I am trying to master this seemingly difficult subject fo paint care on my black 190E, and although I think i'm using the correct procedures, something is going wrong. Here's teh problem. After a thorough cleaning, I use the Meguiar's #2 fine cut cleaner to remove light scratches and other imperfections. I'm using a random orbit polisher with terry applicators. Once finished, I have more swirl scratches than when I started. The terry cloth pads are clean, although used. (I wash them in the washing machine after use). I follow the #2 with #7 show car glaze and #26 wax, but of course this does nothing to remove the swirls and scratches. Any suggestions?
Thanks.

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Ted Beer
'91 190E 2.3

Two things to make sure:
1. No non-cotton strings in the stitching of the terry pads.
2. Don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets on the terry pads when machine washing.

More responses will come from the detailing experts, I am sure.


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John J. Meadows
'83 300D 3.0L 260k mi.
'85 190E 2.3L 99k mi.

I thought I read here (just recently) about this kind of problem. I believe it was suggested that black cars would benefit by, not round (orbital) but straight strokes, preferably inline with the lenght of the car. (front to back).
(See other posts posted after mine)
-Larry

Try going over the car with #9 by hand, #7 by hand, then #26 or Gold Class all by hand with 100% cotton terry and/or diaper cloth rags.
Give that a try and let me know how it works for you. You should also burn test one rag to make sure there are no synthetic threads in it anywhere.

Hope this helps...Lee