ScratchX (original) completely useless by hand?? What am I doing wrong??

[Scotty89]

Ok, so I had tried it before, and found it useless - then I signed up here and was directed to the instructional from one of the Meguiars DIY saturday classes, and also the Meguiars video on how to remove swirls by hand using scratchX.

I washed my car today and clayed it, then had another go with the scratchX.

I used it both with the yellow Meguiars applicator pad, and the Meguiars microfiber applicator pads. I tried scrubbing as hard as I could, and I tried rubbing gently - On deep scratches, light scratches, swirls, bird drop etchings, and other defects...

The result.... nothing. Nothing at all.
I really couldn't notice a difference at all. I tried it several times, re-applying and wiping it off. Up to 4-5 times I applied it on some of the marks, and still nothing.

In another of the threads I saw a list of the abrassiveness of all the products and scratchX 1.0 was the least abrassive of all the products - still, I couldn't at all get it to remove even the lightest of swirls. What is the go??

In the thread with the Meguiars class doing a paint correction with ScratchX on a green Mercedes, the instructor got phenomenal results - I was astounded, by the finish that he got. From the pictures, the tube of scratchX appeared to be the old one, which is the same one I have tried. So what am I doing wrong? I just can't figure it out.

Also, it says on the bottle to apply with the pad, and let dry?? Most people on here are saying that the only products that require drying time, are the waxes/sealants?? How come the directions tell me to wait, and wipe off the excess after its dry?


So anyway, I am a bit annoyed after spending several hours at it today - I will be buying a bottle of Ultimate compound next time I get the chance, then I'm going to go nuts. The paint won't know what hit it.

[Ganesa]

Re: ScratchX (original) completely useless by hand?? What am I doing wrong??

hey scotty, dont get all frustrated... its always a trial and error to perfection :]...

Anyways, was the liquid in your scratchx thick or watery? I've experienced my bottle of scratchX all watery when I bought it, and it didn't quite give me the result I wanted either.. but, did you shake the bottle before pouring it out on your applicator pad?
it may help mixing the chemicals back again.

How big of an area did you work with? if you used it on a too large of an area, and didn't give the same amount of pressure over the area, your unlikely to get the results you wanted. And also, it is important not to let cleaner products left to dry, because it will be difficult for you to buff.

Since there are new products of Meguiars cleaner products from the consumer line, you should really try out "SwirlX" before you try out "Ultimate Compound", always try/use the least aggresive cleaner.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: ScratchX (original) completely useless by hand?? What am I doing wrong??

Ultimate Compound will definitely work much faster than ScratchX. The new ScratchX does work really well, that is the version that uses SMAT versus DAT.

That said, I can't count how many times I've removed swirls and scratches out of clear coat paints using the original ScratchX, it really comes down to using good technique and only working a small section at at time, that is a foot squared or smaller.

If you really want a nice looking finish then moving up to machine cleaning and polishing is the way to go.

Get the Ultimate Compound and some foam applicator pads and give it a try as it does work better and faster by hand than working with ScratchX version 1.0

[RGP]

Re: ScratchX (original) completely useless by hand?? What am I doing wrong??

Hi Scotty,

Sometime if you're really bored, you can wade through this thread of mine regarding your situation. I'm just hopin' Santa brings me a Meguiar's G110 for Christmas.

At your age, I also thought there was nothing I couldn't conquer, but I think manually attempting to remove the defects you allude to is out of the question. Gotta have power!

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35791

[Scotty89]

Re: ScratchX (original) completely useless by hand?? What am I doing wrong??

Nice thread there Bob. I did give it a read, and it sounds like the scratchX 2.0 is a much improved version over the original scratchX.

I'm going to buy some Ultimate Compound tomorrow... I am quite excited actually.

If this doesn't work... then I guess a random orbital is next on the list.

[Eddie6th]

Re: ScratchX (original) completely useless by hand?? What am I doing wrong??

I use ScratchX(original) all the time on various things.Recently used it on Honda Insight and it worked.

Maybe you weren't working it long enough?

It is mild though,so maybe you're better off with ScratchX 2 or UC.

[tcope1]

Re: ScratchX (original) completely useless by hand?? What am I doing wrong??

While I think the original Scratch X will help, I think you probably should try UC.

From what I recall in the video on Scratch X, they went over the same small area many times. It's also possible that your scratches are much deeper then the ones they were working on. They amplified those scratches under good lighting conditions. You could post pictures here of your paint so people can give better advise.

In that the bottle states to let it dry before removing, Mike P (I think it was Mike) has recently posted that you don't need to do this. I think version 2.0 removes that statement from the instructions. It does not hurt if it drys, but Scratch X stops working when you stop rubbing.

Going back to UC... I've used it and I really do like it. Nice long working time before it breaks down. Even though it's higher up on the aggressive scale, I'd say it's very safe for a novice to use... especially by hand. You may even need to pass over the same area 2-3 times using UC. After that, try some NXT as it has some good fillers in it.