Used a non-clearcoat safe cut/polish - what's the likely damage?

G

Greg2

New member
Hi,

I've hand-applied some Polyglaze Cut & Polish to a vehicle which almost certainly has a clear coat, since it was built in 2004. According to this FAQ, the product is not clearcoat safe: http://www.p-glaze.com.au/content_104.htm.



I did a small area only, rubbing moderately firmly with my fingers (through a bit of t-shirt) , and with two passes.

The original problem, being a scuff mark, seems to have almost disappeared, which is good. However, I am left with very fine swirl marks where I rubbed, and I'm hoping to correct this with a finer polish. (or glaze?)



But, if it is indeed not clear coat safe, how much clear coat have I likely removed? I.e, just how dangerous is non-clearcoat safe cut/polish if used on a clear coat?



I've sent off a query to Polyglaze about this too.



Thanks,

Greg. (a raw beginner :(
 
I've never heard of a modern product that's actually not clearcoat-safe. In fact I'm not sure I even know what that means. I use the same products on both clear coated and non-clear coated cars as far as polishes are concerned.



As far as your problem goes, I would follow with a lighter polish and a foam or microfiber applicator pad if you have one/can find one. T-shirts will just keep making more scratches! In fact my buddy went to remove some wax residue from a paint chip with a Q-tip on a car i was detailing, and he scuffed the paint with the q-tip - I had to lighty polish the area again! Cotton isn't as soft as you think!
 
Greg, I know the product. What colour is your car?



To remove the haze (fine scratches) use Megs ScratchX with a round foam applicator. You can buy both from Autobarn.



Here's how to use ScratchX properly: http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1516



Note that with this type of product the more you rub, the better the finish. It contains diminishing abrasives which require them to be worked in to break down to a finer polish.
 
Paul,

The car is white.



Thanks - I'll give the ScratchX a go. (I actually very nearly bought the ScratchX initially, but when I saw how cheap the Polyglaze stuff was, I decided to give it a go first. Doh)



Greg.
 
Since it's white it's probably NOT c/c. Even on new cars, most whites are single-stage solid paint. Also solid white can be VERY hard paint - being made of titanium oxide pigment. That Polyglaze must be some serious stuff!



Bottom line is that it'll take some work to get the swirls out of white by hand with ScratchX. Doable, but lots of applications. It contains fillers so don't be seduced by the apparent quick results.
 
Heh heh, people *wetsand* clearcoats, so a non-clearcoat polish shouldn't be a big deal.



IMO "clearcoat safe" is a highly over-used and over-regarded term that *really* means next to nothing and is usually just there for the sake of selling a product.



Note that in most cases clearcoats are *harder* than single stage paint (ss white being the exception). It's just that you gotta worry about taking too much clear off (more so than you had to worry about the ss back in the day) and the clear will often show marring worse than ss will.



"Clearcoat safe" oughta be "especially good for clearcoats", as in, uniform abrasives that preferably break down as they're worked. Those types of abrasives are less likely to need a follow up with a milder product and/or lead to overpolishing.



Note that the *functional* differences between Meguiar's 80-series products (made for clearcoats) and their older Mirror Glaze line aren't always significant (#2 and #9 work fine on clearcoats just like #83 and #82). As best I can tell the big difference is that the 80-series generally uses more uniform abrasives that are possibly just the result of more modern manufacturing methods.
 
Firstly, I haven't really removed the scuffing. I think perhaps the cut & polish had simply filled in the scratches for a while, and I hadn't removed all the polish. Also, the fine scratching isn't really visible any more - I've waxed it to perhaps that's helping to hide them, or perhaps I just haven't reproduced the lighting which showed them up initially.

In short, I have no idea what I'm doing. ;^)



But, I've gone ahead and ordered a ROS kit. (not the PC, because I'm in Oz. I've ordered a Bosch PEX 400 AE along with a set of pads)



I'm going to attack the scratches again with some proper polish (PB SSR 2.5 and then 1), and then move on to what appears to be many water spots, which neither a pre-wax cleaner or cleaning vinegar removes. And if all that works, I'll attack a black S500 at work which has a lot of swirl marks. Just kidding - I'll leave that for the pros. :)



Greg.
 
Greg2 said:
Firstly, I haven't really removed the scuffing...In short, I have no idea what I'm doing. ;^)
Click to expand...



I got a good chuckle out of the second part of the above :D



At least if you haven't removed the marring you haven't done any damage with the polish in question.



Study up while you await the arrival of your polisher, then you'll know what you're doing ;)



Be sure to work a small area and inspect so that you don't somehow have...uhm, issues ;) with the whole car if something goes haywire. Catching stuff right away makes it easier to sort things out. Not that you need to anticipate any problems...
 
Accumulator said:
At least if you haven't removed the marring you haven't done any damage with the polish in question. ...
Click to expand...



Indeed. And by the way, Polyglaze replied, and yes, the product is suitable for clear coats, when warranted (even though it appears that my white car almost certainly does not have a clear coat afterall)



Study up while you await the arrival of your polisher, then you'll know what you're doing ;)
Click to expand...



I have indeed been doing a lot of studying. (it's a shame the polisher I'll be using is not the PC though, because I won't be able to directly use the speed suggestions in all the PC usage guidelines on the net. I have ordered the Bosch PEX400AE with a set of Edge pads)



Greg.
 
You oughta be able to extrapolate sorta directly between the two machines- the numbers on the PC are roughly equivalent to the *no-load* speed in orbits-per-minute (e.g., speed 6= ~6,000 OPM). Unless your product dries out too quickly, it's pretty safe to just use a high speed (5,000 OPM and up) for polishing and a medium speed (4,000-4,500 OPM) for waxing. See what the advertised range of your unit is and go from there.
 
Accumulator said:
You oughta be able to extrapolate sorta directly between the two machines- the numbers on the PC are roughly equivalent to the *no-load* speed in orbits-per-minute (e.g., speed 6= ~6,000 OPM). Unless your product dries out too quickly, it's pretty safe to just use a high speed (5,000 OPM and up) for polishing and a medium speed (4,000-4,500 OPM) for waxing. See what the advertised range of your unit is and go from there.
Click to expand...



Thanks. The no load "speed" (forced pad rotations per minute?) is 4500 - 13000, and the no load "oscillations rate" (= orbits per minute?) is 9000 - 26000.



But, the offset is only 5mm, and as someone else commented, this may result in a given opm rate of the Bosch mapping to a lower PC opm.



It's still not clear to me how to translate the PC speed to the Bosch speed.



Greg.
 
Heh heh, sounds like it's *not* quite as simple as I'd though :eek:



IIRC Bence uses that machine...maybe start a thread with something self-explanatory in the title, like "Speeds to Use with Bosch PEX400AE".



If I were flying blind with it, I'd try near-lowest speed at first and probably end up using about the second-to-lowest for polishing while I got the feel of the thing. IIRC some people here have said that they really crank it up and find it quite effective.
 
Thanks - I probably will start a new thread.



FWIW, the salesman (@ waxit.com.au) says that despite the paper figures for the Bosch, it's still very safe and he reckons there's not much between it and the PC.



Greg.
 
Yeah, I wouldn't have any worries about it being too aggressive, just that, at high speeds, it might dry out/"flash" the product too fast. And then you could just slow it down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top