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getting rid of swirl marks
- Thread starter raf182
- Start date
try getting hold of some zymol stuff from halfords. you can buy the wash and the polish for about £15 for both. What it does is to hide the swirls.
if you want to sort them out completely, then buy the proper zymol kit (around £100) and this gets your paint perfect. you use some chalk to remove the laquer on the paint, then you buff it and then polish it. gives an amasing result and you only need to do it twice a year.
also using t-cut creates swirls as well, best avoid the stuff.
i havent used any of the others but for a quick and decent finish, id get the zymol stuff from halfords (only 15 for both shampoo and polish). this really does work, as my car is 4 yrs old next week and it had loads of swirls on it from over the years of not polishing it properly. looked as though someone had gone over the car with an oily rag lol. so 2 months ago i used that cheap zymol stuff and the paintwork looked amasing. ive washed the car 3 times since and the swirls have begun to show again but only very faintly.
Ahem, ignore all of the advice so far
Prevention is better than cure, use a lambs wool wash mitt as a sponge will only inflict swirl marks on todays water based clear coat paints.
To remove what you have alreay without inflicting more try this product, best applied with a RANDOM orbit rotary buffer!
http://shop.meguiars.co.uk/cgi-bin/specwd.pl?pc=M0916&tp=0http://shop.meguiars.co.uk/cgi-bin/specwd.pl?pc=M0916&tp=0
If still exist try a product such as scratch X from same site
yes wash the car without swirling your sponge, and dont use a jet wash.
its amazing how people do not know how to wash a car.
My car is over 2 1/2 years old and still looks the b****cks.
ps Zymol £100 kit is what i use btw but only ever done it twice in that time
http://www.s2elise.co.uk/172/side.jpg
D
106 GTi
Depending on the severity of the swirls its gong to take some doing without a machine polisher.
I always start with the mildist polish first and build up. If the swirls are minor 2 or 3 coats of Autoglym super resin should sort it. By removing swirls your removing small amounts of your clearcoat, this is why you need to start mild, no point removing more than you have to with an harsh polish.
If not look into Meguairs Speed Glaze, Swirl remover or Swirl Free polishes from there Pro line or Scratch X as recommended above ( this is only available in a small size)
A better option than T cut if you want something from Halfords is Autoglym Paint renovater. Work the product on a damp foam pad in back and forth motions to remove the swirls instead of introducing them with a circular motion.
I have had success with the above products at removing swirls by hand on most colours. By hand is hard work. Please leave the T cut on the shelf!
Remapped derv Golf
Try using a mit rather than a sponge
Ford Fiesta
you will ALWAYS get swirls on cars, no matter how careful you are. I have yet to see a car without them, even brand new ones in showrooms.
Certain colours shouw them worse though, black being the worst. As has been said removing them means removing part of the paint (well the clearcoat laquer anyway) and you cant do this all the time can you , eventually you would end up with no paint.
Try and minimise by using clean sponges, rags etc when waxing.
Used to have a Clio
so how are you supposed to wash your car if not in circular motion? and those buffer machines..they move in circular motions too, dont they? and am i supposed to wait before waxing my new car? say after a month?
Totally agree with R Jay Cup, dealer valet boys inflict swirl marks by ahem...preparing your car for you, it is easy to scratch a clear coat paint but very easy to minimise by washing top to bottom, using 2 bucket method and a wash mitt.
IMO sponges are responsible for 90% plus of swirl marks!
[Edited by brazo on 09 January 2005 at 10:23am]
106 GTi
When i hand wash cars, I use a cotton wash pad, ( couldnt really get on with the mit)
http://www.raceglaze.co.uk/en-gb/dept_1.html
Much more paint friendly than a yellow sponge
For the side panels I use and up and down, top to bottom - top to bottom motion. For the roof and bonnet from to back. This way any marring or marks you make dont show up as bad.
As for drying the another main cause of swirl marks use a soft microfiber waffle weave towel in as few passes as possible in the same motions as above.
quote "you will ALWAYS get swirls on cars, no matter how careful you are"
No you will not my car has no swirls,
you guys are not using the right products / cloths I am amazed when i go to shows/meets how bad peoples cars look when the sun shines on them swirl city,
When i take my car for a service i tell them NOT to wash the car on pain of death.
DO NOT USE BUFFERS use a Microwipe (you can get these for £1 you dont have to pay zymol £16 for them)
BUy a £100 zymol kit, sounds expensive but will last you years
get some of those cloths which dont scratch microwipes (zymol kit has two in there)
HAve 3 sponges to clean car , if you ever drop one chuck it away DO NOT try to clean it.
