Trying to remove dullness

[Lurch]

Hi. My car ['03 Sentra - white] has a few places where it doesn't shine as good as it could. Today I tried to work on some of these places with Turtle Wax rubbing compound and an electric orbital type one hand buffer.. I think I used too much compound and ended up wiping it off with a clean facecloth, but the good part is that I seemed to have a better shine there once it was wiped off.

I also have TW Polishing Compound. I usually wax the car twice a year with regular Turtle Wax.

Any tips on this?

 

[mez]

Try using a detailing clay bar follow by a good quality polish. I like Klasse All in one and the Klasse Sealant Glaze. It will last close to a year.

 

[babyhuey]

Harbor freight sells a 7 inch buffer for about 30 bucks and you will need a foam aplicator pad and a buffing pad.Meguirs proffesional {i think its no 7} compound will remove haze,but you have to be careful around corners,although the foam pad will help you from rubbing through paint.Follow up with meguirs hi tech wax{3m also makes pro products but you can get meguires at pep boys}and your paint will glow.You have to use a buffer with enough power to remove a layer of clear coat.The heat is what really removes the poo along with the abrasives.I havent used clay but if I was nervous about power polishing I would give it a shot.

 

[Lurch]

I wondered if my little one hand polisher had enough uuuumph to do the job. I seem to have to use elbow grease to get any shine on it. The little buffer only seems to be able to apply compound and spread it around.

I rented a buffer in the late 80s to buff my maroon '84 Subaru GL Coupe and it came out quite nice.

I'm not sure if elbow grease will be enough to get the shine I'm hoping to see but I'll try for a while and then possibly go for the better buffer if that fails. Most of my car has a decent shine so if I can shine up the dull spots I'll be OK.

 

[bretfraz]

You are correct about your little hand held buffer; not enough torque to really do the job. If you want to keep using it, you will need to apply the polish several times so the abrasives have the chance to remove the oxidized paint.

A larger buffer will help a little bit but the same problem exists - not enough power and torque to do an effective job. All these buffers are really good for are applying wax.

If you are confident enough to use a rotary direct-drive polisher, that would probably deliver the best results. With the right pad and polish it should solve your problem.

Do you have friends that do car detailing? Maybe they have a polisher they could lend you.

 

[ionbeam22]

Kit scratch out is very cheap at like 14oz for $5 at autozone, and does a good job of shining up dull paint, while being gentle.

I'd follow up on the spots you used rubbing compound, with polishing compound like KIT or Turtle wax PG polishing compound ( to make a smooth surface. (I hope you werent using the TW red/white compounds which come in tubs?)

After using a polishing compound, a coat of turtle wax carnauba wax/ICE should shine very nice indeed.

 

[Lurch]

Thanks for your replies.

I was using TW red rubbing coumpound and TW white polishing compound in the 10.5 oz tubs. The red compound says "removes scratches and stains" and the white compund says "restores showroom shine" on the label. I like the shine left after removing the rubbing compound. Now I just need to do the rest of the car with it, and then apply polishing compound and see if I can enhance the shine even more. I seem to be on the right track with it, even if I have to use elbow grease vs the right buffer machine. Will keep Kit Scratch Out in mind though.

Then when I'm finished I will apply a new coat of Turtle Wax and I have a feeling it'll shine fairly well by then.

I'm also kind of curious about Meguire's [sp] spray wax and other new products I've never used before.

 

[detailjohn]

Clay bar is the way to go!

Check it out....
http://www.detailguide.com/03_how_01_07_prep_seal_wax.html

 

[ionbeam22]

I would swap over to the premium grade TW compounds, or at least not use the red compound. It's very strong, but it hard to see the hazing it leaves on a white car. (e.g white scratches on a white car, is like trying to see a white polar bear in a snow storm)

The white compound is still pretty strong, and should give you plenty of cleaning power and shine.

If you use a rubbing compound you don't want to achive 100% perfection with it. Since you want to leave some paint for the follow up, finer polishing compounds to work with.

IMHO I would get a Turtle wax Ice Clay kit, and use that on the car, before I did any further polishing. The "liquid clay bar" and clay that comes with it, are pretty good at removing any dirt that is dulling the finish.

Then you can evaluate if any abrasive polishing is needed. In which case I would go over lightly with the white compound, and then finish up, with a true polishing compound like TW PG polishing compound or Scratch Out.

Quote:
Apply one of the following: (The list is ranked lightest cleaning to most aggressive): Ice Liquid Clay Bar, T-466, Turtle Wax Scratch and Swirl Remover T-237, Turtle Wax Premium Polishing Compound T-417, Turtle Wax Premium Rubbing compound T-415, Turtle Wax White Polishing Compound T-241, or Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound T-230.

 

[labman]

Does the Sentra use a clear coat? Is it possible you have cut through it in thin spots?

 

[MKZman]

To temove dullness, you need to use a polish that will bring back gloss. I would try something like Meg's Swirl X or Megs M205. These can leave the paint glossy and remove marring created by more abrasive compounds.

 

[Lurch]

Thanks again for all the replies.

I'll look into the clay bar. Does Auto Zone type stores have this?

Does the Sentra use a clear coat? Is it possible you have cut through it in thin spots?

