Polishing Frequency

Y

Yaemish

New member
I hit my car again yesterday with an Orange pad and SSR2.5 followed by a Green with SSR1. I first did a major prep like this at the end of April and since then I have gotten quite a bit of swirls from a poor quality wash mitt and I didn't notice what it was doing until after a few weeks.



Is it unreasonable to have to do a full prep in this kind of a time frame? I should add that I did a coat of AIO and will be soon doing an SG. How many coats of SG do I need and what kind of time do I need between those coats?
 
That is one reason it's important to evaluate your washing process to make sure you don't induce any more marring than can be avoided.



If I remember correctly, you had to go over your car several times with SSR2.5 (I don't remember how many times or what pads you used) the first time you removed your paint defects. So I would say with a proper washing technique it was too soon to do that level of polishing again. I would have tried a lighter polish such as Meg's#80 or SSR2 with a polish pad before hitting it with 2.5 and an orange pad. You only have a very thin layer of clear on your car, so once you get the defects out take extra care in how you wash/QD to minimize the times you need to use an aggressive polish/pad.



As for the SG, wait about 24 hours between applications, and most find the best results after about 4 to 6 applications. Most people can't tie up the use of their car for 4 to 6 days (4 to 6 layers) so add a layer after each wash until you have the desired look you desire.
 
What Eliot Ness said :xyxthumbs



It wan't not too soon to remove the marring if the marring bothered you. But something *is* wrong with the wash technique. Hm...that sounds like "mitt, singular". I can't wash *any* car, even a "clean" one, without using at least 3-4 mitts. Even with the foamgun, it seems they always pick up some dirt that won't rinse out.



I'd get a foamgun and a lot of (good) mitts.



I too apply about 6 layers of SG, and I add more from time to time. If you wash carefully enough not to mar it, that should last a *long* time (over a year in my case). FWIW, I seldom polish more than once a year, and often far less frequently than that.
 
I'm impressed with your memory Elliot. If you recall I had done 3 passes with a Yellow and still had some spider webs. This last pass may have been a bit agressive but they are all gone as well as some small scratches that I didn't think I was going to get rid of.



I know my washing technique needs some improvement. What do you think of the Meguires Deep Pile Chenille Wash Mitt? They seem to be readily available at my local Advance Auto. I think part of my problem was that I was using a poor wash mitt that was leaving lines and marring. I don't do the two bucket method but I do hose off the mitt each time I put it back in the bucket to get more suds.



I have been using the waterblade as well, not sure if that could cause any problems. Lastly, I have been using microfiber from exceldetail which seem to be pretty good but I have been using cheap microfiber after the blade and dabbing the paint where there are still spots.



Any suggestions on process improvement will be greatly appreciated.
 
I'm not familiar with the Meg's mitt, but IMO most marring comes from dirt being ground into the paint. This can come from pressure exerted via the mitt or by debris being stuck *in* the mitt.



I'd test the mitt on a clean, marring free panel. Get the mitt saturated with wash solution and use it on the panel as if washing it. Rinse, blow the water off (not touching it, don't want to introduce another variable), and inspect for marring using magnification and good lighting. Shouldn't be any marring.



I always wonder whether rinsing/flushing (even flushing from the inside-out) cleans a mitt as well as immersion with agitation :nixweiss: Even with the foamgun, I use the two-bucket method. Though with the foamgun, the rinse water stays awfully clean.



You might try filling the mitt with wash solution (hold it under, with the cuff pointed up, until it's full of wash solution). Hold the cuff shut and gently whisk the mitt across the panel. The solution will seep out of the mitt and with any luck it'll flush dirt off the paint (sorta a substitute for a foamgun, though IMO there really *is no* substitute for a foamgun ;) ). Do very small areas between cleaning and refilling the mitt. No way would I ever do an entire door without cleaning the mitt and getting fresh solution, for instance.



And I wouldn't use a "cheap MF" on the paint, no matter what ;)
 
Well, Accumulator is the wash guru of the forum so if you listen to him it'll be hard to go wrong.



