meguiars fine cut cleaner q

[jam]

A couple questions reagarding Meguiars fine cut cleaner:

1. Is it the same sort of thing as what other brands call a compound?
2. Does it have diminishing abrasives?
3. Is there a risk when using a cleaner/compound product without diminishing abrasives.....for example, if you work it until almost dry, could it then cause swirly scratches?
4. If using a product like MFCC, can you follow it up with a polish or do you need an in-between stage?

thanks.

[6LS2]

Fine-Cut Cleaner is a mildly abrasive cleaner that removes fine surface defects including light oxidation, stains, scratches, swirls and fresh water spots. Diminishing Abrasives™ cut quickly, then reduce to a polishing rouge, while Buffered Abrasive™ action lubricates the finish to prevent scratching.

1 - Nah not really. Compounds are really strong polishes. This is a mild polish.

2 - Read up there ^^ Lol

3 - All compounds have diminishing abrasvies. That's why compounds need polishers, because they cause enough heat to work in these abrasives, hands don't. Cleaners don't have abrasives, they just cleanse your paint. Usually do this before you wax. If you compound your wax, you will have hazing/micromarring. After a compound you will need to use a polishing pad and a polish to get rid of the marring and bring your gloss back.

4 - In the description it says the abrasives reduce to a polishing rouge, but that might not be right. If there is no marring after using it, you can wax after. If there is, I suggest you use a less abrase polish to get rif of all marring.

[zaxjax]

I follow up the Fine Cut Cleaner with a #82 Swirl Free polish. If done right the fine cut will leave a slight haze behind with no micro marring.

[jam]

Thanks for the input guys.

i am still confused about the diminishing abrasives thing and machine/hand applications. Last year i used fine cut cleaner by hand on the hood (and roof) and now in the light there are excessive fine swirls on the hood (but for some reason not on the roof?). I was just wondering if that was from doing it too long or something as it actually got a bit dry. i ended up having to buff it off like a wax. With diminishing abrasives though, shouldn't it have not left the swirls?


If you compound your wax, you will have hazing/micromarring.
What exactly do you mean by that?

[makdaddy626]

If it is abrasive but doesn't have "diminishing" abrasive it will definately leave marring - diminishing just means that it starts off more abrasive than it ends up. As the polish/combound abrates the paint the abrasives themselves are broken down smaller and smaller and therefore do less. This has the same affect as using smaller and smaller grit sand paper just without changing products. With that in mind... if you fail to break the abrasives down properly - your are in effect stopping with a very coarse "sandpaper" and will leave marring. It can be from any number of things... not generating enough kinetic energy to break down the abrasives, not working the polish long enough, the polish drying out due to environmental conditions before breaking down, etc.

hope that helps.

[jam]

Very interesting. So oddly enough, it sounds like doing by hand (except waxing of course) can actually be worse in a way.

Well, being very new to the detailing arena, i just want to confirm something.......So normally with abrasive products, polishes etc, you are not supposed to work until dry then (unlike wax where you let it haze), always stop before that? WHat about actually removing it, do you buff off when hazed or do you wipe off when still wet?