IMPORTANT: ALWAYS CHOOSE A TEST AREA TO DETERMINE THE CORRECT PROCESS BEFORE COMPOUNDING AND POLISHING THE ENTIRE VEHICLE. YOU NEED TO TEST TO SEE HOW MUCH CORRECTION IS NEEDED FOR EACH VEHICLE. CHOOSE AN AREA REPRESENTATIVE OF THE OVERALL CONDITION OF THE CAR, SUCH AS A SECTION OF THE HOOD OR TRUNK LID. NO TWO CARS ARE ALIKE. WHAT WORKS ON ONE CAR MAY NOT WORK ON THE NEXT. BE SURE TO HAVE YOUR PROCESS DOWN AND ARE HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS BEFORE MOVING ONTO THE REST OF THE VEHICLE.

1] CHOOSE A 1-FOOT BY 1-FOOT TEST AREA TO BEGIN PAINT CORRECTION. TAPE OFF THE AREA IF DESIRED FOR MORE NOTICEABLE BEFORE/AFTER IMPROVEMENT.

2] START WITH THE LEAST AGGRESIVE APPROACH:

A. IF THE AREA HAS VERY MINIMAL SWIRL MARKS OR SCRATCHES, ATTACH THE WHITE FOAM PAD TO THE MACHINE AND ADD 3 PEA-SIZE DROPS OF POLISH ONTO THE PAD.

B. IF THE AREA HAS MORE SIGNIFICANT/HEAVY SWIRL MARKS OR SCRATCHES, ATTACH THE BLUE FOAM PAD TO THE MACHINE AND ADD 3 PEA-SIZE DROPS OF COMPOUND ONTO THE PAD.

3] BEFORE TURNING ON THE MACHINE, SPREAD THE POLISH OR COMPOUND OVER THE TEST AREA TO AVOID SLINGING ONTO YOURSELF AND THE VEHICLE.

4] SET MACHINE SPEED TO 4, PLACE PAD FLAT ONTO SURFACE IN ONE CORNING OF THE TEST AREA, THEN POWER THE MACHINE ON. DO NOT POWER THE MACHINE ON IN MID-AIR (THIS WILL SPLATTER COMPOUND/POLISH EVERYWHERE)

5] USE APPROXIMATELY 2-3 POUNDS OF DOWNWARD PRESSURE. DO NOT APPLY TOO MUCH PRESSURE THAT THE PAD/BACKING PLATE OF THE MACHINE STOPS SPINNING (THIS IS CALLED MACHINE STALL AND IS NOT PRODUCTIVE TO THE COMPOUNDING/POLISHING PROCESS).

6] MOVE MACHINE LEFT TO RIGHT (OR VISA-VERSA) AT A SLOW AND STEADY PACE. THEN MOVE UP & DOWN (OR VISA-VERSA) AT A SLOW AND STEADY PACE. MAKE SURE TO OVERLAP BY APPROXIMATELY 1 INCH. (THIS PROCESS IS CALLED "CROSS-HATCHING")

7] FOLD A PLUSH TOWEL INTO FOURTHS, THEN WIPE AWAY THE POLISH OR COMPOUND RESIDUE USING LONG FAST WIPES. FLIP TOWEL OVER AND BUFF AWAY FOR A FINAL WIPE.

8] INSPECT THE SURFACE FOR IMPROVEMENT - SCRATCH/HAZE REDUCTION AND CLARITY

A. IF THE WHITE FOAM PAD AND WHITE POLISH DID NOT IMPROVE OR REMOVE THE DEFECTS WELL ENOUGH, MOVE TO THE BLUE FOAM PAD AND COMPOUND, THEN RE-DO THE TEST AREA.

B. IF THE BLUE FOAM PAD AND COMPOUND DID NOT IMPROVE OR REMOVE THE HEAVIER DEFECTS WELL ENOUGH, MOVE UP TO THE MICROFIBER CUTTING PAD WITH COMPOUND, THEN RE-DO THE TEST AREA

NOTE: IF THE MICROFIBER CUTTING PAD AND COMPOUND DOESN'T REMOVE ALL OF THE DAMAGE, YOU CAN BOOST THE COMPOUND BY ADDING A FEW PEA SIZED DROPS OF HEAVY CUTTING COMPOUND. ADDITIONALLY, SWITCHING TO THE WOOL CUTTING PAD CAN HELP REMOVE MORE DEFECTS. (HEAVY CUTTING COMPOUND IS INTENDED TO BOOST ADAM'S BLUE COMPOUND AND IS MAINLY USED FOR SEVER SCRATCHES/DAMAGE OR VERY HARD CLEAR COAT FINISHES).

