# Meguiar's polishes



## qquake (Feb 5, 2020)

I've been experimenting a lot with Meguiar's polishes lately, trying to find the elusive "perfect" finish. Mainly, I'm trying to get rid of the annoying "micro" scratches I'm often left with. It dawned on me that I didn't know for sure in which sequence to apply them, so I called Mequiar's today. This is what I was told, in order from coarse to fine:

1. 105
2. Swirl remover
3. ScratchX
4. PlastX
5. 205


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## TonyL (Feb 5, 2020)

105 is the most aggressive, followed by 205, ..I would stop there, then apply your wax coat f you want.
I didn't see  scratches after 205.

I have all of the others too, but didn't need them.
Swirl remover and Pastx are probably the least aggressive. Megauirs has an excellent help line. You may want to consult them.


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## magpens (Feb 5, 2020)

Thanks for the info, but, like TonyL, I am questioning the order of 205 in that listing.


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## mark james (Feb 5, 2020)

I've used Plastx after my Micromesh sequence.  Been happy with the results.  When I have visible issues it is usually from earlier sanding technique flaws (my bad).  I still stink with my finishing.

My process:  Abranet up to 600 grit; Micromesh all pads; Plastx.  This is for acrylics/plastics and stabilized - wet sanding.  For unstabilized wood & dry wood, I prefer not to introduce water, so I dry sand.  Not the best, but has been acceptable.


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## qquake (Feb 5, 2020)

magpens said:


> Thanks for the info, but, like TonyL, I am questioning the order of 205 in that listing.



What makes you say that?


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## magpens (Feb 5, 2020)

qquake said:


> What makes you say that?


Well, again I should have kept my mouth shut because the product numbers are different in Canada so I won't give the numbers
I have two large blue bottles of Meguiar's products, one of which has "coarse" somewhere on it, and the other having "fine" on it.
I bought them from an automotive finishing guy who advised me how to use them.
I always finish my pens with a sanding sequence which may end with 800 grit, or sometimes I take it through to 2000 grit.
Following that, the Meguiar's "routine" is the coarse first, then the fine, and then the PlastiX which definitely has no abrasive.
So you can see that the recommendation I got suggests the PlastiX should be last, suggesting it is "more final". . But that order conflicts with yours.
That's what makes me say what I did.


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## qquake (Feb 5, 2020)

Unless the 205 is finer than PlastX...


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## magpens (Feb 5, 2020)

Yeah ... well ... one develops hunches for things after a while, and I think you know what my hunch is based on several years use of Meguiars.


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## qquake (Feb 5, 2020)

I'm just going by what Meguiar's told me.


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## magpens (Feb 5, 2020)

.......


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## TonyL (Feb 5, 2020)

TonyL said:


> 105 is the most aggressive, followed by 205, ..I would stop there, then apply your wax coat f you want.
> I didn't see  scratches after 205.
> 
> I have all of the others too, but didn't need them.
> Swirl remover and Pastx are probably the least aggressive. Megauirs has an excellent help line. You may want to consult them.


My fault..I didn't read that you called Meguairs. I am sorry.


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## bsshog40 (Feb 5, 2020)

All I use is the Plastx also after MM on acrylics.


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## TonyL (Feb 5, 2020)

qquake said:


> I'm just going by what Meguiar's told me.


I am sorry Jim. See apology above.  Meguiars would know best. You may find that you don't all of those. Your eye and experience will lead you to the shortest path to the perfect  finish.  They did tell me that 105 and 205 was the same as something else, but 105 and 205 were non-flammable and safe for auto body shops.


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## budnder (Feb 5, 2020)

Lately, I've been doing 105, then 205, and then 3M Finesse It

For what its worth, I read somewhere the other day that 105 will remove scratches as fine as 1500 1200 grit. To me, that implies you should use something at least as fine as 1200 grit as the step previous to 105.

Here's the link that references 1200 grit:









						Meguiar's M105 Mirror Glaze Ultra-Cut Compound, 8 oz.
					

Meguiar's® Mirror Glaze® M105 Professional Ultra-Cut Compound is great for removing scratches, defects, acid rain and severe swirls/holograms.




					www.meguiarsdirect.com


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## GraiDawg (Feb 5, 2020)

i use eddie stones diamnodpolish


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## magpens (Feb 5, 2020)

@qquake

There seems to be much confusion about the subject of this thread.
Much has been written by the Mequiar company in promoting its products and also by the innumerable users of the Meguiar products.

It is almost impossible to even read Mequiars descriptions of their own products ... let alone understand what you are reading.

There are a large number of hits on the internet if you simply do a search for "Meguiars 209" or something similar.

