how to use t-cut

[Brooky]

How do i use t-cut properly,last time i did it,it took ages just to do the roof,is it like polish where you have to let it mist over or do you just rub it in?? i did tiny patches at a time and it took a few hours nad it go patchy now,so needs doing again along with the rest of the car.

Cheers Tom

 

[bassy-alex]

It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to do properly. Unlike 'polish' its the application/removal where t-cut does the work. When you rub it in, your actually aiming to remove the top (dead) layer of paint - thats why is very slightly abrasive. Basically, it will take a long time, and a lot of rubbing...

 

[beau]

dont use t-cut, use g10 i used g10 (not harsh), halfords £3 rubbing compound (very harsh), water all mixed together, worked excellent, oh and it only took about 5 mins per panel but yours probably isnt as bad as mine so will be quicker.


before on the right, after on the left obviously

 

[dave]

:yeahthat: t-cut sucks, i was never made for modern paints

 

[Brooky]

right then,ill scrap the t-cut,might try some g10 stuff then, 5mins per pannel?? are you an octopuss or does it not take that much rubbing,me car looks similar to your faded wise.

 

[dave]

yeah it that quick, use with plenty water, a spray mister for plants is ideal

 

[Brooky]

cool,so do they sell it in halfords?? i took me hours to t-cut just the roof so anything thats quicker is good.

 

[dave]

i dunno i only go look at special offers in halfords. have look on line

 

[Shoogster]

Nah, duno like. i use t-cut on my black punto, its amazing... mite just be the colour, but it brings it out better than most wax. Trick is not to apply too much, or you will be there all day. Put it on the cloth, apply to whole car, then go back round after with a clean cloth and wipe it off, cant go wrong...

 

[jug]

i have every kind of cutting liquid and paste on earth, unless you want to pay farecla prices you cant beat t-cut, use original t-cut first, then colour t-cut, then a good wax.

it should take half an hour to do the whole car in original t-cut, then another half an hour to colour t-cut the whole car. you apply plenty of t-cut to a cloth and rub down one panel at a time. e.g. roof should be done as one and it takes literally 2/3mins, longer if you need to take more paint off.

 

[dave]

t-cut sucks was made for old fashion paints, don't use it on your modern clear coats it will naff them up

 

[thepottleflump]

Yeah you've gotta to be a bit careful using t-cut or any abbrasive polish. It's really designed for removing heavy oxidation. I tend to use Autoglym Super Resin Polish which is very very mild but still returns great results. If you're on a budget you could try a polish from the likes of Asda, Tesco or Wilkinson for about £2.

 

[dave]

from another forum, learn from others mistakes

Whether has picked up a bit recently, so i thought 'perfect opportunity to spend some time on the car'. After a wash, i set about t-cutting the car - this was my first expereince with t-cut, so very foolishly i tried doing too much at once! This has meant this it was left on too long and seems to have eaten into my paint work :argh: Sorry about the picture quality, they were taken on my phone however you can just make out the dots:




Now before i did any further damage, and while the whether is still fair, i thought id ask how best to treat this? Im hoping its not too serious, ie needing a respray!

Thanks for any help

Cheers
Mike

 

[bassy-alex]

from another forum, learn from others mistakes

Yeah but any polish is only works as well as it is applied.

T-cut colour restorer has got me some great results on my sei. And for my bonnet (that was badly re-sprayed before i got it) carefully working down from a very abrasive rubbing compund, then to t-cut, then to t-cut colour restorer and finally waxing got some amazing results - considering what i satrted with.

 

[thepottleflump]

from another forum, learn from others mistakes

Looks like he applied in the sun and it dried. That isn't t-cut that's just poor application. Won't have done any permanent damage.

 

[combwork]

How does this work with modern gel coat paint? Not saying it doesn't, (I've never tried it; only used it on `classic' paint) but on modern paints, isn't there a danger it would cut through the clear lacquer top coat?

 

[dave]

How does this work with modern gel coat paint? Not saying it doesn't, (I've never tried it; only used it on `classic' paint) but on modern paints, isn't there a danger it would cut through the clear lacquer top coat?

yes, thats why you musn't use t cut

 

[thepottleflump]

How does this work with modern gel coat paint? Not saying it doesn't, (I've never tried it; only used it on `classic' paint) but on modern paints, isn't there a danger it would cut through the clear lacquer top coat?

Yes off course as with any abrasive polish you run that risk and the same applies to the Farecla G10 product also mentioned here - although by hand you'd need to be very heavy handed and silly to do so. The site Detailing World talks about defect correction alot it generally results in the removal of a relatively large amount of clearcoat by machine polishing to remove a top layer of clearcoat. Not recommended long term.

 

[Dawes]

A valeter showed me a technique once where you rub in t-cut but before it dry's apply Auto Glym SRP on top, buff and hey presto lovely shine. Personally I prefer to use Clay to clean the paint, polish then plenty wax over the top. As long as you wash and wax regularly after that the car will look good.

 

[jug]

yes, thats why you musn't use t cut

dave i dont know who told you the modern paint myth but the theory of how t-cut works applies to any paint, even plastic, glass and wood. i use t-cut on cds and dvds, i use it on my table surfaces, i even use it on my headlights and windscreen to reomve scratches, it takes scratches off any surface because it is a mild abrasive paste, you just need to know how to use it properly.

on "modern paints" with a clear top coat you can use t-cut to remove scratches from the clear coat and give it a mirror finish again. i've been doing it for years and it works brilliantly. my alfa has had a good t-cut all over and it looks a lot better for it, 80% of the scratches are completely gone and the others are far less noticable. the bad press with t-cut is due to user error, same as all the cutting pastes. if you do it wrong you will scratch the paint, if you do it right you will not.