Having trouble with #7

[mckeand13]

Just got done washing my '02 Accord which is a maroon/red metallic paint. Temp was about 75degF and overcast so the car was cool. I use cold water for wash/rinse as well so that also keeps everything cool. After washing I pulled it in the garage.

I've used #7 in the past and it really deepens the color which I like. I tried applying it this time and had a lot of trouble. I put a small bead on a foam applicator and started rubbing it around. It seemed as though it was drying very quickly and I have never had that happen before. In the past it seemed as though I was applying and removing something that stayed very oily.

As I rubbed it around, it would even start to ball up and come off of the finish.

I tried applying less as that always seems like the rule, but it got to the point where I was putting just a 1/4" dot on the pad for an area (2' x 2' at most) and I couldn't even get everything in my area covered.

I didn't think this product was even supposed to dry. It almost seemed like I was waxing the car. It was weird. It also left a dark colored residue on my microfiber as I wiped it off. All signs point to too much product, but I swear I was using very, very little of it.

Any suggestions? I has worked before. It has always been stored in my basement and never frozen. I have no idea how old it is.

Thanks.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Having trouble with #7

Try using more product... apply a teaspoon to a tablespoon to your applicator pad and then use a circular motion to spread it out over the area you're working.

Apply, spread out, work in and then wipe off.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Having trouble with #7

....and work a smaller area

[mckeand13]

Re: Having trouble with #7

Mike,

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but more product seems to go against your comments in this post:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/detailing-articles-videos/23740-meguiar-s-7-mike-phillips.html

[mckeand13]

Re: Having trouble with #7

Can #7 be applied with a G100 for larger panels? If so, I would assume the 9006 pad?

[3Fitty]

Re: Having trouble with #7

Use the 8006 pads for #7 and use the 9006 pads for your LSP.

[PorscheGuy997]

Re: Having trouble with #7

#7 doesn't have any cleaners, so it's not worthwhile to use a 8006 pad.

[jmakado]

Re: Having trouble with #7

I have much better luck using #7 via the PC than by hand personally. I use the tan 9006 pad. I work VERY fast when using #7 and cover 1/2 panel at a time with about 4-5 pea sized drops on the pad.

[3Fitty]

Re: Having trouble with #7

I'm dyslexic.

[Orca]

Re: Having trouble with #7

I work by hand and have had a lot of success with #7 working in areas little over 1'x1' (maybe up to 20"x20" at the extreme). I use a hand pad with a good squirt which might equate to about a teaspoon, as Mike says, and work is quickly over the area. DO NOT ALLOW IT TO DRY or it will ball up as you have found. Once spread, just go over it to break it up a little (you will feel it kind of creak) and then wipe off with microfibre. Have your microfibre quartered and handy already on the panel ready to bring into action. Buff ... apply your favourite LSP. That's the hand technique, anyway ... hopefully you'll get some good advice about using your machine. Not having had the experience, I couldn't comment.

Personally, I find this such a pleasurable product to work with by hand and quick, too, I think you guys with your machines are missing out. Certainly polish and correct with a machine and apply your LSP by machine, but this glaze does warrant some hand applied lovin' ... it's like massaging your car after giving it a good scrub

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Having trouble with #7

Mike,

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but more product seems to go against your comments in this post:

That's a really old post... some of the same techniques still apply but the big picture is this, it's not a hard product to use, apply some, work it in and over a section of paint and wipe it off.

It's really not that complicated.

Some Pros will apply to an entire car and then wipe off, the reason they do this is because they have higher skill levels than the average person and have the ability and experience to apply to an entire car at one time and the remove.

Pros tend to want to apply a product to the entire car and then wipe-off the entire car to save time.

The reason we don't recommend applying a pure polish to the average person is because they don't tend to have a lot of experience applying and wiping off product and can find #7 difficult to remove when it's applied to large section at a time and left to sit before wiping off.

You can adjust your own technique to your skill level.

But still, it's really not hard either way, panel by panel or entire car all at once as long as you apply a thin coat and then right afterwards start removing it.

Pure polishes don't need to dry, letting them dry makes them harder to remove, thus the recommendation to remove before it dries.

Hope this helps a little... Anyone in the SoCal area sign-up for Meguiar's Garage on a Thursday Night and we'll show you how easy it is.

Thursday Night "Open Garage" schedule for 2008!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Having trouble with #7

#7 doesn't have any cleaners, so it's not worthwhile to use a 8006 pad.

Just to comment...

#7 is very oily as it's supposed to be and our finishing pad is very soft and pliable... when used together with a DA Polisher the finishing pad can seem to drag over the finish. Not so with a W-8006 Polishing pad because the foam is a little more firm.

This is just an observation, your mileage may vary and feel free to use any combination that works best for your preferences, your paint and your climate.

[mongo]

Re: Having trouble with #7

Yes 7 is oily so need to rub in until most of the oils breakdown so to speak you feel as this happens using the app pad it gives less resistance.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Having trouble with #7

Mike,

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but more product seems to go against your comments in this post:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/detaili...-phillips.html

Not to speak for Mike Phillips, but there is a difference between applying a product in a thin coat (which is what he states in that article) and just using a couple small drops of product on the applicator. You need enough product on the pad and on the paint to keep it wet, but you want to spread that out to a thin layer as you work it. Make sense?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Having trouble with #7

Yes 7 is oily so need to rub in until most of the oils breakdown so to speak you feel as this happens using the app pad it gives less resistance.

The oils don't break down like a diminishing abrasive breaks down...

You apply, work in and work over the paint and then wipe it off.

KISS

Keep It Simple Simon

Don't everyone reading this thread try to take something that is so so simple and make it so so complicated.