What is this? Happens to me all the time!

[ssmith96]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5340/8759691158_f8f5fe1a1a_b.jpg

Can you see all of those tiny white dots?

Whether I'm waxing or polishing my car I always seem to have what appears to be things dragging from those dots, as if there was extra wax or polish on them and when I run the microfiber over them it just makes a streak of the product.

What causes this?

[Circa40]

Most of the time it's little rocks that causes those little dots/pits.

[af90]

I think those white streaks are bits of compound/polish leftover. Do you wash after polishing/when wiping are you using a dry microfiber or wetting it with a QD or equivalent?

[Setec Astronomy]

What is your prep? It could be excess compound/polish as af90 said, or it could be tar or other bonded contaminants that are not being removed by your prep process.

[jdscooby]

Did you clay before waxing/polishing?

[ssmith96]

Yes, I did clay the area before polishing, its new clay but maybe its no good? And I was doing it dry with a nice plush MF towel, its seems to do it even with a QD helping. maybe I should get some ironx or tarx

[mavin]

My car was recently COVERED in little white dots, does it look like these?

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/64444-first-try-audi-a4.html

They all came off with a clay bar but it took forever. Still not sure what it was.

[cardaddy]

After machine polishing, or hand polishing?

Did you clay or Nanoskin before "polishing"?

[ssmith96]

After machine polishing, or hand polishing?

Did you clay or Nanoskin before "polishing"?

Machine and it was a regular claybar

[XSSIVE]

Without being able to feel if they're raised bumps or not just from the pics it looks like the polish or wax is filling all the tiny little rock and sand chips and pits.

[Setec Astronomy]

Yes, I did clay the area before polishing, its new clay but maybe its no good? And I was doing it dry with a nice plush MF towel, its seems to do it even with a QD helping. maybe I should get some ironx or tarx

I'm sure the clay is ok. Sometimes you can perform a process on your car, and not have it deliver the expected results. Sometimes you can polish a car to remove swirls, and yet the swirls are not removed. This could be due to the product you are using, the technique you are using, or that the swirls are too deep.

To get back to your problem, you may have some bonded contamination that the claying didn't remove. Usually smeary stuff like that is some sort of tree sap or other organic fallout. It may be that it was too "stuck" or too round and your clay glided over it. Maybe you used to fine a clay, maybe too much lube to "bite", maybe this stuff is too tough, maybe you didn't do enough passes, maybe not enough pressure on the clay--lot of variables.

Sometimes sappy deposits like that can be easily removed with a solvent like IPA, sometimes an APC (dilute both to be safe). Can you feel these spots with your fingernail? Can you scrape them off (carefully)?

[ssmith96]

I'm sure the clay is ok. Sometimes you can perform a process on your car, and not have it deliver the expected results. Sometimes you can polish a car to remove swirls, and yet the swirls are not removed. This could be due to the product you are using, the technique you are using, or that the swirls are too deep.

To get back to your problem, you may have some bonded contamination that the claying didn't remove. Usually smeary stuff like that is some sort of tree sap or other organic fallout. It may be that it was too "stuck" or too round and your clay glided over it. Maybe you used to fine a clay, maybe too much lube to "bite", maybe this stuff is too tough, maybe you didn't do enough passes, maybe not enough pressure on the clay--lot of variables.

Sometimes sappy deposits like that can be easily removed with a solvent like IPA, sometimes an APC (dilute both to be safe). Can you feel these spots with your fingernail? Can you scrape them off (carefully)?

Thanks for the tips, I'll take a look tomorrow morning, in the mean time i was thinking about getting ironx and tarX, safe to say I should definitely try these out?

[Setec Astronomy]

My cheap advice is to avoid throwing money at the problem by buying more products when it may be a process problem.