Flyboy718

Turtle wax? Would that bring back some of the paint from oxidation? What do yall use?

rootboy 

Naw. Get yerself some Meguiars #6

GOOD stuff.

Robot Check

davester

If it's oxidized you need to use a modern diminishing polish or compound to remove the oxidation before waxing it to protect the finish. A diminishing abrasive reduces in aggressiveness as you apply it, so that as you finish buffing it out the abrasives have reduced to a much finer level and the shine is enhanced. Go to the auto parts store and buy the Meguiars Ultimate Compound for really badly oxidized paint or the Ultimate Polish if it's just a little faded. I'd suggest that you follow it up with their Ultimate Wax, but any wax will do. There are other similar products out there but the Meguiars is high quality and readily available.

The Meguiars No. 6 mentioned above is an OK one-step product, but since it is an old somewhat obsolete product it does not contain diminishing abrasives so it will not be as effective at removing oxidation and will not give you as good a shine as the newer "Ultimate" products.

Michael Angelo 

Meguiar's Scratch -X, then a good coat of wax. Done.


https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G1030...s+scratchx+2.0

Kactus

I like Scratch-X for a hand polish; some diminishing polishes really need to be applied by machine to break them down. Wax alone will not bring back the shine, only protect the finish. You need the abrasives in polish to remove the oxidation, dirt and contaminates. This will make your paint shine; then use a good wax to protect the paint.

eschlwc

after it's clean and scratches are compounded, someone said to use pledge for shine.

that way, it's lemon fresh.

Flyboy718

Turtle wax makes two kinds of abrasive polish I think they still do? Comes in a red or green container.

triathloner

I've found Scratch X to be amazing if you really put a little elbow grease into it, keep at it and it will shine. I really should do a before and after pic one of these times.

gomango

Plus twenty.

I use their products on bikes, cars and boats.

Kactus

I haven't used Turtle Wax since I was a teenager but I seem to remember they had a polishing compound and a rubbing compound. The rubbing compound was very aggressive and required following up with finer polishes. There are hundreds of polishes and waxes available depending on equipment being used, condition of paint, etc. For my car I have a polisher and use different polishes than for my bikes which I polish by hand. Scratch-X is an excellent hand polish, it cleans and polishes well without needing the heat from a polisher to break it down. I then follow up with a good carnauba non-cleaner wax.

randyjawa 

Been using this for years and with satisfactory results...

Ptcycles

I prep used bikes for donation, and they need to look good, (some are going to kids on Christmas). The main thing I have found is to first determine what on the surface is either water soluble, or petroleum based, (grease, oil or scotch tape), and clean accordingly. After these things are dealt with, the least aggressive polish is used, (I have found some bike paint jobs are very thin). It is better to lightly polish and bring up a shine than to rub through. There is no need to remove all oxidation, since this only reduces the thickness of the paint.