Polish filling scratches and holes in paint with an annoying white color

[asalah]

Using the old 8x system, I can get good results
However, owners of dark cars are always complaining that fine scratches and holes in their paint get filled with the white colored polish which affects the final car appearance much

What's the best technique to avoid this problem ?
It's really annoying my customers (and they suggest to use colored polishes like Sonax' polishes)

[andytsang]

Re: Polish filling scratches and holes in paint with an annoying white color

I have similar problem on my car with bird dropping etching. The etching are quite deep and collected polish or wax and turn white. I would like to learn the techniques too.

For fine scratches, I could level them flat with UC or ScratchX. The deep etching I guess I need to use touch up paint.

[BillE]

Re: Polish filling scratches and holes in paint with an annoying white color

Having dealt with numerous rock picks on a black vehicles, here's what I've come up with.

After polishing (205, Ult Polish or the like), give the area a gentle wipe down with IPA. This will (hopefully) remove any product left in the baby craters.

I found using Ult Wax LIQUID, does not leave 'white stuff' in the dings.

Bill

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Polish filling scratches and holes in paint with an annoying white color

Bill's suggestion for an alcohol wipe down is a good one. As many compounds and polishes tend to dry white they easily show up if they've filled some fine rock chips in darker colored paint. But a dilution of isopropyl alcohol and water will easily break this down and make removing the residue pretty easy. Finish off with a clear drying wax, like Ultimate Wax liquid, and you'll be good to go.

[asalah]

Re: Polish filling scratches and holes in paint with an annoying white color

Wouldnt alcohol affect the paint gloss (like with thinner for example) ??

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Polish filling scratches and holes in paint with an annoying white color

Alcohol will knock down the gloss a bit if used in a very strong dilution or straight. But even at a 10:1 mix with water it should pull out the offending bits of dried compound. You can then apply a light pure polish and then wax and your gloss levels will be back to your expectations. An alcohol wipe down is very common to ensure that the compound is fully removed and that you're actually correcting defects and not just filling them. This is the IPA wipe down you may have seen mentioned here and elsewhere.