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Hi guys and gals. I have a 2001 Jetta and the paint isn't in too bad of condition. I have a jillion light swirls (because I'm nuts and wash it too much). Just bought clay bar and color-x, and from what i'm reading, color-x isn't too great for swirls, but rather scratch-x. I've looked all over the place and have gotten plenty of conflicting answers. Question is: would it be wise for me to use the color-x to remove oxidation now and get some scratch-x and use it later in the season to get rid of some swirling? This will all be by hand, as I do not have ready access to any power tools of the buffing sort. Thanks!
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Re: A little confused
well if you have swirls then scratch-x will defiently work better.Originally posted by Master Blaster View Post
are you doing this all by hand or machine polish?
personally, i'd would get rid of all the swirls NOW and then just maintain it throughout the year. or else who knows, you might inflict even worse swirls and cause more headaches down the road.
since you say you have swirls from washing to much. are you using the TWO BUCKET METHOD?
The 5-Step Paint Care Cycle.
Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle
Step 1 Wash
Step 2 Clean
Step 3 Polish
Step 4 Protect
Step 5 Maintain -
Re: A little confused
Let me try to remove the confusion...
ScratchX is a dedicated paint cleaner, that is it's sole purpose is to remove swirls and scratches. Because it's a Meguiar's product it also makes the paint look good and some people confuse these results and think they've just waxed their car but that's not the case and ScratchX always need to be followed with a wax of some type.
ColorX is what is called a "cleaner/wax". A cleaner/wax is probably the most common "wax type product" on the market as the majority of the people in the world are 'not' what we would classify as "Serious Enthusiasts", for this reason they wash and wax their car 1, 2, maybe 3 times a year.
Because they don't wax their car very often, but for most people their car is their main mode of transportation, that is it's a "Daily Driver", the paint gets dirty, as in stained and light oxidation, and it also gets a build-up of what we call "Above Surface Bonded Contaminants".
Besides these two issues, clear coats finishes are what we call Scratch-Sensitive, that is although most clear coat paints are much harder than traditional single-stage paints, they still scratch very easily and because there is a solid color coat under the clear layer of paint, the swirls in the clear coat finish are very easy for our eyes to see.
These appearance of these unsightly swirls tends to bother serious enthusiasts and frustrate everyone when they try to remove them because of the "Paint Hardness Factor" common to most clear coats paints.
In a nutshell, the harder the paint, the more difficult it will be for you and I to remove the swirls and scratches, especially by hand because removing swirls and scratches, (below surface defects), means removing paint, more specifically, it means removing the upper layer of paint in an effort to level the entire surface until the highest or uppermost surface is level with the lowest depths of all the swirls and scratches. Because clear coat paints tend to be harder, not softer than traditional paints, removing small particles of paint with some type of paint cleaner or cleaner wax is difficult, even if you use the right technique and even if you're good at doing this, it's still a tough job.
Now let's circle this back to why most consumer waxes on the market are cleaner/waxes. Because the average person only waxes their car 1-3 times a year, and because most cars are daily drivers and the paint is deteriorating over time, the average person needs a wax that will clean the surface, i.e. remove contaminants, stains, oxidation, light swirls and scratches and any other element that is on the paint or in the microscopic surface imperfections to expose a fresh clean layer or base of paint, (the clear coat) for two primary reasons,
- To return clarity to the clear coat so you can see the color coat underneath
- To allow the wax or protection ingredients in the cleaner/wax to properly bond or adhere to the paint surface so that it will last over time and thus be able to protect the paint and slow down the deterioration process.
Follow me so far?
Now on the topic of whether ColorX is effective at removing swirls and scratches, (removing paint), and whether ColorX is more effective at removing swirls and scratches as compared to a dedicated paint cleaner specifically formulated to remove swirls and scratches, (remove paint), in most cases it's safe to say that a dedicated product specifically formulated for removing swirls and scratches will work better than a product specifically designed to do 3 things like ColorX;
- Remove above and below surface defects
- Polish the paint - Meguiar's definition of polish means to add gloss, beauty, depth, clarity etc.
