Issues with Ultimate Compound

[SwedishCanadian]

Hello everyone. I am new here and was hoping that someone could help me. I'm new to car detailing as well.

First off, my car is black. It has a perfect shine to it and is barely a year old. There was some minor stuff that I wanted to fix, so I used some ultimate compound and followed the instructions. Few days later when the car was in direct sunlight I could see that it kind of looked dull or hazy in those areas, and you could definitely see that I had rubbed those areas. You can pretty much only see it in direct sunlight though and in certain angles. I gave the car a good wash, didn't really help. I tried using more compound, didn't help. Then I tried waxing the effected areas. I can't remember the exact name of wax but it's Meguiars wax that is special made for black cars. It's not a spray, it's the one that comes with a rubbing pad. I did it in the garage and it was darkish. Not a lot of sun out today so hard to say but it seems like the dull/hazy is now gone completely.

I have two questions.

1. Is it normal that the area where UC has been used looks a little bit dull and hazy especially in direct sunlight, and wax has to be used after to get it to look really good again?

and

2. Is the waxing in this case only a temporary fix, and after few washes the areas that I treated with UC will look dull/hazy again?

I am a little upset since as stated this is a more or less new car. I felt uncomfortable doing it myself but was told that Meguiars is the good stuff and not to worry, still I get this result.

I used fairly expensive terry cloths and microfibre cloths for the task if that matters.

Thanks

[Spazzz]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

Sounds about right for what you did.
You will need to get some yellow Meguiars foam wax applicators and some Ultimate Polish now.
Re-do the spots with light pressure to get rid of the haze.....light pressure as your fingers will create hotspots of pressure......use all of the fingers length.

A couple applications with the Ultimate Polish should fine tune the haze.
Follow with Ultimate Wax....liquid or paste.

And YES, whenever you compound or polish you need to use a wax/sealant or coating afterwards to protect the paint.
The compound and polish will leave you with clean but unprotected paint.

You will get it straightened out....no worries

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

Sounds about right for what you did.
You will need to get some yellow Meguiars foam wax applicators and some Ultimate Polish now.
Re-do the spots with light pressure to get rid of the haze.....light pressure as your fingers will create hotspots of pressure......use all of the fingers length.

A couple applications with the Ultimate Polish should fine tune the haze.
Follow with Ultimate Wax....liquid or paste.

And YES, whenever you compound or polish you need to use a wax/sealant or coating afterwards to protect the paint.
The compound and polish will leave you with clean but unprotected paint.

You will get it straightened out....no worries

Thank you for your fast answer.

So, the wax that is on it right now and that has made it look back to normal (I think) will not be sufficient enough? It will wear off and it'll look dull/hazy again?

If that's the case I guess I will have to wait until the current wax wears off? Because right now it's hard to see the exact areas that I treated since they seem to look like the rest of the car.

[Spazzz]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

Unfortunately Yes. If it was there before the wax is just masking it.

When I am done with polishing it looks as if it is waxed, but I know that I need to seal it.
The polish would remove the wax but since you have the dilemma of where exactly to polish, maybe you should wait until you spot the problem areas.

No harm, no foul waiting as the paint is protected.
Personally since I use a DA I would hit the whole panel with the polish.

That's a different day when you get a Dual Action polisher.....eh

[The Guz]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

Well the good thing is you followed the direction on the bottle. That's a good sigh and good starting point.

Microfiber or terry, especially terry are both aggressive applicators with ultimate compound. It can sometime haze paint. Especially if you used a lot pressure when applying ultimate compound (http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...my-paint!-quot). A polish can remove this haze.

Black wax is a cleaner wax (cleans, polishes and protect). It has more polishing oils in it than white wax or the other cleaner waxes. It cleans the paint. Black wax could have removed the haze you are seeing. Did it mask it? That's hard to say. It's a very good cleaner wax and it could have removed it completely. Let black wax run it's course and see if they come back. If they do you can use some polish for your next process.

I also recommend you pick up a few packages of the Meguiar's foam applicators.

[Eldorado2k]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

Great advice by both Spazzz and the Guz. I agree that Black Wax might have been enough to cure [not just mask] the haze. From now on switch the terry applicators for microfiber ones and also get some soft foam applicators.

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

Unfortunately Yes. If it was there before the wax is just masking it.

When I am done with polishing it looks as if it is waxed, but I know that I need to seal it.
The polish would remove the wax but since you have the dilemma of where exactly to polish, maybe you should wait until you spot the problem areas.

No harm, no foul waiting as the paint is protected.
Personally since I use a DA I would hit the whole panel with the polish.

That's a different day when you get a Dual Action polisher.....eh

Well the good thing is you followed the direction on the bottle. That's a good sigh and good starting point.

Microfiber or terry, especially terry are both aggressive applicators with ultimate compound. It can sometime haze paint. Especially if you used a lot pressure when applying ultimate compound (http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...my-paint!-quot). A polish can remove this haze.

