Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair products

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Hello,

I am trying to take my auto detailing to the next level and have been trying to learn about new products to use. In the past I have stuck to waxing my car in the Spring and in the Fall. This past Spring I decided to give SwirlX a try on my hood. I was mostly satisfied with the results, it managed to get the worst swirls out along with some scratches. I think my technique was not quite there.

Recently I have been reading about other products such as Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish, and I am a bit confused. I always thought that compound products were more meant for spot treating areas with moderate scratches or scuffs...however I saw a few threads on here where people compounded their entire car and discussed compounding it once a year. If compounds remove part of your paint, wouldn't it be unsafe to use them regularly? In other words, wouldn't you eventually make it clean through the clear coat? I do not understand. Same question in regard to Ultimate Polish since I understand it also is abrasive to an extent.

I am planning on doing a full detail in a few weeks. There is an area on my car where some terrible person scuffed while I was parked and did not leave a note. Last Fall I used some turtle wax compound on the area and it removed most of the white paint they left along with most of the scuffs. I am not 100% satisfied however and was thinking of giving Ultimate Compound a try. Going along the lines of my previous question, would it be safe to try compounding that area again, or do I run the risk of going through the clear coat? I was also going to give SwirlX a try on my hood again as well as use Ultimate Polish on the entire car....same question applies.

I am very worried about doing something wrong and messing up my paint. I tried to take some pictures of the areas I am referencing; I hope that helps.

I know this was a long post, so I supposed in short summary my question is: Is it safe to use compounds such as Ultimate Compound and other paint repair products such as SwirlX, ScratchX, and Ultimate Polish consistently, or do you run the risk of rubbing the entire clear coat off?

Thank you all in advance!

https://imgur.com/a/Wt6nR

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Anyone got any idea?

[snozan]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Well in my humble opinion Ultimate compound is only necessary when neglected, which means you'll prolly use it once a year top. Once your paint is good you maintain it regularly so it get's more easy everytime

I did Clay, Ultimate compound, Ultimate polish, Ultimate liquid wax and to top it off Ultimate fast finish. The paint hadn't got any care since new (2002, so 15 years). My goal was to make it "Better then before".

[Old Bear]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Art
From the image of the deep scuff, it will be difficult to tell if that is paint transfer, or if the scratches are deep enough that they go into your primer.
Can you feel those scratches going in through the paint?

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Well in my humble opinion Ultimate compound is only necessary when neglected, which means you'll prolly use it once a year top. Once your paint is good you maintain it regularly so it get's more easy everytime

I did Clay, Ultimate compound, Ultimate polish, Ultimate liquid wax and to top it off Ultimate fast finish. The paint hadn't got any care since new (2002, so 15 years). My goal was to make it "Better then before".

Wow! It looks like you did a really good job. I try to take really good care of my car (hence the reason why I have been reading about new products). Plus it is only 2.5 years old. Perhaps compounding my entire car is not necessary based on what you are saying. Would polishing be safe to do then? Also I noticed in the areas that I tried removing swirls last time that there is an ever so slight haze in the paint (I am assuming this is because I did not work the product in correctly). Would ultimate polish be able to take care of that?

Thanks!

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Art
From the image of the deep scuff, it will be difficult to tell if that is paint transfer, or if the scratches are deep enough that they go into your primer.
Can you feel those scratches going in through the paint?

Yes and no. Some parts I can feel my finger nail go in very slightly. Other parts of it feel pretty smooth. The scuffed area is a bit larger than what the picture shows. It could just be that I smoothed it down with the turtle wax compound. I am not sure. That is why I am a little apprehensive to give compound another go; I do not want to go through the clear coat.

[Old Bear]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

A couple of things.

If I understand correctly, it sounds like you haven't used Ultimate Compound yet. It sounds like you used the Turtle Wax Compound and saw some haze (light micro abrasions from the compound).

Depending on the paint, it is possible to get hazing when compounding. Following the compound step with Ultimate Polish should get rid of the hazing and bring out a great shine to the paint.

I am going to hold off on the deep scuffs and let Nick Winn, Mike Stoops, or someone with more experience diagnosing images provide a recommendation. Your enhanced description using your hand tools (fingernail) will help them make suggestions.

I notice in the image that there are a lot of water spots on either side of your legs. Possibly these were washed off. Reply back whether those are permanent water stains, because that will affect their recommendation on whether Ultimate Polish (plus a wax/sealant) may be enough. It may also be possible that the new D166 might work as a cleaner/wax to correct the water spots. It depends on how far etched they are into the clear coat.

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

A couple of things.

If I understand correctly, it sounds like you haven't used Ultimate Compound yet. It sounds like you used the Turtle Wax Compound and saw some haze (light micro abrasions from the compound).

Depending on the paint, it is possible to get hazing when compounding. Following the compound step with Ultimate Polish should get rid of the hazing and bring out a great shine to the paint.

I am going to hold off on the deep scuffs and let Nick Winn, Mike Stoops, or someone with more experience diagnosing images provide a recommendation. Your enhanced description using your hand tools (fingernail) will help them make suggestions.

I notice in the image that there are a lot of water spots on either side of your legs. Possibly these were washed off. Reply back whether those are permanent water stains, because that will affect their recommendation on whether Ultimate Polish (plus a wax/sealant) may be enough. It may also be possible that the new D166 might work as a cleaner/wax to correct the water spots. It depends on how far etched they are into the clear coat.

I think I caused some confusion. Allow me to clarify!

