 
Stay away from any Megs polish if you’re dealing with soft paint. They don’t finish well, unless your Kevin Brown. Pick up Sonax EX 04/06 or Perfect Finish, use with a foam polishing pad and you’ll be good to go.


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
I also was not blown away by UP, had high hopes. Perhaps the soft paint or incorrect pad is the cause
 
heinzbush said:
Thanks a lot everyone for providing helpful guidance and insights...

I tried again with a foam pad and results were better, yet not perfect. Main reason is that I do get some awful, sticky residues from Ultimate Polish that are difficult to remove causing again scratches...

I tried removal of the residue with IPA as well as Meguiars Quik Detailer... it works ok, but still, not perfect... Sometimes I get small areas where the UP is really "dried on" and I initially thought I actually burnt through the clear... after lots of wiping I can get rid of it, leaving fine scratches around it. (fyi - using the Meguiars Supreme Shine Microfibre Towels)

I plan to redo the whole exercise with M205 instead of Ultimate Polish and see if that is better...
Another typical problem is around trim lines / plastic where residue sits and once I try to remove, I get fine scratches again... will keep you posted.
Click to expand...

Give this a good read.

Tips to acheive a flawless finish with M205 and a DA polisher

Works for Ultimate Polish, M205, or most non diminishing abrasive polishes.
 
Ultimate polish is very forgiving and easy to use. A great product. So let's look at what might be the issue:

1. Make sure not to overwork the product until it is dry. If you do, you will damage the paint instead of restoring it. Always try to work on cool panels, out of the sun unless you are very experienced to avoir product drying on you. How long are you using the product before you stop and wipe off?

2. As others have mentionned, microfiber is agressive. It's great for cutting, not so much for polishing. So even if it says polishing pad, it's on the heaviest side of polishing pads, close to a foam cutting disk. Try to go with a light or medium foam polishing pad instead. Colors vary from one manufacturers to the other but with Buff&Shine that would be light green or white pads. Can't remember for Lake Country.

3. Maybe you are not removing all the product when you wipe it and it's actually product you are seeing not pain haze. Have you tried either washing the panel or wiping with a solvent to remove all the polishing oils and polish residue? This is unlikelly with UP, but I would still give it a try.
 
Replace Ultimate Polish with Meguiars M205.
Replace those microfiber finishing pads with Lake Country Flat Foam Polishing Pads [the White ones].
Mark your backing plate.
Turn your polisher to speed 4.5

Come back and give us an update on your results.
 
Calendyr said:
Ultimate polish is very forgiving and easy to use. A great product. So let's look at what might be the issue:

1. Make sure not to overwork the product until it is dry. If you do, you will damage the paint instead of restoring it. Always try to work on cool panels, out of the sun unless you are very experienced to avoir product drying on you. How long are you using the product before you stop and wipe off?

2. As others have mentionned, microfiber is agressive. It's great for cutting, not so much for polishing. So even if it says polishing pad, it's on the heaviest side of polishing pads, close to a foam cutting disk. Try to go with a light or medium foam polishing pad instead. Colors vary from one manufacturers to the other but with Buff&Shine that would be light green or white pads. Can't remember for Lake Country.

3. Maybe you are not removing all the product when you wipe it and it's actually product you are seeing not pain haze. Have you tried either washing the panel or wiping with a solvent to remove all the polishing oils and polish residue? This is unlikelly with UP, but I would still give it a try.
Click to expand...


1. work in shade... 2-3 passes... if at all, not working the product enough I assume

2. already switched to foam

3. yes... and as stated, by removing it, adding fine scratches as there are really sticky spots where UP does not want to get off...

...this forum is full of posts from users having issues removing UP... I guess it works fine on some paints, and not good on others (maybe the soft ones like mine)


as stated, will switch to M205 with foam pad... if that's still not good, will switch to something like HD Speed...
 
heinzbush said:
1. work in shade... 2-3 passes... if at all, not working the product enough I assume

2. already switched to foam

3. yes... and as stated, by removing it, adding fine scratches as there are really sticky spots where UP does not want to get off...

...this forum is full of posts from users having issues removing UP... I guess it works fine on some paints, and not good on others (maybe the soft ones like mine)


as stated, will switch to M205 with foam pad... if that's still not good, will switch to something like HD Speed...
Click to expand...

Maybe HD Polish +.

Speed is a cleaner wax.
 
dlc95 said:
Speed is a cleaner wax.
Click to expand...

Which makes it probably a good thing for him to try.
I Would suggest some Blackfire AIO. Easy to apply, easy to remove, plays well with plastic, cuts well, the sealant lasts, can be topped with a WOWA for a longer lasting finish. There’s a reason Phillips uses one of these AIO’s on his daily driver even though he has the skills to easily polish and seal.

Two passes every 3-6 months (if you top it) and your car will look great.
 
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