Rubbing Compound Anyone ?
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Rubbing Compound Anyone ?
I got this question today so I put a little something together
How often do you recommend giving your car a good wax or even using a rubbing compound? I have always wondered how often to this.
For the first part of your question, I could say that a “good wax” is subjective to who you ask, many people feel that one time a year is “a good wax” and they are under the impression that’s good enough to protect the vehicle surface. In a nut shell, we can come up with many answers for that part of the question, but the few points to take into consideration are.
Condition of paint on the vehicle?
Environment ( where do you park, acid rain, etc)?
What is acid rain, and how do I prevent it?
Emissions from chemical plants, industrial fallout, surface contaminants, and other organic and inorganic materials are all an integral part of acid rain. When these elements are deposited on your car's surface in a dry state, it will appear as dust particles, but mix it with a little dew or rain and you have a mixture of sulfuric acid on your paint finish.
How long is the car is exposed to outside conditions?
Quality wax applied ?
Quality of wash solution used to wash car ( the number one mistake many people do) ?
A couple of factors come into play here. First, the strength of the wash solution is a key factor. The ph of the wash solution must be neutral. A wash solution that is too harsh or high in surfactants will prematurely "wash" the wax from the surface, and this applies to all waxes. The amount of washes will vary because of the many variables surrounding each situation. let me give you an example.
Person A waxes his car, drives it once a week and gives it an occasional rinse off maybe once every two weeks; he may go six months between waxes.
Person B washes his car one to two times per week, occasionally goes through the drive -through car wash, a rain storm or two, and waxes his car every three or four months. Now, the amount of washes may be the same, but the timeline is different. Another key factor to consider is the proper preparation of the surface before wax is ever applied.
Those are just to mention a few good “Guidelines” for detailing your vehicle you could use. But they are not just guidelines depending on many factors you may need to do it more often or not, this is the way we do it.
Detailing / Week 1 2 3 4
Exterior Car Shampoo X X X X
Wash Tires & Wheels X X X X
Detail Tires & Wheels X X X X
Clean/Polish Glass X X
Detail Vinyl & Rubber Trim X X X X
Chrome & Polished Aluminum X X
Polymer Wax X
Pre wax X
Cleaning X Interior Vacuum X X X X
Condition Leather & Vinyl Dust
Vents & Electronics X X X X
Even using a rubbing compound?
This is a very interesting subject for some of us, as many people “refer” to the so called “Rubbing Compound” when in reality, rubbing compound is a “Generic term” giving to the “rub-bin compound” as in the early day it was “Rub” in a circular motion by hand, with the aid of the compound, it just happens that the name has been misused for many other products pretty much like some people call an “Allen Key” when the true is that is a “Hex Key” there’s no “Allen” anywhere in there, but the name has become the “recognized name”
We can define the term “Rubbing Compound “ in many ways, even that many manufactures still refer to the so called “Rubbing Compound” but
The ONLY and true definition of “Rubbing Compound is “
A commercially prepared mixture of abrasive powder and lubricant that is used for a final rubbing of a finished surface; often sold in automotive stores.
However, we can go as far as saying that Rubbing Compound is a wrongly used term as people will refer to things like
Resurrect the gloss in your boat's gel coat
Fast cutting compound with a finishing material
Light Duty Rubbing Compound is a liquid rubbing compound that will remove light oxidation, minor surfaces scratches and marks
Liquid formula rubbing compound, light-medium oxidation or heavy.
Removes stains, medium oxidation, and light scratches. Use on fiberglass, metal, and painted surfaces. Great for hand or buffer application.
A polish that contains abrasives harsh enough to remove layers of "dead" paint. Useful in radical restoration procedures, rubbing ...
A specially formulated emulsion of materials designed to remove paint surface imperfections such as scratches, oxidation, stains, and acid rain ...
And the list is very long, if you consider that people even call this “Rubbing Compound”
Spot Remover
Light Cut Compound
Medium Cut Compound
Heavy Cut Compound
And so on, they are all “Compounds” not rubbing Compound, So if we were to “recommend you a Rubbing Compound” which one could we possible refer to?
First we must define what is that we are after, does the surface contain Oxidation? Is the paint dull due to the usage of the wrong car shampoo, are Swirl Marks the issue?
Depending on the condition after the evaluation we can then proceed with the proper selection of the product.
One way that we used to evaluate the condition of the surface is using an old fashion trick
If you feel very small “bumps” then you need to strip all the wax and start fresh, this task can be accomplish via our oxidation block which will remover all the contaminants from the vehicle surface, as you can see we already have tackled a mayor flaw without the use of “Rubbing Compound”
If we continue further on the evaluation of the surface this will tell us what products are the ones in need, I’m providing a photo of the actual condition of the surface from a customers car, this is the hood of the vehicle as found.
And the finished product using a “Swirl Remover” which is, a uniquely formulated product that when used properly quickly removes swirl marks and leaves a clear glossy finish. It contains no silicones or fillers. Works well on all painted surfaces and equally as well on clear coats.
After the initial evaluation we were able to choose the correct products, as you can see from the finished product we never used any “Rubbing Compound”
I hope that I have provided you enough information to help you select the proper products for the future.
