Soft Paint .. Am I losing my mind ??

V

viOlaziOne

New member
so .. two years ago I purchased a 2006 Laser Red G35 Coupe .. the first day I saw that car in the sun (this was my first dark colored car) my obsession with detailing began .. I polished my car for the first time ever this Summer .. now, I admit I didn't do a PERFECT job as I feel it's hard to accomplish on your "first" try (also, I was using Adam's pads and products and absolutely hate them now compared to everything else I have) .. I practice proper washing techniques every time .. when I do waterless wash on those very light dusting days I use at least four towels to ensure I'm not rubbing anything into my paint and I avoid circular motions .. I use nothing but the best with regards to towel choice yet I'm already getting these swirls back .. I notice the rear bumper and trunk are worse than the rest of the car .. the car as a whole would be classified now as light swirls but the rear bumper and trunk would have to be light to moderate at this point .. someone please tell me that it's not just me because it's very discouraging .. I read someone once that you can safely polish your vehicle 1-2 times a year and that the swirls are nearly impossible to avoid completely but I can't help but feeling discouraged .. granted, when I use my brinkmann on the rest of the car it still looks pretty amazing compared to before I polished .. someone please give me hope here LOL if it's inevitable than I guess I won't feel as stupid as I already do for some reason .. I truly feel that maintenance is harder than the actual paint correction process .. I'm stressed OUT trying to keep this car perfect !! :inspector:
 
unfortunately, on a daily driver, that's just how it goes. You can be careful but things happen.

The only remedy for soft paint is a coating. If you don't want to do the entire car b/c you like trying new things, then consider just doing the rear bumper and trunk lid. If you like it, then it may be worth doing the entire car.
 
embolism said:
unfortunately, on a daily driver, that's just how it goes. You can be careful but things happen.

The only remedy for soft paint is a coating. If you don't want to do the entire car b/c you like trying new things, then consider just doing the rear bumper and trunk lid. If you like it, then it may be worth doing the entire car.
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thanks for the reply .. I guess I just needed reassurance that this in unavoidable .. now, when you say coating .. do you mean nano coatings ?? I've never had any experience with these products but they are on my list of things to try in the future (this list is a little too large for sanity sake)

also, if anyone can confirm that polishing a car up to 2 times a year is fine, that would be great .. I think with the swirls only slightly returning that I would only really need a very light polish so it should take no where near as long as when I first did the car .. just concerns me because I was in the market for the new STI and I was worried about me not being good at what I'm doing I guess lol is there some list out there that gives a "general" guideline as to what types of cars have what types of paint hardnesses ?? I know this changes greatly but I've heard that Corvette has some really hard paint while most Japanese cars have super soft .. can anyone elaborate ?? thanks !!
 
I asked the "how many times can you polish your car" question recently. I too have soft paint.

My question was specific to using a gray LC flat pad (no cut) and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze (a polish) or Menzerna 85RD, which are both very mild finishing polishes. These products get rid of any light swirls I have and give a great shine.

I was told with this combo I could polish a couple times a year (even more if wanted) with no problems.

I think it all depends on how hard you plan on going at the paint with the polish, meaning are you going to do a full 2 or 3 step process with light cut and polishing pads or just do a finishing polish.
 
You might lose your mind if you try to keep any DD completely free of swirls. I had good luck with opti coat on a black lexus which i found to be soft paint. The OC helped prevent scratches and provided deep color enhancement. The soft paint IMO is a curse and a blessing because the defects are easily removed with a gentle polish and a one step process. That being said i suggest learning to deal with an imperfect finish, I have on my car. SS white honda, pretty soft. Ive layered werkstatt and have a durable barrier and a great look. Just my .02
 
Some paints you just look at and they swirl. It happens.

If you are going nuts trying to keep your daily driver perfect by polishing all the time, may I suggest using a glaze that will fill those tiny swirls. It takes a lot less effort and time compared to polishing and it will help save the paint by not polishing as often. Just something I'd figure I'd toss out there.
 
Rfulmer said:
I asked the "how many times can you polish your car" question recently. I too have soft paint.

