Polished the Accord today...

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I spent the better half of this morning detailing the Accord. It has Taffeta White paint which on this generation is single stage and is more prone to oxidation. I keep it washed and use a quality spray wax regularly along with keeping it out of the sun as much as possible but even with that care it still got "cloudy" over the past year since the last polish.

The process was:

- wash
- dry
- polish with Meguiars Ultimate Polish
- rubbing alcohol wipe down
- re-wash
- dry
- top with Optum Opti Seal

I also conditioned and cleaned the front leather seats. I rubbed on Lexol conditioner last night at let it sit over night, then cleaned them with a soft bristle brush and Lexol cleaner today. Once clean and dry I topped with Aerospace 303.











 
Not a detail guru but why did you wipe the vehicle down with alcohol wipes? I'm guessing it was to remove any left over residue from the polish but if I'm not mistaken the purpose of the polish is to slightly remove some scratches but mainly put a thin layer of oil on top of the paint to make it shine more. The wipes just seem like they would negate that to some degree.

Still its a great looking car and job well done
smile.gif
 
^ Polish is solely designed to remove scratches, it is not suppose to cover them up. Glazes cover up scratches but a real detailer would not use a glaze.

It goes: Compound>Polish>Wax
 
Originally Posted By: 3800Series
Not a detail guru but why did you wipe the vehicle down with alcohol wipes? I'm guessing it was to remove any left over residue from the polish but if I'm not mistaken the purpose of the polish is to slightly remove some scratches but mainly put a thin layer of oil on top of the paint to make it shine more. The wipes just seem like they would negate that to some degree.

Still its a great looking car and job well done
smile.gif



Polish does have oils but it also is abrasive to some degree, this is what allows it to cut through the oxidation. After polishing I apply a protectant, in this case Optum Opti Seal. I want the protectant to bond to the paint, and if there are polishing oils left on the paint it won't be able to do so.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
It looks great but I wouldn't be polishing that paint to often. Hopefully the sealer helps protect the paint
thumbsup2.gif



Im sure it does a better job than nothing, but I used this product to seal it last year with reapplication every few months and Meguiars Ultimate spray wax every other week or so. It still hazed up to some degree
smirk.gif
Is polishing once a year too much? I know Taffeta White is THIN!
 
Very nice, I think I would switch the order of the ipa wipe down and the second wash. Since you keep after this car very well I would try doing a rinseless wash. Once you're comfortable with those try a waterless wash. Now I mostly do waterless washes and wish I started long ago. It's actually enjoyable and using the product is very forgiving. I got my brother to try it and now he's hooked.
 
Originally Posted By: mikered30
Looks great, why did you chose Opti Seal over gloss coat?


Its what I have on hand.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Looks good. How much you charge for that kind of job ?


Probably $150-$200 depending on level or correction needed.
 
Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: Trav
It looks great but I wouldn't be polishing that paint to often. Hopefully the sealer helps protect the paint
thumbsup2.gif



Im sure it does a better job than nothing, but I used this product to seal it last year with reapplication every few months and Meguiars Ultimate spray wax every other week or so. It still hazed up to some degree
smirk.gif
Is polishing once a year too much? I know Taffeta White is THIN!



Yes its very thin paint. Once a year might be okay but keep an eye on the orange peel, if it starts to disappear in spots then don't polish it anymore, just clay and non abrasive wax as your close to smoking the paint.
Stay well clear of panel edges and ridges they will go right through.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: Trav
It looks great but I wouldn't be polishing that paint to often. Hopefully the sealer helps protect the paint
thumbsup2.gif



Im sure it does a better job than nothing, but I used this product to seal it last year with reapplication every few months and Meguiars Ultimate spray wax every other week or so. It still hazed up to some degree
smirk.gif
Is polishing once a year too much? I know Taffeta White is THIN!



Yes its very thin paint. Once a year might be okay but keep an eye on the orange peel, if it starts to disappear in spots then don't polish it anymore, just clay and non abrasive wax as your close to smoking the paint.
Stay well clear of panel edges and ridges they will go right through.


Wow, thats a bit scary. I am only using a polishing pad and Meguiars Ultimate Polish. I didn't realize that had the power to go through the paint as you say. I though that was more along the lines of compounds and compounding pads.
 
All cleaning waxes and polishes are somewhat abrasive, you can polish semi gloss paint to full gloss pretty easily with just polish, no compound needed.
I wash my cars by hand carefully, ultra fine clay bar and a coat of P21S, after 10 years no swirls, halo or marks in the paint.
Once I buff the paint after painting it I rarely uses a machine on them ever again unless there is a slight surface scratch, deeper ones get left alone or I use blending clear to hide them then a slight buff.
Detailing with a buffer may look great but some paint is being removed every time you take the machine to it with anything but a non abrasive wax, the effects of polishing are cumulative. Most base/clear paints are thick enough to tolerate this quite a few times but some like the thin white you are dealing with can be a bit dodgy
The P21S has zero cleaners or abrasives, there are others on the market but I am not so into it to try them.

https://www.amazon.com/P21S-12700W-Carnauba-Wax/dp/B002LOP5E4
http://www.autogeek.net/sonus-sfx-detailing-clay.html
 
One idea is to polish the areas that get dull and have a body shop spray those areas with some high quality clear coat. So maybe only the roof and trunk which will keep the cost down. Otherwise the whole sections are going to be dull and need a full repaint which will be costly.
 
Meguiars product are ok but they do not last. 303 is good stuff but it does make bonded leather crack over time. Other than that the car looks good!
 
Originally Posted By: 007
Meguiars product are ok but they do not last. 303 is good stuff but it does make bonded leather crack over time. Other than that the car looks good!

303 cracks leather? Sigh....Got a link to back up that statement up? I've been using it for over 20 years on leather and never had it crack from using 303. Sorry but I have to call bull [censored] on that.
 
OP, it's clear that you want the best for your vehicle and I salute you on that, but it doesn't seem like you know what polish is actually for. A polish is designed to remove micro scratches and is working by removing a little of the clear coat. On a white vehicle those micro scratches are not visible in the first place. Why would you want your clear coat to be thiner?
 
That's the point this paint unfortunately doesn't use clear coat, he is trying to keep it in good shape not let it go and then hope to revive it.
Once you go through this your into the primer and e coat and its not very thick. It is IIRC a water based enamel and outside of some obscure make probably the last single stage sold.
In all fairness its a pretty durable paint much like the GM Mirror Magic solvent based paints of the 60's-70's and can be maintained like were were back then, a 30 year life is in there you just have to be careful and keep abrasives to a bare minimum.
 
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