Wet Buffing with wool & Chemicals?

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Anonymous4Runner

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I looked at my 4R earlier today and I felt like my white paint looked plain so I asked a friend of mine to take a look at my 4R to see if it needed new paint. He said I didn't need to add more paint to it as it looked just fine, but he said what I should consider is having a wet buff w/ wool & chemicals job done on the truck which would greatly improve the look of the paint.

Has anyone had experience with this process? If so, did you do it by yourself or did you have someone else do it for you? If someone else, how much did it cost you? Thanks!!


Edit: Was it worth it? I have white color. Not Blizzard white pearl.
 
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I would try a good buffing with a product like meguiars mirror glaze. That is a "cleaning" compound. Then do a polish and a buff. I would bring it to someone who knows what they are doing. You need the process done with a high speed buffer. If you dont know what you are doing thins can get UGLY very fast. I have done auto detailing for 17 years, 5 at a Porsche/ Audi dealer.
 
Do not use wool! Chances are it's far too aggressive for the correction your paint needs. You'll end up in swirl city using wool.

Chances are you can take care of the paint with a DA polisher (like the Porter Cable 7424XP) and some light cutting pads followed by a no-cut pad with a good wax/sealant. DA polishers are MUCH safer to use than rotary polishers.

I can provide more info if you like, I used to be a detailer and I continue to do so as a hobby. You probably likely just need a good compound (like Meguiars #205 or #105) and a good waxing (using a pure wax like Meguiars #26 or NXT 2.0). Just remember there's lots of prep you need to do to the paint BEFORE polishing or you may make things much worse.

http://www.autopia.org has a WEALTH of information on paint correction. I would post your question over there. They'll be even more helpful and thorough than I can be.

EDIT: I have no affiliation with Meguiars, I merely suggested them because most car enthusiasts are familiar with the brand. There are MANY other fine car care products out there.
 
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Listen to them. Don't use wool. It's far too agressive for what you need. Use a mild pad with some paint cleaner. You really don't need to take off much to have it looking good. It shouldn't cost you too much to have someone do that. i use a porter cable 7424 with a mile polishing pad and meguiars 205 for the minor stuff and 105 for serious paint removal (you don't need that). Then just seal it with a wax (I use Collinite Insulator wax on my cars as it gives a great shine and lasts longer than anything else I have used). Remember... the shine is in the prep.
 
All good advise for a very scratched up vehicle...but, if it just has normal fine scratches and in need of a good shine, a el cheapo random orbital buffer from wal mart will do wonders w/ the right compound and liquid wax. Use some of the stuff mentioned earlier. The cheap random orbital buffers will not leave the swirl marks and you virtually can't burn through the clear/paint.
Heck, I've even used my buffer w/ a nu finish or rainex liquid wax with great results. Much better than a hand wax job and better than risking too much heat build up with a high power orbital buffer like the pro's use.
For bad scratches start w/ a "rubbing compound", then move to a finnishing compound or liquid wax.
Hope that helps!!
 
They're absolutely correct. Since when does anyone use WOOL to cut and buff a car?!?!?! That would scratch the piss out of your paint. If you use wool, be prepared to get a new paint job... completely. Good luck.:guitar3:
 
MikeInNH said:
Wool makes a very very good polishing pad.

Foamed Wool 7.5 inch Polishing/Buffing Pad, purple wool pad, lake country, dual action wool pad

I would only use it for the final polishing.
Click to expand...

We're not saying you can't use wool, but it's the easiest way to screw up the paint if you're not careful. I've used it on a few cars before, but it'll take the paint down quick. The pad above is a synthetic wool pad, we're talking about a real wool pad: 7.5 inch Hook & Loop DuroWool 100% Twisted Wool Cutting Pad

One other tip you may notice is everyone is saying RANDOM ORBITAL, not orbital. Whatever you get, get a random orbit or you can really screw up the paint fast. I have used the cheapo random orbit from walmart and it actually wasn't too bad to use for a once in a while buffing.

something like this with a microfiber bonnet and some polish/paint cleaner would do what you're looking for: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Vaper-10-Inch-Random-Orbital-Buffer-Polisher-22610/14299790

Oh, and they do speed up waxing with a little wax and a microfiber bonnet for that too.
 
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before id do any polishing id clay bar first to get everything off, otherwise you are just grinding in anything on the surface...
 
All a clay bar will do is clean the crap off of the paint. It wont polish anything.
Click to expand...

Re-read my post...

I then said....follow by a polish and then wax. I wouldn't have said to use a polish if I thought it would also polish.
 
Thanks everyone for the responses! I was actually going to have my friend do the job for me but I think I'm going to start looking into ordering buffing tools so I can start buffing my car myself! Hopefully I will be able to check back in with links to the tools before I order them to seek advice! I will also be taking my 4Runner in to have it detailed for the first time ever since I bought the 4R back in November!
 
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