Micro fiber towels leave scratches

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tallyho

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I'm in the process of posishing a new paint job on my motorcycle. I color sanded to 2500 grit. Followed with orange CCS pad with Meguires Med Cut then white pad and fine cut followed by gray pad and No.9 swirl remover. The parts are coming out good except I noticed after using the No.9 I still had some scratches. These scratches were not circular (I'm using a Makita circular polisher) but in a straight across pattern (the same as I wipe off the slight haze that remains after using the No.9). I couldn't figure out where these were coming from and then I thought maybe it was the rags. So under very bright light (which is how I'm doing all the steps) I wiped with light pressure in a X pattern to see what would happen. And to my dismay I discovered that it was the towels leaving the scratches. I'm carefull not to cross contaminate the towels (use a different one for each compound) and these were clean towels. These are the green and blue towels that came with the CCS 7.5" and spot buff pad kits. Are these the wrong towels to use or is my technique off. Any ideas why this is happening? Thanks.Feed back please
 
This is very interesting. Since my car has slight swirls I created, I am very interested in which towels....micro fiber towels cause swirls.

Sal Zaino is big on stating use only 100% Cotton towels. I have used both and created swirls....and why I got the PC and supplies to get them out.

Help!
 
have any of you tried Pakshak towels, they are the only ones that I have found that do not scratch my vette. Since they past that test, those are the only towels I use.
 
Where do you store your towels?

What do you wash them with?

Do you check them before they touch your paint?
 
these are either the indigo cobras or the other blue ones, but I think they're the same towels in general.

I've induced marring on paint with what I thought were good/safe towels. I don't know what else to say. Sounds like you've narrowed it down to the towel. Was there any compound/polish residue that could have been dragged into the towel? Leftover abrasives can easily get caught up in the middle of a buff off?
 
tallyho said:
I'm in the process of posishing a new paint job on my motorcycle. I color sanded to 2500 grit. Followed with orange CCS pad with Meguires Med Cut then white pad and fine cut followed by gray pad and No.9 swirl remover. The parts are coming out good except I noticed after using the No.9 I still had some scratches. These scratches were not circular (I'm using a Makita circular polisher) but in a straight across pattern (the same as I wipe off the slight haze that remains after using the No.9). I couldn't figure out where these were coming from and then I thought maybe it was the rags. So under very bright light (which is how I'm doing all the steps) I wiped with light pressure in a X pattern to see what would happen. And to my dismay I discovered that it was the towels leaving the scratches. I'm carefull not to cross contaminate the towels (use a different one for each compound) and these were clean towels. These are the green and blue towels that came with the CCS 7.5" and spot buff pad kits. Are these the wrong towels to use or is my technique off. Any ideas why this is happening? Thanks.Feed back please
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Do a CD test with your towels, if scratches the cd, use them for interior, wheels, or engine work.
 
the towels are the Cobra 80/20 towels that come with the CCS pad kits. I wash them with the Cobra Quick Cleanse powder and hang them to dry in the laundry room. I usually wash by hand. I washed them this eve in the washing machine with extra rinse cycle. I'll try again tomorrow and let you know how it works out.
 
tallyho said:
the towels are the Cobra 80/20 towels that come with the CCS pad kits. I wash them with the Cobra Quick Cleanse powder and hang them to dry in the laundry room. I usually wash by hand. I washed them this eve in the washing machine with extra rinse cycle. I'll try again tomorrow and let you know how it works out.
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You actually want a 70/30 towel, that probably is your cause of the scratches, 80/20 tend to scratch.
 
tallyho said:
the towels are the Cobra 80/20 towels that come with the CCS pad kits. I wash them with the Cobra Quick Cleanse powder and hang them to dry in the laundry room. I usually wash by hand. I washed them this eve in the washing machine with extra rinse cycle. I'll try again tomorrow and let you know how it works out.
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check the cobra chart, but ive never used them on paint based on the chart... atleast i think, either way, they never felt that great to me so i used them appropriately....



cobra supremes are the way to go
 
I have some 70/30 MF towels coming today. Hopfully I'll have better luck with those.:buffing:
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
have any of you tried Pakshak towels, they are the only ones that I have found that do not scratch my vette. Since they past that test, those are the only towels I use.
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ofcourse they dont scratch your vette, your clearcoat is harder then most...

its been my experience with softer clearcoats that if you breathe on it wrong it will scratch and marr....

sometimes on my acura, while wiping polish residue or sealant, i can see a swirl or two comming right behind a wipe...pisses me off...make sure you use alot of microfibre clothes per process, i use a minimu of 8 per stage, and wash them with liquid dergent no powder otherwise that will stay in your clothes too and cause marring.....
 
vinnier6 said:
ofcourse they dont scratch your vette, your clearcoat is harder then most...

its been my experience with softer clearcoats that if you breathe on it wrong it will scratch and marr....

sometimes on my acura, while wiping polish residue or sealant, i can see a swirl or two comming right behind a wipe...pisses me off...make sure you use alot of microfibre clothes per process, i use a minimu of 8 per stage, and wash them with liquid dergent no powder otherwise that will stay in your clothes too and cause marring.....
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, the Vette's CC is easy to scratch/swirl. My dad has one that we used to wash with regular towels (before I knew about this site) and it's covered...well it was covered. It's amazing how hard it is to correct, but so easy to scratch.
 
vinnier6 said:
ofcourse they dont scratch your vette, your clearcoat is harder then most...

its been my experience with softer clearcoats that if you breathe on it wrong it will scratch and marr....

sometimes on my acura, while wiping polish residue or sealant, i can see a swirl or two comming right behind a wipe...pisses me off...make sure you use alot of microfibre clothes per process, i use a minimu of 8 per stage, and wash them with liquid dergent no powder otherwise that will stay in your clothes too and cause marring.....
Click to expand...

Corvette clear is hard but scratches very easy, easier than soft paints. The problem with this clear that it is hard to correct. I guess you learn something new everyday.:D
 
I should also mention that the bike was painted black with a PPG clear coat. The black shows every imperfection it seems.
 
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