New member, have a few questions

D

DDAVER

New member
I've been reading through the posts on this board for a few weeks now and have finally joined. Some of the information I've picked up will help me a great deal when spring arrives and I can detail my car. I have a few questions in the mean time:



I've been using Zaino for years and love it but there are some swirls that I need to clear up on my car. I used SMR last spring, and it seemed to work but I only used it one time. My car does not have a clear coat so I'm very worried about how much paint an abbrasive will take off. I plan on stripping all the Zaino off and starting the process over again (clay, etc.) to see if I can clear up some of the swirls. Is there a product that is less abbrasive than the 3M SMR? Without a clear coat, I need to take care of my paint that much more.



Oh and after I Zaino, what is the best topper? I've been reading lots of different opinions on what gives the best shine, clarity, etc. Is the topper just a matter of personal preference? Great site guys! I'm going to learn alot here!
 
3M SMR is one of the milder abrasive products around. Off hand - ones that I can think of are Pinnacle's and P21s' Paintwork Cleansing Lotions, but I do not know how effective they would be on your swirls. I have found the Pinnacle product to be very mild, but it does a great job of prepping paint already in very good condition.



As for a Zaino topper, that's probably a matter of personal taste. Personally, I don't like to top Zaino. Some people here have experimented with Souveran and/or P21s, and have mixed results.
 
Hi Whistler, welcome. :wavey



SMR is probably one of the mildest products you could use by hand for swirl removal. Use anything gentler (like some of the pre-cleaners/cleansers) and you probably won't get anywhere very quickly. Even SMR by hand is pretty slow going, so I'd start off with that and see what happens.



I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe you can actually be more aggressive with non-clear coated paint because it's harder and/or of greater thickness than the thin layer of clear coat. Also, if you should happen to need a repaint someday it's a lot simpler to repair. In any case, polishing with non-clear coated paint shouldn't be all that different and I wouldn't worry too much. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the advice guys! I already have a bottle of SMR so I'll try that and see what I can do.



As far as the topper, I've never added anything to Zaino when I use it. I just put a coat on then Z6 it as a quick top coat. I was just wondering if any products out there match well with Zaino.
 
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