Properly use spray detailer

[CodeRedSE-R]

Originally Posted by bkal

BTW, TWI is not a real polish, despite what they say on the package. A true polish is designed to microscopically remove small layers of clear coat to eliminate swirl marks. TWI will never do that, by hand (almost impossible to remove swirls by hand anyways), or by machine. Nobody mentioned it, but I figure I would state it before someone takes their propoganda as truth.

I think you may have your definition of polish a little confused. With any kind of polish/compound you are pretty much sanding out your scratch. A company like 3M that supplys body shops will cary multiple grades of polishing compounds to remove scratches ranging in I believe 1500 and finer. Then you get into glazes that remove the scratches left behind from the compound. Doing these two steps with a machine warms the paint/clear-coat and pushes it around slightly to fill fine scuffs and scratches. If the operator goes to harsh or uses to little product you will get those nasty machine swirls from over heating the paint. This is why foam pads were invented, its much harder to swirl paint when using the right pad mixed with the right compound or glaze, buts its still possible. Finally you get into waxing, this fills the last of your scratches and gets rid of any small machine swirls left over. Finish it off with you detailer spray to remove any lingering wax reidue that might be hazing your super finish.
When you do all three of these steps you can use any companys product and achieve comparable results.

[bkal]

Actually, the various grades of polish are designed to get what the previous left behind. A coarse polish, is like wetsanding, but I think the grit is usually closer to 2000-3000, don't know for sure. The coarse polish is to remove major defects and severe oxidation.

Then you have a medium abrasive polish, designed to remove swirl marks and other micro marring. The course polish leaves swirl marks, the medium polish takes out swirl marks.

Then you have your fine/finishing polish. This adds additional gloss by taking out the ultra fine defects. You can't really see the defects, but you can see the difference. I use the Klasse AIO for this. It is both a fine polish and a paint sealant.

Glazes, IIRC, usually contain fillers, so they can be used after or in place of the fine/finishing polish. I haven't used them because I didn't see a need to buy them, and my paint is cheap. The guy who painted it did a crap job.

A pure wax does not do anything to swirls, scratches, etc. It is simply a layer designed to protect and dazzle. If you had swirls before you applied wax/paint sealant, you will have them after.

Foam pads are definately less abrasive than wool pads, but the purpose of the foam was for a way to detail a clear coated paint. Wool pads are too abrasive, and are usually used as a step above the coarse polish. They do make finer wools, and it used properly, can be used on clearcoat paints, but that takes a professional detailer, or someone with years of experience.

So, you can use polishes all the way up to the wax/paint sealant step. A glaze isn't necessary, but will yield a better looking finish (although after the fine polish, "better" is neglible). Let's save this for another thread though...

Polishing Paint to Perfection - Autopia Car Detailing Forum

Article is a little contradictory (however it's spelled) since they mention glaze, which they call a very fine cut, but don't say to use it. My info is from other detailers on that site. They have very many knowledgeable people, and the reason I have my PC.

[Rizzy]

Know I'm late but thanks for the input guys. I'll be using the advice/techniques next time I get to see my car (two weeks )