Article Revisions / Updates The advent of new materials like detailing clay, micro fibre, polymer coating, nano-particle technologies and new micro abrasives are examples of why it’s so important to monitor the industries new products, chemical technologies and ideas that are constantly being introduced, as are the techniques for applying them, hence all of the in-depth articles will be up-dated and revised on a regular basis Difference between Diminishing and Standard Abrasive Polishes Diminishing Abrasives Technology A non-linear abrasive that require friction - while the majority of polishes on the market use a form of diminishing (non- linear) abrasive, which you polish to a ‘haze’ (when a polish "flashes" from a liquid paste to a light semi-dry haze, much like a coating of Vaseline®) the diminishing polish has then broken down and is ready for removal. Diminishing abrasives, as the name suggests; t he abrasives become smaller with friction, and therefore go from removing paint defects to polishing the paint, which produces the shine. If you don't break them down sufficiently, you are just grinding those abrasive particles into your paint, without polishing it, which can leave behind marring and other paint surface imperfections. It is important to know when a polish has broken down because if you take it too far you will re-introduce surface marring. During the polishing process, trace amounts of paint and / or oxidation is removed; this can cause the debris and the polish to “clump” together. This can cause a haze to the paint surface, a wipe-down or a paint cleaning product will eliminate this. Pros - Menzerna diminishing abrasive polishes are formulated with a long lasting lubricant. The abrasives break down before the lubricating oils dry out, thereby giving polish a longer working time and producing less abrasive dust and avoiding dry buffing. Cons - Menzerna lubrication oils can be really resistant to removal; it may take 2-3 IPA wipe-downs. Non- Diminishing Abrasives Technology A linear abrasive that require time and pressure - unlike diminishing abrasives, which require friction to enable the abrasives to 'break-down to obtain the best possible finish (and avoid holograms) non-diminishing abrasives react very differently. It will be as abrasive as you want it to be, time and pressure applied (linear abrasive) being its working criteria. Block wet sanding (finishing paper and a sanding block) is the most effective tool for paint defect removal because of its linear process you abrade the paint surface flat until the defects are removed. Non- diminishing abrasives, a flat foam pad and a rigid backing plate are very similar in application. The other similarity between using a non-diminishing abrasive polish and block wet-sanding with finishing paper; the cleaner the media, the more consistent the polishing will be. It the polishing media becomes saturated, they lose their abrasive abilities. A linear abrasive eliminates the ‘abrasive cycle’ as you have a constant and consistent abrasive medium, the longer you work the abrasive the more surface defects are removed. Linear abrasive polishes / compounds provides a constant cutting abrasive, as the abrasives remains uniform in size throughout the polishing process, so you need to check the surface often. They should be used with a semi-rigid backing plate and a cutting foam or wool pad until the defects are removed (1200 – 1500 RPM) but do not allow the polish too completely dry (as this will also produce holograms) and ensure that pad surface is cleaned by removing paint / polish debris regularly This type of compound / polish process usually requires subsequent polishing step(s) to further refine the finish and to produce a shine Mequiar’s Super Micro Abrasive Technology (SMAT) - that is used in these polishes (M105 Ultra Cut Compound 1200< grit CAS 10/10 and M205 Ultra Finishing Polish CAS4/10) utilizes non-diminishing abrasives. Using a compound with a random orbital polisher requires a very different technique, pressure, pad size and selection, pad priming (with the compound) etc. The product used is a non-diminishing, heavy cut compound, applied with a 6 – inch LC CCS Orange Light Cutting or Yellow Cutting flat foam pads, (to ensure maximum abrasive used over minimum area) and ensure that pad is clean by removing paint / polish debris regularly or replace Like all linear abrasive compounds or polishes, they require a correctly primed pad, to ensure sufficient product, the use of applied pressure to ensure abrasive contact with the paint surface, this ensures constant surface contact. Linear abrasives require that you work the product until you achieve the desired finish. Prime the pad by semi-saturating (80%) the pad with M105 and spread the abrasives uniformly. Keeping the pad flat while applying a constant / consistent pressure; thus ensuring constant paint / polish contact, when the initial polish has been expended replace with 5-6 small sized dots. Keep the pad flat (like you would with a sanding block) while applying constant pressure, the oils in the polish provide the lubrication (like the water does in wet-sanding). Pad grit number, amount of pressure applied and time will all affect the amount of abrasion achieved. If the initial process doesn’t provide the desired finish, increase the aggressiveness of the process; i.e. use a longer working time, increased pressure, increases the cut of the polishing pad. A properly primed cutting pad will eliminate most surface scratches and M205 will polish (burnish) the finish. M205 Finishing Polish Spread M205 finishing polish using a non-abrasive, soft foam (100 PPI) pad at 900-1000RPM and then increase to 1200-1500RPM and then with a minimum of pressure make few passes at 1000 / 900RPM. Foam and Polish Combinations All abrasive polishes are ‘foam pad dependant’ as far as their paint correction abilities are concerned If we consider the LC White foam (50 PPI) pad as the baseline; any polish used will derive help from the abrasive abilities of the foam. Then consider the LC Blue (70 PPI) these pads have no abrasive abilities and will contribute nothing to the cutting ability of a polish. What is derived from this is that a polishes abrasive ability can be ‘fine tuned’ by using different combinations (abrasiveness) of polish and foam (the same thing is true of wool pads) and of course differing the amount of downward pressure applied will also have an effect on the cutting abilities Notes 1. To achieve a swirl free finish, apply moderate pressure on initial passes, reducing pressure gradually with very light pressure on final passes. 2. During the polishing process, trace amounts of paint and / or oxidation is removed; this can cause the debris and the polish to “clump” together. This can cause a haze to the paint surface, a wipe-down or a paint cleaning product will eliminate this. 3. Use a brush to clean the pad after each time you polish a section, as it keeps the pad from accumulating too much polish on the paint surface but the pad remains saturated, avoiding the necessity of adding as much polish as the first panel or two. 4. Clean and / or replace pads as often as is necessary; a clean seasoned pad will enhance the abrasive abilities of the compound / polish and make the process not only more efficient but less time consuming. 5. Using non-diminishing abrasives and wet-sanding are both linear abrasive processes, as you have a constant and consistent abrasive medium, the longer you work the polish / compound the more surface defects / clear coat is removed 6. Speeds used - M105 / Rotary Polisher / Wool Pad at 1200-1500 RPM, speed 5 on the PC 7424 and a speed of 4.0 on the Flex XC3401VRG Dual-Action Polisher An extract from one of a series of in-depth detailing articles © TOGWT ™ Ltd Copyright 2002-2008, all rights reserved
Thank you so much for this information. I haven't seen an article comparing the two types of abrasives in a while. Glad to know what I have been doing with the SMATs and my rotary has been okay. What would you recommend for M205 and a rotary? I have used the rotary for the 105 and used the PC method for the m205; not sure if you WOULD recommend using the m205 and a rotary as a perfect finish might be ahrder to achieve.
Spread M205 finishing polish using a non-abrasive, soft foam (100 PPI) pad at 900-1000RPM and then increase to 1200-1500RPM and then with a minimum of pressure make few passes at 1000 / 900RPM.
