Swirls after ScratchX and UC

[ziggo99]

I just finished up washing my Accord and started on trying to remove the swirls that have been there for a while. I started with ScratchX and it showed no improvement. I used the UC on a yellow foam applicator and started working on it and then finished it off with some Cleaner Wax. I'll try posting the pictures below if I can.
before

After

After

Last after

I did one coat of ScratchX and then one coat of and then topped with the Cleaner Wax like I said above. Would another coat of UC pull any more out or would I need to step up to something more powerful, solution wise?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Swirls after ScratchX and UC

You mention using a yellow foam applicator pad - is it safe to assume then that you're working by hand and not with a buffer of some sort? If so, it looks like you made excellent progress for a single hand application of Ultimate Compound. With differences in paint hardness, or workability, you will often seen different results from vehicle to vehicle even using the same process, techniques and products. There certainly are limitations do doing things by hand (a machine won't get tired, after all) but you should be encouraged by these results and by all means a second application is certainly worth exploring. Definitely do yourself a favor, though, and just do a test spot first and then evaluate that spot for progress. Nothing worse than doing an entire vehicle, especially by hand, only to find that the results aren't what you were looking for.

[ziggo99]

Re: Swirls after ScratchX and UC

Yep, I did a roughly 6x3 area on my car to see how it would work. It was the X3070 pad I used, which I don't think is the right pad for UC. Is there another foam pad I could readily pick up at an Advanced Auto Parts or O'Reily's?

[accordcle]

Re: Swirls after ScratchX and UC

I cannot find foam pads anywhere...not at Autozone, Walmart, or Advance Auto...all they have are cotton or microfiber. Where can you get them?

[ziggo99]

Re: Swirls after ScratchX and UC

To tell you the truth I have no idea where I got them. What you can do is pick yourself up a tin of NXT 2.0 wax and it comes with a foam applicator with it you can use.

[River Caddy]

Re: Swirls after ScratchX and UC

I cannot find foam pads anywhere...not at Autozone, Walmart, or Advance Auto...all they have are cotton or microfiber. Where can you get them?

I picked some up at Pep Boys in the last few days. Maybe there's one near you.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Swirls after ScratchX and UC

While the X3070 pad would be the correct choice, you might want to try a test spot with a terry cloth applicator. Terry cloth tends to have some bite of its own, not unlike comparing a W8207/W8006 pad with the W9207/W9006 pad. This extra bite may well help you correct defects a bit quicker, but in some cases it has been known to haze the paint a bit. That situation is fairly rare, and certainly most notable on dark colored vehicles, but it's definitely worth a shot on your light colored Honda. But just do a test spot, don't do the whole car, and give that spot a very critical evaluation in direct sunlight. In the event you do see some light hazing, a follow up application with the same product on an X3070 pad should clear it right up.

Yes, it's a couple of applications rather than just a single pass, but working by hand sometimes means doing an extra step or two.