I cause swirls when polishing with DA, what am I doing wrong?

[Haloruler64]

I took the car outside into the sun. I had compounded and polished yesterday in the shade in my garage on my roof and did everything perfectly (or so I think...). Even did the last section pass perpendicular to the car and then wiped off the polish in small circular motions. The long "swirl" marks are still there, running parallel to the car. There's no way for the buffer to do this. I feel like my polishing pad and compound combo simply isn't aggressive enough to get them out, because they look the SAME as before. Nothing in my last compounding went in that direction, so they have to be from before. Maybe I'm not pushing hard enough on the DA... you guys say 20 lbs. I'm putting significant pressure on it, but not sure how 20 lbs feels. Maybe I need a cutting pad.



I've spent a literal week doing this again and again spending hours and wasting days, and I'm tired of it. I'm gonna give it another shot eventually, and I'll keep researching in the meantime learning as much as possible. It's a skill I want to learn, but not now. I'm burned out, as you can imagine. I washed the car one more time, waxed it, then used my neighbor's Chem Guys V07 quick detailer and sealant on top like the instructions say. It smells AMAZING, and the car looks great at 5 feet. Metallic flake sparkles like it rarely does. This will do for now.

Also I realize this post reads a bit emo, I promise you it's not supposed to! Just a bit burnt out.

[Calendyr]

If you have to polish in the sun, what you can do is re-hydrate your polish while you are polishing. To do this, simply take a spray bottle and fill it with Distilled water. After 2 passes do one spray of water on the pad. After a while you will start to see when the polish is drying out, everytime it does do a spray of water on the pad. This works really well and prevents you from having to seek a garage anytime you need to compound or polish.

I did not read the whole thread so I hope you found your after regarding the swirls.

[Haloruler64]

I appreciate the advice, I shall do so next time I will be polishing.

[Calendyr]

I took the car outside into the sun. I had compounded and polished yesterday in the shade in my garage on my roof and did everything perfectly (or so I think...). Even did the last section pass perpendicular to the car and then wiped off the polish in small circular motions. The long "swirl" marks are still there, running parallel to the car. There's no way for the buffer to do this. I feel like my polishing pad and compound combo simply isn't aggressive enough to get them out, because they look the SAME as before. Nothing in my last compounding went in that direction, so they have to be from before. Maybe I'm not pushing hard enough on the DA... you guys say 20 lbs. I'm putting significant pressure on it, but not sure how 20 lbs feels. Maybe I need a cutting pad.



I've spent a literal week doing this again and again spending hours and wasting days, and I'm tired of it. I'm gonna give it another shot eventually, and I'll keep researching in the meantime learning as much as possible. It's a skill I want to learn, but not now. I'm burned out, as you can imagine. I washed the car one more time, waxed it, then used my neighbor's Chem Guys V07 quick detailer and sealant on top like the instructions say. It smells AMAZING, and the car looks great at 5 feet. Metallic flake sparkles like it rarely does. This will do for now.

Also I realize this post reads a bit emo, I promise you it's not supposed to! Just a bit burnt out.

Here is how you can find out. Take a scale (the type you stand on to measure your weight). Put the polisher on it. It should read something like 5 pounds or less. Then apply pressure until it reads 20 pounds. Do this until your muscle know how it feels like to apply 20 pounds. Remember this is on an horizontal panel. When you do a vertical one you will need to apply a tiny bit more pressure to compensate for the fact the weight of the machine is not on the surface anymore.

An other thing you can do is apply enough pressure to slow down the pad a little bit. This is where you will get maximum correction ability. The pad needs to keep spinning but that point where it starts to slow down is the sweet spot. Again with time your muscle will learn just how much pressure to apply.

[Haloruler64]

Here is how you can find out. Take a scale (the type you stand on to measure your weight). Put the polisher on it. It should read something like 5 pounds or less. Then apply pressure until it reads 20 pounds. Do this until your muscle know how it feels like to apply 20 pounds. Remember this is on an horizontal panel. When you do a vertical one you will need to apply a tiny bit more pressure to compensate for the fact the weight of the machine is not on the surface anymore.

An other thing you can do is apply enough pressure to slow down the pad a little bit. This is where you will get maximum correction ability. The pad needs to keep spinning but that point where it starts to slow down is the sweet spot. Again with time your muscle will learn just how much pressure to apply.

I can't believe I didn't think of that... fantastic idea. Thanks!

[TTQ B4U]

I took the car outside into the sun. I had compounded and polished yesterday in the shade in my garage on my roof and did everything perfectly (or so I think...). Even did the last section pass perpendicular to the car and then wiped off the polish in small circular motions. The long "swirl" marks are still there, running parallel to the car. There's no way for the buffer to do this. I feel like my polishing pad and compound combo simply isn't aggressive enough to get them out, because they look the SAME as before. Nothing in my last compounding went in that direction, so they have to be from before. Maybe I'm not pushing hard enough on the DA... you guys say 20 lbs. I'm putting significant pressure on it, but not sure how 20 lbs feels. Maybe I need a cutting pad.

I've spent a literal week doing this again and again spending hours and wasting days, and I'm tired of it. I'm gonna give it another shot eventually, and I'll keep researching in the meantime learning as much as possible. It's a skill I want to learn, but not now. I'm burned out, as you can imagine. I washed the car one more time, waxed it, then used my neighbor's Chem Guys V07 quick detailer and sealant on top like the instructions say. It smells AMAZING, and the car looks great at 5 feet. Metallic flake sparkles like it rarely does. This will do for now.

