my silver vRS has quite a lot of swirl marks, which i didnt think much of when i bought it as ive got a porter cable and quite a lot of different products, pads etc and never had much of a problem removing swirls before

this is a different story though, i did the bonnet a few months back, a few goes of 3M Fast Cut Plus removed quite a lot, but sadly quite a lot still remained !

yesterday i turned my attention to the roof, and again ive made it better, but still loads of swirls remain

anyone recommend any products and pads to use, how hard is the Skoda paint, mines a 53 plate, 2004 model

im thinking of trying Menz power gloss on there smaller 5" pads, but i didnt think id have to resort to power gloss, and i really though using Fast Cut Plus was a bit extreme in the first place

ive read on other forums of people removing there swirls with G10 !..........seriosuly that would not touch the swirls on my car

any tips would also be appreciated

If it's really bad then you may need to go rotary. Just be careful!

my silver vRS has quite a lot of swirl marks, which i didnt think much of when i bought it as ive got a porter cable and quite a lot of different products, pads etc and never had much of a problem removing swirls before

this is a different story though, i did the bonnet a few months back, a few goes of 3M Fast Cut Plus removed quite a lot, but sadly quite a lot still remained !

yesterday i turned my attention to the roof, and again ive made it better, but still loads of swirls remain

anyone recommend any products and pads to use, how hard is the Skoda paint, mines a 53 plate, 2004 model

im thinking of trying Menz power gloss on there smaller 5" pads, but i didnt think id have to resort to power gloss, and i really though using Fast Cut Plus was a bit extreme in the first place

ive read on other forums of people removing there swirls with G10 !..........seriosuly that would not touch the swirls on my car

any tips would also be appreciated

Are you definately working the polish long enough? I managed to correct my bonnet with 2 passes with G10 to about 80% and i rekon one more would get me the 95%+ level. I was working 1' square sections for about 4-5 mins at a time.

maybe thats my problem, i have to admit i dont usually work it for 5 minutes, in fact i find the 3M FCP hard to work for anything longer than 1-2mins as it bobbles up

also i was working in larger sections than 1ft, probably more like 2ft squares with the bonnet being divided into 4 long sections, and my roof i did in 4 sections aswell

how many sections did you do your bonnet in ?

im also used to Poorboys SSR's which dont usually take that long to break down, the 3M stuff is fairly new to me though i have used it on a Cit C2 with good results and i wasnt working it for 5 mins, maybe with that paint being softer though i was getting results quite quickly

thanks for the info we might be onto something here

cheers

Seen your PM mate and I will respond to it today when I get a break in work............

3M Fast Cut Plus is a very dry polish to work with and will leave a haze in most cases in an area you are correcting so you will need to follow up with a Final Finish of some description to get that shine back?

Menz Power Gloss is very much like 3M Fast Cut Plus and I only use these sort of polishes in small areas that are very badly marked.

You should be able to remove 'swirls' but you will find with a DA that things can be tough when attacking 'scratches' and deep 'RDS' marks.

As has been suggested the size of area your working on may need to be smaller and you need to spend more time to work these marks out of the paintwork.

What pads are you using and also what speeds are you using your DA at?

i was using the 3M green compounding pads, which i think are 5-6", spreading around on 3 for a few seconds then stepping up to speed 6 for 1-2 mins, over an area of 2ft sq, did the roof in 4 sections and the bonnet in 4 sections

tried to moisten the FCP with detailing spray on the pad which helped but it still bobbled

i was using the 3M green compounding pads, which i think are 5-6", spreading around on 3 for a few seconds then stepping up to speed 6 for 1-2 mins, over an area of 2ft sq, did the roof in 4 sections and the bonnet in 4 sections

tried to moisten the FCP with detailing spray on the pad which helped but it still bobbled

May as well keep replying here as this may be of benefit to others?

OK so maybe I would try completing the bonnet and roof in smaller areas, making slower passes in each area and you may find that marking areas out with tape will help you to check and compare your work?

Also if your finding the 3M FCP a little dry and difficult then add a blob of something less agressive to lubricate it, do you have any other 3M polishes like Ultra Fina or something to add with it?

i have the extra fine compound, yellow top

or less aggressive i have Menz FF

i have the extra fine compound, yellow top

or less aggressive i have Menz FF

OK then, try this, put 3 blobs of 3M Fast Cut Plus on the chosen Pad and then one blob of 3M Extra Fine Compound...........if that doesn't help then try 50/50 of both but I am confident you will fine it won't be as 'dry' to work with..........

will give it a go cheers, also will smaller areas and longer work times (if possible!)

do you rate the 3M pads ?.......should i try the white menz pad ?

will give it a go cheers, also will smaller areas and longer work times (if possible!)

do you rate the 3M pads ?.......should i try the white menz pad ?

I am a massive fan of the 3M Polishing Pads and also have their Orange Cutting Pads but they don't tend to last long.........:(

Haven't had much experience with Menz Pads though I am afraid.........

I have found that the Megs Burgundy Cutting Pad is also a great option on VAG paint........

i do have a Megs cutting pad, not tried it yet, and i also have 2 green 3M cutting pads

ill have to try a few things

i do have a Megs cutting pad, not tried it yet, and i also have 2 green 3M cutting pads

ill have to try a few things

Sounds like you need to do just that mate..........not that I have had too much experience as some but I can say that there is no 'one combination' that will work everytime and you have to play around with pads and polishes to get the best result for the car your working on, just don't be afraid to try something different..........

This could be of some use to you as it explains a bit about pad design. The quotes are from one of the guys from Polished Bliss who do some outstanding work on some pretty impressive cars.

He is talking about the 'Glossit range of polishes but the bit about pads is what you might find useful

Straightforward enough for sure - they have a longer working time than most other polishes, and generate very little (if any) dust, so are very user friendly from this point of view. They don't need a special method as such; I simply use pads that are best suited to the paint type in hand (i.e. non-reticulated for hard paints, reticulated for intermediate to soft paints), and the following general method; working 12-18 inch square areas at a time, I make an intial pass at speed 1 to spread the polish, then bump the speed up to between 4 and 5 on the dial, and work the polish in evenly using light to moderate head pressure on the machine. When the polish residue looks like it's all but gone, I stop, buff and inspect before either moving on or repeating if necessary.

Reticulation is a process whereby foam is heated during the manufacturing process, in order to open the cell structure - the result is a pad with much greater porosity, and a far softer feel. These features allow air to circulate more easily (keeping temperatures down when polishing), and also limit the mechanical cut of the pad itself. In our store, we offer reticulated pads by Lake Country and 3M. From memory, Meguiar's polishing and finishing pads use reticulated foams. On hard paints, the use of non-reticulated foams is preferred, as they cut harder, and do more work. In contrast to reticulated designs, non-reticulated pads feel very hard and dense, and have a closed cell structure. In our store, our Menzerna pads and the 3M compounding pad fall into this category. From memory, the Meguiar's burgandy cutting pad is non-reticulated. I hope that helps!

So basically if you take a megs polishing pad and menz polishing pad the megs one is soft but the menz ones will seem really hard in comparison and that is because the megs is reticulated and the menz is non-reticulated.

aha, the 3M pads i have are very hard/firm, well the green compounding pad is anyway, the yellow pad is really soft

Baker21 whats the paint like on your car, what products have you used to correct swirls