My question was specific to using a gray LC flat pad (no cut) and Wolfgang Finishing Glaze (a polish) or Menzerna 85RD, which are both very mild finishing polishes. These products get rid of any light swirls I have and give a great shine.

I was told with this combo I could polish a couple times a year (even more if wanted) with no problems.

I think it all depends on how hard you plan on going at the paint with the polish, meaning are you going to do a full 2 or 3 step process with light cut and polishing pads or just do a finishing polish.
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That helps a lot actually .. I recently acquired 85RD and I do have FG .. I'm in the process of overhauling all of my pads and stocking up on LC flats, ccs and HT .. I'm actually hoping that the 85RD has enough to get rid of the light swirling while finishing off great for me

TID10 said:
You might lose your mind if you try to keep any DD completely free of swirls. I had good luck with opti coat on a black lexus which i found to be soft paint. The OC helped prevent scratches and provided deep color enhancement. The soft paint IMO is a curse and a blessing because the defects are easily removed with a gentle polish and a one step process. That being said i suggest learning to deal with an imperfect finish, I have on my car. SS white honda, pretty soft. Ive layered werkstatt and have a durable barrier and a great look. Just my .02
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I think I'm JUST starting to be okay with it not being perfect all of the time .. she's finally garage kept but now I deal with what I've found to be concrete dusting (annoying spending a lot of time getting the car flawless just to wake up with it covered in a light sheen of dust)

Dr Oldz said:
Some paints you just look at and they swirl. It happens.

If you are going nuts trying to keep your daily driver perfect by polishing all the time, may I suggest using a glaze that will fill those tiny swirls. It takes a lot less effort and time compared to polishing and it will help save the paint by not polishing as often. Just something I'd figure I'd toss out there.
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I have black hole, show car glaze, ez creme and SRP .. I really love them all .. it's a lot of work to have to clean, clay and strip off my old LSPs just to put a new layer of glaze on .. can you get away with cleaning, claying and topping the paint off with a glaze even though a LSP is under it ?? I'm sure it defeats the purpose but it's worth checking

and as embolism stated .. I may look into putting a much better sealant on the trunk and rear bumper .. I'm so OCD when it comes to this car but I have to keep telling myself that I'm still fairly new to this process and there's SO much to learn and a LOT of experiences I'll need to go through before I can ever feel comfortable enough to not stress as much lol thanks again for the replies .. quick question though which is sort of off topic .. I'm pretty big on towels and making sure I'm using the best for my car .. could I get some opinions on what I have now ??

Pakshak Ultra-Plush and Big Boy
Cobra Gold Jr
Super Soft Deluxe Blue Rolled Edge (from AG)
Chemical Guys Chubby and Elite Super Plush
Poorboy's World DMT and DMMT
StockTowelsNow Plush and Ultra Plush

now .. I've only just found the pakshak but I absolutely LOVE this towel for final buffing, QD and spray wax .. I love any ultra plush towels for my initial wipe when doing a waterless wash (makes me feel more comfortable)

I've heard a lot of good things about the poorboys towels but if I have the rest of these towels on that list, would the poorboys even be worth buying ?? really wouldn't want to waste cash on other brand of towel when I wouldn't really be having anything "superior" to what I'm already using .. thanks again everyone !!
 
Keeping a swirl free DD is an exercise in futility. DD were never meant to have swirl free paint. What is wind, snow, ice, leaves, bird droppings etc it is impossible. Constant polishing takes a toll on the clear coat. Once a year do a full detail right after winter, polish wax etc, then keep your clean, and use a product with fillers to hide the swirls.
 
theamcguy said:
Keeping a swirl free DD is an exercise in futility. DD were never meant to have swirl free paint. What is wind, snow, ice, leaves, bird droppings etc it is impossible. Constant polishing takes a toll on the clear coat. Once a year do a full detail right after winter, polish wax etc, then keep your clean, and use a product with fillers to hide the swirls.
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thanks for the reply .. it's reassuring that I'm not a screw up and that it's near impossible to be OCD with my DD (even though she is garaged lol) .. I'm on a constant search for a really good product with fillers .. I read somewhere about CG Glossworkz Glaze having a lot of filling but can't seem to find it for sale on their site .. what are some good glaze products with fillers that would still allow my to put a sealant over ??
 
