micro marring after polishing

Finick

Finick

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Hi everyone, first post here

I drive a 2012 Nissan Altima, and I've compounded it with D300 and a MF cutting disc, and followed that up with M205 on a yellow meguiars polishing pad. I noticed what I assume is micro marring, so I tried ultimate polish on another polishing pad, just to see if M205 was too aggressive, yet the marring remains albeit somewhat reduced. I followed that up with Ultimate polish on a black meguiars finishing pad and didn't really notice a difference at all.

I'm using an MT300 to do all of this. The products I have currently are:


  • d300
  • ultimate compound
  • ultimate polish
  • M205
  • mf cutting and finishing discs
  • meguiars polishing and finishing pads

I want to say my technique is sound with my polisher. I clean my pads after each section with a brush, or my air compressor if I feel like dragging it out. I have tried 3800 and 4800 OPM with anything from light pressure to pretty firm pressure. I really don't know where to go from here. I know that paints can be on the softer side, but I have to assume i'm doing something wrong at this point.

Is it possible it's haze left over from compounding fairly aggressively that I just didn't notice before? I considered running over some areas with d300 and a lighter pressure but doing a few section passes to see if maybe the marring is deeper and more aggressive than I'm thinking it is, but I figured I'd post this here just to see what everyone else thinks.

I can try to get some pictures of the marring and post them up if that will help, but I can never seem to capture what i'm looking at in my pictures, so if anyone has any tips on that i'd greatly appreciate that as well

thanks in advance :)
Steven
 
Have u tried using a compounding pad with M205 as your last step? Sometimes a polish/finish pad is too soft and will "dance".....as the top of pad and bottom of pad have different center point. Dense pad will hold centerline better.
 
Is your car black?
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My car isn't black, it's a dark red, so admittedly the marring isn't super noticeable, and at this point i'm probably just being really picky about something most people wouldn't notice (aren't we all.) My real goal is just to understand what's happening and figure out how to get rid of it even if only just to feel like I've gotten better at polishing as a whole. All that being said the car really does look nice, and I'm not unhappy with the finish. I'd just like to refine it further.

Have u tried using a compounding pad with M205 as your last step? Sometimes a polish/finish pad is too soft and will "dance".....as the top of pad and bottom of pad have different center point. Dense pad will hold centerline better.
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I actually don't have one of the thin foam cutting pads meguiars offers (or any thin foam cutting pad) because I was using d300 and the mf cutting discs so I didn't see a point in getting the foam pads. I did watch a video from Larry Kosilla talking about how on softer paints a sturdier pad can be useful for this same reason, so I could pick one up and see how it goes. I was just hoping to see if anyone had any suggestions before i went out of my way to buy another pad that may not work.

I've also seen some videos of the kevin brown method for diluting polish in water, but I really can't imagine my paint is that soft.

Edit: I also doubt this will be relevant but I'm using 6" pads.
 
May need to switch to a different polish. Something with diminishing abrasives rather than super micro abrasives. I love Menzerna sf3800 for soft paint or Rupes diamond finishing polish. What I like to do is do a nice slow finishing polish on speed 4ish and then wipe off with a clean microfiber rag with some prep solvent to help aid in lubricity during wipe off and to help remove polishing oils.

I personally have never had good luck with a stiffer Rupes yellow pad for finishing on soft paint. Just my experience.
 
B&S yellow or white uro-tec pad should get you there. Stiffer polishing pads(B&S uro yellow) usually finish better for me on soft paint. Scholl S30+ is my favorite finishing polish, but since AG doesn't carry it, Jescar finish polishing should do well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
WRAPT C5Z06 said:
B&S yellow or white uro-tec pad should get you there. Stiffer polishing pads(B&S uro yellow) usually finish better for me on soft paint. Scholl S30+ is my favorite finishing polish, but since AG doesn't carry it, Jescar finish polishing should do well. Try a different polish with your megs pads before buying others. M205 does not do well on soft paint.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Justin at Final Inspection said:
May need to switch to a different polish. Something with diminishing abrasives rather than super micro abrasives. I love Menzerna sf3800 for soft paint or Rupes diamond finishing polish. What I like to do is do a nice slow finishing polish on speed 4ish and then wipe off with a clean microfiber rag with some prep solvent to help aid in lubricity during wipe off and to help remove polishing oils.

I personally have never had good luck with a stiffer Rupes yellow pad for finishing on soft paint. Just my experience.
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:iagree:

I've had good success using Jescar Finishing Polish (diminishing abrasive and not as oily as Menzerna) when M205 left some micro marring.
 
