Clear coat safety with modern tools, pads, compounds and polishes

[oneheadlite]

Recently one of the regulars here had a reply in a thread that was something along the line of "Back in the day, the non rotary option was a Porter Cable with a 7" pad and some old tech polish". It's killing me I can't find that post to give credit where due and better sum up how "safe" (or slow) polishing had been. I think Mike Phillips had also made a comment recently that was similar.

This is something I've been wondering lately: With all of the advancements in cutting and polishing technology in modern compounds and polishes, foam/microfiber pad technology, and the sheer power/efficiency of the tools we have available - how much at risk is your average enthusiast of making a clear coat damaging mistake? Namely polishing through the clear.

To get to the heart of my question, let's assume said enthusiast takes the time to do the proper prep work with a thorough decontamination (iron removal and clay style decon), and works cleanly with regard to no dirty/cheap towels, pads, etc.

I ask this having entered the hobby (10 years ago or so?) with a GG6 armed with machine polish 3 and orange foam pads, which made for easy learning as it's not a very aggressive combo. I've updated/upgraded here and there as time has passed. Now waiting on my shelf is a slew of pad choices (including 5.5 and 6.5" BOSS pads, both foam and microfiber) and the BOSS Correcting and Perfecting Creams. I feel like these are still pretty safe for someone operating without a Paint Thickness Gauge (or the knowledge to use it), but want to get others opinions on the subject in general.

My fear is that ignorance is bliss, and so far I'm pretty darn happy.

This is has been something I've wanted to ask for a while now having read wet sanding-gone-awry threads. I know that's a bit more extreme, but by how much?

John

[AutowerxDetailing]

Any time you are machine polishing paint you run the risk of messing something up. It is true that modern tools and polishing liquids offer a much safer approach and shorter learning curve; however, there is always a risk of something going on.

Imagine this scenario:

You acquire a new vehicle that is remarkably well kept. The Carfax states it is accident free and the paint appears to be pretty much flawless other than a few random isolated scratches here and there. The perfectionist in you wants to have it flawless and looking "better than new" so you bring out the polisher and start working on each scratch. After only 3 passes one of the scratches is almost gone. You make one more pass and burn through the paint. This happened because you did not know the history of the paint. Unknown to you the vehicle had just been completely wet sanded prior to being listed for sale to remove an ungodly amount of etched water spots and deep swirls. Without a paint thickness gauge you will never know how much paint is left on each panel and will always be working blind any time you want to polish the paint. Even with a PTG that only measures total film build you will at least be able to notice huge difference in thickness readings to try to get an idea for areas that may have been sanded down or compounded too much prior to you working on it.

[Setec Astronomy]

Recently one of the regulars here had a reply in a thread that was something along the line of "Back in the day, the non rotary option was a Porter Cable with a 7" pad and some old tech polish". It's killing me I can't find that post to give credit where due and better sum up how "safe" (or slow) polishing had been. I think Mike Phillips had also made a comment recently that was similar.

Ha ha, I think that was me.

I think I also stated something about a PM convo with me and the owner of a now-defunct detail supply website, musing how many people were going to burn through their clear with the then-new Meguiar's 105 and perhaps something like the previous generation GG 6" or perhaps the Ultimate Detailing Machine or Meg's G110. Of course that never happened, and I don't really hear about people doing it with their Flex or Rupes, either.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, polishing out even deep swirls one time isn't going to thin your paint appreciably, but problems arise going after scratches, or places where the paint is thin like edges or simply if the car has been buffed before. You never really know who has buffed your car before, even if you take it with the plastic still on you can never be sure if they removed some nibs at the factory, etc.

And of course if you use poor wash practice and compound your car every year that might not be good after a few years. Also bear in mind that (according to some info posted by Chris Thomas on the OPT forum), waxing your car with pretty much anything is going to provide a sacrificial layer for some period; so those of us that keep LSP on our cars are somewhat immune from the LSP damage that an unprotected car may suffer from (the point being that we can buff our clear thin and not have it fail as it would if unprotected).

Well, that was rambling and incoherent...off to the coffee pot...

[oneheadlite]

Thanks for the replies! I was thinking about it after I posted hoping I wouldn't be mocked with "It's easy, just don't be dumb" replies. Yes, not being dumb is the easy answer, but like you both pointed out- Sounds like the most important x-factor is what was done before you.

And not incoherent - made sense to me!

A big part of why I ask is I've got a father/son that bought a car from me, and both were interested in learning about detailing. Was going to do a little how-to session and wanted to make sure I'm not missing any obvious advice I should give. As stated, I've been doing this for 10ish years and am pretty comfortable with myself, but it's another thing teaching someone else. Conservative will be the name of the game. And planning on getting them a bookmark list of good threads to read on here.

Also, sorry if I'm treading in dead beaten horse territory!

[rmagnus]

LOL a PC with 7" pad, did it even rotate? PC's are way more efficient with smaller pads.

Now on to the OP question. Ignorance is bliss. Compounding or wet sanding w/o a paint guage is a big risk not relatively safe. If it's your car that's one thing but a clients car like what was already mentioned not knowing the cars history the first step should be measuring the paint. Clear coats are very thin from the factory and the degree of paint hardness or softness will play a major factor. Full corrections on daily drivers is nuts because it will not be maintained and they are usually subjected to harshe inviroments than show cas.

Just get a PTG, $100 on the auction sites.