Polishing oils in M205?

[RLIRL]

I have been working on trying to remove some water etchings that recently got on the hood of my car, and have previously tried another finishing polish with no luck. It looked perfect after using the previous polish with my Porter Cable 7424 and Lake Country pad, but the next day after having the car in the sun and heat the marks reappeared. I am guessing the heat evaporated the oils and exposed these etchings again, since the surface did feel slick after polishing.

Desperate for something that will work, I bought a bottle of both M105 and M205. The other day I decided to test out the 205 on a small area by hand using a foam applicator just to see what it could do. The finish is perfect outside of these marks, so I figured I'd try the lesser of the agressive products first. I made 6 or so passes using light pressure, and then wiped off the area with a microfiber. I was kind of shocked, becuase 90% of the water marks were gone, and the 205 did not really feel like much of an abrasive polish. I left the area untouched without an other futher polishes or waxes after using the 205 just to see if these marks will reappear, and they didn't after the car sat all day in high 90 degree weather. I probably should do an isopropyl alcohol wipedown just to be sure though.

My question is, does 205 have a lot polishing oils in it that could possibly hide defects? Since the bottle says that it is paintable safe, and that finish did not feel slick at all after using M205, it seems like there should not be any in it. I just wanted to find out directly from the source for sure. If I can get by using the M205 I will go that route, I just don't want to end up dissapointed and frustrated again and have them reappear after taking the time doing the whole thing

[john m.]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

Best way to check is to wipe down with a 50/50 alcohol solution. It will remove any oils that are left behind and revel the actual finish. Ive done this when doing test spots before when using a product I know is oily.

So give the spot a spray with some rubbing alcohol 50/50 and if the finish still looks good you should be set.

[RLIRL]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

Is the 50/50 mixture you are refering to half isopropyl and half water? In the past I have just always used isopropyl alcohol on a microfiber and just wiped the section. Does the water aid in preventing streaks?

[pat28]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

Off topic here but it seems the M205 is only available in the 1gal format? Are you aware if it is still available in the 16oz format? I'm looking to buy online on the Meg's website and I can't find it.

Thanks,
Pat

[john m.]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

Yes half isoprpyl and half water. Im sure you could probably used it just plain out of the bottel though I have never tried. I always use it diluted and it works for me that way so I just keep doing it with that XD

Pat28, if you cant find it on the meguiars site I would check out www.autodetailingsolutions.net, Rick has great deals there and sells 205 in samples as well as the 32oz and gallons.

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

I've been wondering if there are trade secret oils in 205 also

[Shawn T.]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

I've been wondering if there are trade secret oils in 205 also

Same here.

Mike Stoops!!! We need you!!!!!

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

Over the years Meguiars has been very clear about how their products correlated with the 5 step process, hence they were very clear about which products would moisturize the paint with their trade secret polishing oils, weather they were a pure polish or various product that would (like #80, cleaner wax, gold class, etal will add TS oils, and #26, #2 etal will not add oils). Meguiars is being very evasive and indirect about the new paint cleaners with the smat. Ive even called customer care and asked if swirl-x, 205, 105 etc will cover the polishing step- they dont even know. Oh and to top it off, Ive seen NXT listed as a polish wax, and also as a pure wax like #26. Ive called customer care about this and they wont even answer me if NXT will cover the polishing step. I don't understand it, in the past they were VERY clear- they would say gold class will add TS oils, #26 will NOT add oils. I ask about NXT, its like um, well, uhhh, welll. They wont say it does, and wont say it does not

[Alfisti]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

I think its been stated on this forum that NXT contains TS oils.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

OK, let's clear up a couple of things here.

First off, M205 does indeed contain polishing oils. It is not as heavy with them as, say M80, but that's partly due to the different abrasive technology utilized by M205 (SMAT vs DAT) and the fact that these abrasives impart a high degree of clarity to the finish. It's sort of a different way to go about a similar process, if that makes sense.

So, RLIRL, to address your specific situation: depending on how hard/soft/workable/whatever-you-want-to-call-it your paint is, and how deeply those water spots are etched in, M205 may or may not be powerful enough to fully remove them. In all honesty, we would be surprised that it was sufficient to remove serious etching as it is pretty mild stuff. Yes, you gave it 6 or so passes, but you described those as "using light pressure". This tells us a couple of things:

• M205 may not have been up to the task at hand - we would have switched to some more aggressive if the third attempt didn't correct the problem
• A more aggressive application of M205 might have taken care of the situation with fewer passes
• You may be concealing the defect to some degree at this point. That's not the design intent of M205 but you can't help but leave something behind when using a product like this, and any time you leave something behind the possibility of concealing exists.

If you're really in doubt, give the area a quick IPA wipedown and evaluate the finish again. We would not be surprised that you needed something more aggressive to correct them. Ultimate Compound is an excellent step between M205 and M105.

As for NXT Tech Wax 2.0, we aren't sure why Customer Care hasn't answered your questions directly, but here on MOL (check the 5 Step Paint Care Cycle) and in all of our Saturday Classes we flat out state that both NXT Tech Wax 2.0 and Gold Class Carnauba Plus are "polish/waxes" and that this further makes the pure polish step an optional one. Deep Crystal Carnauba and M26 are our only "pure" waxes (meaning no polish and/or no cleaning).

Further, to address some of OhioCarBuff's other points - yes, SwirlX and M205 will and do address the polish step, but keep in mind both contain abrasives that are designed to correct defects to some extent (think M80 Speed Glaze and other "cleaner/polishes") so they aren't going to be the same as DC Polish, M07, M03 & M05. M205 is pretty unique because of the refining and clarifying ability of it's SMAT abrasives. But M105 will not substitute for the polishing step in any way because it's a compound and as such it's designed to cut and cut fast. Sure, it has the added benefit of finishing incredibly well for the amount of cut it offers, but it most definitely is NOT a polish.

[Alfisti]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

Nice info summary. Thanks Michael.

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

Thank you Mike for clearing that all up!!!!!!!!

Actually I can't remember where, but there is a spot on the meguiars website where NXT is listed as a pure wax, in the same category as #26

[OhioCarBuff]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

Actually here it is on the regular Meguairs website in the car care section. NXT is listed as a pure wax along with #26 and deep crystal wax, Gold class etal listed in a separate category as a polish/wax.....

http://www.meguiars.com/faq/index.cfm?faqCat=Paint%20Care&faqQuestionID=53&section=_53#_53

[RLIRL]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

What is the best method of applying M205 by hand? I did notice some light hazing scratches in the areas I worked. I used a clean foam applicator pad and did one light mist of water on the pad to prime it, and used a tiny drop of product. Should I have skipped on misting the pad? Should I work harder the first few passes, then sort of lightly massage the product in after that to adress any possibility of hazing or scratches?

I have also experienced this when using ScratchX too. I know both ScratchX and M205 are supposed to be mild, and claim not to crate additional scratching, but I have always gotten some light scratching when using them by hand. I am confused as to why this happens, is there a specific technique I am missing out on?

[Murr1525]

Re: Polishing oils in M205?

If just using a drop of product, it is likely that you are rubbing the foam into the paint, and not the product.

Think of it like this:

if you want to work a 1 foot square, you want to have enough product on the pad to smear a very thin layer across that square and work it in. So usually something in the quarter or so sized blob.