Scratches coming back after full detail

[tomaytown]

Hello all!

Recently decided to de-badge my old car and tried to make the paint a little better as I plan on selling it soon.

First I removed paint transfer from door dings as well as a scuff on the front bumper. I used WD40 and a magic eraser.

I then de-badged the entire car with some wire and hairdryer on heat which worked a charm. Used a bit of WD40 to get rid of the glue residue as well, which worked.

Both steps left behind some hazing from the WD40 as well as an outline of where the badges had been. I then compound/ polished/waxed the entire car. And although not perfect, I was happy with the results.

Now for the problems. After about 2 weeks all the scratches came back. The haze also came back where the scuff marks were. It looks a whole lot worse than before because the paint got darker from the detail and the scratches/haze is more obvious. I went through the whole detail process a second time and it all came back again!

I don't know what I'm doing wrong and advice would be much appreciated!

Products I used:

Meguiar's Polish, Compund and Wax

Did everything by hand

Edited October 22, 2021 by tomaytown

[junkie]

What you did there is fill in the scratches with various products and once they break down, the fill in effect wears off.

The only way to do it right is with a machine polisher and decent pads.

Even with the machine process you can get some false results, so you need products that remove polishing oils to properly check the end result of your work, before any wax or sealant goes on.

[tomaytown]

On 10/22/2021 at 7:00 PM, junkie said:

What you did there is fill in the scratches with various products and once they break down, the fill in effect wears off.

The only way to do it right is with a machine polisher and decent pads.

Even with the machine process you can get some false results, so you need products that remove polishing oils to properly check the end result of your work, before any wax or sealant goes on.

Thanks for the reply. Guess I'll be buying a machine then.

[junkie]

if you have never done machine polishing before, watch some youtube tutorials first. I also suggest buying a cheap panel from a wrecker to practice on.

 

[tomaytown]

On 10/23/2021 at 9:17 AM, junkie said:

if you have never done machine polishing before, watch some youtube tutorials first. I also suggest buying a cheap panel from a wrecker to practice on.

Thanks man, for the link as well. 

[soviet_merlin]

On 23/10/2021 at 9:17 AM, junkie said:

I also suggest buying a cheap panel from a wrecker to practice on.

Ooo, that is such a good idea! I have always avoided serious detailing for fear of messing it up.