My car is a dd and it's black I have had to come to realize that it will never be swirl free but it's a out 90% and I'm learning to live with it. I used bf enchanting gloss polish it has filers as well. Hope u enjoy the 85 rd works great on my stang
 
+1 for the blackfire gloss enhancing polish. no real cutting ability, but its cleaning and filling ability really makes a difference and definitely adds gloss. a good coat or two of bfwd afterwards and you're good to go .
 
Here is the results from BF Gloss Enhancing Polish when applied with a white polishing pad and a DA. This is the latest version, but the filling (and polishing) ability on this soft black M3 was quite impressive.

x.jpg
 
Wow I new this stuff was good but not that good. The car i used it on did not have swirls that bad. Dang I still have a whole bottle of old formula guess it will go to waste so I can get the new formula
 
Todd how is the new formula different than the old? Does it contain more fillers? Also how long does this look last? Would you recommend reapplying every time u replay bfwd?
 
How long does the BF gloss enhancing polish last between treatments? Would putting a sealant on top of this be more effective?
 
blk5.0 said:
Todd how is the new formula different than the old? Does it contain more fillers? Also how long does this look last? Would you recommend reapplying every time u replay bfwd?
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Its not really a new formula at all. It was just the new stuff that I used. Many of the products have been tweaked for better performance. The look will last quite a long time if it is protected with a durable sealant such as BLACKFIRE Wet Diamond All Finish Paint Protection. It should last as long as the sealant provided it is locked in.

You could use GEP to clean the surface and prep it for Wet Diamond, but if you already have Wet Diamond on the surface it is okay to top Wet Diamond with additional Wet Diamond (thus keeping the sealant locked in). I would recommend using GEP every 6 month to a year (around the time you may need to clay) to clean the paint and prep it for more applications.


sc_S13 said:
How long does the BF gloss enhancing polish last between treatments? Would putting a sealant on top of this be more effective?
Click to expand...

Yes you should put a sealant on top of this in order to lock in the look. Provided it is topped and 'locked' in under the sealant it should last as long as the sealant does. The other benefit is that it preps the paint to accept the Wet Diamond Polymers.
 
Shoot looks like I should have gotten the Wet Diamond polish and sealant instead of Duragloss 105 and 1000P! Guess I'll have to try it next time!
 
You could be banging your head for a long time with that paint... Just live with the best you can and do a really good polish when u can in the summer so she looks nice for ya
 
what polish did you use?

viOlaziOne said:
so .. two years ago I purchased a 2006 Laser Red G35 Coupe .. the first day I saw that car in the sun (this was my first dark colored car) my obsession with detailing began .. I polished my car for the first time ever this Summer .. now, I admit I didn't do a PERFECT job as I feel it's hard to accomplish on your "first" try (also, I was using Adam's pads and products and absolutely hate them now compared to everything else I have) .. I practice proper washing techniques every time .. when I do waterless wash on those very light dusting days I use at least four towels to ensure I'm not rubbing anything into my paint and I avoid circular motions .. I use nothing but the best with regards to towel choice yet I'm already getting these swirls back .. I notice the rear bumper and trunk are worse than the rest of the car .. the car as a whole would be classified now as light swirls but the rear bumper and trunk would have to be light to moderate at this point .. someone please tell me that it's not just me because it's very discouraging .. I read someone once that you can safely polish your vehicle 1-2 times a year and that the swirls are nearly impossible to avoid completely but I can't help but feeling discouraged .. granted, when I use my brinkmann on the rest of the car it still looks pretty amazing compared to before I polished .. someone please give me hope here LOL if it's inevitable than I guess I won't feel as stupid as I already do for some reason .. I truly feel that maintenance is harder than the actual paint correction process .. I'm stressed OUT trying to keep this car perfect !! :inspector:
Click to expand...
 
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