Polishing & Waxing light scratches.

[keyofnight]

I've got a couple instruments that have fine swirl marks and haze—I'll try to post pictures of the wear soon. I've had these instruments for years without bothering to polish them, and I think it's about time to give it a shot. After lurking around on these forums a bit, I think I've got a gameplan—but I want you guys to tell me if I'm on the right track. Also, if you guys can offer me any advice that I couldn't find using Google, that would rock.

So! I figure I'd start out with Meguiar's #9 Swirl Remover—it seems light enough to not take off my clear coat with multiple applications. When it's nice and glossy, I'll clean up and add a couple coats of Meguiar's #7 Show Glaze. Once it's nice and shiny, I'll add a couple coats of Mother's California Gold. Of course, I'll use separate microfiber cloths for everything, and I'll go easy on the applications to avoid permanently damaging the clear coat.

Is this fine? Or should I forego Meguiar's #7 and skip straight to the wax? Should I go with a #2 (fine cut) before the #9, or would that be unnecessary? I don't want to screw this up.

[Andy_D]

I used Meguiars Paint conditioning cream from their Detailers line of products on a Peavey Axcelerator I bought that had a lot of small scratches and swirls. It's a one step product that I love and use on both of my vehicles and my boat. I buffed out the large areas with my Porter Cable DA Polisher and a Lake Country foam polishing pad and finished out the tight spots by hand. BIG DIFFERENCE!!! The Number 9 swirl remover will work fine especially if you already have some. If not I might suggest trying one of the newer products with diminishing abrasives. They make short work of getting impressive results. As they break down they polish finer and finer. As I said my favorite is the Paint Conditioning Cream, but there are some other impressive newer products as well.

Don't worry as long as you stick to the fine cut cleaners and swirl removers you won't mess it up at least not on a poly finish.

[keyofnight]

Originally Posted by Andy_D

The Number 9 swirl remover will work fine especially if you already have some. If not I might suggest trying one of the newer products with diminishing abrasives. They make short work of getting impressive results. As they break down they polish finer and finer. As I said my favorite is the Paint Conditioning Cream, but there are some other impressive newer products as well.

Excellent! It'd be nice to only need a single fine-cut compound, a glaze, and a wax. It's always good to get info not contained in older threads, so thank you.

What are the other products out there that you find impressive?

[Andy_D]

The message board on Meguiars.com has a wealth of information about this stuff.