In my efforts to keep the G looking clean, I'm trying to polish her up but I'm not getting the results I hoped for. My G's paint looks great as is with very little swirl marks that I can see but I just hoped to keep an even deeper shine. I'm using a the PC DA buffer with Menzerna SF4500 Polish. I first tried applying the polish by spreading it around on a low speed setting then turned it up after it was spread out. I used over lapping passes in a grid pattern. I didn't see very much dusting from the polish or anything to let me know it was done. After wiping the residue off with a microfiber cloth, the paint looks shiny sure, but I can't tell any difference on the polished part of the panel and the unpolished portion. I tried using both a white pad first, then a black pad on another panel for comparison. Same results either way.

Any ideas where I'm going wrong?

 

Maybe - and just maybe - the problem is not on the polish, but on the coating/wax you're using (or not using? )
In my case, I got awesome shine with sealant (I used this one Meguiar's Synthetic Sealant 2.0 M21 - 16 oz | Free Shipping Available - Detailed Image) and should get even better results with wax (although in my case I wasn't going for shine so the sealant was more than enough)

maybe some pics would help

 

SF4500 is perhaps the finest polish on the market. This polish is designed for jeweling the paint to remove very slight haze, and not necessarily for defect removal unless you're working with incredibly soft paint.

If your vehicle is truly almost flawless as it is, you may not notice a visual difference from polishing. It is the flaws - ie swirls, marring, oxidation, etc that lead to a lack luster finish that can be revived with paint correction and polishing, however if your vehicle is already super glossy, there is not much room for improvement.




A product like Menzerna SF4000 will have quite a bit more defect removing power than SF4500, and therefore may produce a more noticeable difference if you've got swirls that need to be tended to. If the defects are deeper, you'll need to use something like Menzerna FG400 or even SC300 depending on the severity.




Zach McGovern
Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog Author
Attention to Detailing Peoria - Home

 

Ok. So for someone with paint that isn't scratched or hazy, but they want to add a deeper gloss or shine to it, what product would be recommended?

 

Car detailing can be very overwhelming. There are a lot of products out there to rub all over your paint. The biggest thing to keep in mind is to never use a product you're not familiar with, or a product that you don't understand the purpose of. All product brands advertse differently and it is easy to pick up a product that seems like it will work well, but then have it be more abrasive then you thought. Then you'reworking backwards.

As stated above a polish will eliminate fine swirls and scratches, but will result in finer swirls, that's the goal though. Polish also doesnt leave any kind of seal, wax, or protectant on your paint. If you have a dark colored car, i would recommend using something labled coloring or finishing polish. This will leave the smallest swirls, if any. You follow with some type of carnuba wax. A "cleaner wax" is a wax with some abrasives in it (like polish), so keep that in mind if your still getting swirls. Wax is meant to fill in all the fine scratches left by polish and give you a perfect mirror finish.

It is hard to understand everything and every product on the market. But the chat above explains the basic order of operation. Wishing you the best of luck! And seriously a good carnuba wax will do wonders, but will run you $15-$30 fora jar.

P.S. Always read the instructions very well on any product you buy. Using them correctly will work wonders.

 

Not a pro, but I recently used SF4500 (after SI 1500 to get rid of swirls & light scratches) on my black G and like you, it never really broke down to a powder. But the polish isn't what gives that deep pop.

Based on Zach and Detailed Image's recommendations, after polishing I sealed with with two applications of Power Lock (make sure to let it cure for 24 hours between applications) and then a coat of Poorboy's World wax. I got that deep gloss you're looking for.

I think the latest generation of paint coatings like 22ple (see this thread) is like.. a level up from what I'm doing, but it's more expensive. I'd recommend trying Power Lock sealant and dark-paint-friendly wax like PBW.

 

I'd recommend a layer of BlackFire Wet Diamond or Menznera Power Lock to add a bit of added pop to the paint. Again, perfectly polished paint is already going to have an incredible luster to it, and will not leave much room for improvement, though adding a high quality LSP will help take it up a notch.

SF4500 is quite high in oil content, which makes it very smooth and allows you to work it seemingly forever without producing any dust on a clean pad. The abrasives do break down throughout the working cycle, but this doesn't mean you will be able to see/feel a difference when that happens as the abrasives are incredibly tiny (microscopic).

Polishing IS what gives your paint the most pop. A perfectly polished vehicle (ie free of surface imperfections) will look good regardless of what type of wax or sealant you apply to it, while a vehicle that is swirled and scratched will look poor even if you apply a very high end wax to it.

Polishing/Paint correction yields the most dramatic visual improvement compared to anything else you can do to the paint, however if the paint is already nearly flawless and you're looking for a bit of extra gloss, then the LSP will have some effect. Waxes, Sealants, and Paint Coatings all have their unique look to them.

Hope that helps.

Zach McGovern
Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog Author
Attention to Detailing Peoria - Home

 

Thanks everyone for your comments. My paint already looks like the "corrected" side of the example posted by Detailed Image, no noticeable swirls, I just wanted more depth to the glossy look if possible. I'll check out the Power Lock and BlackFire products. I grabbed some Meguiars carnauba wax this weekend as well, can't hurt.

 

Try using carnauba wax