Cutting big mistake...

**John_Jethro** · 04-20-2015, 06:43 AM

Guys I really need all of the pros help...I'm facing a hard time after a client asked for her "scratch" which was obviously a paint transfer on her plastic bumper. At that time I left my rubbing compound by coincidence. So I decided to take my cutting wool pad on my Dewalt 849X rotary polisher with Meg UC, run through the paint transfer with some pressure but to no avail, it did not remove so I decided to put even more pressure then...paint came off.

Cutting big mistake...-imageuploadedbyagonline1429530007-468527-jpg

Cutting big mistake...-imageuploadedbyagonline1429530149-935254-jpg

**John_Jethro** · 04-20-2015, 06:44 AM

Ps, it's a Honda civic. Soft paint. I need advise...what should I do?

**lawrenceSA** · 04-20-2015, 07:06 AM

Sorry to hear about your incident but it would seem that a re-paint is the only way to fix that. There is no product that can 'add' paint back, well, except for paint...

I am curious though why you went with such an aggressive approach right off the bat. You should always try use the least aggressive method to get the job done.

I would have started by trying to clay off the paint transfer.

If that didn't work I would have used a finishing polish on a foam pad only stepping up to a medium cut polish if needed.

To be compounding plastic bumpers is risky, especially with a rotary and wool pad. Remember that plastic does not dissipate the heat like a metal panel does and combined with all the 'sharp' and 'curvy' edges a bumper has you really are asking for trouble getting too aggressive, which, is what looks like happened in your case.

**HUMP DIESEL** · 04-20-2015, 07:10 AM

Re-paint the bumper, and write this one down as experience.

HUMP

**d33p** · 04-20-2015, 07:41 AM

Thats something I would have rubbed by hand with light polish at first and then moved up.

You went straight to the sledgehammer!

**John_Jethro** · 04-20-2015, 08:07 AM

Yeahhh..but what a coincidence I left my rubbing compound at other places. The owner was in a hurry giving me only 4 hours to detail the car which ends up I couldn't compete it. Looks like I got to compensate it by sending it for a respray..A very valuable Lesson learned: Never rush work, never jump straight to the very aggressive. Thank you guys for the support.

**John_Jethro** · 04-20-2015, 08:19 AM

Guys, I got an idea. How about touch up paint? Is this a great solution to the damage? Been checking out on internet and it seems like used for scratches too besides chips.

**Evan.J** · 04-20-2015, 08:29 AM

They only way to properly fix this is to have the bumper repainted. You need to explain what you did and what happened to the customer and tell them that you will take care of this for them.

**Muddyoldgoat** · 04-20-2015, 08:31 AM

I had a car awhile back that had been resprayed on one of the doors. Orange foam with 105 on my flex put a nice little burn thru the clear. Rest of the door was fine. I think it was a defect in the paint but all the same I caused the burn.
I didn't charge for the detail and offered to pay for a respray. The customer said they would contact me with quotes but planned to trade in the car. I was only out the detail cost. Be upfront and do the right thing. Your buffer = your wallet.

**wdmaccord** · 04-20-2015, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by John_Jethro

Yeahhh..but what a coincidence I left my rubbing compound at other places. The owner was in a hurry giving me only 4 hours to detail the car which ends up I couldn't compete it. Looks like I got to compensate it by sending it for a respray..A very valuable Lesson learned: Never rush work, never jump straight to the very aggressive. Thank you guys for the support.

Another lesson. Don't let someone hurry you into making an error in judgement. Personally, one thing I don't do is let someone tell me how long I have to do a job. I estimate time for them and usually try to overshoot by a couple hours, which means I might have it back to them early. Again, just me.