My first cautious steps with my DA

[DetailManiac]

I like to share my first small steps, with my DA machine
which is a Bosch ex-centric sanding machine model PEX 125 AE
it's the one on the right on this pic.:



So recently i noticed some new swirls on the hood of my car
and i decided to give it a try, it was lovely weather and you
have to start sometime. I tried to " catch " the new swirls on
these pic's i took after i washed the car with NXT Car Wash
and i always use the 3 bucket method and 2 Meg's wash mitt's.
Then i used the water magnet to dry the car:





The next step was claying the hood with Meg's Quick Detailing Clay and i cleaned the surface with some QD and a clean Supreme Shine mf
Then i used Scratch X on a W8006 Polishing Pad to work on the swirls:




But soon it gummed up just as i red on this forum, but i liked to try
it anyway and now i know for sure it's not the best way to use it
So i thought; why not mix it with the DC step 1 Paint cleaner to
make it less " dry " and that went great to my believe and i know
that Meguiar's does not recommend mixing products but it turned
out just great to me. Here is a pic. of my way of mixing Scratch X
and DC Paint cleaner:



Maybe i used a little to much but the pad was still dry and it didn't
splatter all over, so again it worked great.

On this pic. you see me " in action " LOL



After this i repeated the whole step again, and then i got my
W7006 and used it as a backing plate for a GC MF Bonnet to clean
up the surface, and that also worked great:



Then it looked like this, pretty good i thought:





The swirls were almost gone, and time to go on with the next step and for this a took my W9006 finishing pad and the DC step 2 Polish
and i worked around the hood almost the same way, with slow overlapping passes and not to much pressure and
again cleaned the hood with a new GC MF Bonnet which i really love by now.

I still had time and ( sun ) light to go on so i got my NXT Tech Car
Wax and a clean W9006 pad and followed the same steps again
but let it only cure for ± 20 min. or so, because i had also my new
#21 Synthetic Sealant waiting for a try out and that's just what i
did next, again on the same way with a brand new W9006 pad.
But this time a used a clean W8006 as a backing plate for my GC
mf bonnet and worked even better than the W7006, it a bit softer
and more " smooth " for the more curved parts and edges on the
hood ( IMHO ) cure time also only 20 min.

Then i was truly amazed of the final result, it had an almost
swirl free and unbelievable " wet " shine just great and i tried
to show it to you guys with the following shot's i had to take
rapidly because it would get pretty dark soon.









So that was a great " learning " Sunday afternoon i can tell you
and i can't wait for the right opportunity to do the whole car like
this but than i have to plan a whole weekend for that kind of major job ( to me that is )

I hope you enjoy it as much as i did and please do feel free to
give me remarks and more advice on this as i really like to learn
about this subject as much as i can.

Thx in advance.

[sneek]

awsome job!

thats a strage way to combine 2 diffrent paint cleaners

[amari]

This is a great job with an awasome reflection shots..

You are brave man, trying to mix and try different products. But the result is rewarding..

[amf]

I understand that Scratch X cannot be applied with a DA Polisher? Am I correct? I'm planning to use it w/ my white car and it will be a pain to apply to the whole car just by hand. Thanks!

[DetailManiac]

I believe that Meguiar's does not recommend it, cause it can " gum " up, but some had good results with a DA polisher and
some didn't like me and that's why i mixed it with DC Paint cleaner to make it less dry and went great for me.

Maybe that the low temp that day ± 4 deg. Cel. got something
to do with it, i don't know, i am just guessing here ?

Maybe somebody got a clue

[Snowman]

The results you got look fantastic and I just love how the sun is relfecting off the black paint with the oranges and yellows. Very nice indeed!!!

[DetailManiac]

Thx Trent, for your kind words, and indeed it looks like the
car's paint is black, but it's dark blue metallic actually, but
than again it's hard to see ( wet-look and almost no sunlight )

[Mike Phillips]

Here's the skinny,

ScratchX can become gummy on the surface when it becomes warm/hot and this can make it difficult to work with and remove.

In general, Meguiar's does not recommend applying ScratchX by machine for the above reasons.

That said, we know a lot of people around the world have access to ScratchX but they don't have access to products like M80 and M83 in our Professional Line so they do what they can with what they have. In other words they use ScratchX by machine.

You can get good results using ScratchX by machine as has been demonstrated through pictures and testimonies on this forum, it's just not the best option at this time, sometimes it's the only option.

How's that?

[DetailManiac]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Here's the skinny,

we know a lot of people around the world have access to ScratchX but they don't have access to products like M80 and M83 in our Professional Line so they do what they can with what they have. In other words they use ScratchX by machine.

How's that?

Thx Mike, for your statement and that's exactly why i just used it
on my DA machine instead by hand and i guess the clear coat on
my car is pretty hard ( like many German car's ) and it saves me
time and a couple of painful arms and hands.

And Mike, what can you tell me about mixing Sratch X and DC Paint cleaner that way

[Don]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
Here's the skinny,

That said, we know a lot of people around the world have access to ScratchX but they don't have access to products like M80 and M83 in our Professional Line so they do what they can with what they have. In other words they use ScratchX by machine.

You can get good results using ScratchX by machine as has been demonstrated through pictures and testimonies on this forum, it's just not the best option at this time, sometimes it's the only option.

How's that?

Originally posted by DetailManiac
Thx Mike, for your statement and that's exactly why i just used it
on my DA machine instead by hand and i guess the clear coat on
my car is pretty hard ( like many German car's ) and it saves me
time and a couple of painful arms and hands.

And Mike, what can you tell me about mixing Sratch X and DC Paint cleaner that way

DetailManiac I am one of those who have used Scratch-X successfully with the PC and even a rotary. I suggest trying to spread the product around on the paint before turning your machine on. Put some product on the pad and rub it in like you would a skin lotion, then take a small sponge applicator and wipe some Scratch-X over the paint surface. Then start with the machine polishing. The first pass should be to spread the product around evenly. After that, buff normally as you would for defect correction.

When I used the Scratch-X by machine, I only worked small areas, like one square foot at a time. You may be trying to do too much at once.

Excellent results though

[DetailManiac]

Thx Don,

These are some useful tips, and i will try them out asp.
and i will let you know how it worded out for me ok.

Probably i used too little product on my new pad and i
should made my working area much smaller and the
idea to wipe some product on the surface with a appl.pad
sounds good to me and makes sence also.

Thx again for your input on my first trial.