Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound ?

[svtstangcobra]

Hello all
For you more experienced users of these products, what's the difference in these please.
Thank you

[Murr1525]

Re: Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound

Well, you could probably look at it as:

ColorX - Mild Cleaner/Wax
SwirlX - Mild Cleaner/Polish
Clear Coat Rubbing Compound - Medium Cleaner
ScratchX 2.0- Medium Cleaner

[Marc08EX]

Re: Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound

I'm also curious as to where the rubbing and polishing compound fits in the aggressiveness charts or with Regards to Ultimate Compound/Polish. Do they use SMAT or DAT? Can they be used with the D/A?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound

OK, let's see if we can break this down and help you make sense of these similar yet different products:

ScratchX 2.0: This product has been around for several years and was initially developed to give consumers a product to easily help remove small, isolated scratches. These are the sort of thing you might get from a bump from a shopping car, fingernail scratches under the door handles, etc. It has been reformulated a couple of times and currently uses the same sort of SMAT abrasives found in M105 & M205. It is less aggressive than Ultimate Compound, but a bit more abrasive than SwirlX. It can be used by hand or with a DA polisher, and it's perfectly fine to use on all painted surfaces of the vehicle, not just spot correction. It should be worked against the paint with a bit of passion, and wiped off before it has a chance to dry.

SwirlX: This product was introduced at the same time as Ultimate Compound but was positioned as a product to remove fine swirls and very light defects. As noted above, it's the least aggressive of UC, ScratchX 2.0 and SwirlX but it still uses SMAT abrasives. Again, it can be applied by hand or DA. It should be worked against the paint with a bit of passion, and wiped off before it has a chance to dry.

ColorX: This is essentially a cleaner wax, meaning it has both very light cleaning ability but it also leaves wax protection. On some very delicate paint systems it does a fantastic job of removing light hazing created by more aggressive products. Since it is a wax it should be allowed to dry after being worked against the paint with moderate effort. Again, hand or DA application.

Clear Coat Safe Rubbing Compound: This product, and it's companion, Clear Coat Safe Polishing Compound, use diminishing abrasives to remove light to moderate defects from paint. In all honesty, they were created to attract those users who insist on using a paste product for this process, and in a certain price range. These are both designed for hand application only.

Having said all that, is there some specific project you're working on, svtstangcobra, or some specific product choice we can help you make?

[svtstangcobra]

Re: Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound

OK, let's see if we can break this down and help you make sense of these similar yet different products:

ScratchX 2.0: This product has been around for several years and was initially developed to give consumers a product to easily help remove small, isolated scratches. These are the sort of thing you might get from a bump from a shopping car, fingernail scratches under the door handles, etc. It has been reformulated a couple of times and currently uses the same sort of SMAT abrasives found in M105 & M205. It is less aggressive than Ultimate Compound, but a bit more abrasive than SwirlX. It can be used by hand or with a DA polisher, and it's perfectly fine to use on all painted surfaces of the vehicle, not just spot correction. It should be worked against the paint with a bit of passion, and wiped off before it has a chance to dry.

SwirlX: This product was introduced at the same time as Ultimate Compound but was positioned as a product to remove fine swirls and very light defects. As noted above, it's the least aggressive of UC, ScratchX 2.0 and SwirlX but it still uses SMAT abrasives. Again, it can be applied by hand or DA. It should be worked against the paint with a bit of passion, and wiped off before it has a chance to dry.

ColorX: This is essentially a cleaner wax, meaning it has both very light cleaning ability but it also leaves wax protection. On some very delicate paint systems it does a fantastic job of removing light hazing created by more aggressive products. Since it is a wax it should be allowed to dry after being worked against the paint with moderate effort. Again, hand or DA application.

Clear Coat Safe Rubbing Compound: This product, and it's companion, Clear Coat Safe Polishing Compound, use diminishing abrasives to remove light to moderate defects from paint. In all honesty, they were created to attract those users who insist on using a paste product for this process, and in a certain price range. These are both designed for hand application only.

Having said all that, is there some specific project you're working on, svtstangcobra, or some specific product choice we can help you make?

Well, first of all thank you for the response in debth. What I'm attempting to do at this point is Buy a set of products to be applied by Hand due to my situation to make a long story short. I've come to the conclusion that I Should probably go this route even though it will take longer. So I was looking for a list of products to buy and keep in the garage that cover all the different Steps. I already have the Gold Wash and Gold Carnauba wax. So I'm wondering what products to buy for the Clean, Polish steps I think and if my mind is not thinking of a product that you feel I should have then please remind me. Thanks again. Oh, p.s. I have some tree sap on my hood is what I Think it is. Some have said to use WD40 or Isoprophyl alcohol, or glass cleaner, I think. Some have even said to try and use an old credit card to see if it lifts up or something if it's been hard. I have been in too much pain this week to feel like going out and seeing if it's hard yet or ever was etc... But today I'm going to go out and take a closer look to see if it's soft or hard. Oh, I think we have some stuff called Goof Off as well but wasn't sure if it would be safe to use on paint.

