[sr71bb]

OK well black shows surface scratches more than any other color but I will share with you what works very well for me.

About every SIX months I do this to my car which not only is a daily driver but hit the road race tracks about TWICE a month.

I use Meguiars ULIMATE compound with a Porter Cable 7424 dual orbital buffer on the SECOND highest speed setting. I use a BLUE 7 inch foam cutting pad made by BAUER to apply the compound.

I work with about a 3 x 3 foot area at a time and then move on to another section after removing the compound from the buffed section. Apply the coumpound directly to the pad in a circular motion then PRIOR to turning on the buffer, blot the product on to the surface of the car every six inches or so. DO NOT ever lift the buffer while it is spinning off the surface of the car.

Work in a TOP down fashion doing the roof FIRST and Then the hood and trunk of the car and then the sides and front and back bumpers.

THEN after the entire surface of the car has been compounded, I use F11 Top Coat IMMEDIATELY afterwards. This product has GREAT fill properties and will essentially hide some of the surface scratches that may have remained after you have done the initial compounding process.

On the F11, use TWO different microfiber towels. One to apply and essentially SMEAR the product evenly over the surface and the second towel is the one that is used to remove the product frequently turning it over or simply use multiple towels.

The results of all this are that the paint will reflect MORE light and will look DEEPER than before.

[serper3]

If you need to polish every 6 months, I would examine your washing/drying, etc to see how/why you are getting that micromarring and swirls into the paint. You should be able to go minimum 1 -1.5 years before you need a light polish. are you taking your car through automatic car washes?

That compound you are using is pretty darn aggressive, and the pad you are using is a coarse aggressive pad. you do not have an infinite amount of clear available on the car. average car clear is less than a post it note. you should use the least aggressive approach to maintain the clear on the car for as long as possible. also, that coarse pad will not finish out very well - the coarse pads are meant to be followed up with a fine/polishing pad to get better gloss.

If you have good wash/dry technique, you should only need a pretty light polish and a light polishing pad. I would use Sonax Perfect Finish with a Rupes yellow pad. Great, proven combo for those every few year touch ups to clean up the micro marring and swirls without taking off a ton of clear.

https://www.autogeek.net/sonax-perfect-finish.html
https://www.autogeek.net/rupes-da-ye...d-150mm-4.html

The 6" pad is to be used with a 5" backing plate

[Gunkk]

Self-healing PPF > all.

It's a lotta pennies, but if you're anal about your paint finish like me, it's worth every bloody one.

[sr71bb]

Originally Posted by serper3

If you need to polish every 6 months, I would examine your washing/drying, etc to see how/why you are getting that micromarring and swirls into the paint. You should be able to go minimum 1 -1.5 years before you need a light polish. are you taking your car through automatic car washes?

That compound you are using is pretty darn aggressive, and the pad you are using is a coarse aggressive pad. you do not have an infinite amount of clear available on the car. average car clear is less than a post it note. you should use the least aggressive approach to maintain the clear on the car for as long as possible. also, that coarse pad will not finish out very well - the coarse pads are meant to be followed up with a fine/polishing pad to get better gloss.

If you have good wash/dry technique, you should only need a pretty light polish and a light polishing pad. I would use Sonax Perfect Finish with a Rupes yellow pad. Great, proven combo for those every few year touch ups to clean up the micro marring and swirls without taking off a ton of clear.

https://www.autogeek.net/sonax-perfect-finish.html
https://www.autogeek.net/rupes-da-ye...d-150mm-4.html

The 6" pad is to be used with a 5" backing plate

I track the car 2-3 times a month so that is what is rough on the paint. I generally do not touch the paint after I wash I because I blow dry it with a 180MPH leaf blower. I will try SONAX however because I did have some concern about the clearcoat durability

[Spaceme1117]

Whuh! That's a lot of work!

I purchased a used 2017 earlier this year and did a bit of polishing to smooth out a few rock chips in the clear coat here and there. Also, a black car.

I only do Meguair's Waterless Carwash and Wax and microfibers and touchless car washes. Seems to look very nice the majority of the time.

I agree with serper3, I think polishing every 6 months is too much. Remember, polishing is removing material every time you do it. You really shouldn't need to polish but every few years if that.

[serper3]

Originally Posted by sr71bb

I track the car 2-3 times a month so that is what is rough on the paint. I generally do not touch the paint after I wash I because I blow dry it with a 180MPH leaf blower. I will try SONAX however because I did have some concern about the clearcoat durability

If you track the car, i would get ppf in the forward facing areas to help with rock chips, rubber, etc, and around the rockers or by the rear wheel areas that get hit with rocks/rubber. otherwise most of the car should be ok.

I would at minimum make sure you are using two bucket method, use a low pile microfiber towel and not something super plush to wipe the car as they trap dirt.
better yet, i throw a dozen clean towls in a soap bucket and each towel gets its own panel. once you use the towel put it in a dedicated dirty towel bucket to wash later. fold the towels into 4 so you have 8 total passes with a clean section for each pass.

the pad has as much or more to do with clear removal as the polish or compound you are using. not to mention those bauer pads are probably pretty crappy.

if you use a blower to dry, i would use something like this also as your hydrophobic properties will be much better:
https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...40729823412375

you will see a huge improvement with how much water you can blow off the car.

Originally Posted by Spaceme1117

Whuh! That's a lot of work!

I purchased a used 2017 earlier this year and did a bit of polishing to smooth out a few rock chips in the clear coat here and there. Also, a black car.

I only do Meguair's Waterless Carwash and Wax and microfibers and touchless car washes. Seems to look very nice the majority of the time.

I agree with serper3, I think polishing every 6 months is too much. Remember, polishing is removing material every time you do it. You really shouldn't need to polish but every few years if that.

You can certainly use a light polish and a finishing pad every 6 months no issue. it will bring back some pop to the paint etc., no issues really as these are very minimal in paint removal. if you try to go after deeper scratches and you use heavier compounds and aggressive pads, yea you can remove a lot of clear very quickly.

[discgolf01]

Don't dry with a towel at all, and avoid scratches/swirls completely. This for the win:

https://metrovac.com/collections/aut...18877237919817

[Gunkk]

I have a 80v Kobalt blower. Works great !

EDIT: link.

[s346k]

my 2018 model year car, purchased late nov 18 - ceramic coated

early 2019 - 6000 miles (clay barred, coated etc)
early 2020 - 28000 miles (touch up)

car looks very good everywhere except the front side of the rear quarters. i credit the guy who did the work for how good everything else looks.

i hand wash and leaf blow dry. if i'm in a hurry i'll hit the self serve car wash and bring my own buckets/microfiber towels for washing. one local carwash has a hand held air dryer thats a damn beast.

in about 17 minutes i can take the car from not washed in 2 months filthy to 98%. i prefer to wash at home but it does take much longer.