Can anyone suggest a good paint polish or cleaner??

[kingtroll]

I seemed to have something on my paint from my last visit to the shop. It is not obvious and in poor lighting not noticable but you can feel it when touching the paint. I know a lot of you guys go to shows and through trial and error have your favorite car cleaning products. Any suggestions??  I have to eventually repaint my car so I am not too upset about it because my paint has many other flaws in it and hopefully by this year or early next I will have a new repaint but in the mean time I like to keep the paint as nice looking as possible until then.

[OUTLAW]

I would use 3M Final Cut - I use it after any paint work I do. You can do it by hand or buffer. For car shows (especially indoors under flouresent lights) I will buff the paint with cornstarch ( yes household cornstarch) -you can either use it dry or make a paste out of it (I prefer dry)

[farmboy70]

I seemed to have something on my paint from my last visit to the shop. It is not obvious and in poor lighting not noticable but you can feel it when touching the paint. I know a lot of you guys go to shows and through trial and error have your favorite car cleaning products. Any suggestions??  I have to eventually repaint my car so I am not too upset about it because my paint has many other flaws in it and hopefully by this year or early next I will have a new repaint but in the mean time I like to keep the paint as nice looking as possible until then.

Take a look a 3M Perfect-it line of compounds/ polishes, they are easy to work with and mild on clear coats or single stage paint.
Dave

[kingtroll]

Thanks fellas. I'll check out the 3M stuff.

[drewcrane]

also consider griots garage they have e real nice clay bar , and polish it wont hurt to check em out

[MEK-Dangerfield]

Mother's makes a clay-bar kit also. I used it last Fall for the first time. It's interesting stuff. Like the directions say, make sure you have lubed the body panel well, otherwise the clay-bar will streak, leaving it looking worse than when you started. 



    Mike

[kingtroll]

I bought the 3M compound and it seems to have helped quite a bit.  The stains are not nearly as obvious as before. You need a lot of elbow grease though but it's worth it. I have a buffer that is not heavy duty and it is better to buff manually in this case. I tried the Meguiars kit that has a clay bar in it prior to this and it wasn't as effective as the 3M compound. It's best to learn about this stuff on this paint job I have now, I would hate to experiment on a brand new paint job. (that's why it's best to ask)

[drewcrane]

yes a clay bar will leave streaks ,as it is only a surface prep, and must be followed by polish,however dont try to cut the paint to much as it will look worse over time if you burn through, i painted my car june of 1996,and i still get top trophies at shows ,its still shines after all these years for a black paint , just the other day a guy asked me if i just painted it and i grinned ans said i painted this car 12 years ago lol here is a pic i took in august of 2007

[Chryco Psycho]

Meguires is a better product than most as well

[hooD]

Mother's makes a clay-bar kit also. I used it last Fall for the first time. It's interesting stuff. Like the directions say, make sure you have lubed the body panel well, otherwise the clay-bar will streak, leaving it looking worse than when you started. 

    Mike

  Any streaks from the clay bar will come out with a light application of polish/wax. 

 

I seemed to have something on my paint from my last visit to the shop. It is not obvious and in poor lighting not noticable but you can feel it when touching the paint. I know a lot of you guys go to shows and through trial and error have your favorite car cleaning products. Any suggestions??  I have to eventually repaint my car so I am not too upset about it because my paint has many other flaws in it and hopefully by this year or early next I will have a new repaint but in the mean time I like to keep the paint as nice looking as possible until then.

After claying your paint, the finish will feel as smooth as glass.  Clay removes any crud that is on the paint surface leaving behind a smooth finish.  You probably have some paint overspray on the finish.  BTW, mothers clay works the best, meguires clay bar sticks and is hard to work with from my experience.   I love and use all other meguires products except for their clay.

I've been using clay for over 15 years on my Cuda and on all my other cars.  It is great stuff. 

[drewcrane]

i have used meguires also took one of there classes ,for years , and still do however Griots garage has a real slick and very pliable clay , and a special buffing pad to speed things up that holds the clay bar ,also they have the lightest , polisher i have held and it is pretty cheap too , trust me go to there site they have some nice soft fender covers that wont scratch the paint they are real slick, do go check it out GRIOTS garage

[kingtroll]

i have used meguires also took one of there classes ,for years , and still do however Griots garage has a real slick and very pliable clay , and a special buffing pad to speed things up that holds the clay bar ,also they have the lightest , polisher i have held and it is pretty cheap too , trust me go to there site they have some nice soft fender covers that wont scratch the paint they are real slick, do go check it out GRIOTS garage

Thanks for posting this site....I love it.