Well, it's nice and sunny here today, which has allowed me to see the lovely set of very fine scratches I seem to have managed to put in the finish of my black RX-8, mostly on the very front of the bonnet (hood) and the tops of the wings.
I know they're my fault, as they all run in a nice straight line front to back
The car's only a couple of weeks old, and my treatment so far has been :
Wash with NXT Tech Wash, sheepskin mitt, rinsing mitt with hose between applying it to the car, being very gentle with the mitt. Different mitt for wheels. Lots of rinsing
Clay, with megs clay, using a stronger solution of the NXT wash as a lubricant.
Wash again.
Dry - AG microfibre drying towel mainly, some other towels for wheels etc.
Polish with P21S GEPC.
Top with NXT.
That all went fine, and finish looked good after that.
Since then, I've washed with the NXT wash again, and used Clearkote QuickShine as a QD, again with MF cloths (of which I have a variety, some seeming better quality than others, I wonder if the cheaper ones are the culprits?).
I've also rinsed it without using NXT wash (and without using a mitt, just rinsed it and dried it, patting it down, not rubbing), and then a little bit of QD after.
I suspect that maybe my attempt at a quick rinse and dry may be the culprit - perhaps I failed to get it clean enough. :nixweiss
None of the scratches seem bad, I can't feel them with a fingernail and can only see them in direct sunlight.
I'm planning to have a try at them with some VMW I have arriving soon, as that seems like the mildest thing to start with, and then work up from there to something more agressive if needed. It'll be by hand as I don't have a PC. While trying to polish linear marks like that out, would you still polish in the same direction as the scratches? Or would it be a case of doing it at right angles to them for a while and then finishing in line with them?
I'm mostly trying to work out what I'm doing wrong, so I don't do it again. Currently feeling rather dimwitted, as I thought I'd been soooo careful.
Sam.
I know they're my fault, as they all run in a nice straight line front to back
The car's only a couple of weeks old, and my treatment so far has been :
Wash with NXT Tech Wash, sheepskin mitt, rinsing mitt with hose between applying it to the car, being very gentle with the mitt. Different mitt for wheels. Lots of rinsing
Clay, with megs clay, using a stronger solution of the NXT wash as a lubricant.
Wash again.
Dry - AG microfibre drying towel mainly, some other towels for wheels etc.
Polish with P21S GEPC.
Top with NXT.
That all went fine, and finish looked good after that.
Since then, I've washed with the NXT wash again, and used Clearkote QuickShine as a QD, again with MF cloths (of which I have a variety, some seeming better quality than others, I wonder if the cheaper ones are the culprits?).
I've also rinsed it without using NXT wash (and without using a mitt, just rinsed it and dried it, patting it down, not rubbing), and then a little bit of QD after.
I suspect that maybe my attempt at a quick rinse and dry may be the culprit - perhaps I failed to get it clean enough. :nixweiss
None of the scratches seem bad, I can't feel them with a fingernail and can only see them in direct sunlight.
I'm planning to have a try at them with some VMW I have arriving soon, as that seems like the mildest thing to start with, and then work up from there to something more agressive if needed. It'll be by hand as I don't have a PC. While trying to polish linear marks like that out, would you still polish in the same direction as the scratches? Or would it be a case of doing it at right angles to them for a while and then finishing in line with them?
I'm mostly trying to work out what I'm doing wrong, so I don't do it again. Currently feeling rather dimwitted, as I thought I'd been soooo careful.
Sam.
