When to stop buffing - Or - How far should you go to remove swirls and scratches?

mc2hill said:
My guess - they can be mostly removed, but some of the ones that are parallel to the rear window are too deep.

Looks like damage from a purse to me.
Click to expand...


I asked the owner and he says it's the neighbor's cat.


I just posted some pictures and a video for the LIVE detailing class where we'll be seeing what we can do LIVE in real-time to remove these RIDS

Check them out here,

LIVE Detailing Class: Will this buff out?



:)
 
:bump:

Just swapped out the original picture, which I borrowed or found somewhere?


Replaced it with before and after pictures I took myself after buffing out some RIDS


For posterity, here's the original picture I used.


scoured_paint_02.jpg




:)
 
DUBL0WS6 said:
Yikes
Click to expand...


Yeah I know... :dunno:


This car was in the garage for inspection for another issue and when I saw the scratches on the roof I knew I could use these scratches for before and after pictures for this article.


Will this buff out?

TooDeepToRemove_01.JPG



Nope... But close enough for a daily driver... with factory thin paint. Sure looks a lot better though...

TooDeepToRemove_02.JPG






I used BLACKFIRE One Step, a 6.5" Lake Country Force Hybrid Orange foam cutting pad on the Supa BEAST and made 20+ solid, hard section passes over just the scratched area, about 16" by 16" - so a rather small area for this type of tool.

As you can see while it dramatically improved the appearance and removed most of the light scouring and scratches, the deepest scratches still remain. These would then be called RIDS. And this is about as far as I would take this type of damage.

I could do some light sanding and then use a rotary buffer, compound and twisted wool pad to reduce the scratches even further but this car is a daily driver so leaving as much of the factory clear intact on a HORIZONTAL surface is more important than trying to remove 100% of the defects.

This car is also parked outside most of the time and this means exposed to intense South Florida sunshine and rain and it is both the UV rays and the exposure to repeated rain that has a corrosive effect that leads to clearcoat failure.


The Clearcoat Failure Photo Gallery Archive

RIDS = Random Isolated Deeper Scratches




:)
 
All vehicles especially daily drivers inevitably accumulate RIDS, over time, and this is true despite (or perhaps because of) an ultra-religious devotion to paint perfection. But be not discouraged, fellow autogeeks, for there is another auto-altruism to be mindful of: at some point in the life of every vehicle there will be an accident (hopefully minor, just a few bumper scratches or bent side panel) requiring a repaint of a portion of vehicle. Get a quote for a full repaint and discuss how much clear should be thrown on.
 
The car I actually drive is ten years old and no RIDS yet. I attribute this to having a garage, my wash technique, and touching the paint infrequently. ( gotta fight the urge to remove slight dust accumulation)
 
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