How often do you recommend giving your car a good wax or even using a rubbing compound? I have always wondered how often to this.
For the first part of your question, I could say that a “good wax” is subjective to who you ask, many people feel that one time a year is “a good wax” and they are under the impression that’s good enough to protect the vehicle surface. In a nut shell, we can come up with many answers for that part of the question, but the few points to take into consideration are.
Condition of paint on the vehicle?
Environment ( where do you park, acid rain, etc)?
What is acid rain, and how do I prevent it?
Emissions from chemical plants, industrial fallout, surface contaminants, and other organic and inorganic materials are all an integral part of acid rain. When these elements are deposited on your car's surface in a dry state, it will appear as dust particles, but mix it with a little dew or rain and you have a mixture of sulfuric acid on your paint finish.
How long is the car is exposed to outside conditions?
Quality wax applied ?
Quality of wash solution used to wash car ( the number one mistake many people do) ?
A couple of factors come into play here. First, the strength of the wash solution is a key factor. The ph of the wash solution must be neutral. A wash solution that is too harsh or high in surfactants will prematurely "wash" the wax from the surface, and this applies to all waxes. The amount of washes will vary because of the many variables surrounding each situation. let me give you an example.
Person A waxes his car, drives it once a week and gives it an occasional rinse off maybe once every two weeks; he may go six months between waxes.
Person B washes his car one to two times per week, occasionally goes through the drive -through car wash, a rain storm or two, and waxes his car every three or four months. Now, the amount of washes may be the same, but the timeline is different. Another key factor to consider is the proper preparation of the surface before wax is ever applied.
Those are just to mention a few good “Guidelines” for detailing your vehicle you could use. But they are not just guidelines depending on many factors you may need to do it more often or not, this is the way we do it.
Detailing / Week 1 2 3 4
Exterior Car Shampoo X X X X
Wash Tires & Wheels X X X X
Detail Tires & Wheels X X X X
Clean/Polish Glass X X
Detail Vinyl & Rubber Trim X X X X
Chrome & Polished Aluminum X X
Polymer Wax X
Pre wax X
Cleaning X Interior Vacuum X X X X
Condition Leather & Vinyl Dust
Vents & Electronics X X X X
Even using a rubbing compound?
This is a very interesting subject for some of us, as many people “refer” to the so called “Rubbing Compound” when in reality, rubbing compound is a “Generic term” giving to the “rub-bin compound” as in the early day it was “Rub” in a circular motion by hand, with the aid of the compound, it just happens that the name has been misused for many other products pretty much like some people call an “Allen Key” when the true is that is a “Hex Key” there’s no “Allen” anywhere in there, but the name has become the “recognized name”
We can define the term “Rubbing Compound “ in many ways, even that many manufactures still refer to the so called “Rubbing Compound” but
The ONLY and true definition of “Rubbing Compound is “
A commercially prepared mixture of abrasive powder and lubricant that is used for a final rubbing of a finished surface; often sold in automotive stores.
However, we can go as far as saying that Rubbing Compound is a wrongly used term as people will refer to things like
Resurrect the gloss in your boat's gel coat
Fast cutting compound with a finishing material
Light Duty Rubbing Compound is a liquid rubbing compound that will remove light oxidation, minor surfaces scratches and marks
Liquid formula rubbing compound, light-medium oxidation or heavy.
Removes stains, medium oxidation, and light scratches. Use on fiberglass, metal, and painted surfaces. Great for hand or buffer application.
A polish that contains abrasives harsh enough to remove layers of "dead" paint. Useful in radical restoration procedures, rubbing ...
A specially formulated emulsion of materials designed to remove paint surface imperfections such as scratches, oxidation, stains, and acid rain ...
And the list is very long, if you consider that people even call this “Rubbing Compound”
Spot Remover
Light Cut Compound
Medium Cut Compound
Heavy Cut Compound
And so on, they are all “Compounds” not rubbing Compound, So if we were to “recommend you a Rubbing Compound” which one could we possible refer to?
First we must define what is that we are after, does the surface contain Oxidation? Is the paint dull due to the usage of the wrong car shampoo, are Swirl Marks the issue?
Depending on the condition after the evaluation we can then proceed with the proper selection of the product.
One way that we used to evaluate the condition of the surface is using an old fashion trick
If you feel very small “bumps” then you need to strip all the wax and start fresh, this task can be accomplish via our oxidation block which will remover all the contaminants from the vehicle surface, as you can see we already have tackled a mayor flaw without the use of “Rubbing Compound”
If we continue further on the evaluation of the surface this will tell us what products are the ones in need, I’m providing a photo of the actual condition of the surface from a customers car, this is the hood of the vehicle as found.
And the finished product using a “Swirl Remover” which is, a uniquely formulated product that when used properly quickly removes swirl marks and leaves a clear glossy finish. It contains no silicones or fillers. Works well on all painted surfaces and equally as well on clear coats.
After the initial evaluation we were able to choose the correct products, as you can see from the finished product we never used any “Rubbing Compound”
I hope that I have provided you enough information to help you select the proper products for the future.
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