Polishing and waxing procedure

[mercuri]

Hi Mike!

Sorry...i missed out the thread on sending email to you...
here are my queries...

i have a situation here...Hope you could clear my doubts.

I have a paintwork which i could see oxidation, scratches and swirl mark on some areas. I believed the paintwork still has some residual sealant that i had applied previously. I hope to restore my 7mths old ride to its good old days...

I have with me Meguiar ScratchX and the Body Scrub. So question is, should i use Body scrub to remove the residual sealant 1st, then ScratchX to remove the swirl/scratches, followed by a mild cleaner/polish(something like...Klasse AIO) and lastly sealant?

As i currently use Klasse AIO which is a cleaner, would it remove any ScratchX to reveal the swirl mark that it is supposed to cover? Any compatibility issue?

I am planning to finish up my remaining Klasse before getting any meguiar product for such purposes. Any recommendations?

Appreciate your attention on my query...I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Thank you very much!

[LiquidBlack]

From my perspective, you can jump into scratch-x without using the body scrub first.

Scratch-X is a medium aggressive cleaner, and it will remove whatever sealant you have on your car.

Secondly, Scratch-X is made not to hide swirls and blemishes, but to remove them altogether. The diminishing abraisives found in scratch x work down the areas around the scratches and swirls, leaving the surface uniform and removing the swirls. For these diminishing abrasives to work themselves in and out, you must work the product in for awhile, wipe, repeat.

What it means to remove a scratch

[Mike Phillips]

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

You only need to use one paint cleaner. If you have swirls and scratches, then go with ScratchX. If it's powerful enough to remove paint, it will be removing any previously applied wax.

Here's a thread on using ScratchX, remember to work a small area at a time, overlap your areas and often times it takes 2-3 applications to remove light scratches it depends on how hard your paint is and good your technique is.

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1516

You might want to read through both of these forums for lots of great information,

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=33

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=80

and of course this one...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2409

[gb387]

I agree with the above on the ScratchX, what are you going to apply after the ScratchX? Wax/polish?

Oh yeah... Welcom to MOL!

[mercuri]

Thank you Liquidblack and Mike for your invaluable guidance...will try it out.

gb387, Thanks! I am not too sure at this moment as my usual steps is after applying the cleaner(Klasse AIO), i will put on Klasse Sealant Glaze(SG)

Should i apply a layer of DC#2 after scratchX? hope it will bring out the gloss of the paintwork. Afterwhich, i will seal it with my remaining SG or #21.

Do you think i could mix Meguiar with other products since i still got some SG left?

Thank you all for your inputs...

[Murr1525]

Well, first, nothing is certain when mixing different companies products. However, based on my experiences and what I have read/heard, Meguiars products seem to work well with most companies, at worst you may get an odd smear, nothing major.

And I assume you are working by hand?

As for polishing, yes, that would be a great idea. The best thing you can do is use all 3 steps, cleaning, polishing, and waxing (2 coats is best). Your AIO covered all 3 steps, plus your sealant on top, covered everything.

However, using ScratchX, it is only a cleaner. So using DC#2 as a polish step, then #21 (2 thin coats is best), will cover all 3 steps perfectly.

[inthedetails]

I wish I had remembered to take pics, but I did a VW Bug yesterday with a nice white scratch in the passengers door (3 to 4 inches long)

Anyway I hit it with scratch x several times and although you could still see it, you really had to look for it. After the rest of my polish I hit it with 2 coats NXT and the door looked like a blue/purple mirror (customer's words, not mine)

Scratch X is the bomb!