Menzerna Polishes - Methodology Part I

[TOGWT]

Menzerna:
Menzerna GMBH & Co. KG, Professional Products -
Coating Repair Product Summery -http://www.menzerna.de/fileadmin/be_...e/e_polish.pdf

Not only does Menzerna mill abrasives as fine as 0.3 micron, they have developed some of the tightest quality control procedures in the industry. Menzerna polishing compounds are TUV approved (the German Automotive Safety Council) and meet or exceed ISO 9001 standards, the highest in the world. These polishes are water-based; technically, they're an oil-in-water emulsion. They do contain a petroleum distillate but it's a lubricant, not a solvent. They do not contain any filler, glaze or silicones.

These diminishing abrasive polishes are foam pad ‘dependant’ as far as its paint correction / renovation abilities are concerned and they appear to work better when the foam pad is ‘primed’ (a very slightly distilled water dampened foam; do not use a quick detailer (QD) as most are formulated with either a wax or a polymer; however they are not easily adaptable to a spray formula.

To be efficient they need to be emulsified to work as a spray, to facilitate this they need to use an emulsion of silicone oils and water. The wax will reduce the friction heat, negatively impacting the diminishing abrasives; silicon-based products can also have a negative effect on the surface / polish lubrication oils used by Menzerna causing surface smearing.
(See also Silicone Removal, surface preparation)

Diagnosis is the key; not guesswork; always use the least abrasive product / foam pad combination before ‘stepping-up’ to something more aggressive. The most important first step in the process of paint surface detailing is diagnosing the paint surface; density of clear coat (hard or soft) or single stage paint, surface condition; severity of the scratches and the paint thickness available will dictate the choice and abrasiveness of polish / compound for correction or renovation level required or indeed possible.

No matter what product is used it can only reflect what in underneath it;

1. How much polish to use; add a small X of polish to a primed foam pad (two thin lines in a cross, about 3 or 4 - inches long). This along with the distilled water will help to avoid polishing with a dry pad. There after, two dime sized beads is enough to polish an area of 18 to 24 inches square


2. Apply the compound or polish to the surface and spread the polish using the foam pad with the machine off. This coats the pad and the surface being polished with product to prevent scratching or hazing the finish, then place the foam pad flat on the surface and turn the machine on. Do no, under any circumstances, turn the polisher on with any portion of the foam pad dry as this will produce hazing.

3. *The use of a duel level foam pad / polish system (by changing the way each polish works in accordance to which pad and polish you use) will really heighten the paint finish shine. Remember to use the least abrasive first before ‘stepping-up’ to the next abrasive level.Remember to use the least abrasive first before ‘stepping-up’ to the next abrasive level.

*Edited 01.04.08 3.45 GMT

4. Diminishing abrasives require friction to activate them; they should not finish up dry (dusting) but will always have a hazy film to them. Wet polishes eliminate the friction heat caused by buffing; heat causes gloss loss. Polish to a haze- when a polish "flashes" from a liquid paste to a light semi-dry haze; its colour changes from the polish colour to almost transparent; the polish has then broken down and is ready for removal.

It is important to know when a polish has broken down because if you take it too far you (dry polishing) will re-introduce surface marring conversely if you don’t work diminishing abrasives sufficiently they will cause surface marring (this is due to the size of the abrasive and its cutting ability, once an abrasive has broken down it will burnish the surface as opposed to cutting it)

When the polish is broken down properly you should have a clear surface, the polish will become clear but still barely visible on the pant surface. If it is oily ( Menzerna uses both oil and wax for paint surface lubrication) then either too much polish was used or the diminishing abrasives were not sufficiently broken down, if you don’t allow the polish to haze as it diminishes the abrasives, stopping to soon, is like rubbing sand paper across the paint

5. The speed at which the foam pad travels across a paint surface is also important, moving too fast won’t allow the micro-abrasive to ‘beak down’, Machine linier speed; machine left to right movement shown as inches per second (IPS) apply polish at an MLS of 3-inchs per second with a rotary polisher (1.0 to 1.5-inch per second random orbital buffer).

6. These polishes were designed to work with high speed rotary polisher’s, utilizing friction to break-down the diminishing abrasives, while in the controlled temperature / humidity environment (working temp range 60 – 800F (15-260C) of a vehicle manufacturer’s paint shop finishing line. Note that silicone has an adverse effect on the oils used for surface lubrication and can cause the polish to smear, also be aware that working outside you may have issues like excess humidity, heat, cold, etc that will affect there performance especially with the Nano polish (105FF) as it uses wax as a lubricant (colder temps may cause the wax to harden)

7. It should also be noted that these polishes use oil in water emulsion or wax for lubrication; if you are using a polymer after polishing it will be necessary to wipe-down the paint surface with Menzerna Top Inspection, a 1:1 solution of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and distilled water or DuPont’s Prepsol solvent.

TOGWT ™ Copyright © 2002-2007. Jon Miller, all rights reserved

[Dieseldan]

awesome thread!

[supercharged]

Originally Posted by Dieseldan

awesome thread!

[trhland]

togwt is a computer not a person

[Showroom Shine]

Great Thread with plenty of detail. Thanks

[makdaddy626]

Great information, thanks for sharing. Please pardon my ignorance, but what is a, "...duel level foam pad..."?

[TOGWT]

Originally Posted by makdaddy626

Great information, thanks for sharing. Please pardon my ignorance, but what is a, "...duel level foam pad..."?

See Part II

[makdaddy626]

Originally Posted by TOGWT

See Part II

I see the information regarding which pads to use but am still confused as to what qualifies a pad as "dual level"?

[TOGWT]

Thank you all for those kind words, makes all the research worthwhile

Trhland - I'll take that as a compliment, as I've been called worse

[TOGWT]

Originally Posted by makdaddy626

I see the information regarding which pads to use but am still confused as to what qualifies a pad as "dual level"?

The use of a duel level foam pad / polish system (by changing the way each polish works in accordance to which pad and polish you use) will really heighten the paint finish shine.

Sometimes its so clear to me I have trouble explaining it clearly. Let me know if you have any questions, I’m only too glad to share knowledge / experience