Here is some stuff that I found on the internet, but I don't intend to try to make sense of any of it (I am posting this exactly as I found it - I am not going to attempt to research this subject any further - this is posted purely as a courtesy to the person who started this thread and to others who have also contributed ) :

*                    Re: Meguiars Polishes Abrasive Chart                 *




> Here's one that's dated but still...
> 
> http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...obeIohW0dmW.97
> 
> ...



My reference:  https://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?66017-Meguiars-Polishes-Abrasive-Chart


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## 1shootist (Feb 5, 2020)

If anyone uses any of the meguires along with buffing wheels...how do you go about it...put polish on the pen or on the wheel ? Or  ?

I put together a three stage 8" wheels setup using Tonys library tutorial..I haven't been real pleased with the plastic polish blocks caswell sells..p22 I think, they have been out of the other one for a while , I had good results with plastx but I want to use my buffing system I built


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## qquake (Feb 9, 2020)

I tried the Meguiar's recipe on a new blank today. First, I used all six grades of 3M Tri-M-Ite polishing paper. I think I like it better than Micro Mesh.


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## qquake (Feb 9, 2020)

Then all five of the Meguiar's polishes. I can't see much difference. I think I agree with TonyL, 105 followed by 205 would have been enough. I also think the preparation before the polish (Tri-M-Ite) is the most important step.


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## MDWine (Feb 11, 2020)

Nice 'report' ... lol...  thanks!


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## qquake (Feb 11, 2020)

I just finished this one. I used 220, 320, and 400 grit wet; all six grades of 3M Tri-M-Ite polishing paper; then Meguiar's 105 and 205. I can still see a very few micro scratches in the closeups, but not with my eyes. I might go back and hit it with all five Meguiar's products just to see if there's a noticeable difference. Yes, I'm anal. LOL


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## wolf creek knives (Feb 11, 2020)

Nice job on the finish.  I don't see any scratches even on the closeups.  I do see a bit of debris on one of the pictures but that was it.  My feeling is if you can't see the scratches with the naked eye probably no one else can. either  But....you have to be satisfied with your work.


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## qquake (Feb 11, 2020)

Yes, I'm happy with how it turned out. At this point, it's just curiosity. I want to see if there's a difference, or if I can get away with only using 105 and 205.


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## jttheclockman (Feb 11, 2020)

wolf creek knives said:


> Nice job on the finish.  I don't see any scratches even on the closeups.  I do see a bit of debris on one of the pictures but that was it.  My feeling is if you can't see the scratches with the naked eye probably no one else can. either  But....you have to be satisfied with your work.


This is my philosophy also for as long as I have been doing pens. If you sell pens then maybe if you are doing a special type pen with diamond dust or some inlay but ordinary $75 pens is just going to get scratched after it leaves your hands anyway. There is no way around this. No such finish that can prevent this unless you handle with gloves and just set on desk for show. As far as shine goes, it is all in the eyes of the person who is looking at it. I have read on here many times that a pen polished on a wheel shines more than one hand polished. I call BS. I have tried and see no difference. I have been using the same products since again when I started and this all came from members here back in the day. I MM as everyone does but use water as a lubricant and then I use MM polishes. Lots of info here.

https://micro-surface.com/micro-mesh-types

Here is the products I use. I use the blue bottle Micro gloss and then follow with the red bottle Micro finish and love the finish I get. There are other steps in there that can be used but I found these work for me and my eye. 

https://micro-surface.com/index.php...ss-liquid-abrasive-type-1-cleaner-polish.html


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## TonyL (Feb 11, 2020)

qquake said:


> I just finished this one. I used 220, 320, and 400 grit wet; all six grades of 3M Tri-M-Ite polishing paper; then Meguiar's 105 and 205. I can still see a very few micro scratches in the closeups, but not with my eyes. I might go back and hit it with all five Meguiar's products just to see if there's a noticeable difference. Yes, I'm anal. LOL


Give it a try...or just go back to the 105 and 205,


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## TonyL (Feb 11, 2020)

jttheclockman said:


> This is my philosophy also for as long as I have been doing pens. If you sell pens then maybe if you are doing a special type pen with diamond dust or some inlay but ordinary $75 pens is just going to get scratched after it leaves your hands anyway. There is no way around this. No such finish that can prevent this unless you handle with gloves and just set on desk for show. As far as shine goes, it is all in the eyes of the person who is looking at it. I have read on here many times that a pen polished on a wheel shines more than one hand polished. I call BS. I have tried and see no difference. I have been using the same products since again when I started and this all came from members here back in the day. I MM as everyone does but use water as a lubricant and then I use MM polishes. Lots of info here.
> 
> https://micro-surface.com/micro-mesh-types
> 
> ...


Thanks for the links.


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