Tips to prevent marring?

A

ABQDetailer

New member
I've finally gotten the results I'm looking for (perfection!) but I can't seem to keep from scratching/marring my perfected surface. It seems the clear on my car is very soft. I've been trying not to touch the surface until I'm ready to do a LSP but sometimes there's too much residue from the polish or compound to get away with not cleaning off the surface. I don't mind marring with a MF after my compounding step since the polish step will remove it but I can't seem to get away with it after the polishing step. It's killing my results. I can't even seem to buff out wax without marring although it does help that the wax helps the MF glide over the surface. I'm pretty confident it's becase my clear is really soft but perhaps there's some technique that would help me out?



So what are you guys using to remove any polish residue and keep from marring your recently perfected surfaces?



I've tried different MF's from the HF ones, to the Sams club ones, to some expensive thicker ones like the 320gm ones sold at various detailing shops online. The results seem to be the same. The MF's are all clean with tags removed and I make to not put any pressure against the paint with the edges of the MF. Actually I try not to put any pressure in general.



Perhaps I need to do very light wash after my polishing step to remove the residue instead?



How about a GS + QD instead of QD + MF?



TIA
 
MF and QD works well.



You could try steaming the left over polish off. I started doing that about 2 months ago and it has helped.



I use a steamer and a spray bottle with 7:1 water/shampoo mix
 
A few things come to mind:



1) Use less polish

2) Use a QD like #34, or even ONR, before wiping it off

3) If buffing off the wax is causing marring, I suspect you need softer MFs (and you're probably using too much wax)
 
The "marring" is a result of the polysaccharides. Resist marring by removing the polish with a towel made of copolymers.
 
Edwards944 said:
The "marring" is a result of the polysaccharides. Resist marring by removing the polish with a towel made of copolymers.
Click to expand...



You know you don't actually help anybody by giving answers like this? If you are trying to give advice and show off how knowledgeble you are, step #1 is making sure your audience actually knows what you are talking about. If you cannot convey anything useful, then you really don't know a darn thing.



My advice is try out some different waxes...maybe some zero haze waxes that come off with no effort. I would wager something like ZCS or opti seal would not marr during application.



You *might* also a mix of DGAW and ONR @ QD str (2/3 DGAW, 1/3 ONR QD). I'd expect that to have a good, high lubricity coat on your car's surface
 
Polymer dispersions with a refractive index of 1.80 or greater will produce the best results with respect to "marring". A refractive index of less than 1.50 will require more abrasion to remove albeit better adhesion to the painted surface.
 
Edwards944 said:
The "marring" is a result of the polysaccharides. Resist marring by removing the polish with a towel made of copolymers.
Click to expand...



Patek14 said:
You know you don't actually help anybody by giving answers like this? If you are trying to give advice and show off how knowledgeble you are, step #1 is making sure your audience actually knows what you are talking about. If you cannot convey anything useful, then you really don't know a darn thing.



My advice is try out some different waxes...maybe some zero haze waxes that come off with no effort. I would wager something like ZCS or opti seal would not marr during application.



You *might* also a mix of DGAW and ONR @ QD str (2/3 DGAW, 1/3 ONR QD). I'd expect that to have a good, high lubricity coat on your car's surface
Click to expand...



Edwards944 said:
Polymer dispersions with a refractive index of 1.80 or greater will produce the best results with respect to "marring". A refractive index of less than 1.50 will require more abrasion to remove albeit better adhesion to the painted surface.
Click to expand...

:cool:...classic...
 
Edwards944, when you post statements like this:



Polymer dispersions with a refractive index of 1.80 or greater will produce the best results with respect to "marring". A refractive index of less than 1.50 will require more abrasion to remove albeit better adhesion to the painted surface."



all i really see is this:



A re produce. A refractive adhesults wit to re paing". A refractive produce. Polymer abrace bess will 1.80 produce. Polymer withe adhest bettersion th refract better gremove better greater will paing". A respect refrasion thess wit refractive index or grefract beith a reatersions with abrasions the moremoremoress wit than 1.50 of lest th adhest besion to "marrindex ore move ing".



Maybe I shouldn't have slept through physics.....
 
Well I'm already using QD and the thickest MF I own. I'd have to get those 500+ gram MF's to get anything thicker. I have a megs towel that I got free with my M105 so perhaps I should try that. Think I need to get some ONR @ QD strength and give that a go...I've been looking for an excuse to buy a gallon of that stuff anyways.



I think this clear is just extremly soft and I'm being over anal. You can see everything under the halogens but the finish looked great in the sun even with the marring/scratches from the MF's.



I just got some Lowes GS's so I may try those as well with a QD or maybe ONR if I go that route.



I'm using 476S and it doesn't come off easy (even laying thin layers) so that doesn't help...I also had the same problem with CG Butter Wax applied by LC Red but it wasn't as bad as the 476S by hand. NXT 2.0 paste seems to come off easier maybe I'll go back to that.



Thanks for the replies.
 
