How many times can you polish a car?

[RFulmer]

One of my cars has soft clear and gets marred easily just from careful washing using quality products and applying LSP. So a couple of times a year it'll get Wolfgang Finishing Glaze and a gray pad. This is about as easy on the clear as you can get for polishing but seems to work fine for removing light marring and swirls from the paint.

How much damage am I doing to the clear (how much am I taking away) using this method? Can I expect to get many years of service from my paint or should I live with the marring/light swirls longer and do the light polishing less often.

This is also not a daily driver but isn't a show car either. It's almost never driven in the rain.

My wife's car has much harder paint and go years between any correction at all so I'm not too worried about hers.

Thanks,

Russell

[Flash Gordon]

Once or twice a year is what I recommend

[ShaunD]

Mike did an article on how much paint/clear is removed from each step starting with sanding, and moving onto removing the sanding marks/buffing, IIRC. The only way to know for sure from vehicle to vehicle, is to test the thickness of the paint at the beginning of its life and test it at the beginning of each correction/polishing and at the end.
If you are that concerned why don't you apply a coating while the car is in a long sitting period?

[RFulmer]

Mike did an article on how much paint/clear is removed from each step starting with sanding, and moving onto removing the sanding marks/buffing, IIRC. The only way to know for sure from vehicle to vehicle, is to test the thickness of the paint at the beginning of its life and test it at the beginning of each correction/polishing and at the end.
If you are that concerned why don't you apply a coating while the car is in a long sitting period?

The car doesn't have a long sitting period. It gets driven all year, we have no snow to worry about here in Alabama, and rain is usually easy to avoid having 4 cars.

Coating, like Opti-Coat? For some reason these intimidate me. If I screw it up I'm not sure I have the skills to correct it. And if I don't like it I'm stuck.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

With your process, you can polish your car 10 times a year with no ill effects.

[RFulmer]

With your process, you can polish your car 10 times a year with no ill effects.

Well Alllllll Right! Once a month sounds like fun

But seriously, I was thinking of going to the junk yard and picking out a nice flat trunk lid of a pretty color to sit on a stand in the garage to test out different products on to save the wear and tear on my paint.

[shoeless89]

Don't let Opti-coat intimidate you. I got some in and have been playing with it. It applies very easily and worse case you can always polish it off

[RFulmer]

Don't let Opti-coat intimidate you. I got some in and have been playing with it. It applies very easily and worse case you can always polish it off

I thought it had to be compounded off?

[FUNX650]

Most of today's vehicles modern BC/CC paint systems have a total thickness, of all the paint films, in the range of 4.5-6.0 mils (114-152 microns; or, .0045-.006 inches)

The CC thickness generally is in the 2 mils range (50 microns; or, .002 inches ).

Depending on the OEM, it is recommended to not remove more than 25% of the CC paint film...between .3-.5 mils (about 7.5-12.5 microns; or, .0003-.0005 inches.

Hard to detect/measure with the "naked-eye"!!!

One of the more accurate ways to measure these tiny, fractional amounts would be in using a measurement tool...an EPTG...that measures up to three individual "layers" of 'films'/coatings...Such as the DeFelsko PosiTector 200 b/advanced series.
There should be a base measurement, a snap-shot if you will, when the vehicles are new (having an "un-aged" CC). Or, before any more abrasion from any source can take place, a current real-time measurement of the CC (an "aged" CC) This measurement can be compared to what is considered 'the norm'. This and other styles of EPTG's are usually thought to be cost-prohibitive tools, though.

Other than that, more affordable, but less accurate measurements are obtained by the methods you prescribe to using...More or less hoping that so far, and hoping to never, remove too much CC.
That, and/or real-world, over time, and on many varied vehicles..."Abrading the CC" experience.
{Still just guessing, wishing & hoping scenarios without an EPTG, IMO.}

Wolfgang Finishing Glaze, although being described as having the ability of removing 2500 grit swirl marks using a DA and finishing pads, can also be used via hand application as well.

Because your vehicle is, (according to how I interpret its usage), a Semi-Garage Queen, what I would do is:
Just employ a spot-polishing method (either by machine/hand) with this Wolfgang, or similar product, to remove any of the marring deemed necessary...Not the entire vehicle every time.

