Dull finish with optimum compound and polish

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dshreter

New member
Cliffs Notes: Spent a crap load of money on a PC, pads, optimum polishes to get swirls out of my white Audi A3. PC doesn't work right, polishes leave a dull finish but do remove scratches. Need help.



So I tried polishing my car for the first time, with a 7424. I used optimum compound with an orange lake country CCS pad, and optimum polish with a white CCS pad. If it matters, its an '06 White A3. After a couple passes with the orange, and working it quite a while, the swirls DID start to disappear. Maybe 50% removal if I had to estimate. I then worked the OP for a decent amount of time, but that appeared to be doing nothing at all. I feel like if I worked with the compound a bit longer I could get the swirl removal I'm looking for. My concern is my test section has wound up with a very dull finish. I sectioned off an area with tape so I could easily see my work, and the paint has lost a very noticeable amount of gloss to it.



I'd read that the compound finished down LSP ready, but that was not the case at all, and I'm still really dissatisfied after using the polish. I had some assistance, so I don't think my technique was totally screwed up or anything like that either. I wish I had pictures, but I haven't had any come out quite right to show what I'm talking about.



So, did I use too much pressure? Not enough pressure? Too much product? Not work it long enough? Oh, also the Porter Cable I received is incredibly loud and doesn't seem to function properly. It has very unsmooth operation. The guy who helped me out had a PC of his own that I used instead. So if anyone knows why a PC would be really loud, I'd like to know that too.
 
Some picture's will definitely help us determine what you need to do. I have a feeling that you didn't work the OP long enough and/or you used too much OP. You only need a few drops per panel after the pad is primed.
 
You need fifteen pounds of pressure and to move slow. I mean 1 inch per second when making your passes, overlap them at fifty percent, and make sure you are breaking the polish down. You should work each 2 x 2 section for at least 1 minute and 30 seconds.



Orange pads can leave some hazing, in which case you may want to try a less aggressive pad and the Compound next to see if that brings the gloss back.
 
you might be using too much product and the pad is just gliding over the lubricating oils. About 10 dots on the pad is enough to work a section. Spread it and work it till it begins to clear.
 
If you don't let the compound break down properly it leaves the paint hazy and if you have a problem taking it off use a 50/50 water/alcohol wipe down to make sure theres no smearing going on.
 
I have a feeling that you didn't work the OP long enough and/or you used too much OP. You only need a few drops per panel after the pad is primed.
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I may have used a bit too much product. I'll try again with a bit less... I did about 5 pea sized dots around the pad then spread it around. I'm pretty sure I worked it long enough though, a few minutes in a 1x1 section.



You need fifteen pounds of pressure and to move slow.
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Sounds to be about what I was doing.



Orange pads can leave some hazing, in which case you may want to try a less aggressive pad and the Compound next to see if that brings the gloss back.
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So if I left hazing with the orange pad, I can't get it out with the polish? I need to use the compound with a white pad to get the gloss back?



If you don't let the compound break down properly it leaves the paint hazy and if you have a problem taking it off use a 50/50 water/alcohol wipe down to make sure theres no smearing going on.
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I didn't have any problem taking it off with a MF towel, although leaving the paint hazy is exactly how I would describe it. To be sure it wasn't just residue left behind hazing the finish I did try wiping it down with IPA which did nothing. Is there any way to tell if its broken down? If I put some compound on a small section and work it for lets say 10 minutes, could I be pretty sure its broken down? I never seemed to be getting the compound or polish anywhere near what seemed like drying up. My working time seemed like I could have kept on going for a long time. Does that mean I used too much product?



Thank you for all the advice!!! :bow
 
Maybe try OP on an orange pad, and work it in for what will seem like too long. Maybe just make a line of product across the pad and work it into a 2x2 area with 25 pounds of pressure. Also move your arms really really slowly. The OP should turn to a very clear then you wipe off.
 
Acumualtor can tell you pretty much about the Audi paint. I know and most of us know Audi's has some hard a$$ paint. TIPS: I would get some 4" LC CCS pads(orange and white is all you need). And also get Menz SIP or IP, with these combo, Im pretty sure you can knock out those swirls.



BTW, yesterday was the 1st time I use those 4" LC CCS on a 2007 VW Jetta(yup, white color too) and I must say it took out 95% of the micro-marring and cobwebs. I used OHC and OP, I didnt used Menz IP and works out great :)
 
Right now I'm using the 6.5" pads. So if I understand correctly the thought is I haven't quite broken down the compound because I either used too much product, not enough pressure, or not enough time. This is why it left it hazy... In the kit I bought I received "Wolfgangâ„¢ Low Profile 5.5 inch Orange Light Cutting Pads". I guess I'll try that out, they seem like decent pads and they're a bit smaller. The optimum bottles say that they can be used for hand polishing. I don't understand how that could be possible to break down the polish by hand, which would mean it isn't really suitable for hand polishing...
 
dshreter said:
So if I left hazing with the orange pad, I can't get it out with the polish? I need to use the compound with a white pad to get the gloss back?
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Read what he said again, LESS aggresive combo, like a finishing polish and a polishing/finishing pad.
 
I guess I'm not real clear on what I should do if I was polishing too aggressively, and I wasn't breaking down the compound/polish. Seems hard to imagine I messed up both. Anyway, I've got a picture of what I'm talking about now. You can see where the tape was that the paint is much more clear. And although you can't tell from the images, the swirls/scratching were coming out from the area that was polished. I think I'm going to give up on the optimum and try out menzerna 1066FF.

vehicle_579016_4_1179165951.jpg
 
I really don't think you should give up on the polish. I would try again, this time changing other variables, such as increasing polish work time or using less polish.



If you really don't want it, I'd be more than happy to buy it from you if you're willing to sell it.
 
Is it me or does that paint and the sharp swirls in it seems really hard

paint to work on. I would suggest using OP with Orange Pad, when you see the swirls

almost gone switch to white Pad and OP.



If you have a rotary polisher I would suggest using White Pad and OP for obvious

reasons, hope this helps.



PS: Don't forget the polish's only work is to keep the surface nice and workable for the

machine/Pad to do its work, and they differ on how they break down nicely or not.

Compound is like a sand paper liquidated With a PC u need more work than in a

rotary and you my friend might have to split the process in 2 days since you have only a PC.

I suggest you get a rotary.
 
Is it white? Read Mike Phillips' article "A Lesson About White Paint".



I'd recommend you a far more aggressive approach because this pic shows practically no significant improvement. The major imperfections are still there, so you have to upgrade

- the polish (use OHC), or

- the pad (use a yellow cutting pad or knitted wool), or

- the machine (rotary).



I'd recommend OHC first with a bit of patience, because the PC is actually able to remove such defect. So, spread the polish on speed 3 well over the working area, then bump up the speed to 6 and go over the area painfully slow with a little pressure. You can work with Optimum as long as you want so one pass should contain at least 15-20 side to side (up&down + diagonal) movements. If you can see some improvement, but the results are not good enough, repeat the whole process.

When the paint show no more major defects, use the OP for finishing.



Yes, a rotary would be definitely beneficial.
 
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