Removing Swirls And Scratches By Hand

hi there i have an 08 ford explorer and have a few scratches and the truck is swirled pretty badly. I'm more worried about the scratches then the swirls, the scratches are from removing a 3m chrome part with fishing line. I have scratch x 2.0 but im afarid to use it I dont want to mess up my trucks paint job. I also have swirlx and ultimate compound, I'm just really afraid to use them can you guys tell me if its okay or is there a risk or what. Thanks

 

If you are working by hand you can't really damage the paint anymore... but you also can't really do a lot correction...

 

Should work fine. I've used scratch x to reduce some scratches in the past.

I've used cotton terry towel and a form applicator. The later seems to work better and easier.

You have to take several passes and go over it quite a few times since its not as efficient as a machine but with patience and hard work, it should help.

If you're looking at working the entire truck, getting a machine is better or working in sections by hand over a period of time (to rest your arms)

I don't put that much pressure on it but you need to be firm, I tended to just take a few more passes.

There are some oils so you might want to use an IPA 50/50 wipedown to check if the scratch is gone.

Good luck

 

You can actually do a lot of damage polishing by hand if you use a polish with some hut and use your fingers to get rid of a scratch of etching you can actually go right though the clear. This is because your fingers have a very small surface area and you pushing down with a good amount of force so you have a lot of pressure which will eat right though the clear. Now this is using a decent cut but yes there is a lot less correction ability you can do if you use one of those hand polishing pads or something.

 

I geuss if you were the incredible hulk or something lol... before I got into detailing I tried fixing some scratches on my car and I used a few different products and rubbed away for what seemed like hours and saw no change... maybe I've just never used anything with enough cut...

 

If you ever get a scrap painted panel get some compound like 105 or Ult Compound and put it some a MF and use a finger and rub hard and fast and you will go right though the clear after a bit.

Not saying its easy but could happen if you didnt know that it is possible.

One thing is if you do use polishes use polishes that can be used by hand and not ones that you only use on a rotary as you will end up with a haze as the polish wont brake down. 205 would be a nice one to use. SwirlX and Megs Compound will also work great as they are hand friendly get yourself some LC polishing hand pads and go at it!

 

I've been thinking of picking up some of those hand polishing pads for the spots the a machine just can't seem to work into...

 

They work great, I have a red and orange one. But, I also have alot of 4" low pro pads and sometimes just use those as I already have them dirty from polishing the front bumper.

 

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