A couple of basic questions

[AFdefender]

OK so I waxed my car today... well polished. It was a mirror i could see the details in the flowers in my yard reflecting off my car!!! But I'm always trying to make it better so... I have a couple of questions...

I used turtle wax color cure polish

1) in certain areas streak marks were left and the polish didnt buff out im assuming its because it wasnt dry (set up) all the way. Is that true?

2) how important is it to only wax/polish a small area at a time? Why not just do say the whole hood at once?

3) would applying wax after improve the shine an durability of the job? when i tried using wax (mothers carnuba) it looked horrible, is this because it wasnt set up and i didnt do small areas or maybe cause the ca was too hot? it left horendus (sp?) swirl marks and crap all over the car

Thanks for helping me out i looked around but didnt see any of this info if its already been posted i apologize I'm going to look again to make sure.

~ Mike

[Panacea]

1) I'm no expert but I'm going to say it's oil left over from the polish. My Meguires would leave oil crap all over my car when I would wax it. The stuff is crap. Perhaps it's the same for you.

2) Polish didn't buff out? Dunno about that, but it should come off no matter what. Try spraying some water on it and drying it off to see if that fixes it. Otherwise the polish -- which more than likely has abrasives in it -- could have possibly scuffed your surface.

3) I would say that the wax probably wouldn't do too much for the shine. It may increase the durability some. Go with Zymol, it's the next best thing to Zaino.

[OneQuickGT1]

I probably shouldn't be so bold because of my moderator status, but I know my stuff. First off, Panacea and I usually have a hrd time agreeing on certain issues, and here it is again. You say that Meguiars is crap and Zymol is the next best thing to Zaino. Well, I am gonna have to say that Meguiars is probably one of the best off-the shelf waxes, while Zymol is a ton of hype. Actually, Zymol is owned by Turtle Wax. Zaino seems to be the standard to compare to, but I feel like Zaino is really overdone in a lot of forums. There are some other great products out there, so take a look around.

OK, on to the real questions...I would dump the Turtle Wax. At this point, it would seem like you are facing some real issues that probably involve swirls and other paint imperfections. I would do this.....If you are not using a buffer, do a search for Klasse car care products. Purchase their two step system. It does a great job of removing swirls if you buy the all in one. Then follow up with their sealer glaze. They are great products, synthetic, and in my opinion, better than Zaino. If you need any other specific help, please let me know!

Brett

[Panacea]

Like I said, I'm not expert.

As for the Zaino/ Zymol thing... A test was done comparing Zaino, Zymol, Zymol NSX, and a couple others.

Zaino came in first, followed by Zymol (the cheap stuff). May not be totally acurate, but meh. :)

Like I have said, I've used Liquid Glass, Turtle Wax Emerald Series, Maguires, Zymol, and Zaino and out of all of them ZAINO is top dog, followed by Zymol, Liquid Glass, Turtle Wax, and finally Maguires.

I will argue the fact that Maguries it a good product because I have experience using it. It's all a personal preference and for me it turned out horrible. Very greasy and didn't last worth anything.

I've heard others that swear by Maguires and think it's the greatest thing, and that's super... I'm glad it works for them.

Like I said, I'm not expert, and I don't claim to know everything. I'm merely shedding light on my personal experiences. I'm sure Zaino get's hyped up a lot more than it should, and there's always going to be something better; I just don't have the time to search and spend money on them. :thumbs:

[AFdefender]

:( my poor baby... I should just get the whole thing repainted. lol Thanks for your input guys.... I have almost no extra money to spend so what ever i use it has to be fairly cheap. The car does look great, that is untill you get close up but it dosent seem like theirs much i can do with my limited funds.

~ Mike

[02PONtiac!]

I used to work at a body shop and did everything from painting to bodywork. If you want your car to look really good you MUST get a high speed electric buffer. I'm not talking about one of those cheap ass buffers that you buy down at your local autoparts store. You need to go get yourselft a 8,000rpm buffer. You can either rent these or buy one for like 200 bucks. You need to be sure to use the proper pad and polishing compound. Make sure you get a foam buffing pad. If you use a wool buffing pad you will see those ugly swirl marks when the sun hits your paint job. After getting the proper buffing pad (FOAM), now you need to get the proper rubbing compound. Make sure you use a SUPER FINE compound. 3M makes great compounds. What ever you do don't get anything like Super duty compound. This type is more graining and will cut into your clear coat more aggresively. You go with your Super fine compound with less grain to it. Once applying the compound and the job is all finished go over the whole car with a glazed compound. These procedures I have described will make your paint shine beautifully and will out weigh any other polishing method out there. Just be careful when buffing your vehicle not to burn through the edges of your body panels. You'll have at least 2 mils of clear coat on your vehicle to play with.

-High speed buffer 8,000 RPM
-Foam buffing pad
-Super fine Compound (3M) product
-Glazing compound (3M) product.
-Specific buffing rags.

[02PONtiac!]

to get that residue and anyother wax off your paints finish just go get yourself some waxy and grease remover. This will take anything off. Just PLEASE make sure you use Professional buffing rags whenever working on your paints finish. Anything like a towel and other such rags will only create scratches that will utimately show when the sun hits the surface of your vehicle.

BOYAKASHA!!

[OneQuickGT1]

First of all, NEVER use compounds....And for the beginner, get a random orbit buffer. It will do just what you need, and will have NO chance of burning the paint. 100% cotton towels are the way to go, no need to buy any special detail cloths. 3M does make great products, just don't get compounds. Your best bet would be their swirl remover. Always go with a very safe product, then go up in aggressiveness as needed.

Brett