Soft paint- How to keep it up

[s word]

I have a Acura TSX Wagon in Blue that has possibly the softest paint ever made. I completely polished it when we got it in May and now it already has tons of surface scratches. I do use waterless wash D115 I think (blue one- I haven't kept up on my PNs lately). I use the technique taught by Mike Stoops with the towel using the edge and folding it up to create striping. Washed always with two bucket system. But the Acura already looks horrible to me. There are clear paths where you can see where the towel went. No matter how I touch it I damage the paint. I have sealed/waxed like I would any other car. And the only cars I detail that get like this are Acuras. What can I do better or what I am doing wrong?

When detailing I fully polish all panels, wipe with IPA 15%, powerlock sealant (cure time included), followed by m16. Towels used were brand new, washed straight from packaging, then used on car. Can I protect the surface better? The paint seems dry for being a new car. Example when I wash it and wiping off water, where the water was there is a slight discoloration on the paint, which disappears after a little while.

[tiSS'er]

Re: Soft paint- How to keep it up

Try using a rinseless wash (D114) and pre-treat the panels with your D115 waterless. My opinion is that rinseless is a bit safer than waterless since your wash media is fully wet and lubricated with the solution. The waterless pre-treat only aids in this. I use what is referred to as the Gary Dean Method. I fill a bucket with a gallon of water, add the solution and 6-8 towels. I let the towels soak for 15 minutes so they completely absorb the solution. I use one towel per panel, and the towel is never reintroduced into the bucket of clean solution. Once the panel is done, the towel goes into the laundry for washing. This ensures you are always using clean media.

Once the panel is clean, I use a waffle weave drying towel that is lightly dampened with some waterless wash to help lubricate the drying towel. I very lightly pull the towel over the panel, and the beauty of D114 rinseless wash is that it doesn't streak, so you don't have to put any pressure on the towel to dry the panel.

You can try a coating, as it will offer longer protection. However, I have been doing plenty of research and it seems most coatings claim increased scratch resistance, though there are plenty of reports to the contrary. I believe coating have their place, especially for people who don't care to do regular maintenance on their cars. I prefer to use a quality sealant and re-apply every couple of months for maximum protection.

However, having owned an Acura TSX with Midnight Black Pearl, I understand your dilemma. It was very soft, I could see light toweling marks form simply wiping off the sealant. My current car has slightly harder paint, but it is still very soft. I have finally realized that no matter how careful you are, especially on a daily driver, you will get marring/swirls. I have extended the period of time between polishes using the above methods though. I have begun to use some glazes which help hide the minor imperfections between polishes. Not optimal, but better than wearing through my paint by constantly polishing. Silver cars only for me in the future

Good luck!

[s word]

Re: Soft paint- How to keep it up

Try using a rinseless wash (D114) and pre-treat the panels with your D115 waterless. My opinion is that rinseless is a bit safer than waterless since your wash media is fully wet and lubricated with the solution. The waterless pre-treat only aids in this. I use what is referred to as the Gary Dean Method. I fill a bucket with a gallon of water, add the solution and 6-8 towels. I let the towels soak for 15 minutes so they completely absorb the solution. I use one towel per panel, and the towel is never reintroduced into the bucket of clean solution. Once the panel is done, the towel goes into the laundry for washing. This ensures you are always using clean media.

Once the panel is clean, I use a waffle weave drying towel that is lightly dampened with some waterless wash to help lubricate the drying towel. I very lightly pull the towel over the panel, and the beauty of D114 rinseless wash is that it doesn't streak, so you don't have to put any pressure on the towel to dry the panel.

You can try a coating, as it will offer longer protection. However, I have been doing plenty of research and it seems most coatings claim increased scratch resistance, though there are plenty of reports to the contrary. I believe coating have their place, especially for people who don't care to do regular maintenance on their cars. I prefer to use a quality sealant and re-apply every couple of months for maximum protection.

However, having owned an Acura TSX with Midnight Black Pearl, I understand your dilemma. It was very soft, I could see light toweling marks form simply wiping off the sealant. My current car has slightly harder paint, but it is still very soft. I have finally realized that no matter how careful you are, especially on a daily driver, you will get marring/swirls. I have extended the period of time between polishes using the above methods though. I have begun to use some glazes which help hide the minor imperfections between polishes. Not optimal, but better than wearing through my paint by constantly polishing. Silver cars only for me in the future

Good luck!

Thanks a lot. I'll try that method. Seems reasonable. Its a rinseless/waterless combo which makes perfect sense how you explained it. Midnight Black Pearl is a nightmare to detail because of softness. but man when done right that paint was amazing. lots of green in that black paint.

I am glad I am not the only one. I thought I was obsessive but I saw the car parked at dusk the other day and the swirls just killed me. and its mine and i know how to detail. It really does kill me. and i had the thing shining bright not to long ago.

I have never had luck with coatings being the amazing product they are marketed to be either. They have their benefits like you spoke to but still scratch like everything else. I never thought I would say this but I think you are onto something with the glazes. This is a paint that I rather fill scratches on than polish every 3 months. Any suggested glazes? I was going to take a round of 205 to the car, but I kinda want to try a glaze first to see what can be done. I wouldn;t mind washing an reglazing this car if it made the paint look amazing all the time.

[tiSS'er]

Re: Soft paint- How to keep it up

Thanks a lot. I'll try that method. Seems reasonable. Its a rinseless/waterless combo which makes perfect sense how you explained it. Midnight Black Pearl is a nightmare to detail because of softness. but man when done right that paint was amazing. lots of green in that black paint.

