polishing.

[samcollett]

this might sound like a really newbish question to some of you more experienced detailers, but is polishing by hand a bad idea? i'm planning some serious paint repair(i have a scratch down to the metal on my tailgate) this weekend, but i don't own a buffer. i just have polishing compound and pads. i've heard that doing it by hand will just make things worse. true? thanks.

[darksparkz]

It's not "bad", but just much much harder. You'd need a lot of elbow power and repetition to be able to show results. It's just going to be harder, wouldn't really harm the paint unless you do it completely incorrectly.

I tried using rubbing compound to remove overspray that has been on for a year on a car, and it took quite a bit of effort just to remove that.

[toyomoho]

Hand rubbing just takes longer. If done correctly, it should be much safer then a power buffer. Check the link below and do a TN search:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48690

[samcollett]

link no worky. thanks, but i already searched. i'm asking becuase i've tried this on previous scratches and, using turtlewax polishing compound and an applicator pad, i scratched my clearcoat even more.

[darksparkz]

Fixed Link: http://toyotanation.com/forum/t48690.html

http://autopia-carcare.com/inf-paint-polish-clinic.html

From using an more abrasive polishing compound, you will first notice a bunch of marks on it. That's why your supposed to move on to a less abrsive polish to try to polish out the previous marks left on by the more abrasive ones.

[ToyotaJimD.]

An alternative would be to use a scratch remover product, followed by a polish (and wax) or cleaner wax..

[Pb]

If you can see metal then there's no way you can polish out the scratch. You need some touchup paint, and then let it dry for a day, then wetsand and polish it smooth. I've got a little info on fixing a paint chip in my CarDomain. IMO using an orbital buffer is very safe and will yield much better results than polishing by hand. Rotary buffers are the ones you have to be careful with.

[samcollett]

i plan on applying the touch up paint first, and then sanding, and then polishing out the sanding marring. that's what i'm worried about though, because in the past i've not had good results with polishing by hand. i checked out your cardomain page about scratch removal too pb. good stuff.

[ToyotaJimD.]

Sorry, I didn't catch "down to the metal."

You could also try a product like Langka ... check it out at www.langka.com ... that smoothens the paint after you touch-up.