DA Microfiber Kit

[montyh]

Hi Mike,
Really enjoyed the Saturday class. I picked up a microfiber pad kit and used it on my wife's BMW on Sunday. The kit worked great and it looks fantastic. Are 2010 BMW 5 Series known for hard paint? I ask because I was able to remove about 90% of the swirls after two passes with the D300. I just couldn't get to 100% even after multiple passes. Any recommendations for the next time I detail her BMW?
Thanks,
Pat

[Michael Stoops]

Re: DA Microfiber Kit

Hi Pat - Glad you enjoyed the class so much!

Technique is everything with this system, regardless of paint type. If the paint is fairly hard, and it's possible that this particular BMW paint is, then technique is even more critical. By the way, BMW paint is all over the map since they build cars in multiple factories in a variety of countries. Some of it is super touch sensitive and some of it is crazy hard.

As for things to check with technique, these are the top points that people get a bit wrong, and if you combine a few of them you're results can be greatly diminished.

1. Keep the pressure up, but keep the pad spinning. This means you need to keep the pad as flat as possible at all time as added pressure makes the pad more sensitive to the negative effects of uneven pressure. That is, the more pressure you use the easier it is to get the pad to stop rotating by tipping it even a small amount.
2. Keep the work area small, and for harder paint keep it even smaller. It's common to hear about a 2' x 2' area as the sweet spot, but sometimes you may want to go down to 18" x 18" or less. And don't let that area slowly grow as you repeatedly cover the work area - that's a very common mistake.
3. We talk about doing a section pass that includes overlapping strokes in two directions and then repeating both directions. But if that alone won't remove the defects, and the compound is still wet, you can continue to buff. It's usually pretty easy to cover both directions four times with D300 or M100, but M105 may not provide as long of a buffing cycle. Again, with multiple passes over the area, be very aware of that space and confine yourself to it rather than allowing to get every larger with each pass.
4. Keep your arm speed slow. This is probably the biggest mistake people make and I see it in every class. They start out moving slowly, and then slowly pick up speed. Before long, they're moving way too fast to really accomplish much. And they start growing the size of the work area. And they ease up on the pressure. And they neglect to keep the pad flat. It's a snowball effect that yields pretty poor results. Stay focused.

[montyh]

Re: DA Microfiber Kit

Thanks Mike!