- Leave behind a protective layer on the surface
That said, now you have to take in other factors such as how either of these two products will be applied.
By Hand - When you work by hand you're actually working with 4 fingers and a pressure surface are of the size of about 4 dimes or nickles depending upon how small or larger the face of your fingers are. Your pad might be 4" or 5" in diameter, but when you hold it in your hand you grasp it between your thumb and your four fingers, thus you have four finger tips pushing down on a applicator pad an most of the pressure is under the area where the face of your finger tips are pushing down on the pad. (Make sense? grab a wax pad and hold it and look at your fingers)
By Machine - In this example we're talking about the G100 or what the rest of the world calls the PC and our W-8006 foam pad with a diameter of 6"
With a machine you have equal pressure over the entire face of the pad and a work horse that doesn't get tired, i.e. the drive unit powered by an electric motor.
The human hand cannot outperform the effectiveness of the machine when it comes to removing below surface defects like swirls and scratches, (removing paint).
The machine will be able to work any paint cleaner like ScratchX or any cleaner/wax like ColorX a zillion times better than your 4 fingers pushing down on an applicator pad and factor in the machine doesn't get tired, the power and effectiveness of a product to remove swirls and scratches when worked by machine is dramatically greater than the same product applied by hand.
Is ColorX able to remove swirls and scratches out of a clear coat finish? In a word, 'yes', is it limited in what it can do? 'yes'. The limitations are things like,
- Paint hardness
- Depth of swirls and scratches
- And just as important the skill level of the person doing the application
Because ColorX is a one-step cleaner/wax, not only can it work to help remove swirls and scratches but because it's a wax it can also help to fill-in and hide swirls and scratches, so you have two things helping you to get the results you want however one of these things is only temporary as wax will wear off.
Keep in mind, some people on some discussion forums will post things without thinking things all they way through, by this I mean often times you'll find a post by someone that positions the act of "filling" as a bad thing for a wax to do, what they don't understand is that ANY wax that actually works, that is the wax after being applied and allowed to dry and then after the excess dried residue is removed, if in fact the wax is working, that means it left a protective layer behind on the surface... then the wax is filling.
Thus any good wax, no matter what name used to describe the product on the label, for example wax, paint protectant, polish, glaze, synthetic sealant, etc., if the purpose of the product is to protect the paint, (no matter what word is used on the label), then by definition it is filling in because it is coating over and leaving itself behind.
Does all of the above make sense?
Can you find another another forum where someone can explain it better that conflicts with what is written above?
Can you find anyone that can take what is written above and disprove any part of it?
Note: Just trying to help remove the confusion from what you could potentially read anywhere else on the Internet.
Spend some time searching and if you can find something written by someone else on some other forum that explains it better or different and you like that explanation better... then go with it.
Until then, if you have swirls in your car's paint and you want to make them go away, then all you need to do is decide how much time and effort you want to put into the process.
If you want to do the minimum,
- Wash
- Clay
- Wax
Then you want ColorX
If you are willing to do more steps, then you want,
- Wash
- Clay
- Clean - ScratchX
- Wax - Any wax will do, including ColorX
As to wax selection, most people would opt for a wax that's not a cleaner/wax because you accomplished this with the ScratchX and now you can use a wax where the focus on the formula is not so much cleaning but creating beauty and adding protection, waxes like Gold Class Wax, NXT Tech Wax, M26, M21 etc.
Here's a thread that outlines a multiple step process for removing swirls by hand, you can skip the polish step as its not necessary but optional.
How To Remove Swirls By Hand
Here's a thread on using washing, claying and waxing,
1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover
Note the first message in the thread is missing some words and pictures due to a forum glitch, I'll try to locate them and replace them but you can get the idea by reading the rest of the thread.
This took over an hour to type up, hope it helps...
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Re: A little confused
And Truffle Pig beats me to it...
We need to learn to think and type faster...
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