[svtstangcobra]

Re: Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound

Well, first of all thank you for the response in debth. What I'm attempting to do at this point is Buy a set of products to be applied by Hand due to my situation to make a long story short. I've come to the conclusion that I Should probably go this route even though it will take longer. So I was looking for a list of products to buy and keep in the garage that cover all the different Steps. I already have the Gold Wash and Gold Carnauba wax. So I'm wondering what products to buy for the Clean, Polish steps I think and if my mind is not thinking of a product that you feel I should have then please remind me. Thanks again. Oh, p.s. I have some tree sap on my hood is what I Think it is. Some have said to use WD40 or Isoprophyl alcohol, or glass cleaner, I think. Some have even said to try and use an old credit card to see if it lifts up or something if it's been hard. I have been in too much pain this week to feel like going out and seeing if it's hard yet or ever was etc... But today I'm going to go out and take a closer look to see if it's soft or hard. Oh, I think we have some stuff called Goof Off as well but wasn't sure if it would be safe to use on paint.

Well...guess what I've eliminated the credit card use of removing this. It took it off but has scratched/scuffed the clearcoat or what's left of it by this point.

[Murr1525]

Re: Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound

I'd try glass cleaner first...

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound

Sorry to hear the credit card inflicted some scratches in the paint while taking off the tree sap (it did at least get rid of the sap, right?). But with a little Ultimate Compound you should be able to remove those scratches pretty easily.

As for a small grouping of products to have on hand for routine detailing by hand, we'd go with the following in addition to the couple of products you've mentioned having:

Ultimate Compound - for those odd credit card attacks, and other issues from minor scuffs to wide spread swirl marks
ColorX - a great cleaner wax for routine use to "stay on top of things". Murr1525 is a huge fan of this product and if we had to pay him a nickel for every time he recommended it, he'd own the company! Oh, and it can even do a great job of getting rid of some fine hazing that UC might cause if you have very delicate paint.
Smooth Surface Clay Kit - if you haven't clayed your paint in the past, odds are it needs it. Doing so will make all the other steps easier.

[svtstangcobra]

Re: Difference between scratchx, swirlx, colorx and clear coat safe rubbing compound

Sorry to hear the credit card inflicted some scratches in the paint while taking off the tree sap (it did at least get rid of the sap, right?). But with a little Ultimate Compound you should be able to remove those scratches pretty easily.

As for a small grouping of products to have on hand for routine detailing by hand, we'd go with the following in addition to the couple of products you've mentioned having:

Ultimate Compound - for those odd credit card attacks, and other issues from minor scuffs to wide spread swirl marks
ColorX - a great cleaner wax for routine use to "stay on top of things". Murr1525 is a huge fan of this product and if we had to pay him a nickel for every time he recommended it, he'd own the company! Oh, and it can even do a great job of getting rid of some fine hazing that UC might cause if you have very delicate paint.
Smooth Surface Clay Kit - if you haven't clayed your paint in the past, odds are it needs it. Doing so will make all the other steps easier.

Ok, thanks. I've went to the part store and bought what I need. Took care of the hood minor scuffs from the card. The other little spots of stuff on their may not have been sap, not sure. Because I used my other item I failed to mention that I have is the quik detailer. So I used my duster to remove the dust from the hood, then I sprayed the hood pretty good with the detailer, let it set on there for a few minutes and used my micro fiber towel to gently go over the hood for a first run, then I went over it again after folding the towel and finished cleaning it off and drying. Seems to have restored the hood to normal. So I know I had some tree sap and bird droppings on it and like I said, I don't know what the other weird looking wet spots were. Maybe more sap but must not have dried or been a different type. I have no idea really. I'm just glad it's all gone. It bugs me when my car isn't all shiny. This darker laser red metallic - tri-stage, color is a awesome color, but it sure looks a ton better when it's all clean and shined up. Sort of like my black Harley's I had. It's one of the colors that looks awesome when all shined up, but when it's not, , I don't like it at all. Ummm, I did have the car Pro Detailed a couple months ago and then I added some of my meguiars gold carnauba because I thought it needed it. So...I don't know if they clayed it or not but when I got the car back the paint felt really slick so what ever method they used, it did the job except for the wax end of things. There's something about that Meguiars Gold Carnauba that I just love the results of. I'm going to wash/wax it again after my trip to Eugene tomorrow to get my pain pump refilled. I think I'll run my hands over it though after washing and possibly clay since I bought the clay kit today. I also bought a new MF wash mit and MF drying towel I also picked up today while I was getting all the stuff you mentioned. I just want to keep on top of it and then wax again after a month has gone by just before winter hits again. I also bought some 303 cleaner/protectant for the the vert top. I've had good luck with that for my convertible top. When I first bought the car, the vert top was dull looking and the 303 made it look nice and black again and beaded off water pretty good. I didn't look to see if meguiars had a product for that part for some reason, my brain just thinks 303 for that part. This is the second Mustang Vert I've bought and so that's what I started out using and just kept using it because it worked. Thanks again very much for your help, much appreciated !