Using ColorX by hand, for the first time, tips please!

[Raymond]

Just bought ColorX (on sale at Target heh), and I want to give it a shot. I saw some before/after pictures Mike Phillips posted on a car he did with hand-applied ColorX and a coat of NXT, so I want to try it out on my car.

How much product should I use?
Do I use a normal foam applicator pad to apply, or is there something else to use?
Do I let it dry to a haze before wiping off, or do I apply and wipe off instantly?
Just use a normal microfiber to remove?

etc etc... just looking for whatever tips, tricks, how-tos you guys have on using ColorX, as it's new to me.

[Murr1525]

Hard to say the exact amount, something of a quarter size I guess.

Foam would be fine, though like with ScratchX, terry or MF could be used for more bite if needed.

It is a cleaner/wax, so if you want to take advantage of the wax, you would need to let it dry first.

Yeah, regular cloth to remove.

Its a nice product, just work it in like a regular cleaner for a quick detail, or you can give it a bit of extra passion for stronger cleaning, or iere was some kind of defect to try and remove. (Though there would be better products for that of course.)

[Mort Corey]

Great product. I use it for spot repairs between detailing and full waxing.....like if there's a spot from tree droppings or water spotting....it removes minor defects and leaves protection behind as a bonus.

Mort

[Raymond]

Good stuff guys. What do you mean by "there would be better products for removing defects"? Keep in mind I don't have access to any sort of machine so everything has to be hand applied unfortunatley. Thanks for the help.

[Mike Phillips]

The worse the paint is, the more product you'll want to use and the more you'll want to work only small sections at a time.

If the paint is in bad condition, you want a "liquid" amount of product on teh paitn because you want a wet solution of the chemical cleaners doing some work for you. If you work to dry you won't have the "liquid" cleaning abilithy working in your favor.

Here are two threads... this one...

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover


And this one, both of these were done completely BY HAND, no machine work whatsoever. Just a little passion behind the pad...

ColorX
http://www.meguiars.com/?liquid-car-waxes/COLORx

Although the below car is painted, you can see the power of ColorX. Here's what ColorX did by hand to a 1947 Plymouth Coupe,

Before - Horrible Swirls throughout the finish








First we removed the white paint overspray using Meguiar's Quik Clay System now replaced with Smooth Surface Clay Kit.



Then applied one hand application of ColorX followed by one hand application of NXT Tech Wax Liquid

[Murr1525]

Originally Posted by Raymond

What do you mean by "there would be better products for removing defects"?

Most places that sell ColorX would also sell a product called ScratchX. If you cant tell from the name, it is a bit stronger of a cleaner, meant for removing as much swirling/scratching as possible by hand.

Folks who work by hand might do the bad spots/areas with ScratchX first, then go over everything with ColorX.

[Raymond]

Thanks for the post Mike! My paint isn't in bad condition as far as fading goes, but it does have a decent amount of swirling (not NEARLY as much as that plymouth though)... so I think if I use this stuff right, I might be able to get rid of a lot of the swirling. Wish me luck!

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Murr1525

Most places that sell ColorX would also sell a product called ScratchX. If you cant tell from the name, it is a bit stronger of a cleaner, meant for removing as much swirling/scratching as possible by hand.

Folks who work by hand might do the bad spots/areas with ScratchX first, then go over everything with ColorX.

Yeah, I have ScratchX too.. I really need to give it another shot because when I used it for the first time I must have did something wrong (from what I've read on here, I was using too much product), and I left new swirls instead of removing the old ones. Luckily, after my last detail (clay, cleaner wax, polish, carnuaba wax) those swirls were gone... so I'm trying the ColorX this go around.

[Murr1525]

What kind of applicator were you using?

And yeah, you want the product to break down before you remove it to leave a nice finish. So using too much, or keeping adding, will tend to keep you with fresh abrasives, not diminished ones for the final few passes.

[Raymond]

When I used the ScratchX I was using a foam-centered, microfiber covered applicator pad. I think that's what it was, I bought it in a 3pack at AutoZone because none of my local stores sells Meguiars applicator pads.