How to keep the shiny after wet sanding?

[hermtm2]

I've used the wet sanding method over 3 cars like I30, jetta, and civic. Everytime it made me happy but it would not be last long I wish. After a month later it does not look good. I think it get dirty easier than before.

What I've done is to clear the head lights:

1. 1000, 1500, 2000 grid sand paper for 10 mins each.
2. M85 with wool pad
3. Plastic X with PC
4. NTX or Gold class wax with microfiber towel.

What did I wrong?
How to manage the shiny headlight?

Thanks.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: How to keep the shiny after wet sanding?

One thing to check is that the plastic did get truly polished to a shine after wet sanding. Sometimes paint or plastic can look fine due to a slight amount of moisture (water, polish, wax, etc) and can hide the true state of the surface.

Once you verify that (maybe wait before using PlastX and again before the wax) you can be sure of the results.

If the problem still persists, that is because the protective layer in the headlights is now gone so oxidation is greatly sped up. You may need to do a light polishing with PlastX on a fairly regular basis to maintain the shiny surface.

Something else you can do is to apply some wax to the headlight after each wash. This may slow the process down as well.

[hermtm2]

Re: How to keep the shiny after wet sanding?

Basically the method is not wrong or anything.
Here is another question. Whenever I use each sandpapers, I do not know how long, how hard, and how far should I sand the suface of headlight? That is why I roughly did for 10 minuntes each. Once the 1000 grid paper was used, the surface looks same to me.

Thanks.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: How to keep the shiny after wet sanding?

As you step down to finer grit sandpaper the surface should get less white and more opaque- not quite clear, but less white.

You want to only use the heavy grit as long as needed to remove the deepest defects, then go to the next grit and use that to remove the sanding marks from the previous grit. Then repeat until you finish out with a fine grit and then polish that out.

[hermtm2]

Re: How to keep the shiny after wet sanding?

Here are my lights. Not yellowish but they have a lot of scratches and somethings. I really want to make clear without sacrificing the protective layer. I tried to use Plastic X with PC but it doesn't work for those lenses. Is a wet sanding the only way to go?



Thanks.

[audionutmike]

Re: How to keep the shiny after wet sanding?

I've had great results with 105, 83 and 151 on a PC and the Griot's 3" mini. I've used Orange and Green pads, depending on the severity. If you use 105 (or 95) you'll want to finish with 83 though. I don't believe ScratchX would be have enough cut. If you're doing it by hand I would use 105 or 95 with 2 or 3 applications, then finish with 83 (and then possibly 80 if need be)