After the above step, and if overly concerned/worried about the reduction of the CC's thickness:
I'd use this Wolfgang or similar products like 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, via hand application, over the entire vehicle's CC paint surfaces between 2-4 times yearly, or more if so desired, without having any of the "removing too much CC" concerns.....
Always followed by an application of a protective LSP, (In my case...preferably a sealant)....Unless one of the new coatings has appeal to you.

Sorry to hear you get marring from washing and LSPing your vehicle, even with using, as you say: Careful methods.

IMO...The need, then, for basically: "how many abrasive-polishing-sessions" to remove such marring may be performed; and, your concern for "prevention methods" to further preserve your vehicle's CC thickness, would be less of a prominent issue for you.

No matter what the reason(s)....
I rank the consideration of CC's preservation/protection as a very important, prominent topic.




Bob

[RFulmer]

Most of today's vehicles modern BC/CC paint systems have a total thickness, of all the paint films, in the range of 4.5-6.0 mils (114-152 microns; or, .0045-.006 inches)

The CC thickness generally is in the 2 mils range (50 microns; or, .002 inches ).

Depending on the OEM, it is recommended to not remove more than 25% of the CC paint film...between .3-.5 mils (about 7.5-12.5 microns; or, .0003-.0005 inches.

Hard to detect/measure with the "naked-eye"!!!

One of the more accurate ways to measure these tiny, fractional amounts would be in using a measurement tool...an EPTG...that measures up to three individual "layers" of 'films'/coatings...Such as the DeFelsko PosiTector 200 b/advanced series.
There should be a base measurement, a snap-shot if you will, when the vehicles are new (having an "un-aged" CC). Or, before any more abrasion from any source can take place, a current real-time measurement of the CC (an "aged" CC) This measurement can be compared to what is considered 'the norm'. This and other styles of EPTG's are usually thought to be cost-prohibitive tools, though.

Other than that, more affordable, but less accurate measurements are obtained by the methods you prescribe to using...More or less hoping that so far, and hoping to never, remove too much CC.
That, and/or real-world, over time, and on many varied vehicles..."Abrading the CC" experience.
{Still just guessing, wishing & hoping scenarios without an EPTG, IMO.}

Wolfgang Finishing Glaze, although being described as having the ability of removing 2500 grit swirl marks using a DA and finishing pads, can also be used via hand application as well.

Because your vehicle is, (according to how I interpret its usage), a Semi-Garage Queen, what I would do is:
Just employ a spot-polishing method (either by machine/hand) with this Wolfgang, or similar product, to remove any of the marring deemed necessary...Not the entire vehicle every time.

After the above step, and if overly concerned/worried about the reduction of the CC's thickness:
I'd use this Wolfgang or similar products like 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, via hand application, over the entire vehicle's CC paint surfaces between 2-4 times yearly, or more if so desired, without having any of the "removing too much CC" concerns.....
Always followed by an application of a protective LSP, (In my case...preferably a sealant)....Unless one of the new coatings has appeal to you.

Sorry to hear you get marring from washing and LSPing your vehicle, even with using, as you say: Careful methods.

IMO...The need, then, for basically: "how many abrasive-polishing-sessions" to remove such marring may be performed; and, your concern for "prevention methods" to further preserve your vehicle's CC thickness, would be less of a prominent issue for you.

No matter what the reason(s)....
I rank the consideration of CC's preservation/protection as a very important, prominent topic.




Bob

Wow, thanks for all this info to "cyfer".

I wouldn't say I'm "overly concerned/worried" about the CC. I'm just not used to they type of marring I'm getting out of my newest cars paint (A Mini Countryman S to be specific). As an example, my wife's Lexus has only been polished once in 5 years and you would be hard pressed to find many swirls in her paint. It gets only wax, no sealant. It was sealed once when I got it with 2 coats of Zaino (Z2) but that's the only "real" sealant it's had, other than spray sealants (super detail sprays as I call them).

I know the Mini is going to take more polishes than I'm used to doing and having limited experience with doing this many polishes on a car (past experience has been years between polishing) I wanted to be sure I wasn't over doing it.

Your post with it's specific numbers sounds like the clear is so thin on modern cars the wind will blow it off and makes me afraid to touch it. But from others it seems the FG and a finishing pad should be fine a couple times a year. Looks like I'll have to find a happy medium in the middle somewhere.

Thanks, your post are always helpful and full of detailed info which gives me plenty to think about (cypher ;-)