I'm not too sure about the new Meg's mitt (it might have gotten good reviews here, I just don't remember), but I personally prefer a sheepskin mitt/s. You can usually find a pretty good selection of them at Wal-Mart or Target. I'd also consider switching to the two-bucket system.



A lot of people like the water blade, and I have used one before, but it only takes one speck of dirt trapped under the blade to mar your finish. If on your final rinse you flood the water off (nozzle removed) you should be able to dry your car with a couple of good WW MF's.



Also, as Accumulator suggested, I'd keep the cheap MF's away from your paint, save them for wheels, door jambs, etc.. Excel Detail has some very nice MF's so you should be fine using them.
 
Yaemish said:
What does removing the nozel do?
Click to expand...

If you remove the nozzle the heavier (and more gentle) stream of water tends to pull the rest of the water off as it flows. The idea is to do a gentle flowing rinse, and you'll have less water left to dry. It sounds strange, but it really does work.
 
Removing the nozzle and "streaming" the water off is the way to go. This works very well in that you are in essence eliminating the water beads that are the result of using a pressurized nozzle to rinse off the car. With the open ended hose, the water just sheets off. Then you blot dry with a quality MF. This is how I do it. The less you have to drag anything across the surface when drying the car, the better. When I do have to drag something across the paint I make sure it's of very high quality.



As for washing, I wouldn't use a water blade because of the possibility of getting something trapped in there and dragging it across the paint. Chances are you aren't washing in a 100% sterile environment so this can easily happen. All it takes is one good gust of wind and you've got a potential contaminent on the paint ready to scratch it up. :soscared:



I prefer sheepskin mitts to cotton chenille or MF mitts. The best OTC ones I've used are the Turtle Wax mitts from Pep Boys. Just make sure you go through all the mitts and pick the ones that are fluffiest and most dense. Kind of like shopping for cantelopes. :chuckle: I use at least 3 mitts. Two are for the body of the car itself. One for the hood, trunk and top part of the doors. The other is for the lower painted sections (bottom of quarter panels, rockers, rear bumper). The third would be for the underside of the rockers, fenders and wheels. This is the dedicated "dirty mitt" that I only use for dirty work.



As I using the mitts I'm constantly rinsing the mitt with the open ended hose as well as plunging into a dedicated rinse bucket. I use the two bucket system. One bucket for soap and the other for rinse. So I'm rinsing with both hose and bucket.



IMO it doesn't do you any good to spend time and effort polishing out swirls and marring if all you are going to do is reintroduce them the next time you clean the car. ;)
 
3-4 layers of coats consecutively. I end up adding 7 starting in Sept before winter hits. I highly suggest applying SG and letting it sit for 24 hrs then remove, THEN wait 24 before another coat. Need to wait it to cure for better coating and shine. If you wait a month between coats make sure you wash the paint correctly! If you use old mitts and scratching the paint you might as well start over. Get some of that new clay from autopia works awesome between BIG details.
 
what do you mean by "washing paint correctly". I picked up some P21 to top the SG after I have the desired number of coats. I figure that I will go with 4 coats and then use the P21 as a topper. Will that need to be stripped before additional coats of SG?
 
Yaemish- By "washing correctly" I think audipower just meant you shouldn't introduce new marring.



Once you top the KSG with wax you have to strip it all off before you can do the KSG again. No way to just remove the wax and add more KSG. That's why *I* quit topping my KSG, I like to be able to add more from time to time. If you *are* gonna top, I'd get about 6 layers of KSG on there first and then just keep adding wax, using the new Sonus green clay as needed.
 
You can top with KSG again but it will just get removed. What I do is use clay with no lube, use sonus car shampoo or other higher shampoos to remove the old dead wax. Plus it will get all the contamints off before you put the SG on. They have a new clay by Sonus that's less abrasive and is perfect for that. I used it before wax and worked great.

I will never quit using SG! It's the best in protection.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top