DO NOT use washing up liquid to clean car get a wash a wax product.
Shammy the car after washing.( a propper one not a fake one)
Showroom cars look sh*t also as they do not know how to prep a car.
goto the autosport show and you will see w**kers with there dusters putting swirl marks in the cars as you watch LOL
I used autoglym for 20 years and its ok but not in the league of a propper wax like Zymol i have never use autoglym since.
DAvid
hope this helps
Used to have a Clio
where can you get mitts from? i use sponge with mine but i throw it away after 2 uses and but a new one....the same with fake shammy - i throw it away after one use (is fake shammy bad?) i do have one genuine chamois that i use to dry the cars glasses with! (btw - this chamois stinks!) and i use turtle wax wash and shine.... is this ok?
what about those turtle wax squeegee blade car dryer? are they good?
Going by the remarks Ive seen I think it was the circular motion that caused the swirls, I used a clean microfibre cloth but it was the amount of crap on the car that didnt help matters. Thankfully there isnt toom any on there so far, in the future il make sure I use up/down motion and try my best to polish the mark I have out.
cheers for all the replies
yeh thats the best way, here is a pic of mine
http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1100546718__DSCF0176.jpg
http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1084393078__DSCF0179.jpg
http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1084393199__nn1.jpg
http://erc.qmuc.ac.uk/cliosport/gallery/full/1101761006__DSCF0322.jpg
[Edited by 182blue on 09 January 2005 at 7:26pm]
My car has just been to renault for the abs,serv & t/control lights to be fixed, on collection i noticed the "swirl marks" probably from the valet.
The most effective finish i have found is to autoglim super resin applied lightly, buffed off and then a coat of Meguires gold class polish to give it the "wet look". On black this is a superb finish and in 17 years of polishing cars is the most practicle way to go!
Thanks MM
that towelling stuff is to coarse,
you need microwipes they are so soft and are not treated in any way.
Sponges are ok imo a mitt will just hold the sh*t in it so next time you wash the car your nackered.
I use the carbon wax by zymol and it lives in my fridge
Autoglym pollish is to coarse also, its not a proper wax it actually takes paint off your car.and the gold stuff is only for very very clean smooth prewaxed cars.
you will be amazed with the zymol as i said i used autoglym for years and years and thought it was the dogs but it just is not at all.
D
Quote: Originally posted by Mrdemon on 09 January 2005
<SCRIPT language=javascript></SCRIPT>that towelling stuff is to coarse,you need microwipes they are so soft and are not treated in any way.Sponges are ok imo a mitt will just hold the sh*t in it so next time you wash the car your nackered.I use the carbon wax by zymol and it lives in my fridge
Autoglym pollish is to coarse also, its not a proper wax it actually takes paint off your car.and the gold stuff is only for very very clean smooth prewaxed cars.you will be amazed with the zymol as i said i used autoglym for years and years and thought it was the dogs but it just is not at all. DYour so wrong about the mit.
Its sponges that hold dirt, not mits.
The dirt works its way up the pile of the mit, thus away from the paint.
If you use the 2 bucket method, you then rinse the dirt out b4 it goes near the paint again, and always wash all your mits/cloths every time youve finished washing the car.
Do agree with you about AG polish, but thats why its called a polish and not a wax, which most ppl confuse.
Used to have a Clio
guess what - i went into Asdas petrol station and washed the underside of my car using their Jet wash...that thing is cool to use! i ended up washing the whole car.....the jet is quite strong...is this bad for the paint?
106 GTi
The polishing action of removing paint is the only way to get the swirls out.
I wouldnt dream of using a normal sponge on my car ever again, rubbing all that grit along the paint, instead of in the nap off the mitt/wash pad as others have said.
If you like Zymol Carbon, go out and try some P21s you should be able to get 2/3 pots for the same price and get a better wax for it.
To many people put reliance on the final coat of wax, its the whole prep proccess, wash, polish, glaze and wax that gives the perfect finish not just a final coat off nautural wax, that lasts no time at all in the country on a daily driven car.
As for removing products buy the best Microfiber clothes you can afford. Dont be fooled the Meguiars ones are the best just because they are so damn costly. The best ones I have are from here.
http://www.pakshak.com/
http://www.microfibertech.com/
Not tried Alexs yet from here
http://www.seriousperformance.co.uk/sp/products/cloths.php
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