Tweet
Well, first off let me say that my previous detailing experience has been limited to washing and waxing (oh, and I recently discovered clay bars). That said, I welcome any feedback from those more knowledgable than myself.
Now, the reason I picked up the Clear Coat Safe Rubbing & Polishing Compounds is to see if I could get some of the swirls out of my wife's paint job. I was originally planning to try SwirlX, but I thought the two-step rubbing and polishing might yield a better result. After discovering this forum today, I suspect I may have a bit to learn here.
Regardless, in my opinion, these products worked great. It took me about an hour to do the hood using the process described below, and I was really rushing because we had a wedding to get to that afternoon. If I had more time, I think the results might have been even better (for example, I would have clay barred before using the rubbing compound).
There are still a few swirl marks, but the difference is night and day. The pictures do not fully capture how much better it looks now. Even my wife is impressed, who never asked me to do this in the first place, and was worried I was going to make us late for the wedding.
I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
Here are the products I used:
Step one, wash.
Step two, dry.
Step three, mask off the fenders and grill (I only did the hood to start with).
Step four, wipe down the hood with some diluted rubbing alcohol to remove any remaining wax and dirt.
Step five, apply Rubbing Compound one small section at at a time. Do not allow to dry and wipe off immediately.
Step six, wipe the hood down one more time with a clean terry cloth towel.
Step seven, apply Clear Coat Safe Polishing Compound. As before, apply to one small section at at a time. Do not allow to dry and wipe off immediately.
Step eight, give the hood another thorough wipe-down with a clean terry cloth towel.
Step nine, wax.
Before photo:
After photo:
Side-by-side:
One more after photo:
Now, the reason I picked up the Clear Coat Safe Rubbing & Polishing Compounds is to see if I could get some of the swirls out of my wife's paint job. I was originally planning to try SwirlX, but I thought the two-step rubbing and polishing might yield a better result. After discovering this forum today, I suspect I may have a bit to learn here.
Regardless, in my opinion, these products worked great. It took me about an hour to do the hood using the process described below, and I was really rushing because we had a wedding to get to that afternoon. If I had more time, I think the results might have been even better (for example, I would have clay barred before using the rubbing compound).
There are still a few swirl marks, but the difference is night and day. The pictures do not fully capture how much better it looks now. Even my wife is impressed, who never asked me to do this in the first place, and was worried I was going to make us late for the wedding.
I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
Here are the products I used:
Step one, wash.
Step two, dry.
Step three, mask off the fenders and grill (I only did the hood to start with).
Step four, wipe down the hood with some diluted rubbing alcohol to remove any remaining wax and dirt.
Step five, apply Rubbing Compound one small section at at a time. Do not allow to dry and wipe off immediately.
Step six, wipe the hood down one more time with a clean terry cloth towel.
Step seven, apply Clear Coat Safe Polishing Compound. As before, apply to one small section at at a time. Do not allow to dry and wipe off immediately.
Step eight, give the hood another thorough wipe-down with a clean terry cloth towel.
Step nine, wax.
Before photo:
After photo:
Side-by-side:
One more after photo:
Comment