ABQDetailer- It's not always how heavy/plush a MF is that determines its gentleness.



And yeah, the ONR might be just the ticket. I started using that for some jobs like this after Totoland Mach raved about it.



Maybe you just need to let the QD dwell longer so it can better effect a solvent action on the residue in question. But with may LSPs, you could just apply *so* thinly that there basically won't be much of any residue to buff off at all. Or just pick a Wipe/spray-On-Walk-Away product; some people really like those.





Edwards944 said:
Polymer dispersions with a refractive index of 1.80 or greater will produce the best results with respect to "marring". A refractive index of less than 1.50 will require more abrasion to remove albeit better adhesion to the painted surface.
Click to expand...



Footnotes, please! I find the above assertions interesting, and would like to study your source material.



While Bence and I have discussed this in very general terms (primarily with regard to silicone content), I've never heard of a direct, consistent correlation between a product's refractive index and the ease with which its residue buffs off. Nor have I ever seen specific RI thresholds referred to in this context.



Also, how can someone without testing facilities determine a given product's RI? Is there a comprehensive database we can refer to? Seems like it'd be necessary for any practical application of this idea...



And what about previous prep? I find that the more thoroughly prepped a given surface is, the easier *every* subsequently applied product's residue buffs off. And then there are the W-O-W-A products to consider too :think:
 
Anyone devise a method cleaning after polishing without touching the "exposed" no sealant or LSP on yet? How 'bout using a foam gun, rinse, blow dry with a leaf blower, then very gently blot dry left over spots. What do ya think?



Howard
 
YankeeFan- IMO the foamgun wouldn't work for that (too bad, too) as it wouldn't be forceful enough. But you could do a foamgun/BHB combo and that might work fine if you do it right/gently enough.



OR...you could use a pressure washer, if the overspray/etc. isn't an issue. Totoland Mach does this and it works great for him. I'd do it if it weren't for the overcrowded shop.



You could run a deionizer like the CRSpotless in conjunction with the PW and get truly touchless washing/drying.
 
Accumulator said:
ABQDetailer- It's not always how heavy/plush a MF is that determines its gentleness.



And yeah, the ONR might be just the ticket. I started using that for some jobs like this after Totoland Mach raved about it.



Maybe you just need to let the QD dwell longer so it can better effect a solvent action on the residue in question. But with may LSPs, you could just apply *so* thinly that there basically won't be much of any residue to buff off at all. Or just pick a Wipe/spray-On-Walk-Away product; some people really like those.









Footnotes, please! I find the above assertions interesting, and would like to study your source material.



While Bence and I have discussed this in very general terms (primarily with regard to silicone content), I've never heard of a direct, consistent correlation between a product's refractive index and the ease with which its residue buffs off. Nor have I ever seen specific RI thresholds referred to in this context.



Also, how can someone without testing facilities determine a given product's RI? Is there a comprehensive database we can refer to? Seems like it'd be necessary for any practical application of this idea...



And what about previous prep? I find that the more thoroughly prepped a given surface is, the easier *every* subsequently applied product's residue buffs off. And then there are the W-O-W-A products to consider too :think:
Click to expand...



I have a refractometer in the garage. I routinely check all of my detailing supplies. sorry, I thought everyone did.
 
Edwards944 said:
I have a refractometer in the garage. I routinely check all of my detailing supplies. sorry, I thought everyone did.
Click to expand...



I loaned mine to a neighbor but I did not tell him it is out of calibration.
 
I always use either 50/50 Meguiar's Last Touch or pure Last Touch and spray the polish down, soak for 5 seconds, and then wipe off. It works GREAT and I have never had marring issues- even on Honda/Acura clears.



Give it a shot
 
so after working in the polish and such before buffing it off you guys usually spray it down with a quick detailer just to make sure you don't put any marring into the paint? that's a good idea if i'm understanding right. may just start doing that with my details.
 
After polishing a surface I spray it down with 50/50 mixture of rubbing alcohol and distilled water. This removes any fillers and gives me a what you have is what you have finish.



As to prevent marring, I have come to 2 conclusions. 1. See a psychiatrist and get some meds. A second more reasonable approach is to live with it if you dirve or just simply just leave it in the garage (that is of course up to a 'clean' room standard.)
 
Ben D. said:
so after working in the polish and such before buffing it off you guys usually spray it down with a quick detailer just to make sure you don't put any marring into the paint? that's a good idea if i'm understanding right. may just start doing that with my details.
Click to expand...



I do this *if* I think it's necessary- primarily with harsh compounds that might leave abrasive dust/residue or if I overwork the product to where the residue is either dry or hard to buff off. I'd probably do it if I were working with very soft paints too.



For finish polishing, you might want to do the IPA wipedown that JasonC8301 mentioned, just to make sure things are in the condition you *think* they are. I wouldn't do that with the consumer line of polishes from 1Z though, I'd let those products do whatever filling/concealing they do and just seal the fillers in with a good LSP.
 
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