How often can I compound single stage paint before its gone?

[CarefulCleaner]

Hello all, I'm working on a second gen Honda CRV with single stage paint, which as I've learned here, uses a factory single stage paint that is thinner than paint with clear coat. Is compounding (Meg's Ultimate Compound) the whole car once a year and polishing (Meg's Ultimate Polish) the entire car three or four times a year too much? I do everything by hand. If I don't have a fancy paint depth instrument, how do I know when I need to stop compounding? Thanks for any help.

[GSKR]

I would say no your not taking off that much paint per year by hand.Your first indication of destruction if so by hand which would be raised body lines.Even by hand periodically you can diminish the paint on those areas by hand.Maybe compound when needed then keep it up and protected with a cleaner wax then apply a traditional paintsealant over it.Wax only gives you depth and gloss.The durability of a lot of waxes hang around on your paint only for 40 to 90 days.Washing single stage paint can dull the surface rather quickly. I would by a low ph soap and do one panel at a time .Rinse wash then rinse quickly. Another alternative is hydrocoat soap by carpro.All single stage comes in various problems such as the color how faded it is or how long can you keep it presentable without all that labor.So to sum this up find a soap with very low ph wash when the paint is cool to the touch and polish without the compound then apply a paintsealant.My personal preference is fk 1000 by finishkare.Its a sealant and wax in one tin.Good luck that paint system requires a lot of babysitting. I once bought a white carry 3 years ago it had ss paint.I brought it back the next 3 days to the dealer and purchased something else.

[GSKR]

Or try some of these new rinseless washes like mckees 914 or ultimate which is my favorite.I meant I bought a camry.

[CarefulCleaner]

I would say no your not taking off that much paint per year by hand.Your first indication of destruction if so by hand which would be raised body lines.Even by hand periodically you can diminish the paint on those areas by hand.Maybe compound when needed then keep it up and protected with a cleaner wax then apply a traditional paintsealant over it.Wax only gives you depth and gloss.The durability of a lot of waxes hang around on your paint only for 40 to 90 days.Washing single stage paint can dull the surface rather quickly. I would by a low ph soap and do one panel at a time .Rinse wash then rinse quickly. Another alternative is hydrocoat soap by carpro.All single stage comes in various problems such as the color how faded it is or how long can you keep it presentable without all that labor.So to sum this up find a soap with very low ph wash when the paint is cool to the touch and polish without the compound then apply a paintsealant.My personal preference is fk 1000 by finishkare.Its a sealant and wax in one tin.Good luck that paint system requires a lot of babysitting. I once bought a white carry 3 years ago it had ss paint.I brought it back the next 3 days to the dealer and purchased something else.

I didn't realize that washing it would dull the color, but it's certainly not the brilliant ivory white it once was. Guess I'll just have to babysit this a little longer, until I have something else to work on. Thanks for the tips.

[GSKR]

Meant ultima sorry doing this by phone is somewhat a pita.

[GSKR]

I once had a client who had a Honda accord white ss.I compounded the hood roof and trunk .I told him we can no longer do this process.So every 8 months I go there wash the car and use sonax cleaner wax.The sides were not a problem.But this is south fla and the sun intensity is much stronger than new England or midwest. Try a cleaner wax and see if it comes off easily.Some of these ss won't accept a paste wax because it gets sucked into the dry thirsty paint making removal hard.Or you can look up mike Phillips hand glaze process and top it with a paint sealant or finishkare 1000.

[GSKR]

If you want to speed things up with better results buy a portacable polisher and let the machine do all the work for you.

[Mike Phillips]

Is compounding (Meg's Ultimate Compound) the whole car once a year and polishing (Meg's Ultimate Polish) the entire car three or four times a year too much?

Why do you have to compound each year?

Wash and touch paint carefully and you won't have to compound, must polish or use a one-step cleaner/wax.

[CarefulCleaner]

Why do you have to compound each year?

Wash and touch paint carefully and you won't have to compound, must polish or use a one-step cleaner/wax.

Good question, I must have picked up somewhere that it was a good idea to do a complete decontamination each year, which I followed up with compounding and polishing. Guess I can skip the compound then, if I can get the paint clean with just claying, polishing, and waxing (or using a cleaner wax).

[GSKR]

Meguairs d151 would be suitable for your situation and its very affordable comes in a gallon.