Compounded front of car help

[robotman]

Replaced the front pan this winter had some over spray on fenders and hood, paint is 30 years old looks ok. I compounded the front today by hand i used turtle wax rubbing compound, now i see streeks on the hood from the compound. did i do something wrong and is there a way to fix it?

[Bobboloo]

The most important thing when compounding is cleanliness. Any tiny bit of dirt in your towel will scratch the paint. You can rub and rub and the streaks won't go away because you're constantly putting in new scratches. Your buffing towels have to come straight from the dryer. They can't be set down on a surface that isn't absolutely clean or they will pick up dirt.

Also I know Turtle Wax makes two kinds of rubbing compound. The old school Diatomaceous earth stuff that comes in the old school tins and the newer Silica based compound that comes in plastic bottles. Get the newer Silica based stuff. It works much better.