Also I realize this post reads a bit emo, I promise you it's not supposed to! Just a bit burnt out.

My advice is this.

Ditch the compound. The swirls and defects and over condition of the paint that I've seen don't require it. A good polish like Meg's ulitmate or HDSpeed or ect. with an orange pad is all that those marks show in the four second video need. They wouldn't even take that much pressure.

Based on the length of them and direction and now I'm thinking your water spots....are those after washing it? are likely induced either during the wash or drying of the car. Could seriously even be your MF Towels themselves. In fact on my S4 if I try and use the cheap thin ones from say Autozone or Wally World, those are the types of marks they would put on the clear coat. Is your MR2 a single stage paint like a lot of Toyotas? That looks to be some pretty hard water too. Are you using warm/hot water to wash it? It looks just like the spots that would form from using hot water from an old tank.

Here's a screen shot for others to see what we're talking about.




Honestly, I'd reach out to Limny Kuang here on the board. I don't know him but have seen his posts and know that he's in your area. I'm sure he'd be open to you coming down to his place to give you insight. http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/.../cg6lemon.html

Most everyone here is very helpful like that.

[Haloruler64]

My advice is this.

Ditch the compound. The swirls and defects and over condition of the paint that I've seen don't require it. A good polish like Meg's ulitmate or HDSpeed or ect. with an orange pad is all that those marks show in the four second video need. They wouldn't even take that much pressure.

Based on the length of them and direction and now I'm thinking your water spots....are those after washing it? are likely induced either during the wash or drying of the car. Could seriously even be your MF Towels themselves. In fact on my S4 if I try and use the cheap thin ones from say Autozone or Wally World, those are the types of marks they would put on the clear coat. Is your MR2 a single stage paint like a lot of Toyotas? That looks to be some pretty hard water too. Are you using warm/hot water to wash it? It looks just like the spots that would form from using hot water from an old tank.

Here's a screen shot for others to see what we're talking about.

I shall ditch the compound, it hasn't really been doing much "cutting" anyway. I dunno, am I doing something wrong in that even compound is not getting those lines out? They're there even after compounding, almost like the compound isn't doing anything.

I washed the car the night before and didn't dry it, parked it in the garage. Washed it using the hose, cold water. California water, it's clean stuff. I took the video as I rolled the car out of the garage. Water spots are unrelated, it's about the fine lines going only in one direction.

I'm using a mix of brand new Chemical Guys MF towels and Meguiar's Supreme Shine MF towels, both good towels IMO.

[TTQ B4U]

I shall ditch the compound, it hasn't really been doing much "cutting" anyway. I dunno, am I doing something wrong in that even compound is not getting those lines out? They're there even after compounding, almost like the compound isn't doing anything.

I washed the car the night before and didn't dry it, parked it in the garage. Washed it using the hose, cold water. California water, it's clean stuff. I took the video as I rolled the car out of the garage. Water spots are unrelated, it's about the fine lines going only in one direction.

I'm using a mix of brand new Chemical Guys MF towels and Meguiar's Supreme Shine MF towels, both good towels IMO.

I edited my above post. do reach out to the member I linked.

In terms of what is going on, obviously I can't say as the compound with an orange pad should work just fine. Here's a Before and After of Meg's Ulitmate Compound with a 7424XP from earlier this year with a chem guys hexlogic orange pad.

Not sure what you mean by the water spots unrelated because if that is an example of your water from the hose, that's pretty hard stuff. Use a drying aid mixed up from Wolfgang Uber for sure, blot dry and then if you ever wipe the surface with a MF Rag when not removing product, make sure it's lubed with the same drying aid or a detail spray of some sort. The hardness in that water is stout.

[Haloruler64]

I edited my above post. do reach out to the member I linked.

In terms of what is going on, obviously I can't say as the compound with an orange pad should work just fine. Here's a Before and After of Meg's Ulitmate Compound with a 7424XP from earlier this year with a chem guys hexlogic orange pad.

Not sure what you mean by the water spots unrelated because if that is an example of your water from the hose, that's pretty hard stuff. Use a drying aid mixed up from Wolfgang Uber for sure, blot dry and then if you ever wipe the surface with a MF Rag when not removing product, make sure it's lubed with the same drying aid or a detail spray of some sort. The hardness in that water is stout.

Thank you, I'll get in touch with him.

Maybe it's the pads? I have a great polisher and Meg's Ultimate Compound is good. I'm using Meg's foam polishing pads, not a cutting pad.

I understand it's hard stuff, but is this going to have an effect on my detailing of it? I don't let the water dry on my panels usually, I just got frustrated that day and washed the car off and parked it without drying. Which wasn't smart of me, I re-washed it today and fully dried and waxed it.

[TTQ B4U]

Thank you, I'll get in touch with him.

Maybe it's the pads? I have a great polisher and Meg's Ultimate Compound is good. I'm using Meg's foam polishing pads, not a cutting pad.

Not at all familiar with their pads. My guess is the polishing pad is too soft. I'd use an orange pad or a white pad. White pads are softer and might take a bit longer is all. The impact of either is just in how much pressure they transmit to the product on top of the paint. The product is the most primary function when correcting. Pads some next.

I understand it's hard stuff, but is this going to have an effect on my detailing of it?

hard water like that could introduce marring if you're wiping it with a towel. not as likely but then keep in mind that wipe residue is hardness. Like rocks in powdered sugar form.