Am I crazy, or what?.....

N

Newport Viper

New member
I really like to wax/polish my car by hand. I have very light cobwebbing, swirls. I tried SMR for light colored cars, ( my car is yellow) It didn't work. (by hand) Tried it several times same spot, no luck.



I grabbed a BRAND NEW Girot's garage lambs wool car wash glove, ( this is where you should cringe at the thought):nixweiss put on a dab of SMR did a 5"x5" spot.



Wham... cobwebs gone!:xyxthumbs



However, the lambswool slightly dulled the surface.:eek: ( looked like very tight, fine cobwebbing) P.S. I won't be washing my car with this, after seeing what it did!



I followed with more SMR on a 100% cotton towel. It really cleaned up the lambs wool swirls.

:bounce



? Am I heading down the right road, or am I going to screw up the car?



I really don't want to spring for a 7424 PC. ( this is the only car I take care of.) I just like doing it the old fashioned way.....

;)
 
Newport viper, your yellow is almost the same color as mine's. I've gotten the most compliments on that color after I started using the pinnacle sizzling shine kit. Wash, clay your car, use the paint cleansing lotion, then follow with the souveran(2 coats at least 24 hrs apart). If the swirls are pretty minor like mines are, the wax and pcl with seem to cover them up until it wears off. When you start to notice them again, add more souveran...
 
To me it sounds like the sheepskin had more cut to it than the pads you were using by hand. Maybe all you need is something with more cut to help you with those swirls. A terry towel or terry app might be helpful. I'm not sure I'd use the washmitt, though. I don't know if anyone makes a polishing/cutting foam pad for hand use. :nixweiss
 
If you had enough cash to buy that viper you should have enough to buy a PC and the proper pads. I'll admit using the washmitt was inventive, buy it may be a little more aggressive than you need. Follow everyone's advice in past threads about pad selection and compound matching. I've tried SMR by hand before and all I got was hazing, which I had to remove with AIO. The PC is the way to go.
 
Yea, I can afford a PC. There is just something I like about tennis elbow!

I would think you could use PC pads by hand. This would be better than terry? No hazing with SMR so far.
 
Newport Viper- What you did with the mitt/SMR is a good example of how it's the COMBINATION of applicator (here, the mitt) and product that reall counts, not just the individual components of the combo. Making one more aggressive makes the COMBO more aggressive. The combo you're using is gonna be VERY hard on your paint; now you have to remove MORE paint to eliminate the "wool induced" hazing.



Seriously, get the PC and a bunch of pads and some easy to use products like the 1Z Paint Polish and Metallic Polish. You'll be VERY glad you did. Or at LEAST get the 1Z polishes, they work fine by hand, too.



Using the ~6" PC pads by hand might not work as well as smaller pads, as your (manual) effort will be spread over a pretty large area.



Terry has more cut than foam, so it might leave micromarring, it might not. I myself would probably use MF instead. I just shudder to think of your experimenting on what I gather is your "good" car. I've VERY careful what I use on my good ones...



BTW, the wool mitt might've scratched when used with a fairly dry, abrasive material (SMR), but that doesn't mean it will scratch when used WET with a high-lubricity wash product like Griot's Car Wash. That mitt doesn't marr my single-stage lacquer Jag, and its paint is a LOT softer than your Viper's.
 
I would go with either terry or MF hand applicators. Using a PC pad by hand just wouldn't be effective. A terry app for the SMR should remove the swirls. It sounds like you pressed too had with the lambswool pad and that's what caused the small cobwebbing.
 
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