Clear Coat Damage

Try 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. I've used it to polish out a lot of scratches on different cars. See carcareonline.com. Also Griot's garage has pointers on dealing with scratches.

- Tom

 

Check with a good detailer. Some of them can remove the appearance of swirl marks and light scratches effectively. A body shop, paint shop is the last place for you to go for what you are describing.

 

Windstrings just posted his experience with Zaino products. Go check that out. He had some scratches.

 

Try Meguiar's Scratch-X. Use one of their foam applicator pads.

Put an X of the stuff on the pad and go over a small area. Rub hard. It has a diminishing abbrasive so don't worry, you won't hurt it. After a bit you'll feel less resistence. That means the abbrasives are gone and you're done. Wipe it off before it dries! Do it again two or three times if it needs it. Clean area with a spray detailer and a clean cotton or microfiber towel.

If that doesn't help, you may need to move to something more with a Dual Action polisher or you may have to take it to someone to have it professionally done.

 

Truly amazing that you could "polish out" scratches with 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, considering that it contains no polishing compounds, and contains only fillers and oils.

 

Your first mistake was thinking that anyone here has sufficient knowledge and experience to give you any useful advice. The fact is, most of the respondents here are fairly clueless newbies, and you would be well-advised to ignore their advice.

Go to a detailing forum like those on detailcity.com, roadfly.org, or autopia.org and ask your question. You'll get much better advice, advice you can actually use and trust.

Had I read your question on detailcity.com, I would have first asked to see pictures of your hood taken in direct sunlight. Only then could I advise a course of action and product. Most likely it would have involved a polish from Menzerna, either FPII or IP, applied with a Porter Cable DACP. But I'd really want to see a picture at least before giving a recommendation.

 

That avatar cat piss in your cheerios this morning? Your comments sound harsh, despite the fact that your advice is sound.

 

Don't know where you got your info, but a glaze is supposed to be a mild polish. Here is the description from car care online:

Product ID: 10101 Category: Pre Wax Cleaners
3M Imperial Hand Glaze - 32 oz Bottle
Description:
The best hand applied, superfine, liquid glaze with high filling characteristics to clean, remove minor swirl marks, polish and renew the "wet look" shine to paint prior to waxing. It removes oxidized pigments, acid rain marks, fine scratches and swirl marks. Apply a small amount to a soft, 100% cotton flannel cloth, foam applicator pad or terry cloth covered foam applicator pad. Work into the paint using moderate pressure in a linear motion, until all that remains is a slight haze, then buff off with a soft, 100% cotton flannel cloth. May be used as a carrier for P21S Multi-Surface Finish Restorer Polish to polish out deeper scratches. Does not contain silicone and is formulated to work on all colors. Use at least twice a year (spring/fall) to refresh the paint and follow immediately with a coat of quality wax. (Our favorite glaze to remove minor swirl marks.)
<end of quoted material>
see: http://www.carcareonline.com/detail.asp?product_id=10101

Yes this is a very mild product, but I have found it to be all I need for many dulled paint, minor scratches, etc. Perhaps there is a version other than the "Professional Formula" that is polish free, but the stuff I use definitely polishes out minor scratches.

I recommend it as a starting point before going upscale to clay bar or a rubbing compound. You are very unlikely to damage your clear coat with the 3M unless you use a rag with grit in it or one that is not pure cotton.

It is also great for rubbing off paint left behind from the SUV that sideswiped your bumper in a parking lot. I've had direct experience here on three different cars and 4 hits.

Perhaps you are thinking of Zaino - that contains no abrasives.

- Tom

 

Tom- priusenvy is correct. The Imperial Hand Glaze contains no abrasives and it is impossible to remove any kind of scratching or marring with it. You can fill and hide marks, but they aren't removed and they'll be back in a couple washes once the fillers float away. It does have some solvents, its the solvents that removed the paint transfers you've talked about but no abrasives.

What you'll find is that manufacturers almost always mislabel and incorrectly classify their products. There are products you can use by hand to remove swirls (like Scratch X which can be kind of crude but it does work) but IHG is not one of them.

Some other errors in what you've posted include the clay bar (clay is not used to remove scratches and it will not remove scratches, it is for removing bonded contaminents and overspray), even 100% cotton terry towels can scratch microfiber is your best bet, etc.

 

priusenvy is one hard case. think he's always been that way, at least as far as i remember.

head to a professional detailer if you're really concerned. trying to do it yourself will probably get you in trouble with abrasive stuff.

claybar is for stuff that's stuck to your clear coat- like the construction overspray i just had removed from my car today. i know that much.

 

You say 3M Imperial Glaze can't remove scratches - I say it can based on direct experience. The professional packaging used to include a warning about not using it with a machine as it was too agressive being designed for hand use only.

Clay bar removes paint, more than just overspray. If you are not careful you can cut through both clearcoat and color coat especially along edges of folds in the sheetmetal. While not normally suggested for scratch removal, it does work if carefully done.

I'll stand by my direct experience and we may just have to agee to disagree.

- Tom

 

Lots of good info already given. I am an avid user of 3M professional grade products and have "wheeled" out many a car in my day. If you have fine "spider web" scratches in your paint, a simple hand rub will get it out. However. I recommend a detailer with a lot of experience wheel the car out. You'll never know they were ever there to begin with. If the scratches are deep, you'll need someone to wet sand the paint and buff it out. Again, you'll never know they were ever there.

Good luck and happy motoring.

 

You are absolutely wrong, I've been detailing cars for 10 years, detailed professionally for 2 years, and continue to detail professionally on and off for fun/extra cash. I have used IHG extensively with and without machines. It can seem like IHG removes scratches but it does not, it will hide them for a time but they will always come back. The packaging is designed to remove the company from liability and sell the product, there is nothing aggressive about it and it contains NO abrasives.

Read about it: http://autopia.org/forum/search.php?searchid=389597

Some Excerpts:

These quotes are from professional and hobbyist detailers. Read the threads, you wont find one person who feels 3M IHG can remove swirls or that it is aggressive or abrasive.

As for clay, you're absolutely wrong there too. Clay WILL NOT remove scratches, and its highly unlikely you'll remove any paint unless you're using aggressive professional grade bars. The clay bars you can buy at PepBoys for instance, Mother's, Clay Magic, Meguiars etc are VERY mild and can not damage your car unless they are improperly used. If they are improperly used the worst they can do is scratch it, hardly remove the paint. Clay Magic makes a red professional grade bar that you can do some damage with for larger contaminents and tougher overspray but even it can't remove paint the way you're saying it can, at the most you'll get marring that will be easily removed by a machine polish or light compound. Keep in mind that professional detailers WETSAND paint with sandpaper and even that doesn't go through the paint when done properly, how can a clay bar lubricated with soapy water go through the paint?

Wanna learn about clay?

http://autopia.org/forum/search.php?searchid=389601

There's a saying which I like a lot, its "A man with experience is not at the mercy of a man with an opinion". I'm a professional, I know what I'm talking about, and I am correct. I've provided evidence to backup what I'm saying through the experiences of thousands of other professional and dedicated hobbyist detailers. If you STILL choose to deny what I'm saying about this product is correct then I can see why priusenvy is so rude when this subject comes up and you can go on believing whatever you want.

 

Did they get all of that stuff off? And what did it turn out to be?