So i have some pretty decent scratches on my hood and a nice keying down the passenger side of the car. I bought some rubbing compound thinking i would buff these out. I am doing this by hand mind you, no orbital. So i read the directions on the tub, get some microfiber cloths and get started. Now i have the scratches still with a nice puffy cloud of softer scratches around it, I go back and buy polish thinking that i can maybe work these all out. Another 20 min of rubbing my car goes by and to no avail, still have my nice scratch clouds. The areas i worked feel smoother but they still look bad when the light hits them right. I know i haven't gone through the clear coat as no paint showed on the micro fiber pad i was using. I've read a few things on the web that you shouldn't use rubbing compound unless the paint is really oxidized, which is hardly the case. So that's great, have i completely jacked my hood or am just not putting enough time into the process? Should i get an orbital and or buck up and keep working the hood over. I am almost ready to just pay to have this all professionally done but it seems like it's something I should be able to do. Any ideas, feed back or even techniques would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Oh the car is black as well.

 

Personally I never use rubbing compound because I think it's too coarse. The most abrasive I ever use is polishing compound and I even use this very sparingly. What I would suggest is doing the area you did with rubbing compound over again with polishing compound and possibly doing the whole hood with polishing compound. Follow that up with a good wax job and see what happens.

 

Ok, thanks. I'm guessing I will have to work over the entire hood for a bit since before it really didn't seem to do to much in the way of "fixing" things. Appreicate the feedback. I should be working like a 2-3 foot area at a time right? I know i don't want to be focusing in a small area, like say 6". But, i guess i'm curious if i should work over the whole hood or break it down into quarter-ish areas? Thanks guys.

 

I'm not real sure about using the real abrassive cleaners with clear coat. You have to be pretty careful I would think. I would probably do about a quarter of the hood at a time with the polishing compound, then do the whole hood with the wax.