yup that's what showed up in my google search as well. but he don't do mail delivery, and i think is very difficult also because its alcohol aka extremely flammable aka serious flight risk. Most courier won't accept i think? because you see, this IPA i need it in east malaysia..

what kind of store got sell this kind of thing?? those who supply cleaning products like those automated paper tower dispenser found at mall's toilet??

I had asked the same question regarding the need to IPA strip down the paint before LSP or not in Meguiar's forum.
Have a look yourself from the reply given by Mr. Michael Stoops at the last 3rd reply.

I had also spent considerable effort into clarifying this practice (Chemically striping the paint clean before LSP application is necessary or not), and the following resources have been my favorite reading:

Miscible & Immiscible

Does filler/glaze affect bonding of Meguiar's NXT

Using Mineral Spirt

Mineral Spirt & IPA after a RB buffing
In this you will notice the author claims the IPA leave streaks but mineral spirit does not.

You will have to come out with your own conclusion.

This post has been edited by scoutfai: Aug 15 2014, 10:24 AM

I guess you will have a super hard time to buff off if you let it bake under the sun before buff off.

Regarding IPA. Heard that we can use the glass cleaner as a substitute of IPA. Any sifu here can verify that?

nope is the other way.. 50% IPA +50% H20 = glass cleaner

Detailing related...yes. For others, like TamiyaOne said.....

Saw it here
http://www.cnet.com/videos/make-your-own-s...cleaning-spray/

I mean to wipe down...meaning it can replace the IPA? So its still do the job right eventhough not as effective as IPA?

click the above link

wohh good readings.. not yet gone through all yet. have bookmarked this page of this thread for my future reference

helped a friend to try to restore SHINNNEEEE to his wira. now, his wira's paint surface has formed an incredible think & coarse layer of sand dust / garnet dust, because the car is always parked in relative proximity to a sand blasting facilities. and the guy almost never wash there car. only occasionally send to car wash centre for basic wash, and ofcourse, the layer of hardened dust can't be washed away. when touching the surface, can almost say it felt like touching fine grade sand paper.

Picture showing before wash state. put up some close-up view dunno if you guys can see the hardened sand layer. It is most visually apparent on all the windows surface.


Step 1: so first step, naturally, wash the car first. wash with Meg UWW. when spraying the car with water, also took some photo for water beading check. as you can see, there's totally no water beading at all. the water in fact gathered on the paint surface. the gathered water is so thick that at distance, the car looks very shiny because the water is giving off the reflection. wash wash wash.


Step 2: after washing (and before drying), started to do the claying, using UWW shampoo mix & PG wonder clay No.2. yes yes i know you guys recommend me to use a shampoo only product and not wash & wax, but, that's what i only got at this moment so, just be it. Oh man, this stage is THE MOST TIRING stage! it is sooooo muscle intensive.. the sand layer is sooo difficult to remove. Me and the car owner is rubbing the surface with the clay like mad! the window is even more difficult to clay. once the sand layer has been removed slowly, can feel the clay glide on the surface easily. but a hell lot of effort is put into removing the sand layer.. spend about 2-3 hrs just to clay the whole car, by 2 ppl. but i know i need to do this stage properly as i feel that this is the MOST important part for today. my hand and arm is like super duper sour. took a picture on window showing clayed and un-clayed comparison.


Step 3: Wash again to remove the claying residue. after rinsing, took some photo again to check water beading. still no water beading even though it's UWW.

after that, drying with chamois (synthetic). the car already looks reasonably shine! not sure its my (and the car owner's) hard effort on claying, or because the UWW just make the car looks shiny after wash! even though not much water beading.


Step 4: Polishing with Meg Ultimate Polish. i actually not really sure how to apply this. for today i just apply it on a slightly damp applicator pad, and proceed to rub the surface. i say rub because i did put down some force in this stage. not sure if i induce more swirls in the process.. but anyway, most of the light scratches i unable to remove them. the only one i successfully remove a bit is the finger nail scratches at the door handle. i really think i need a DA and Ultimate compound here.. UP maybe too light/fine to do any correctional cutting and somemore, i only got my muscle, a already soured and cramped muscle from the claying stage.. and finally when buffing, i find it quite difficult to buff off the residue. when applying, i use quite little product and just try to don't let the paint surface too dry when polishing, not sure if i doing correct.

Step 5: finally, apply LSP with Meg ULW. hand application also. applying this is much more easier than the UP. and buffing off is easier also. the result (the shine) is quite good for me


Other Steps: windows cleaned/rubbed with Waxco glass polish & cleaner after claying. then, apply with PG DuraZ rain repellant. Tyre sprayed with KIT APC, rubbed with a shoe brush of somekind, rinsed. and at the end sprayed with PG tyre shine (my next target, Endurance Gel ). i was also planned for some slight interior cleaning ie rub the dash board and door sides with KIT APC, wipe-off a few times with damp/wet cloth, and finally apply with Meg Ultimate Protectant. but this step totally skipped due to time of the day is running out and ohh my arms, my hands, ohhh, just sour..

