a bunch of noob questions

[e6600]

hey

so far ive bought meg's car wash, cleaner wax paste, nxt tech 2.0 paste, and clay kit

ive just clayed my windows, and now their super soft and really clear like brand new. but when i checked closer, there were little tiny scratches all over the place, and some of them were big enough to catch my finger nail
is it possible that the clay scratched the windows or were the just there before and ive never noticed? i didnt drop the clay or anything

i was planning on clay, then cleaner wax, then tech 2.0 wax for the first time in the car's lifetime. but since theres a bunch of small scratches, and big ones, i was thinking cleaner wax would be too mild and it would almost be a waste of time using the cleaner wax until i bought something more powerful like swirlx.
would it be better to buy swirl or scratchx and apply it to the entire car before adding cleaner wax, then tech wax?

thanks

[Shawn T.]

Re: a bunch of noob questions

I would even look into Ultimate Compound. But, if you can feel them with your fingernail then they may be too deep to remove even by machine. If you plan on doing this by hand then it will be daunting to say the least.

Buy some foam applicator pads http://www.autodetailingsolutions.net/x3070.html as they are very good and versatile. They can be used for almost anything.

Remember to do a few test spots with Swirlx, Scratchx and Ultimate Compound. Use masking tape and create squares of no more than 12" X 12" on the hood or other panel. Continue to use about a quarter size amount of product and work each area until only a light film is left on the paint. At this point, wipe the product off with a microfiber towel and inspect your results. The sun is the best for this as it shows all the flaws. After looking at each area in the sun, determine which did the best job at removing the desired amount of scratches. Proceed to do the entire car that way working no more than 12" X 12" sections at a time.

This will take a lot of time and I would say to do one panel a day (i.e. Monday do the hood, Teusday do a fender, Wednesday the other fender, etc.). This will ensure the best results as you will be spending sufficient time on each section.

If you want to make your life easy and buy a DA, I would suggest it: http://www.autodetailingsolutions.ne...-pack-kit.html. Buy this kit with 4 yellow pads and 2 black pads. The yellow is for applying paint cleaners (Ultimate Compound, Scratchx, Swirlx) and the blakc is for applying wax or finishing polishes.

This chart will help you keep track of what speed to apply different products: http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...ommended+speed.

Read through the forum. There is so much info to be had.

[Dubbin1]

Re: a bunch of noob questions

No the clay is not going to scratch the glass so don't feel you did anything wrong.

Like coopers said, its going to be a hard task to polish an entire car by hand. If you do decide to polish by hand then you can skip the cleaner wax as the polish will remove anything the cleaner would.

[e6600]

Re: a bunch of noob questions

thanks for the replies

ill do that masking tape test to see which works best, thanks
and how much pressure should i be using by hand? id assume that you have to use different pressures with a cleaner than a wax
should i be pressing down very hard, or very light or in between? strength is subjective, so i dont know what others mean

[HealthyCivic]

Re: a bunch of noob questions

thanks for the replies

ill do that masking tape test to see which works best, thanks
and how much pressure should i be using by hand? id assume that you have to use different pressures with a cleaner than a wax
should i be pressing down very hard, or very light or in between? strength is subjective, so i dont know what others mean

When you wax, just apply enough pressure to spread the product around (not very much). When you use a cleaner or compound and are removing paint, you need to press a lot harder. You won't hurt the paint either way, but this will save your arm. You definitely don't want to be too light with a cleaner or compound though, it won't work well.

HOWEVER, one thing is very important - always use clean pads. If you get grit or dirt in your pad and then rub in some paint cleaner or compound, you're going to cause nasty scratches.

[e6600]

Re: a bunch of noob questions

ok thx guys
+rep