Lots of white dust!

[deeferduck]

Howaya Brian.

I've since gotten rid of the little red fiesta and moved up to a petrol green octavia. Nice runner, but a bugger to hand wax considering that it's so much bigger. I'm about a stone lighter already! However, I have come across a problem. The wax (Meguires) "did exactly what it said on the tin"...almost. True, it did get rid of the annoying swirl marks that came with the car, but it's promise to "remove all the fine scratches and other marks" let it down badly. You see, being petrol green in colour, when I buffed off the wax there was alot of fine white dust. Perfectly normal I hear you say. The problem is that this fine white dust settles into every poxy scratch, nook and cranny and stands out like a sore thumb. One particular area which must have been corroded by bird sh*t now stand out in all it's proud white glory. Same with all the chip marks on the bonnet. The car looks like it's come down with a rash!!!

Is there anything I can do to get rid of this? Also, how resiliant are normal waxes to power washing? I don't have the luxury of having a nice driveway to wash the car, since I'm one of the many poor sods (money wise!) who can't afford to buy a house in Dublin and must settle for an apartment. I don't have a hose that will stretch from my apt. down to the car park space, which I also have to rent (no funny comments please!). Will the Autoglym Paint Restorer work even with the clear top coat? It seem like a really blond question, I know, but if so, how the hell does it do this? :confused:

I'm still in that "really chuffed with my new car" phase and want to get it looking as good as possible. Please help!!

....did I mention I have a new car? :D :p

[BrianS]

Hi D.

Congrats on the new car! My uncle has one of them! Great car altogether, or some would say... "Well Wear, Mate!!" Yeah, I dunno either!

Nothing you can do about polishing chips. They need to be repaired.
It depends how deep the scratches are with regards to polishing them out. That's because you don't really remove scratches, you remove the surrounding paint so that it is all level again. So you don't want to polish too hard. The Autoglym Paint Restorer is not a bad product is pretty good. I've used it a few times and got a good finish. Meguiars do Scratch-X which is supposed to be pretty good.

There's an etch mark from bird-droppings on my better-half's car. It just ate in and there is nothing to do about it if its that deep. This was from before she met me, you understand!

No problems with power washers and wax. But its the detergents that strip. The ones used in garages are designed to get cars through pretty quickly so they are full of Salts to cut through dirt. So the wax doesn't last too long. But have a look at the article on waxing in the My Car section in the links above. I give details about layering wax and the benefits it provides.

White dust is a b1tch. The waxes I use don't have it, and that's so sweet. But try this - when you are buffing off the car, first go over the haze with a big soft towel to remove the surface haze. Leave it for a few minutes to cure a bit more, then buff it off again. It helps to "break" the white powder and cuts down on it getting everywhere. Also remember that you don't need lots of wax. Just enough to give you a very light haze - the rest is just a waste as it dries into that white powder.

Hope that helps.

Brian :)

[deeferduck]

Thanks for the tips Brian. I'm going to try to be a bit more economical with the wax from now on! Which wax do you use which doesn't leave the car looking like a powdered donut? I'll also try to fix the bonnet as seen in the add for the Ford Ka. (I posted it somewhere here before under "Thank god I'm a dog man who hates pidgeons!) :rolleyes:

[BrianS]

I thought I replied to that question!!

I use Klasse mostly. I used to top off with Swissol, but I will hold on to that until I get another car. Great waxes, no powder, goes on like butter, comes off like it isn't even there! The Klasse is great for the windows as well.

Take it easy. :rolleyes:

Brian.

[deeferduck]

Thanks for the reply Brian, and remember...

"If you get it easy, take it again!!" :naughty:

[rivolette]

You see, being petrol green in colour, when I buffed off the wax there was alot of fine white dust.


Guys maybe one of you can explain this to me! What in the heck is "Petrol Green"? What color would that resemble?!!!

[BrianS]

Drink a large glass of petrol then go look in the mirror. GREEN !!!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist that. Never saw green petrol myself.

B.

[Phil]

I think its a very dark green almost black. It can look either green or black depending on the lighting conditions.

Hope that helps.