Hi Harris and thank you for taking this from Private Messages to the forum.
I get a lot of people that join the forum and then for whatever reason they send me their questions via a PM when the actual function of a "forum" is to discuss the topics on the forum. So thank you.
i have a white corolla
here are some pictures
https://drive.google.com/folderview?...Gs&usp=sharing
the paint has a cobweb which is prolly pretty hard to remove. i am a noob. i cant use and afford da machine etc. can i use meguiare uc to get rid of the swirls by hand?
The answer is "yes".
The technique is as follows.
Besides the normal steps of washing, drying and then removing any surface contamination using detailing clay here's what you want to do...
1. ONLY works a small section at a time. When working by hand, because modern paints tend to be harder than traditional single stage paints, you can really only functionally work a small section and remove the swirls.
How small?
About a foot squared. Yes that's right. A small section. If you try to rub to large of a section you and your hand will simply not have enough power to REMOVE ENOUGH PAINT to level the surface and thus remove the swirls.
Make sense?
You can try to work a larger section by hand but do so and then inspect in good light like overhead bright sunshine and make sure you're getting the swirls out to your satisfaction. If not then shrink your work areas size back down to a smaller size.
I used to teach the techniques for remove swirls by hand when I taught all the Detailing 101 classes for Meguiars. I completely have the technique down and I'm here to tell you it's a lot of work.
When you rub the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound over the paint you rub hard and fast at least to start with and this will be for about a minute.
Then you reduce your firm downward pressure and rub more gently. Why?
Because rubbing out paint is an art form not a grinding process.
So start out firm and fast and then finish that section out with about half as much downward pressure but still a rapid hand movement.
I remove swirls and scratches by hand using a straight line motion just because it's easier to rub hard and fast in two directions than it is to rub hard and fast in circles.
To give the Ultimate Compound more bite use a microfiber applicator pad. Meguiar's sells a large round white one, this will work great. ANY FIBER pad will help you to remove swirls faster than a foam pad. The fibers themselves can leave a type of marring scratch too so be careful.
For people that want to work by hand and reach show car results I usually have them,
Rub the paint first with the UC and a microfiber pad
Rub the paint out a second time using the UC or the UP with a FOAM pad
Seal the paint with a wax
Here's the best picture I have to try to give you and idea of what your hand should look like when trying to remove scratches by hand...
In the below pictures I'm removing wet sanding scratches out of the hood of a 1970 El Camino. My hand is pressing down hard and I'm moving it at the speed of light.
Anyway... that's how you do it. It's a lot harder than most people think and that's why when I wrote my first how-to book the first chapter explain PAINT HISTORY and then then I share the difference between old school paints and modern paints is the HARDNESS factor and that's why everyone now days sooner or later steps up to machine polishing. It's because it's too hard and takes to long to remove swirls and scratches by hand.
Now if you simply want to CLEAN the paint surface before applying a wax that's fast and easy. But cleaning the paint surface and removing swirls OUT of the paint are 2 very different things.
When I taught the hand polishing portion of the Detailing 101 class at Meguiar's I would say,
Watching me work by hand is the best sales tool for getting people to buy a machine.
It was true at Meguiar's and it's just as true today.
And by the way... for a LOT of people, simply cleaning the paint by applying a hand applied paint cleaner is more than enough as their car will look clean and shiny.
i have a person who has a rotary.
My guess is they will burn through the edges and leave holograms in the paint. Just a guess....
now my clear coat is pretty thin and at some edges, there is no paint due to excessive compounding with low quality compounds. thus, i need to know which compound would help me get rid of the hard cobweb with hand, or would a rotary work without adding holograms and damages. also, do i need to use ultimate polish after the uc? are there some other products which the experts could recommend me? (clear coat safe and hand applicable)
Wow! Sounds like your car's paint is a real mess.
How did it get so bad?
i do have a pinnacle Souveran liquid wax to top up after i am done with the compound
Just do the best you can and then apply the wax.
