Here is some current info that I picked up in one of my trade journals.....

thought I would share this great knowledge if you havent seen it yet.....


The return of harder clears!


So now, many manufacturers have gone back to a harder version of clear coat to gain more scratch resistance. The term of these new generation of clears is simply called "scratch resistant clears" One common name for them is a brand called Cerami-Clear which simply uses nanno, or very tiny particles of ceramic that migrate to the very top portion of the clear coat and give it more scratch resistance against car washing and normal everyday abrasions. It's a better version of the old Melamine clear coats which are also very hard. But...some of these hard clear coats are very hard and very difficult to remove imperfections. You will need to be fairly aggressive to get anywhere with some of these newer, harder clears. I have also seen scratch resistant clears that once you buff through the very thin nanno section of ceramic particles that are at the very top of the clear, it turns into a softer clear underneath and can still swirl and mar very badly, even though technically it's a scratch resistant clear. So this can be very confusing and demoralizing for a the detailer as well.

In addition, not all vehicles are using these newer, harder clears. Some car manufacturers are using the scratch resistant clears on ALL their vehicles such as Mercedes. Some manufacturers are using these clears on some of their cars but not all of them. For example, BMW uses scratch resistant clear coat on all vehicles made in Germany. However, on their vehicles made in the US such as the Z4, X3 and X5, they are still using the softer powder clear coats at the plant in South Carolina. And a couple of years ago, before all the German made BMW's made the change to scratch resistant clear, some plants would still use a soft clear while some plants had already switched to a harder version. So it was not inconceivable to see the same year and same model vehicle, in the same color with one having a soft clear and one having a hard clear. That will make buffing rather interesting, wont it?

Some other car lines are still exclusively using soft clears. So, it's not so easy being a detailer these days as you can see. There are many different types of clear coats still in use with almost all of them having their own buffing characteristics


So you can understand how even for the professonals out there, paint technology is always changing.

 

Working with PPG, BASF and Mercedes Benz, in Menzerna 2003 developed special polishes for use on PPG CeramiClear™ Clear Coat for removing scratches, swirls and paint defects Beyond superior abrasives, Menzerna has pioneered the development of polishes designed specifically for the hard clear coats, like those used by GeneralMotors on the Corvette and PPG CeramiClear™ Clear Coat being used by Mercedes Benz. Super Intensive and Nanotechnology Polish are currently used by Mercedes - Benz in Germany on their production line to remove swirls and over-spray incurred during the painting process.

A unique family of abrasives developed by Menzerna allows these polishes to remove defects, even on brand new paint finishes, with no loss of surface gloss and no micro-marring. The abrasives are just one factor in the equation; lubricants, solvents, emulsion and their carrier system will determine the actual functional ability of the polish

a) Menzerna’s polishes and compound
Super Intensive Polish (SIP), Power Finish (PO203S) and Nano Polish (106FF) these polishes contain nanotechnology ceramic particles, these micro diminishing abrasives are milled finer and much harder, and also contain a higher abrasive content, 7% were as the other polishes contain 3% abrasives

b) Lake County Manufacturing CCS Technology, German Polishing Pads Green Foam Pad, these pads removes 2000 grit sanding traces, swirls and paint defects with minimal or no surface dullness or haze. The diminishing abrasives allows these polishes to remove defects, even on brand new paint finishes, with no loss of surface gloss and no micro-marring

These products were specifically formulated to polish out any defects found on Nanotechnology ceramic clear coats, along with a high speed rotary polisher.
The newer, harder, scratch-resistant clear coats require longer polishing times to remove swirls, spots and defects. The longer you polish with conventional foam pads, the less effective they become because polish migrates below the working surface of the pad; the pad dries out. Collapsed Cell Structure technology solves this problem using strategic patterns of partially closed foam cells. These cells slow the rate of polish absorption, gradually releasing polish as needed by the operator. CCS pockets reduce surface tension, prevent pad skipping and allow the operator to run the pad flat on the working surface.

Both of these pads (German Green and the Orange Power Pad) are thermally reticulated, urethane foam with a 99% open cell structure especially developed for Nanotechnology paints. These foam pads provide ample surface contact to effectively work the paint.

The pockets are small so they don't affect the amount of foam continuously touching the paint during operation. Standard foam pads are flat-cut, CCS foam pads have the top edge rounded over because it prevents pads from snagging while working in tight spaces.

For most hard clear coats this combination will produce excellent results - MenzernaSuper Intensive Polish PO91E on an Lake County (LC) Orange pad and / or (LC) Green foam pads