Fine scratches in paint caused by clay or bad towel.

[zippster223]

I have what appear to be fine scratches on my 2008 Subaru. The cause looks to be from contaminated clay bar, car wash, and or cheap microfiber towel. The scratches are over the entire car, not deep. I’m leaning towards a bad clay bar or towel. I have to following items on hand to hopefully correct the problem.
Porter cable 7424 DA.
LC CCS pads: orange, Grey, blue, and red pads.
LC flat White, green and gold pads.
Meg’s Ultimate compound, Megs Ultimate polish, 2oz sample of Wolfgang total swirl remover, Griots one step polish-sealant, and various carnauba waxes.

After I correct the scratches I plan to use the sealant and to add two coats of wax then follow with a spray wax.

I’m new at this stuff so I am unsure which combination of products to use and how to effectively use them. Any input would be appreciated.

[Kristopher1129]

If you clay your car without polishing, then you most likely may have caused the marring with the clay. I typically will not clay unless I'm polishing.

You should be able to take the LC orange pad and the Ultimate Compound, followed by the Ultimate Polish or WG swirl remover with the grey pad, and top off with your choice of sealant or wax.

That should take care of it. Just be sure you've got some nice clean, or maybe even new towels to use. Be sure to pull any tags off the towel. I've come to find that most Subarus have pretty soft clear. Very easily scratched...but also very easily corrected.

This is just my opinion. I don't have any personal experience with your particular combination of products and pads. I'm just trying to offer a solution based on what you already have. I typically use the flat 5.5" orange and white pads for most jobs, along with either Malco products, or Megs 105/205 combo. I've recently fell in love with the PC for SOME correction work, ha.

[maximus20895]

Do a test spot with the products to see what removes the scratches the best. If they are fine scratches I would try Megs Ultimate polish to see if that works. If not then you can try Total Swirl Remover followed by M205 if the Total Swirl Remover leaves some hazing. If that doesn't work try M105 and then M205 and it will for sure take care of the scratches.

After that, you can put the sealant and wax on.

[john b]

dont feel to bad i recently used some brand new cobra gold plush mf towels with a waterless product on a hhr that put fine scratchs on the paint-i usually always wash mf first before useing-but the one time i didnt do that and swirl city

[maximus20895]

It's amazing how easy it is to put scratches in the paint. Almost sad really.

[BillE]

I'll just add...Subarus seem to be notorious for SUPER soft clear. Wifes (black) Outback will 'scratch' just looking at it with a bad eye.

Bill

[Mike Phillips]

It's amazing how easy it is to put scratches in the paint. Almost sad really.

The term is Scratch-Sensitive

Modern clear coats are generally harder than traditional single stage paints, (these are the only two categories we have to compare since the Model T was introduced in 1908), and while the clear paint resin is harder than traditional single stage paints it still scratches very easily.

Because it's hard, it's difficult to remove swirls and scratches and this is why forums like this and tools like the Porter Cable have become so popular with car enthusiasts frustrated by the swirls and scratches in their car's clear coat and even more frustrated with trying to remove swirls and scratches by hand.

The practical differences between single stage paints and a clear coat paints