Need Polishing Advice

[milabfocker]

I recently purchased a PC and began polishing my truck yesterday. I'm having a little trouble determining when the polish has been worked thoroughly. Even after the polish begins to dust, I can still see some haze in certain parts of the polishing pattern. I worked the final polish for about 5 minutes (2' x 2' area) and it didn't produce powder; it seems as if you could work this polish for much longer. If anyone has any tricks or tips to determine when polish has been fully worked, please let me know; any advice is appreciated. I'm not sure if this is relevant, however, here are the products I am using: 3M Rubbing Compound, Menzerna Intensive Polish, and Menzerna Final Polish. Also, what is the best way to clean pads. The guy at the store where I bought the pads told me to let the product dry and then simply brush the pads off with a stiff brush. I've heard other people say they wash them in car wash shampoo, and others say they put them in their washing machine.

Thanks,
Brandon

[matthewsimonetti]

Brandon, firstly, five minutes is quite a long time to be using a single polish on one spot. Perhaps you are using too much product. Try using less and spreading the product over a larger area if needed. Even if you dont get all of the haze off, the finishing polish will, which is generally easier to work in and buff off. As far as cleaning, use a brush, bucket of water, and some DP or Wolfgang pad cleaner to break loose th crud in the pad. After they are clean, use a lubricant on the pad before you add more compound, such as XMT Pad conditioner or crystal mist, etc.

[2001MineralGrayStang]

Menzerna and the 3m are designed to work with a rotary buffer, so using a PC they'll take longer to break down. That's just a fact of life. I use XMT pad cleaner and then let them soak, spray them off, and spin dry them on my PC or rotary.

[ScottB]

Polishing -- you want to work the polish until it turns from a paste into an almost translucent cloud effect. It actually almost cures. As offered with PC more time is needed, and I highly suggest outside of direct sunlight and extreme heat. Removing a polish to soon actually could harm paint as much as help.

Pad Cleaning -- you can use any number of products to clean pads. I use a good APC (DP, Amazing Rolloff) and wash them by hand and allow to dry standing up. I then put in sealed baggies. I would not however allow polish to dry in pad and consider reuse.

[trhland]

i found that menzerna nano only takes like 3 minutes to brake down.

[milabfocker]

I appreciate everyones' input; I polished my truck and it came out great. This is the first time I've ever polished; I always thought I knew a decent amount about vehicle care; however, I've been missing out. The polish got rid of the majority of scratches and the truck looks amazing.

[scottgt]

get some halogen lights also...they help you see the product break down