Polishing Help.

[96ProCompTahoe]

need some advice from you guys who are experienced with detailing.

alright I'll be getting the HD porter cable buffer and pads in a month or so but have a question about hand polishing out some of the deeper scratches. Here's what I've done so far to the Tahoe.

-washed the areas to be polished and waxed with diluted dish soap
-washed the whole thing with Meguires Gold Class Car Wash.
-dried it with the microfiber towel
-went over it with the Meguires Clay Bar
-grabbed a bottle of Meguires Deep Shine polish for dark colored vehicles polished it all by hand
-waxed it with Meguires Gold Class Paste Wax

Now, the clay/polish/wax worked wonders on it but those scratches from the previous owners not washing it correctly and regular wear and tear are still there. Is the polish i picked up not strong enough? or am i just missing something/ doing it incorrectly? I'm new to the detailing world and I'm hooked on it now after seeing how good my 13 year old truck looks after the first attempt at a exterior detail.


-and stupid question. how do you go about cleaning the micro fiber towels used to apply and wipe off the polish/wax? throw them in with the same ones used to wash and dry the truck? (no softener of course )

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

updated the post after answering a couple of my own questions. still needing some info from one of the detailers on the boards.

 

[tast101]

your better off with a PC or so. I don't think you'll get the majority of scratches out by hand. Also a way u can prevent scratches in the future is to use a air compressor to dry ur truck or the sheeting method. I had two different polishes. I do a pass on the whole vehicle with the medium polish first (depending on how bad the scratches are), then the light polish, then glaze and then wax.

here's a real informative site http://paintcare-n-detailing.com/polish_02.html

 

[jetskied]

updated the post after answering a couple of my own questions. still needing some info from one of the detailers on the boards.

Removing Scratches is a matter of using an abrassive polish to remove a fraction of the clear so that the scratches are not visable. Now deep scratches are never removable. You will need to use the porter cable machine to do it right as doing it by hand does not work very well. The polish you are using is not the right stuff. I recomend using Meguiars #80 as a mild scratch remover and #83 for tougher sctraches. I recomend the web sight http://properautocare.com for more information as they have instructions on how to use the porter cable.

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

thanks for the replies, still need to get my hands on a buffer, but since some dickhead tore my door up with a crowbar trying to break into it, i'm still deciding whether to have it touched up or just painted entirely.

it didn't turn out like a "new" show car finish, but it looks MUCH MUCH better. better than i expected for 13 year old previously uncared for paint.