Summary: well.. i think i got about.. 70% satisfaction out from this session? because when touch the surface after waxing, still can feel some patches of paint still got those hardened sand layer feel. its much much less than before, but, still can feel with hands. but can't really help it at the same time because it is so tiring claying the car, so some parts get overlooked a bit lorr.. and also i did not attempted to look for swirl marks lol. so this car i would say need to be clayed again in near future, need to be polished with correctional power which is greater than hand applied UP. NOTE on that night, it rained and so can see that the water is beading good! here's the photo.


This post has been edited by efaceninja: Aug 16 2014, 08:03 AM

oh, my kahhcangggg

TREMENDOUSLY GREAT effort there....and very nice result. How long did it take?

The steps you took were spot on. But a few notes:

There are a few grades of clays. Maybe next time around you should use a more aggressive grade...works faster.

For Ultimate Polish, did you leave it on for a while before buffing off? If you did then that's not right. Its a polish and you're suppose to WORK it and straight away buff off, or better still, work untill the polish turns clear or *almost* dry up then straight away buff....don't wait.

Again, that was a tremendous efford and working by hand some more.....KUDOS....

Doing first time compund & polishing using makita on real car.. Takut wehh

my test rat. Never polish before (I guess) and has been months never wash so the paint become oxidize


Just do 50/50 ~ Passenger side do paint correction

After wash > clay



This is after 20 seconds on front hood

Next - Compund using UC & wool pad > polish using OPT Hyper Polish + 8" red foam > Finishing using ULW + 5.5" black LC CCS pad



The other side not treated.



So this is the result.. Hujan a bit this morning..

Driver side not treated. Still oxidize and blur



Passenger side paint correction. Like mirror pulak But can be improve further..


Sorry if I wrongly take image and make you'll confused.. But this is what I see and am satisfied with it..

Later do whole car pulak..

Any comment / feedback is highly appreciated.

P/S - Seriously I need to practise more using rotary.. And I find that using 8" OPT wool and red foam pad is hard to control using makita when polishing but easier to control using 5.5" pad.. So I guess 5.5" is my choice

This post has been edited by roxx: Aug 16 2014, 01:13 PM

Great job!
My personal experience with UP using hand application is an unpleasant one because I feel it tends to dried up so fast and impossible to move the foam applicator pad smoothly on the paint, I am not even finish working on it!. End up have to top up some more UP to make the "dried" UP "wet" again so I can quickly remove the extra by MF towel. Try it several time at different time of the day, end up same experience, does not feel like temperature causing the issue but the nature of the product itself.
End up now I only use it with a machine.

This post has been edited by scoutfai: Aug 16 2014, 02:36 PM

thanks thanks i'm still not familiar with which clay is aggressive or less aggressive. take for example PG clay, got no.1 (less aggressive), no.2 (medium aggressive), no.3 (more aggressive, and abrasive). should i pick up PG clay no.3? i quite scared because on the back label, No.3 is advertised as abrasive. i scare it will scratch and leave tiny swirls, because i don't have a DA yet to correct them later. anyone got experience with PG clay no.3?

maybe later i should try out osren's or TW claybar? as my current clay already looks and feel a bit saturated haha.

for UP, yea i did leave it on for a while before buffing similar to how i did with wax... ok ok next time i'll keep the MF nearby to buff off quickly after complete working the polish.. thanks for pointing this out

i really need to get that UC & DA...maybe get the UC first..hm..
i think i took about.. 5+ hours total?

This post has been edited by efaceninja: Aug 16 2014, 08:11 PM

yep yep i also feel it dry up quite fast. i need to drag the applicator pad sometimes. when you work on UP (hand) did you use a lot of pressure??
i don't have a machine at the moment..

This post has been edited by efaceninja: Aug 16 2014, 08:15 PM

The very 1st time I use, I applied pressure. At the moment of starting it is still easily moveable but very soon it will dry. Then it becomes so hard to move the pad by hand. Then I tried without hard pressure, just like applying wax (my purpose is actually to apply a layer of polishing oil). But it ends up the same, just a bit later.
So I eventually learn that, this product, at least in the environment I am using it, cannot expect to work it out until it is disappears from naked eyes. Touch on paint, then quickly spread with foam pad, then immediately wipe with MF towel (again my purpose is not to remove light swirl). To increase the chances of not getting it dries, use more product.
Thus I also come to the conclusion that this product not favorable by me. It dries way too fast and becomes so hard for a convenient hand application. I think after I finish up this bottle I am not going to buy it again if I was aiming for hand application. Machine application still acceptable but there are alternative that is both excellent in hand and machine application.

You want to remove light swirl, try SwirlX. Excellent hand application experience, and you can actually see the result.

However do not do too much hand job on polishing/compounding, later one arm muscle is stronger than the other

I used PG clay no.3 before. Do not feel any significant more abrasive, at least not to the point of create fine swirl on the paint. But it does feel it removes contamination faster.

Is it wiser to get a Flex or Rupes now? Just asking... Ain't got the money now, just wanna invest in a more "all around" tools.

Same dilemma like you.
Was hoping those who own Flex converting to Rupes will sell off their used Flex.
But heck Malaysia does not have much Flex owner neither.
I think both machine price almost the same at here. Currently Rupes more popular.
You mentioned "all around", but neither machine can use 3" pad, not sure is that within your "all around" expectation?

I thought you were a Flex owner all the while, selling off your rotary to get a Rupes to combo with your Flex?


This post has been edited by scoutfai: Aug 17 2014, 01:37 PM