Polishing Paint in Sun

SR77

New member
What are some tips for polishing hot paint in full sun? I was using the PC with OP this weekend in full sun and even though OP is suppose to be able to be used in sun, the product seemed to dry up real fast and i was getting a good amount of dust. Is this normal? Was I doing something wrong. I used the same technique as i do when polishing in shade or a garage. It was very hard to use on the hot paint, so i am wondering what you guys do when polishing in full sun and any tips you got to make it easier or more effective. thanks for the help
 
As a weekend warrior (who can pick and choose exactly when I work on my own cars), I don't polish in the sun. As you noticed, the polish dries way to fast to adequately break down the polish, and get any effective polishing action.



I know the Poorboy's products are more sun-friendly than most, but I've never tried the polishes, so I don't know if they'd do any better. In general, the best course of action is to find some shade.. sorry.
 
the second vehicle i ever did was in full sun (80F + outside)...and black. i didn't know any better or have much technique w/ the PC yet...but was using PB SSR-2.5 and SSR-1 and didn't have many problems. there was a fair amount of dusting from the 2.5, but that happens w/out sun in my experience w/ the PB products.
 
I"ve noticed that poorboys ssr2.5 has a very long working time when working in the sun on my black truck, with a pc. With the rotary, the 2.5 was pretty much worthless in my experience.
 
Although I've yet to try it...Pinnacle's XMT line is supposed to be capable of being used in the sun. I've got XMT's Swirl Remover kit, but by the time I ever get a chance to polish, the only sun left is in the street.
 
Sun = dried polish = swirls. Some pros (Scott Wax) do polish in sunlight and are successful though, so I'm not quite sure how it's done & what products work. I would imagine mobil operations would benefit with sun friendly polishes.
 
For all the details I try to do (I'm a hobbyist detailer at the weekends), I will always try to ensure there is a garage to work on the car in rather than outside... I will not polish in the direct sunlight, especially if the panel is hot as the majority of work I now do is by rotary which generates its own heat - using the rotary can get dangerous when the panel gets too hot, so I would never start to work on a panel which is alredy hot to the touch. Additionally, polishes dry to fast so they cannot be properly broken down and this leads to swilrs being inflicted by PC, holograms by rotary.
 
Don't use meg's DACP in the sun. It took me about an hour to clean the polish off an S2000 in the sun. I was soaking a towel in water and rubbing alcohol to try to soften it up. It is troll polish, it turns to stone in the sun.

Poorboy's products are much more sun friendly. As long as I work it to breakdown I can use Poorboys. It reminds me to thoroughly work the polish, and not rush through.
 
I have done it a few times....what I did was slow down the speed on the PC as to not dry the product as fast, use OP and OC....the faster you spin the polisher the more heta, but you dont need the heat when you are in full sun....slower passes and a few more passes will let you breakdown the product efficiently
 
Yes, how does Scottwax and other mobile detailers polish in the sun? I see the pics in the Click and brag section and am wonder how you get such great results polishing in direct sun? Also what do you guys that use a rotary in sun do? How to you remove the swirls in direct sun with the extra heat of a rotary? I had a real tough time just with the PC, can't imagine a rotary. G35stiliz and others, how do you do it and turn out swirlfree vehicle. thanks for all the replies.
 
If you've gotta work in the sun, keep a spray bottle of QD handy and spritz while you're working. If you can swing the cost though, a 12X12 ez-up is worth every penny (I paid about 90 shipped for mine).
 
[ yeah i need one of those tim, always on my mind to get one just havent yet, does your require two people?



i polished in direct sun today. the sun was out pretty much all day with a high around 80. no shade in sight. dont like doing it but it was a good opp to try out xmt in full sun as suggests on the label. i only used a few squirts of 425 but then again all i polished was the hood. i have got to say that i found the xmt polishes to work a lot longer than others in this post have suggested of other lines.



its a good smelling line as well. i think 2 is my favorite. i couldve continued polishing this but it was a freebie so heres what i polished in the sun today.

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DSCF1095.JPG
 
lets see some other full on sun polished shots im sure many of you have done it. making me feel like i shouldnt have with no other pics lol.
 
Try the Optimum Line for the sun. I have complained before the LONG working times I have expierenced with the line for PC in shade. Im pretty sure in the sun/heat it will work out well!
 
I second that Optimum is good in the sun. I worked on a blue 03 TL in direct sunlight, and when I tempchecked the paint it was hitting 140 in the middle of the hood before I even started polishing.



Necessity is the mother of invention. I took a large waffle weave towel, wet it, and left it on the panel I was going to polish. 2 minutes later the panel had dropped about 50 degrees due to evaporation. I moved the towel to the next panel, and polished the first, and went that way around half the car.



Afterwards, I tried polishing the hot paint as it was. Surprisingly it polished quite welll and quite clean. I was a little concerned about burning the paint, but I've only read about that and never actually done it, so I don't know where polishing ends and burning will begin. I was sure to use lots of polish. For the record I was using my metabo at around 1600 rpm with Optimum Hypoer Compound and a heavy cutting pad. Followed with Optimum Polish, then final polish II on PC. Came out beautifully.
 
I always work outside (well 99%) in the sun. You can't beat the optimum polishes, although I haven't tried the xmt line. Nothing else compares to Optimum.
 
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