Pumice-Rottenstone-Tripoli polishing problems

Hello all,
I am new to polish finishes, in particular I am trying a piano type finish on epoxy paint.
I have read many posts on this topic but one thing I am stuck on never seems to come up... Rottenstone leaving a brown hue behind.
I sand to 600 grit, great.
I use a felt block and water with pumicestone, also great.
I rub in the rottenstone, the shine is great but...
rottenstone is grey brown in color and it appears to be staining the finish.
I tried everything to get it out, the only thing that comes close to removing the brownish tint, is toothpaste.
MY QUESTION:
besides anything obvious you might point out, I am wondering if the toothpaste gets the stain out because it is a finer polish therfore digging out the rottenstone?
Is toothpaste finer?
Can I skip the rottenstone and jump to tripoli (being white it wouldnt stain).
Has anyone experienced this?
Thanks so much in advance I am staring at 24 8'x14" boards all with a lovely high gloss finish and way too brown in color for the white my client was looking for.

I'd skip the rottenstone and go straight to Tripoli powder.
I think you are right with the toothpaste. I use it to polish pens.
Perhaps some of the really fine, auto fine scratch removers are the go. I know people who use these to polish pens.
Maybe white diamond jewellers rouge would be helpful. This seems to be the finishing polish of choice for many American penturners.

What Artme said! Skip the rottenstone and go for the Tripoli.

cheers
Wendy

You can skip to the Tripoli powder. It is just a finer grade of rottenstone.

Hey,
Thanks for the responses.
Does anyone know if the Tripoli they sell on U-Beaut is white?
I don't have any in the shop, and cant seem to source it locally in NY.
Thanks again

Jamille

Not white but a light tan color.

Definitly not brown.

Jamille,

There is a company in New York City, with the name Talis, they have a web site that you can search for on the Internet. I found it there doing a search.

You can check it out, they have a terrific line of products. They will have what you want, and are a good sourse to save for future needs.

Give my best regards to Brooklyn.

Hi Mac,
Thanks for the response, I cant seem to find this company.
I have googled just about every term I could think of.
Let me know if you still know the url for the website.
Regardless, thanks for the help.
In the meantime I have jumped ahead and will try the tripoli at projects end.
On a tight deadline, so I dont think I can wait for shipping from AU.

The one thing I still cant figure is: Why did the rottenstone leave residue behind in the first place.
I really cant figure it out, also a note to anyone else reading these posts.
I do not think that toothpaste is finer then rottenstone. I believe it is actually on par with pumice(ff).
My only thought is that having jumped from 600 grit to pumice(ff) I left some larger, deaper, sub-scratches that were filled in with the rottenstone.
I do not think that it was for a lack of elbow grease as my right arm is now 3 time the size of my left, and my left arm is at least 3 times the size it was.
Any thoughts on this original rottenstone error would be much appreciated.
Thanks again everyone



Jamille

has probably been solved by your good self. jumping too far in drades will cuase the sort of problem you outline.
When I do pens, where areally fine finish is requuired, I am ver particulat about cleaning with a soft cloth or brush between grits as this removes any residual loose particles of the coarser material.
I now do this with all sanding.
:):)