Meguiars 7 my versitile old friend

[cheeseman]

I have been using meguiars7 for over ten years now to polish my paint to perfection,and always by hand. I would like to know if anybody else is aware that you can also use the product to remove light swirls,and scratches,working soley by hand,using medium to heavy pressure,using a terry cloth towel folded into quarters. By working the product with firm pressure and until it appears to have dissapeared, you can remove, not just cover up minor defects,depending on your fitness level and time available. I have been using this very method, with sucsess for years and do not have swirl marks,or micro marring on my cars red paint I hope this may be of some help to people who think they have to purchase a pc,and start breaking out various swirl removers, and to others who think you cannot achieve awsome results by hand, using a little time and effort

[gb387]

True you can get very good results by hand with the right combination of products... Before I bought my PC I used the Deep Crystal line and the results were great! I purchased the PC mainly to cut down time and effort, it has done that and IMO improved the look as well, I wouldn't give it up. BUT.... its not a absolute necessity to get those awesome results.

[davisinla]

How would you say it compares to using ScratchX for the same purpose?

[cheeseman]

In comparison to using scratch x,I would say both products do have to be worked well into the finnish to get the dessired results,but with scratch x, you will not be left with the flawless,wet gloss finnish that 7 affords.

[SVT Lightning]

I'm curious cheeseman....do you use anything after #7? NXT or #26 perhaps?

[cheeseman]

Yes,i usualy follow with M21 topped with M26. I have used Nxt wax,but prefer this combo because it is much longer lasting,and looks beter on my dark red metalic finnish.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Meguiar's 7 my versatile old friend

Originally posted by cheeseman

I have been using Meguiar's #7 for over ten years now to polish my paint to perfection,and always by hand.

I would like to know if anybody else is aware that you can also use the product to remove light swirls,and scratches,working solely by hand,using medium to heavy pressure,using a terry cloth towel folded into quarters.

By working the product with firm pressure and until it appears to have disappeared, you can remove, not just cover up minor defects,depending on your fitness level and time available.

Just to chime in, this is true and accurate and in the "old" days of softer, single stage finishes this is how people would remove light swirls and scratches, but, it's not the #7 doing the abrading, it's the nap of the terry cloth towel acting as the abrasive. The #7 acts to lubricate the surface and cushion or buffer the abrading action of the nap.

The softer the paint, the better this works, the harder the paint the less effective this becomes. This is why products like ScratchX exist, unlike products like #7 which are completely non-abrasive, the ScratchX utilizes microscopic diminishing abrasive to gently, but effectively remove small particles of paint.

ScratchX is dramatically more effective for removing swirls and scratches by hand than #7, especially on harder paints. It is possible to use #7 as cheeseman is using it and feel free to try this, but a dedicated paint cleaner will be much more effective at removing defects than a non-abrasive pure polish.

Over the summer I shot a how to video which is days from being ready to order in which we show using ScratchX on a single stage, black lacquer finish to remove swirls, we could have used #7 because the paint on this Corvette is fairly soft and easy to work by hand, but it's not near as effective or as fast as using a product that actually contains a diminishing abrasive designed to remove small particle of paint.

In the end we used a machine to polish out the entire car but we do show the technique for applying ScratchX by hand for anyone that would like to do it this way.

Here's the car,



and the thread,

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6598

So just to agree with cheeseman that it can be done, but to also point out that #7 is non-abrasive and the cleaning ability comes from the nap of the towel and the passion he puts behind it.

Also on this subject, I have asked the author of an older how-to booklet for permission to turn his booklet into a downloadable e-book, word for word the way he wrote in in 1980's, in it he describes the process cheeseman has shared here on our forum.

[Mike Phillips]

I present... #7 Show Car Glaze, formerly, #7 Sealer and Reseal Glaze