Black wax is a cleaner wax (cleans, polishes and protect). It has more polishing oils in it than white wax or the other cleaner waxes. It cleans the paint. Black wax could have removed the haze you are seeing. Did it mask it? That's hard to say. It's a very good cleaner wax and it could have removed it completely. Let black wax run it's course and see if they come back. If they do you can use some polish for your next process.

I also recommend you pick up a few packages of the Meguiar's foam applicators.

Great advice by both Spazzz and the Guz. I agree that Black Wax might have been enough to cure [not just mask] the haze. From now on switch the terry applicators for microfiber ones and also get some soft foam applicators.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help. There are some areas where I used UC that didn't get hazy, and I haven't waxed them yet, but I guess I should do so?

And in the future, what should I really use, ultimate polish or UC?

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. There's some spots where I haven't used wax yet since it wasn't hazy, but I guess I should make sure to cover those areas soon as well. Hopefully the wax will keep the haze away and I won't have to do any more work on it.

The question now is in the future, should I use UC and be more carefully, or should I just switch to Ultimate Polish?

[Spazzz]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

I totally missed the part about the black wax in the first post.

The Guz is right about using White wax or Black wax. Since your car is only a year old that is all you might need as long as you keep it maintained

The key is to use the least aggressive approach first. That would be Black wax>White wax> Ultimate polish>Ultimate compound.
I use Ultimate polish for my minor, hand application spots......rarely do I have to step up to Ultimate compound(I hope that stays true)

Being in Canada and going through winter it would be best to have a variety of compounds.
Swirls will collect over time and they are very noticeable on black.
A Dual Action polisher and accessories is always a good investment. It can give your car a better than new look .....just something to think about

[tguil]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

A lot has been said and I would mostly agree with all of it. One further suggestion. Just buy some Meguiar's White Wax and some foam applicators and wax the whole car. White Wax is just a bit more abrasive than Black Wax. I think that White Wax would probably take care of the hazing and leave a nice clean finish that is pretty well protected. In the future use either White Wax or Black Wax. If your car is almost a year old, it cannot have a "perfect shine" unless you have never driven it or washed it. It's time for a good wax job.

You haven't messed anything up with what you have done so far. If you are serious about detailing, I agree with Spazz....by all means buy a dual action polisher.

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

I totally missed the part about the black wax in the first post.

The Guz is right about using White wax or Black wax. Since your car is only a year old that is all you might need as long as you keep it maintained

The key is to use the least aggressive approach first. That would be Black wax>White wax> Ultimate polish>Ultimate compound.
I use Ultimate polish for my minor, hand application spots......rarely do I have to step up to Ultimate compound(I hope that stays true)

Being in Canada and going through winter it would be best to have a variety of compounds.
Swirls will collect over time and they are very noticeable on black.
A Dual Action polisher and accessories is always a good investment. It can give your car a better than new look .....just something to think about

A lot has been said and I would mostly agree with all of it. One further suggestion. Just buy some Meguiar's White Wax and some foam applicators and wax the whole car. White Wax is just a bit more abrasive than Black Wax. I think that White Wax would probably take care of the hazing and leave a nice clean finish that is pretty well protected. In the future use either White Wax or Black Wax. If your car is almost a year old, it cannot have a "perfect shine" unless you have never driven it or washed it. It's time for a good wax job.

You haven't messed anything up with what you have done so far. If you are serious about detailing, I agree with Spazz....by all means buy a dual action polisher.

Yeah, there are a lot of swirls when looking up close and from the right angle. I've looked at other newer cars and they all seem to get them after just a few months. I had the car professionally detailed and they charged 200 bucks, was a decent job but wouldn't remove the swirls, said I would have to pay 500 for that. I was thinking maybe it's smarter to wait a year or two for when they get more noticeable to pay that kind of money to remove them.

[davey g-force]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

You could pay that kind of money, buy the right tools and products, do some reading (here or elsewhere), and have the ability to remove defects numerous times for many years to come

[The Guz]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

I just posted this thread on white wax on a black truck.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?63137-2006-Ford-F150-Harley-Davidson-Edition&p=562811#post562811

[SwedishCanadian]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

Just another quick question guys.

I used black wax in those areas as mentioned, let it dry to haze and then wiped it off with a microfibre cloth. It looked great. My car collected some dust in the last few days, and today in direct sunlight I could see that the areas where I had used wax looked extra dirty and dusty. Like, the layer of dust
had a different shade in those areas. I wiped some dust off with my hand it the different shade disappeard completely, all black and shiny again under the dust.

Whats that all about?

[Spazzz]

Re: Issues with Ultimate Compound

When you get a swirl free finish followed by some decent sealant/wax, it can actually look pretty dern good from a distance with a layer of dust.
It takes the glass look out of the equation and creates depth. Sounds goofy but works for me. The dust or rain plus debris still bothers me immensely.

Sounds like you need to black wax the whole car.
When it gets dusty(no matter how much), I use a rinseless wash. You might want to get some D114.

And if you spend $500 paying someone to remove the defects our friendship is over
We can tell you how to spend $500 so you don't have to spend $500 again.