I have not used any ultimate compound yet. I did use turtle wax compound about a year ago but only in the area that my car got hit. There is not any hazing in this area.

A few months ago I used SwirlX on my hood to try to remove swirls. This is where I can see the slight hazing.

As for the water spots, my car was in need of a wash when this picture was taken. They are not permanent.

Sorry about that! Thank you!

[Old Bear]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Art
Let's try one more thing with your hand if you have a chance. This might help others with a recommendation.

The depth of clear coat varies. On newer production cars, they put it on efficiently. That means not very thick.
Take a single 3M Post_It note and stick it on the top of your desk. Pull your fingernail back to the note.
In your best estimation, are the scratches deeper, the same or less than that depth?

[Nick Winn]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Hi Art,

Great questions. You are correct, various Meguiar's products use very specialized automotive specific abrasives which work to permanently remove defects, which will remove a microscopic amount of paint. "Microscopic" is the key here. To give you an example, most often times even when applying some of our most aggressive compounds with a dual action polisher machine, the amount of clear coat removed is still extremely microscopic & not of great concern. Again, this is with some of our most aggressive processes on dual action polisher machine. So hopefully that puts things in perspective. With that said, it's still a good idea to try to use aggressive compounds on an as needed basis. Ideally, a user would "correct" the vehicle of moderate swirls/scratches with for example a compound, and maybe after 6 months or a year, very light defects are picked up from driving, washing, wiping down, etc., which a mild cleaner/polish product would take care of, like SwirlX or Ultimate Polish. Always use the least aggressive process needed, but also don't be afraid to use compounds.

Are you working by hand or machine? If machine, what type?

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Art
Let's try one more thing with your hand if you have a chance. This might help others with a recommendation.

The depth of clear coat varies. On newer production cars, they put it on efficiently. That means not very thick.
Take a single 3M Post_It note and stick it on the top of your desk. Pull your fingernail back to the note.
In your best estimation, are the scratches deeper, the same or less than that depth?

In my estimation I would say the scratches as they are right now are much less than the depth of a post it note. The depth they were at prior to applying the turtle wax compound last year I honestly do not remember. If I had to guess I would also say it was less.

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Hi Art,

Great questions. You are correct, various Meguiar's products use very specialized automotive specific abrasives which work to permanently remove defects, which will remove a microscopic amount of paint. "Microscopic" is the key here. To give you an example, most often times even when applying some of our most aggressive compounds with a dual action polisher machine, the amount of clear coat removed is still extremely microscopic & not of great concern. Again, this is with some of our most aggressive processes on dual action polisher machine. So hopefully that puts things in perspective. With that said, it's still a good idea to try to use aggressive compounds on an as needed basis. Ideally, a user would "correct" the vehicle of moderate swirls/scratches with for example a compound, and maybe after 6 months or a year, very light defects are picked up from driving, washing, wiping down, etc., which a mild cleaner/polish product would take care of, like SwirlX or Ultimate Polish. Always use the least aggressive process needed, but also don't be afraid to use compounds.

Are you working by hand or machine? If machine, what type?

Nick,

Thank you for putting all of that into perspective for me. That really cleared things up for me and eased some of my concerns. I recently purchased an aresenal of meguiars products. I think I will stick with the ultimate polish and the swirlX since I do not feel the entire vehicle requires ultimate compound.

I will be applying all this by hand by the way. Any tips for reducing haze? I think last time I either used too much product or was not holding the pad properly (based on what I read somewhere else in the forum). I also did not follow the swirlX with ultimate polish last time. Last time I was using a terry cloth pad, I purchased foam pads this time. I'm thinking that could have been a mistake on my part as well.

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Well I just finished washing, claying, polishing, and waxing my car. It took me about 10 hours total. I think it turned out nicely. I tried using ultimate compound on that spot where someone hit me, I think it may have made it a little bit better, but it did not remove it completely.

The one thing I had major issues with was using the ultimate polish (I was working by hand). I used a small section on my trunk as a test spot. Immediately I knew I used too much product because it came out streaky. I tried the same spot a few more times and finally got good results. However, the main issue I was having was no matter what I did when I would go to wipe the polish off, there would still be residue of the polish stuck to the car and I would have to put more polish on to dissolve it.

I tried several things to combat this: more product, less product, work it in longer till it becomes clear instead of hazy, not working it in as much, using more pressure, using less pressure, etc...Nothing seemed to be working for me. I ended up going over areas several times. In total I think it took me about 5 hours to polish the whole thing and I still found more residue when I pulled it out of the garage and into the sun.

I think the thing that worked best for me was using minimal product and easing up on the pressure while working it in to make it clear. Although since I eased up on the pressure while working it in, I do not know if the product ended up doing its job since I was being gentle about it. But anyway, I found that if you keep the pressure on, the foam pad just kept releasing more product since it is foam and was acting like a sponge. With all that being said, I still had a terribly difficult time using ultimate polish.

Anyone have any pointers for me for future reference? I was working about 1' by 1' areas the entire time.

I attached links to the end result

https://imgur.com/a/IeEfF

[Old Bear]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Art
Very good looking black Challenger.

I think you are correct about too much polish product being used.
Nick and others will chime in about hand use pads and pressure.

I used an advanced technique to find your .jpg filename and brought it into the thread.

[Art_Vandelay_10]

Re: Rookie here. Very confused about Ultimate Compound and other paint repair product

Thanks Old Bear!

Do you think next time I try to polish I could use some quick detailer to help get the polish residue off in between applications? Or is that a bad idea?