What am I doing wrong?

[Uranium235]

Hi, a little help here please. I am polishing my car by machine, and having three basic issues.
1. The deeper (relatively, not deep enough to catch my fingernail, not even close) scratches are not coming out.
2. I think I am putting scratches in with the buffer. Small, corkscrew shapes. The pads are relatively new and don't look dirty.
3. The polish is rolling into little tiny balls as I work it. This may be the cause of problem number two.

My products: PC with 5.25" pads. Mostly using Meguairs 105 with orange Lake Country CCS pads, switched to yellow when the orange wasn't getting it done. Also attempted using 3M Finesse-It II when I could still see marks.

Do I need a more aggressive combo for the scratches (if so, what?), or am I just doing it wrong? I went over the same spot on my trunk 3-4 times to see if I could get the marks out, but nothing. The lighter marks come out fine, but then I think I am leaving some deeper marks on my own. Also tried 205, and it did not make a noticeable difference in any area.

Please provide recommendations! Thanks.

[Setec Astronomy]

Have you washed, clayed, and decontaminated that paint before polishing?

How much pressure and what arm speed are you using on the polisher?

How much product are you using on the pad?

Is this your first attempt at machine polishing?

Where are you located?

[Uranium235]

In reverse order...

I am in central Illinois.

I have used a machine polisher several times, and gotten decent to good results. Never great.

I am using three big dots on the pad.

Very little pressure, and VERY slow (think Junkman) arm speed.

I have washed and clayed the car.

[GSKR]

The little white balls are caused by lack of product or dry buffing.a pc has its limits on removing scratches but deos a good job of leveling them to a certain degree.m105 can be a pain to work with especially in humid conditions.3m finesse tends to bond to the paint .control you arm speed slowly with moderate pressure and overlap your work.maybe you are seeing marring or haze.corkscrews are pig tails caused by grit in the pad.Those two products are hard to work with.205 with a micro cutting pad should clean things up.set your speed at 6 on pc and go slow.

[GSKR]

There's your promblem not enough pressure,and prime your pad.

[Uranium235]

So if I was looking for a comparable product that is easier to work with, what would you recommend? And with what pads?

[GSKR]

HD speed and done.micro cutting pads or orange and Meg's maroon foam pad works good on tough paint.anything real rough mckees fast compound or griots correction cream.and let that pc rip full speed moderate pressure and slow.I can't comment on hd adapt I never used it.

[MikeC78]

You use a DA at full speed with HD speed? I find it works better at moderate speed(4-4.5) w/GG6, but each case is different.

[AutowerxDetailing]

It sounds like the paint you are working on has lots of random-isolated-deep-scratches (RIDS). Compared to swirl marks that may only be 0.5-1.0 microns deep into the paint, RIDS could be 5+ microns deep and in extreme conditions may need wet sanding to fully level.

One of my favorite techniques for RIDS removal is a method that Kevin Brown invented and made popular with using M205 and Meguiar's microfiber pads. I believe it works best with a long-throw DA (like a Rupes 15/21); however, it should work similarly with a PC. The way it works is you load up the microfiber pad with LOTS of M205... like, way more than seems normal. Then work the product at medium machine speed, moderate downward pressure, and slow arm speed. The idea is that the abrasives of M205 are very, very small and can actually fit inside the individual scratches as the machine moves over the surface (rather than roll over the scratches like a compound with larger abrasive particles might). With enough passes the M205 will sort of begin to round out the deeper scratches and slowly they will become so rounded-out that they will be invisible to the naked eye. This technique, in theory, will also remove way LESS paint than traditional methods using heavy-cut compounds.