i took my 1 year and a half Black Cls to a detailer and insted of removing the few swirl marks i had my car is full with it now.
i went back again and i let him do it again but the swirl marks didn't go and that is the 3 time i do polish for my paint ( the first one because of small accident the agency had to polish the car ) .
the question is roughly how many time can you polish your car before you remove all the clear coat ??

 

Bear in mind that a clear coat has a thickness of 1.5 – 2.0 Mils, removing more that 0.3 mil (0.0003") of clear coat will cause premature paint film failure. As a point of reference two sheets of Saran wrap placed on top of each other measure 1.5Mil (0.0015") a surface scratch that will `catch' your fingernail is approximately 0.004" deep will usually require wet sanding and refinishing.

Using a foam pad rated to remove 2,500 -grit finishing paper marks and a compound polish removes approximately 0.025- 0.003 Mils (a Mil is 1/1000th of an inch) of paint from the vehicle. Bear in mind that a clear coat has a thickness of 1.5 – 2.0 Mils, removing more that 0.3 – 0.5 Mils of clear coat may cause premature paint film failure. As a point of reference a sheet of Saran wrap measures 0.95 Mils

A digital paint thickness gauge will allow you to measure the film thickness of the paint system which includes the e-coat, primer, base coat (colour) and clear coat, total thickness is usually 4.0 – 6.0 Mils. Check the paint system both before and after compound polishing or wet sanding and this will tell you how much paint has been removed.

There comes a point when you must judge wither removing a scratch will compromise the clear coat and if so you’ll have to ‘live’ with the imperfection

 

Polishing can be done a million times a day and does nothing but add protection and luster to your paint. Since most polishes contain no abrasives, you're not harming your paint in any way.

On the other hand, rubbing compounds and scratch removers should be used as little as possible. They remove scratches by leveling the clearcoat around the scratch, thus preventing reflections and making the scratch invisible to the naked eye.

Let me know if you have any further questions, I'll be glad to help

-Aaron

 

Correct me if I'm wrong;

Polish / Wax Differences:
a) A polish contains an abrasive that will remove surface imperfections, i.e. scratches, surface marring, etc, the abrasives are contained in an oil carrier system, as a lubricant and to provide shine, but it doesn’t provide surface protection

(b) Wax when applied to a paint surface will provide gloss and surface protection but with very limited durability

(c) A Cleaner Wax contains very fine abrasives and solvents that are used to clean the paint surface. It usually contains a higher solvent content than wax (approx solvent / wax ratio of 3:1) Some wax products use an emulsion (oil-in water) to keep more liquid without adding solvents which, in high concentrations could affect durability as it would dilute the wax content, a cleaner wax provides limited surface protection.

Any abrasive product will remove 'some' clearcoat

 

The outer layer (which contains the paints UVR protection) should be preserved as far as possible. Bear in mind that a clear coat has a thickness of 1.5 – 2.0 Mils, removing more that 0.3 mil of clear coat will cause premature paint film failure. As a point of reference two sheets of Saran wrap placed on top of each other measure 1.5Mil a surface scratch that will `catch' your fingernail is approximately 0.04 Mils deep will usually require wet sanding and refinishing.

The only true gauge of paint thickness is made with a paint thickness meter An electronic paint thickness gauge can be an invaluable tool, before buffing it’s always a good idea to check the paint film thickness to see how much of the paint film thickness is available, check periodically during the process and on completion to see how much was removed. Take measurements with a paint and coating thickness gauge (Check-Line Model DEF-900)

All the major car manufacturers specify that measurements should be taken before, during and after these steps. This is primarily because removal of too much clear coat can cause paint failure over time due to the fact that UVR absorption is the job of the clear coat. If an insufficient thickness of clear remains after polishing the colour coat won't be protected from UV radiation.

There comes a point when you must judge wither removing a scratch will compromise the clear cot and if so you’ll have to ‘live’ with the imperfection (these can be aesthetically masked by using a Glaze)