Yes, I think so. Im not sure. I crossed my fingers.

Lol on the white scratches on a white car comparison.

I'll stay away from the TW red compound from now on.

 

[Lurch]

Originally Posted By: MKZman
To temove dullness, you need to use a polish that will bring back gloss. I would try something like Meg's Swirl X or Megs M205. These can leave the paint glossy and remove marring created by more abrasive compounds.


Thanks, I may very well give these a try sooner or later.

 

[bretfraz]

Clay bar - yes, most auto parts stores carry this.

Won't help with the scratches or dullness, that's not its job. Clay removes surface contaminants and preps the paint for polishing. Tree sap, paint overspray, rail dust... anything you can feel by lightly running your hand along the paint can be removed with clay.

The Turtle Wax ICE clay thing is not really a clay bar, nor does the same thing as clay, but they seem to have absconded with the terminology.

 

[ionbeam22]

You can get all this stuff at autozone in the wash and wax section.

The TW premium grade compounds are in upside down shaped bottles

http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,4,22
http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,4,23

For the money I think these are your best bet at autozone as they cost $7/18oz vs Meguires compounds (SwirlX/Ultimate Compound) at $10/16oz. I've never see the Meguires products do anything to justify the higher price points.

The clay kit comes in a blue box.

http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,1,4

KIT Scratch Out is in a yellow bottle. $5/14oz

Having just done my car with a carnauba paste wax (KIT paste) for old times sake, I am reminded of why I like the Turtle Wax Ice polish so much. It is so much faster to apply and remove, and I don't have to struggle to get wax out of crevices in the body.

If I had to use real paste wax again, I'd only wax the car twice a year if that.

So for the OP I'd recomend using ICE or whatever spray wax you like (I've been very impressed with Lucas Slick Mist), to give protection and shine after you finish polishing up the paint. That will give you brighter paint than just waxing twice a year.

 

[Lurch]

I've seen these TW products at Wal-mart, I think.

A body man that I had buff my car when I first got it told me to get NuFinish [comes in an orange plastic bottle] to wax it with, and I did and hated the stuff. It went on OK but I had to work like he** to get it off and the shine wasn't very good at all. I took it back to Walmart about 18 months later and told them I didn't like the stuff and they gave me my $$ back.

Then I got some plain TW and I like it much better.

I'll refer back to this post often. Thanks again.

Lurch

 

[Lurch]

I got a small $2 bottle of Kit Scratch Out and used a little of it and I seem to like it.

I may get some TW Ice Spray sometime too, and will use TW twice a year. This stuff seems to do enough to my finish to satisfy me, at least for now.

I may do the clay bar later, or maybe not, but it's good to know about this stuff.

 

[ionbeam22]

It's kind of a big difference between the Kit Scratch out and the TW Red compound.

The big 14oz bottle is certainly enough to do a complete car, especially if you have an electric buffer.

I think it's kind of weird that they call it scratch out, when its really so gentle that it is not very good at removing scratches.

I'm not sure which Turtle wax you like to use, and in what form (paste/liquid), but the TW Ice is their most high end product.

IMHO Once you use the liquid polish, and realise how fast and easy it is (since you can use it on chrome/plastic/rubber too, and it doesn't leave a chalky residue on the edges of body panels) you'll be hooked.

It's much cheaper than it looks, since you need maybe one shot glass (1.5 oz) to do an entire car. So a 16oz bottle is maybe 10+ applications. It may take 40 minutes or less to do the entire car depending on your working rhythm.

I'm a huge fan of the entire TW Ice product line (own pretty much all of it except for the Tire Shine and Ice paste). The Ice spray is very "light" and more for cleaning up the car, or giving it a "top shine" vs protecting the paint.

If you keep a bag of microfiber towels, and Ice spray in the car, its very easy to keep the car looking awesome by dusting it off as needed. As usual, frequent car care is easy car care!

 

[Lurch]

IMHO Once you use the liquid polish, and realise how fast and easy it is (since you can use it on chrome/plastic/rubber too, and it doesn't leave a chalky residue on the edges of body panels) you'll be hooked.

I like that Kit Scratch out quite a bit. I washed my car today and waxed it with this stuff and now it looks quite good. I like the way it removes stuff like tar and leftover red compound residue and it even made the car smell good.

Do I need to wax it with TW on top of the Scratch Out? I wondered how the rain would bead on it on top of the Scratch Out. I guess if it beads, I'm protected from the elements somewhat. No complaints on how the car looks right now.

I do like the easy to apply and wipe off stuff.

I used to use "Rain Dance" often in the 80s and maybe 90s. Remember Rain dance car wax? Was surprised to see that it's sill around :

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(lgmew5550iq4vp55neutol45)/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=87306

 

[Lurch]

I think it's kind of weird that they call it scratch out, when its really so gentle that it is not very good at removing scratches.

I don't know but it definitely did the dull spots on my car some good. It has to be applied in a circular motion in order to help remove scratches, I think. On my white car it may have cleaned dirt out of fine scratches which looked kind of like they were removed. It's good stuff IMHO.

My next thing may be to get a bottle of the TW spray & wax stuff or maybe I'll get some TW Ice. That ole car has never been babied this good in it's life.