Ok there is a small scuff on my car. I went to the auto store and bought some turtle wax polishing compound. I did just as the directions intended. I wet the microfiber applicator pad and rub a portion of it into the compound. I gently tried to rub out the scuff but for it to come off I had to apply a moderate amount of pressure. It came off within a few minutes. I looked great. I then dried the area with a seperate microfiber rag only to see a very noticeable amount of hazy scratches where I polished the scuff out. It looks just as bad. What did I do wrong here?

 

I would say you scratched your clear coat. Try several coats of a good brand wax and hand buff multiple times. You may need to get someone with expierence to machine buff the entire area to bring the clear coat back to life.

James

 

Mike in orange, could give you some great pointer here.

You will need to work your way with finer,and finer polishing products too remove that haze, and restore shine.

 

what color is your car. you have to follow up compound with a polish and then maybe even a ultra fine polish or glaze. if this doesnt work you may need to try an orbital buffer repeat the same process compound, polish, glaze.

 

I'm assuming that the car was freshly washed before you did this.

If not then you probably had some surface dirt or dust that got into the microfiber cloth.

Before I do any type of waxing or polishing, I wash the car and usually run a clay bar over it, then I polish.

 

The car was washed but not waxed before I began to polish out the scuff. I guess I got to aggressive with it. The scuff itself was on the spoiler.

 

Just use a swirl remover, followed by a good polish, and then wax.

An orbital polisher would work better.

 

It's not called "Dirtle Wax" for nothing. Their polishing compounds feel like sand.

 

Those Turtle Wax compounds are highly abrasive and just don't work well by hand. They do a great job of removing severe defects, but it's like doing so with a coarse grit sandpaper.

If you pick some Meguiar's ScratchX 2.0 and apply it with a soft foam wax applicator pad it will take that haze right out. Piece of cake. No need to follow with anything but a good wax.

Keep in mind that even the highest quality wax alone will NOT remove the haze. A "pure" wax product (ie a non-cleaner wax) has zero ability to remove any sort of defect. Some may conceal very fine defects, but that's simply because you are apply a film of something to the surface and some concealment is bound to happen. But that isn't a fix for the problem.

Get the ScratchX 2.0 and toss that TW stuff.

 

Thanks for the help. We'll see what I can do with the scratchx 2.0

 

Mike-in-Orange, you know your stuff sir. ScratchX 2.0 worked like a charm. No more haze!

One other question. Do you know of a product that will remove scratches from glass? On the rear hatch glass, on the outside upper portion where the glass is black, it look like someone took a wire brush and made about a 6" pass over the glass. I tried the ScratchX 2.0 but it didnt really work for that.

 

Yeah, my livelihood kind of depends on that!

Glass is significantly harder than paint so I wouldn't expect ScratchX 2.0 to do a darn thing - it just isn't made for that surface. Polishing glass can be tricky at best, disastrous at worst. Eastwood makes a glass polishing kit that some have had decent success with, others none at all. That's about all I can really recommend at this point, sorry.

 

Mike,
Have you outlined a plan for Newbie's ; regarding powered polishing? Does it do that much for the look? I try to keep my X-fire clean and I always clean it before I start moving any compound around on the surface. I've followed your suggestions with great success; so you have my ear.
My X-fire is Alabaster and I don't know how much I can gain with the polish VS- the risk of getting in over my head.
Thanks for all of your suggestions!
MacLovinX

 

Machine polishing is a benefit for any color car, some colors just have the ability to reveal more depth than others do. I've seen white cars that look incredibly glossy though (hi Andrew!!) and others that are a swirled mess, which seriously detracts from the appearance (uh, hi Justin - sorry buddy).

As a matter of fact, I'm about to shoot a PM to Justin to see if we can get together soon to do a serious machine polish on his car so that I can document the process for you all.

 

Hey mike. what is the best wax that you have found so far. lately i have been using the new eagleone nanowax. it works ok/good but seems as though it wears off rather quick (although it applies real easy). any suggestions.

 

Here is a quote from the Detailing Forum.....from what I have seen and have used over maaaaaaany years is Maguire's. Wipe on.... Wipe off.......

"Hi
I must admit that up till this car I used to swear by Autoglym, but I find that the Maguires 3 step makes a real difference on black cars at least, it takes a bit of effort but so far it has lasted nearly three months. I use the Maguires car wash and just dry the car off and it looks superb,freshly waxed to my eyes anyway.
On a previous black car I used Autoglymn with the gloss sealer and I think the Maguires looks better.
Let us know how you do with the stone chips as it looks like that will be a job for the spring for me thanks to the gritting lorries."

 

First off, ANY wax is going to work best on a properly prepped surface. Clay the car at least to remove bonded contaminants.

Meguiar's Gold Class Wax is a great choice for dark colored cars but NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 will outlast it. I'm also a huge fan of a couple of our pro products: M20 Polymer Sealant and M26 Hi-Tech Yellow Wax. M26 really needs a very clean surface, but it looks fantastic and dries clear so you won't be staining trim or making tiny rock chips on the front of a dark car look like tiny white speckles.

Regardless of which wax you choose (Meguiar's or any other brand) a think coat is key. With a liquid wax all you need is 2 ounces or less of product to cover a full sized sedan. A Crossfire would take less.

 

Glass needs to be polished with Cerium Oxide or an equivalent ceramic slurry.