Paint is so soft, that removing polish re-installs swirls

[MDetail]

I am pretty sure I am doomed here, but I was hoping someone could help me out. I had taken my dads MB SL500 (re-painted a few times) because he asked me to remove some bird etchings in the paint. He doesn't care how long the car is gone for, so I was polishing the car to remove swirls, and other defects. I did a test spot, and it came out pretty good, so I started with the rest of the car, so far it goes like this.

m105 on megs polishing pad
m205 on megs finishing pad

I don't understand it, when I was doing the test spot, the m205 on a polishing pad would not remove the swirls, that's why I moved to m105 on a polishing pad, which ends up leaving marring and hazing behind. Then I finish up with m205 on a finishing pad (as I found was the answer to someone elses thread.) But now when I am removing the m205, I shine my brinkman on the paint, and at certain angles I can see scratching from which seems to be from me wiping the m205 off.

I have:
Dusted the working section before working in that area.
Tried, washed, brand new, MF towels. Both the Megs supreme shine, and ADS towels (both ith the same results)
Spraying LTD when wiping, and reducing the pressure.

Part of the problem is if I don't put any pressure, I leave behind some product. If I put some pressure then the scratches appear. Does anyone have any suggestion? I have been trying to break the m205 down until clear, but maybe my understanding of "clear" isn't clear.

In all the paint is looking much better. The depth is awesome, and clarity is coming along great, but I can just see, when I pull it out of the garage, I am going to be devastated.

TIA

[Murr1525]

Re: Paint is so soft, that removing polish re-installs swirls

Do you have any cleaner/waxes to work with?

They are often valuable on very soft paint.

[MDetail]

Re: Paint is so soft, that removing polish re-installs swirls

I think I have megs cleaner wax from the retail line. I also have scratch X but not enough of it.

[Tim Lingor]

Re: Paint is so soft, that removing polish re-installs swirls

Hey,

Welcome to scratch sensitive paint. Though Meguiar's M205 finishes out beautifully, on some paints, it may still leave a slight haze.

Here is what I would do, I would suggest finishing with a lighter cut product. Do you have Meg's M09 Swirl Remover? On some paints I may use M66 Quick Detailer Cleaner/Wax with a finishing pad, with the DA set to speed 5. Or, you can use the M09 or the Meg's Cleaner Wax and do the same as above.

Now to make sure other variables are not affecting the situation, are you using ultra clean MF towels for product removal? Since it did not do it on your test spot, I am wondering if something else has changed, like using product saturated towels during product removal? Perhaps you are not working the M205 long enough or perhaps you are working on too large an area at one time, or you are applying it with a saturated pad. When compounding paint, I normally use 3-4 pads per product for an average size of vehicle.

It is possible that you are dealing with very scratch sensitive paint in which case, breathing on it can leave a haze. But I have a feeling that using the M09 with a clean finishing pad will do the trick.

Tim

[MDetail]

Re: Paint is so soft, that removing polish re-installs swirls

Awesome, I am going to try the M66. I have m09 however I only have half a bottle. I have plenty of m66 and will try that on a finishing pad. I keep changing towels to figure out what is going wrong, nothing has been working for me so far. But I also think i might not be working m205 in long enough. I will try to keep changing pads, and I will see if I can conquer the right outcome.

[MDetail]

Re: Paint is so soft, that removing polish re-installs swirls

Perfect, I did half of the hood, and that sides fender last night, checked it today, and that seems to have fixed the problem. Thank you! Now just to figure out how to keep any swirls from coming to such soft paint

[Murr1525]

Re: Paint is so soft, that removing polish re-installs swirls

Good luck with that....

Some repaints just never seem to harden.

[Tim Lingor]

Re: Paint is so soft, that removing polish re-installs swirls

Perfect, I did half of the hood, and that sides fender last night, checked it today, and that seems to have fixed the problem. Thank you! Now just to figure out how to keep any swirls from coming to such soft paint

I am glad it worked out for you!

On some paints, it is very difficult to prevent swirls. The best thing to do is to be ultra careful and diligent when washing. Use Grit Guards with the 2 bucket method ( I use 3 buckets (one for wheels)), good high quality mitts, and of course good waffle weave MF towels for drying.

Tim