9] THE BLUE FOAM PAD AND MICROFIBER CUTTING PAD USED WITH COMPOUND CAN LEAVE SLIGHT HAZE BEHIND ON SOME DARKER COLOR VEHICLES. FOLLOW-UP WITH THE WHITE FOAM AND WHITE POLISH TO REMOVE THIS HAZE AND LEAVE THE SURFACE WITH A DEEP GLOSS AND DEPTH IN THE PAINT.

10] ONCE YOU HAE YOUR PAD AND CHEMICAL PROCESS DOWN, YOU DO NOT NECESSARILY NEED TO WIPE AWAY THE COMPOUND RESIDUE - YOU CAN POLISH RIGHT OVER THE COMPOUND RESIDUE TO SAVE TIME AND EXTRA WIPING WITH TOWELS.

IMPORTANT: CLEAN THE MICROFIBER CUTTING PAD WITH THE PAD CONDITIONING BRUSH AFTER EACH SECTION OF THE VEHICLE YOU ARE CORRECTING. THIS PREVENTS THE PAD FROM CLOGGING UP WITH TOO MUCH PRODUCT, AND WHEN THE FIBERS ARE MATTED DOWN, THEY DO NOT CORRECT AS WELL. NOTE: WHEN COMPOUNDING, WORKING IN SMALLER AREAS WILL PROVIDE BETTER CORRECTION RESULTS. TRY TO STICK TO AN 18”X18” AREA OR SMALLER

1] APPLY 3-4 PEA-SIZED DROPS OF COMPOUND ONTO MICROFIBER CUTTING PAD OR BLUE FOAM PAD. SPRAY ONE MIST OF DETAIL SPRAY INTO PAD TO PRIME THE PAD

2] SET MACHINE SPEED TO 4, PLACE PAD FLAT ONTO SURFACE, SPREAD THE COMPOUND OVER THE WORKING AREA, THEN POWER THE MACHINE ON.

3] USE APPROXIMATELY 2-3 POUNDS OF DOWNWARD PRESSURE. DO NOT APPLY TO MUCH PRESSURE THAT THE PAD/BACKING PLATE OF THE MACHINE STOPS SPINNING (THIS IS CALLED MACHINE STALL AND IS NOT PRODUCTIVE TO THE COMPOUNDING PROCESS).

4] MOVE THE MACHINE LEFT TO RIGHT (OR VISA-VERSA) AT A SLOW AND STEADY PACE. THEN MOVE UP & DOWN (OR VISA-VERSA) AT A SLOW AND STEADY PACE. MAKE SURE TO OVERLAP BY APPROXIMATELY 1 INCH. (THIS PROCESS IS CALLED, “CROSS-HATCHING”)

5] REPEAT THIS CROSS-HATCH PATTERN FOR 2 MORE PASSES IN EACH DIRECTION, THEN POWER THE MACHINE OFF WHILE IT IS STILL ON THE VEHICLE SURFACE

6] CLEAN OUT MICROFIBER CUTTING PAD USING PAD CONDITIONING BRUSH

A. HOLD MACHINE WITH ONE HAND AND PLACE PAD CONDITIONING BRUSH ONTO THE PAD USING YOUR OTHER HAND

B. POWER THE MACHINE ON AND ALLOW PAD TO SPIN ON THE BRUSH AND LIFT THE FIBERS BACK UP

7] APPLY MORE COMPOUND TO PAD, MOVE ONTO NEXT AREA TO CORRECT NOTE: AS YOU COMPOUND MORE SECTIONS, USE ONE MIST OF DETAIL SPRAY DIRECTLY INTO THE PAD TO REACTIVATE SOLIDS ALREADY IN THE PAD. THIS ALLOWS YOU TO APPLY LESS COMPOUND TO THE PAD AS YOU CORRECT MORE SECTIONS AND PREVENTS THE PAD FROM CLOGGING UP AS QUICKLY.

***COMPOUND WILL LEAVE A HAZE AFTER USE. THE INDUSTRY TERM FOR THIS IS CALLED “MARRING” AND IS NORMAL TO SEE THIS AFTER THE COMPOUNDING STEP. THE MORE AGGRESIVE ABRASIVE IN COMPOUND IS INTENDED TO REMOVE HEAVY/DEEPER SCRATCHES. THE NEXT STEP “POLISHING” IS DESIGNED TO REMOVE THE HAZE OR “MARRING” THAT COMPOUND LEAVES BEHIND.