Black car, Dull shine after polishing, need opinion of what I did wrong

[johnkx]

So after prepping and everything I decided to use an orange cutting pad and megs ultimate polish (I got it for free as a gift so might as well use it) with my 6inch griots da


I wasn't really trying to get rid of deep scratches I just wanted to remove some wet spots and imperfections as it is an old Toyota 06 so I figured I'd mix a orange cutting pad and a polish. I used klasse AIO then griots 3-1 after.


It shines when the sun hits it but it looks dull from the other side.


I feel like I should have compounded it? Or did I use a wrong pad or Am I overthinking it?

I've never used a DA before

Dull and Shine

[dgage]

In a sense I’d say you might have already compounded it. The polish AND the pad determine how aggressive or coarse a polishing combo is. You didn’t mention brand but you stated you used an orange CUTTING pad, which is likely an aggressive pad. So really you’re just using the polish as a lubricant but the pad was pretty aggressive. So you likely need to now use the polish with a finer pad to get the paint looking more reflective.

But pad and polish combos react differently with different paint so it may or may not be as easy as using a fine pad with Ultimate Polish and have that work for you. An expert usually has several/many types of pads and several polishes/compounds to dial in the appropriate recipe to address blemishes and then polish to a high level.

But if I had to guess, you likely should next try a fine pad and see if that polishes up the paint better.

I should add that you surmised maybe you needed to go more aggressive with a compound and I’m not sure that would be necessary but maybe. Being aggressive with pad/polish is about getting some/most (but don’t chase all or you could go through your paint/clearcoat) of the imperfections out of the paint. And then when you’ve gone aggressive, you need to polish to get the paint looking it’s best.

[johnkx]

Thanks I'll try a white finishing pad tomorrow and this time I'll try my m205

[2black1s]

I'll add this... Being an '06 (16-years-old) you might be expecting better results than the paint is capable of producing. 16-year-old paint, unless it's been well cared for and not UV damaged, will never shine like it did when new.

[98CayenneTA]

What was the orange pad used?

Black Toyota paint is soft.
You may not be even removing many defects and also adding a ton of micro maring....

[johnkx]

I'll add this... Being an '06 (16-years-old) you might be expecting better results than the paint is capable of producing. 16-year-old paint, unless it's been well cared for and not UV damaged, will never shine like it did when new.

I was hoping the paint would just pop off and remove water spots - it looked smooth to me but it was doesn't look that "wet" look.

What was the orange pad used?

Black Toyota paint is soft.
You may not be even removing many defects and also adding a ton of micro maring....

Lake country smart pads (Orange), I don't think I did a ton of marring (hopefully not)

[Bosko]

looking at the pic you posted , that paint was in rough shape being 16 years old...it needs a full cut and polish...heavy cream and wool/micro fiber pad then a 1 to 2 step correction.
best of luck in what route you choose..

[noorth]

You can also use microfiber of course.

[chilly]

When correcting and/or polishing paint remember two things, regardless of what advice you choose to follow, and you will generally get the results you want and stay out of trouble

1: Use the least aggressive method that is calculated to give you the results you want

2: Do a test spot, for each and every step or product/process combination you try

Don't do the whole car with yet another process and set of products and find out once again you didn't get the results you want

Once clear coat is gone it's gone without resorting to a costly respray

You probably don't have the experience yet to be able to adhere to point number one and that is where advice comes in, but never forget to ALWAYS adhere to rule number 2

Good luck and post your results

[tuscarora dave]

What were your pre polishing prep steps? Wash and chemical decontamination then clay bar?