Hi. So I used a Griot's Garage Orange Pad, Meguiar's Polish (older version of this: http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotiv...shing-compound ), and a Porter Cable 7424XP at speed 3-4. I clayed and prepped the car before I polished. The Orange Pad was brand new. And I put little drops of polish all around the pad, but it probably amounted to the size of a dime.

Anyway, it didn't get rid of the hairline scratches and overall didn't seem to do much. The paint felt a tad smoother. But the next day, I took it out in the sunlight and noticed that the pad has scratched the paint. You can see the pad's circular pattern everywhere that was polished. I'm not sure if I can get a picture of it because even with my head bobbing around, it needs to be the perfect angle that the sun hits the spot for you to see it. Or maybe I just need to look at it in a better way...

So how can I fix it and what do you think caused this? Not applying enough pressure onto the paint? Not enough polish? Not high enough speed?

Thanks.

 

There had to be a foreign object, however small it may have been, on that pad. Even if it were human error and you pressed too hard or left the pad in the same spit too long, you wouldn't have that result.

And if you didn't get the result you want, you weren't using the correct polish, or you weren't patient and applying it long enough.

Always test a small area first. Pull the car out in the sunlight, get a good look, and adjust your polish/pad/technique, as needed.

 

I don't know much about Meguiar's line of polishing products, but you mentioned using a older version of the product at the provided link. How long had your polish been sitting on the shelf? I'm wondering if there could have been some separation and even some solidification of the polishing agents in the cap/spout, and some of that might have transferred to your pad. This separation of agents from the fluid might also contribute to the perceived lack of effectiveness, even if the polish was well shaken prior to use.

The orange pad + PC combination shouldn't have been enough on their own to cause new scratches.

 

Yeah. It's just hard to believe when the pad was brand new. But you make a very good point with trying it out first and taking it out in the sun before continuing.

Oh, it's been on the shelf for probably way over a year. I shook it for quite some time, but the age of the polish never crossed my mind as being the culprit. Good call.

So what's the next step? Get Griot's Garage Machine 3 polish and try again? Are there any videos that you guys have watched that shows the technique well?

 

I use Prima products. I would go are it with Prima Cut and Prima Swirl. If you prefer another line of polishes, no problem. Just try the second most abrasive before you resort to the most abrasive.

Go to showcardetailing.com. Richard (OctaneGuy) here on NAM, has a great instructional video. May cost you a few dollars or maybe these days he posts it on his site. I have watched no less than 4 times.