What's wrong with T-Cut...?!

[grifterkid]

The paintwork on my '76 Toledo is pretty flat here and there so of course I need to reach for the T-Cut...! I hear that it has been compared to the devils nectar though but why is this? Surely it cannot be too bad...?! Can anybody fill me in here please...

[pauldaf44]

T cut thins the paint as it removes the oxidised layer. I don't personally have a problem with it if

1 the paints thick enough
2 You wash off all the residue
3 You wax the car straight away as it removes all the paints protective coating.

DO NOT use Tcut with an eletric/air polisher else you will have no paint left

[feliciacombi]

Iv used T-cut in the past...all depends how bad the paint is....it can be hard work...but well worth it...red allways seems to be the worst colour though

[suterman]

the laquer not the paint.

[retrowagen1234]

Yeah you just cut the clear back with t-cut. Ive allways used it and allways had good results.

[RetroMat]

I used tcut on my carmine red toledo, made a slight improvement but I got the best results with farcela G3 on a polishing mop then some polish then a bit of wax. I get bored very quickly so only did one side of the car ;D

[cobblers]

I find it pretty curse word as a cutting compound as far as removing minor scratches is concerned (it somehow has got a reputation that it can remove scratches - it can't)

It'll remove oxidisation, and it doesn't thin the paint that much but it isn't something I'd recommend using once a month!


I'd personally use autoglym paint renovator in your situation. It cuts a LOT better and will remove oxidisation easily. It also doesn't stink like tcut.

[luckygti]

I've personally never had a problem with it. I use a wet cloth and I've even used it with a machine polisher on my old T3 panel van, which came up pretty well:) I may not use it on my wifes new Merc though;)

[will]

I use Tcut because there always seems to be a bottle of it in the garage, I'm sure it breeds in there. Our racing pink golf takes a lot of effort mind and fades quick too

[ben711200]

Tcut, hammers with wooden handles, hammerite and M8 bolts. I've never bought any of these things but always seem to have a self regulating supply of them.


There's nothing wrong with Tcut, as much as Detailingworld type people would like you to believe it, but there are certainly better products out there

[Eidolon]

Feb 15, 2011 19:00:51 GMT @feliciacombi said:

Iv used T-cut in the past...all depends how bad the paint is....it can be hard work...but well worth it...red allways seems to be the worst colour though

It's all to do with red pigmentation and how it reacts to UV rays.

[Hirst]

It's not much fun to work with, smells horrible and isn't the best product out there. You can get better results with a decent quality polish and they tend not to be horrible to use. I wouldn't be worried about using it though.

With regards to polished paintwork fading back, that generally happens if you get the job done and then leave it like that, you need to "lock" it in with a few coats of wax or sealant or whatever. Lasts a lot longer.

[pauldaf44]

Feb 15, 2011 21:23:01 GMT Eidolon said:

Feb 15, 2011 19:00:51 GMT @feliciacombi said:

Iv used T-cut in the past...all depends how bad the paint is....it can be hard work...but well worth it...red allways seems to be the worst colour though

It's all to do with red pigmentation and how it reacts to UV rays.

Its not just UV rays though. Contamination from air pollution and road dirt will cause paint to fade faster as they act as a catalyst to the reaction. Thats where washing the dirt off your car and protecting it from air pollutants will delay the sucked smartie effect

[Mantasport]

Modern T-Cut is not as abrasive as the old stuff and takes more effort to get the same effects.

Depending how bad your paintwork is depends what you'll get the easiest results from.

If its very faded you want a good cutting compound to restore its shine, either applied by hand or with a buffer
(buffer is easier but just don't press too hard or work one place too much as you can wear through the paint.
More so on old paintwork that has prob been cut back several times in its life)

Once thats done give it a good wash to remove any remaining compound, then dry it before giving it a really good polish with a protective wax.
To keep it looking good and not fading again the waxing should be done every month or so to build up a good layer of protection from the suns rays and the weather.
A good wax layer will also make it easier to keep clean.

If its just a little faded you could try a color magic polish, they do work really well on dull paintwork.

[g40jon]

the reason t-cut is hated by detailing geeks is that its old hat. the particles in t-cut cut at a certain rate and just keep on cutting at that rate. farcla g3 though, the particles that do the cutting, break down as you use it, giving a progressively finer cut the more you work it.

[Diabolu]

I'd never use it on a car I was 'looking after' but I used it on my alfa to tidy up some of the scuffs and scrubs, my two beemers to hide the hair scratches on that and my old black truck too, which was a bit of a waste of time in the end as i ended up ratting it haha.

I'd rather polish the swirls out with some fine polish, seal and wax it and that's what I'll be doing with the galant and alfa when I've sprayed them both (and also my new secret(ish) project haha)

Chris

[Robinxr4i]

I'm hopeless with polish and stuff lol, on my horrid Volvo 360 I thought I'd use T-Cut it as the paint seemed dull (plus I had some despite never buying it myself ) I did it on a hot day and got distracted, needless to say the body work ended up looking much worse than it did when I started out!

I think I'll stick to satin black rattle cans

[purplevanman]

I used to use solvo autosol to polish rattlecan paintwork

now use G7 for aggressive polishing and G3 for the posher stuff.

[Eidolon]

Feb 15, 2011 21:34:05 GMT @pauldaf44 said:

Feb 15, 2011 21:23:01 GMT Eidolon said:

It's all to do with red pigmentation and how it reacts to UV rays.

Its not just UV rays though. Contamination from air pollution and road dirt will cause paint to fade faster as they act as a catalyst to the reaction. Thats where washing the dirt off your car and protecting it from air pollutants will delay the sucked smartie effect

We were talking about RED PAINT and why it fades faster. The air pollution and dirt having nothing to do with why one particular colour fades faster. My previous (deleted) point still stands.

[pauldaf44]

Feb 16, 2011 8:40:30 GMT Eidolon said:

Feb 15, 2011 21:34:05 GMT @pauldaf44 said:

Its not just UV rays though. Contamination from air pollution and road dirt will cause paint to fade faster as they act as a catalyst to the reaction. Thats where washing the dirt off your car and protecting it from air pollutants will delay the sucked smartie effect

We were talking about RED PAINT and why it fades faster. The air pollution and dirt having nothing to do with why one particular colour fades faster. My previous (deleted) point still stands.

yes but if you keep it clean and protected you can delay the reaction. All I said was this was a factor in producing the fade. Read properly before you comment. There was nothing there saying that it would be worse with any colour of paint. Just a bit of extra background information from someone in the motor trade

Oh and air pollution and dirt have everything to do with it.

Think the fade is caused by oxidisation of the pigment molecules. The UV lights breaks down the bonds between the pigment and the base material. This allows the air to get in and react with the colour. The reason red reacts faster is that its bonds are weaker and it is a more reactive pigment. The UV light is only part of the story.

Red paint will not fade in a vacumm no matter how much UV light hits it as there is nothing for it to react with