Justin at Final Inspection said:
May need to switch to a different polish. Something with diminishing abrasives rather than super micro abrasives. I love Menzerna sf3800 for soft paint or Rupes diamond finishing polish. What I like to do is do a nice slow finishing polish on speed 4ish and then wipe off with a clean microfiber rag with some prep solvent to help aid in lubricity during wipe off and to help remove polishing oils.

I personally have never had good luck with a stiffer Rupes yellow pad for finishing on soft paint. Just my experience.
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I've considered that, for sure. I read a post on here a day or two ago where Mike Phillips was recommending Pinaccle Advanced Finishing Polish over M205 because it works easier on more types of paint, soft paints included.

I was trying to avoid buying another polish, especially if it means my bottle of M205 and what I have left of UP will end up being shelved, but I'm definitely open to it if it'll help refine the finish in the way that I want.

I also saw this marring issue on my dads Buick Lacrosse, so it makes me feel like I'm just missing something, which is driving me crazy lol.
 
I sometimes get "fog" after my usual final polishing step. Can't see swirls, but the finish is not perfect. Menzerna SF3800 takes care of it.
 
Aside from the article I posted, which works - I still always take my Menzerna polishes with me.

I find that in general, SF4000 (3500) leaves a consistently clearer finish then M205. I feel like M205 restores factory gloss, (maybe a little more with something like a LC Tangerine Hydrotech pad) and SF4000/Rupes Keramik, Diamond take the gloss to the next level.

I could be wrong...
 
dlc95 said:
Aside from the article I posted, which works - I still always take my Menzerna polishes with me.

I find that in general, SF4000 (3500) leaves a consistently clearer finish then M205. I feel like M205 restores factory gloss, (maybe a little more with something like a LC Tangerine Hydrotech pad) and SF4000/Rupes Keramik, Diamond take the gloss to the next level.

I could be wrong...
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I don't think you're wrong. M205 works great most of the time. Sometimes it clarifies perfectly, sometimes not. We're probably among the 1% that can even see it (or care). That's when a quick hit of Menz SF3800 (don't get me started on the name changes) is fantastic.
 
Read this.

https://www.autopia.org/forums/polis...-polisher.html
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I actually did read that, and I tried all those steps but still ended up with marring on my paint.

Aside from the article I posted, which works - I still always take my Menzerna polishes with me.

I find that in general, SF4000 (3500) leaves a consistently clearer finish then M205. I feel like M205 restores factory gloss, (maybe a little more with something like a LC Tangerine Hydrotech pad) and SF4000/Rupes Keramik, Diamond take the gloss to the next level.

I could be wrong...
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I see a lot of people talking about a lot of different polishes these days other than 205, is the abrasive tech in these polishes (menzerna, sonax, optimum) just nicer or more advanced than what's in 205? Besides the big differences like some being SMAT and some being diminishing, of course. Considering the price tag on 205 vs some of the recommendations I'm getting in this thread I have to assume those polishes would have to be able to justify upwards of over 2x the cost of the product. Just to be clear, I'm willing to spend money on a quality product, I'm just curious what makes them twice as expensive is all.

How long are you working the 205? You might try short cycles with it (and maybe lower OPM's).

If that doesn't work, try Sonax Perfect Finish (or other guys are really high on Scholls30+. But I think you have to get that through CarPro.)
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I've tried everything from short to long buffing cycles, and nothing really seems to make any significant difference. I'm going to tape off an area tomorrow and retry though, just to see what I can manage.


I really appreciate all the advice and suggestions. I think I'm going to attempt mixing my with water 205 just to see how that works since it won't require a ton of product just to try it out. Who knows maybe i'll get lucky and that'll be just what I need. If that doesn't work I'll probably pick up one of the polishes recommended to me in this thread so far, and keep my fingers crossed.

It almost seems silly to me that I'm being so picky about the marring, considering that the car really does look nice. It'll just bother me until I find something that finishes it down how I want it, even if it's unrealistic to expect a daily driver to stay in that just polished shape long term.
 
IMO and experience over the years I don't believe it's at all related to M205; not unless the bottle has been contaminated. I would say the culprit is likely in either your pad (dirty or too stiff for Nissan paint) or your removal cloth/technique. Not sure I have an answer for you if you've tried to rule out those factors.
 
I was doing some testing on our rental car last year. M205 did a great job on it. I was using the black Buff and Shine microfiber finishing pads. The gloss was crazy. I wasn't expecting that from a fiber pad.
 
FrankS said:
:iagree:

I've had good success using Jescar Finishing Polish (diminishing abrasive and not as oily as Menzerna) when M205 left some micro marring.
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I can't say enough how well this jescar stuff finishes!
 
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