Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

[Megasquirter]

2013 ford fusion/deep impact blue metallic


Ive aquired a meguiars DA tool (connects to a drill) and some meguiars ultimate polish. So washed and clayed my car with meguiars clay kit. I started on the hood with the polish and i imediately noticed it had dulled the clear just alil bit but noticable. I ended up just doing the whole hood with ligh/moderate pressure in small sections and followed it up with meguiars wax. The wax helped alil bit with the dullness but still not a high gloss finish as expected. It did pull out the very light swirls i had but overall it just seems dull. I used the yellow pad it came with rather than the red pad i seen online,thats the only thing i can think of that would cause this. Any thoughts on why this happened and how can i get that glossy finish back?

[Top Gear]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

Welcome to the site. I think what will help is to do a second polish pass with slow speed and slow movement. My guess is you went at it with a relatively fast or heavy speed and movement? That's fine, but without the compounding step, the polish was basically overworked doing double duty. That's also fine, since you got the correction you wanted, but if you do a second polish very slowly it will "jewel" the finish and you'll get a surprisingly glossy result before waxing.

[BillE]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

Along with the good comments from TG...one thing you want to look at is "cleaning the pad on the fly."

Either just google that statement or do a search here for it.

Sorry to so vague...

Bill

[Megasquirter]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

Thanks! I did go somewhat quickly but nothing too erratic. I will try much slower on my next attempt..i guess maybe i was afraid of burning the paint/clear coat if i went too slowly. But i think that this DA attachment wouldnt be able to do that easily.. I didnt get much build up on the pad since i only did the hood but I imagine i will once attempting the whole car. Thanks for the tips!! I appreciate it!

[allenk4]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

Are you wiping the paint surface clean with a microfiber towel after polishing?

[Megasquirter]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

Yes i am. It was nice and clean before i waxed it with a clean pad

[Megasquirter]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

So i was reading another similiar post about the ultimate polish. I indeed may have been using to much too fast! It was a serious pain to remove the polish with the MF towel,probably because i used too much (it was in the shade) i read that it should be removed "wet" im not sure i understand that technique? Should i just maybe spray detailer spray after each section or a whole panel? Also i read that i shouldnt have to really remove anything because it will polish in if done correctly. Can someone elaborate on a proper method with what to do and what not to do?

[BillE]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

What "remove wet" is saying, don't let the polish dry on the surface. It's a bear to remove...as you've found out.

Do a section-about 2' x 2', then remove the spent product, move to the next section, etc.

When polishing don't over work the product. Being a SMAT, you don't have to work it forever. Unlike 'old school' products (that need to be worked) that breaks down to itty bitty abrasives, SMAT doesn't break down. Does that make sense?

If you do discover dried left over product, do NOT try and remove it by rubbing (you will probably just mar the surface), use something like a Quick Detailer (like you mentioned) and gently wipe the dried stuff away. As the polish, don't let the QD dry either.

About keeping the pad clean...even though you may think all is clean, it probably isn't. After a section or two, just spend the few seconds and do a 'cleaning on the fly' method. It is really surprising how quickly a pad can get gunked with dead product and the like, and more surprising is how one can't really see it.

Hope this helps ya...

Bill

[Nick Winn]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

When you see users refer to "removing the product while wet," the goal is to have a light, wet, translucent film of product left over on the surface to wipe off after you section passes. If you are going to wipe off the product and it is still a thick white residue you may be using too much product. Another picture would help with this as well if you still need assistance, try to take a picture in the shade, but with a flashlight like the ones in the below linked thread:

Pictures from Saturday Detailing 101 Classes

[drumdan]

Re: Dull pain after meguiars ultimate polish

Ultimate Polish is my most used exterior product. Hands down, my favorite.

A couple things I learned along the way...

There is something in that polish that leaves a clear film deposit on the paint sometimes. Usually on the edges of the section I'm polishing. There could be any number of reasons this occurs, but I've found that thoroughly shaking the bottle took care of this most times. Sometimes if the paint is "sticky" it will do that too. I go over the residue spot with the pad to remove the "clear" patch.