I am glad I am not the only one. I thought I was obsessive but I saw the car parked at dusk the other day and the swirls just killed me. and its mine and i know how to detail. It really does kill me. and i had the thing shining bright not to long ago.

I have never had luck with coatings being the amazing product they are marketed to be either. They have their benefits like you spoke to but still scratch like everything else. I never thought I would say this but I think you are onto something with the glazes. This is a paint that I rather fill scratches on than polish every 3 months. Any suggested glazes? I was going to take a round of 205 to the car, but I kinda want to try a glaze first to see what can be done. I wouldn;t mind washing an reglazing this car if it made the paint look amazing all the time.

I have had excellent luck with Poorboys BlackHole on my non-metallic black car. Not sure how it would work on a metallic color as it might mute the flakes, but I don't know. I have also tried Chemical Guys Glossworkz Glaze and it works well too. On a black or dark colored car, I give the nod to BH. BH is very easy to use, simple application and very easy wipe off. I haven't noticed that BH has caused any issues with my LSP.

[Randmill]

Re: Soft paint- How to keep it up

If you do decide to take a run at the car with M205, or any other paint correction for that matter, you should first make sure you remove the D115. As Mike Stoops has stated in another post, "It's a synthetic polymer blend, and as such we actually do not recommend that you wash with this product if you intend to follow the wash with any sort of paint correction. The polymers in D115 are slick enough, and durable enough, to impede machine polishing. Just as you would not want to apply D156/UQW just before paint correction, neither do you want to apply D115. We've even seen an impediment to damp sanding following a fresh application of a durable polymer such as is found in the above mentioned products."

I have a 7 year old black truck that shows every little defect. I have found the same thing that you did... even when washing correctly, you can still introduce new defects if the slightest thing goes wrong during the process and I don't think my paint is near as soft as you indicate yours is. One of the keys here is to not get complacent and always keep thinking about what you are doing and what affect your actions will have.

Just to share my recent experience, I used the DA Microfiber Correction Kit for my first level of correction, after years of improper washing/waxing and got pretty great results. I have since followed up with M205 with the DA on a yellow foam pad and Ultimate Liquid Wax applied very thin with a black foam finishing pad and I'm really pleased with the results. I now routinely use D115 between washes, so before I perform any additional correction down the road, I'll wash with D114 diluted at 6 ounces to 2 gallons of water, as recommended by Mike Stoops, to remove the D115 first.

If you want to try something less aggressive than M205, you might take a look at Ultimate Polish. which was derived from M205. It does have some SMAT abrasives in it but with significantly less cut than M205. It also contains a lot more polishing oils than M205, which does give some ability to fill minor imperfections and generally speaking, it's really good on delicate paint. That being said, there is still the fact that differences in paint, tools and technique will determine what works best on any given car.

[s word]

Re: Soft paint- How to keep it up

I have had excellent luck with Poorboys BlackHole on my non-metallic black car. Not sure how it would work on a metallic color as it might mute the flakes, but I don't know. I have also tried Chemical Guys Glossworkz Glaze and it works well too. On a black or dark colored car, I give the nod to BH. BH is very easy to use, simple application and very easy wipe off. I haven't noticed that BH has caused any issues with my LSP.

I have a CG Polish-Glaze I will give a shot before I try others. I guess thats the benefit of buying detailing products out of control, I already have things I didn;t know I needed.

If you do decide to take a run at the car with M205, or any other paint correction for that matter, you should first make sure you remove the D115. As Mike Stoops has stated in another post, "It's a synthetic polymer blend, and as such we actually do not recommend that you wash with this product if you intend to follow the wash with any sort of paint correction. The polymers in D115 are slick enough, and durable enough, to impede machine polishing. Just as you would not want to apply D156/UQW just before paint correction, neither do you want to apply D115. We've even seen an impediment to damp sanding following a fresh application of a durable polymer such as is found in the above mentioned products."

I have a 7 year old black truck that shows every little defect. I have found the same thing that you did... even when washing correctly, you can still introduce new defects if the slightest thing goes wrong during the process and I don't think my paint is near as soft as you indicate yours is. One of the keys here is to not get complacent and always keep thinking about what you are doing and what affect your actions will have.

Just to share my recent experience, I used the DA Microfiber Correction Kit for my first level of correction, after years of improper washing/waxing and got pretty great results. I have since followed up with M205 with the DA on a yellow foam pad and Ultimate Liquid Wax applied very thin with a black foam finishing pad and I'm really pleased with the results. I now routinely use D115 between washes, so before I perform any additional correction down the road, I'll wash with D114 diluted at 6 ounces to 2 gallons of water, as recommended by Mike Stoops, to remove the D115 first.

If you want to try something less aggressive than M205, you might take a look at Ultimate Polish. which was derived from M205. It does have some SMAT abrasives in it but with significantly less cut than M205. It also contains a lot more polishing oils than M205, which does give some ability to fill minor imperfections and generally speaking, it's really good on delicate paint. That being said, there is still the fact that differences in paint, tools and technique will determine what works best on any given car.

I like M205s finishing but wasn't as aware to the negative polymer effect on compounds/polishes of D115. When i do full details I always do a full car wash with CG Citrus soap or something real real strong. Because most my details are "save this car" not "touch up this car" it works fine because I am going to strip off all the things I will later replace. But before I touch up with M205 I wouldn't have thought to wash it. I will now. Thanks