Swirls

[Abzynthe]

This is more a question for you Kerry, but Id like others input too.

Yesterday I spent the day detailing my car.

As you may or may not know, I tend to detail my car every three months and just clean it in between.

Since I bought the car it has always had swirls. I could never get rid of them before as I didnt have a machine polisher.
But, I have now machine polished it twice and still cant get all the swirls out.

Is it just a matter of keep doing it until they are gone? Or am I doing something wrong?

I have a DA polisher and I use it how I was shown.
Dot polish in a few spots on the panel, polish over it on setting one to get the polish even, then use setting 5 to do the polishing.
I then go round the panel two or three times at a steady slow pace. Then buff off with a microfibre cloth.

I have seen some improvement, but the swirls are still there.

The products I use are:

Valet pro PH neutral snow foam
g3 bodywork detox shampoo
Autoglym clay bar with rapid detailer as lubricant
Megs ultimate polish
Megs gold wax

I also always make sure im not just moving dirt iver the bodywork, and never use a cloth if I drop it.

 

[Anonymous]

Not an expert on detailing by any means but maybe changing from a combined Finishing polish and glaze to something with a bit more power would help?

I got about 90% of the millions of swirls out of mine with its first detail but used Meguiars 3 stage (stages 1 and two)

followed by a seperate glaze Megs #5

and topped with hard wax to seal it.

I could be totally wrong but generally feel that with the cleaning products a "combined" product does not get the results of seperate products.

Also Perhaps changing to a wax with polymer technology will help hide those final swirls. :dance:

Changing from the Gold Class Wax (which gives a richer colour) to Megs nXt was (Hides swirls) could be the answer

 

[Anonymous]

Also if you want to keep using the gold class then try the NXT wax on first as its a synthetic then top with Gold Class.

 

[Anonymous]

Amber is awful for showing up marks. Mine isn't great either.

I like the Meguirs stuff but I find it's really hard to put on/buff and takes ages.

Recently I've been using Werkstat stuff and I really like it. It's really easy to put on (almost too easy!). I prefer sealant as I always find wax marrs....maybe I just don't buff it off right

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog ... a-kit.html

I use this after I've washed, Tardis'd and Iron-X'd .....

I took some photos yesterday, I'll upload one later.

Anyhoo after doing mine yesterday, all mine will need between now and Yorkshire is detail spray

 

[Abzynthe]

Thanks Figo. I completely forgot about the three stage stuff they do lol.
I have some megs rubbing compound in the garage. Do you think I should give that a go?

I wont be doing anything with it until the friday before the meet except wash it, so I can still get the bits above before then

I know Donna. I washed it last week and in the sun it was more swirls than shine!
We'll have to compare the results

 

[Abzynthe]

I know what you mean about the wax, my shoulder is killing me this morning lol

 

[Anonymous]

I know what you mean about the wax, my shoulder is killing me this morning lol

I feel like I've been hit by a truck ..... shoulders/back/legs .... urgh!!!

 

[Anonymous]

well guess that happens with A.......an aggressive detailing technique... :eusa-whistle: :lol:


I'm going into hiding now!

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have a picture of the swirls? I found that my RCZ is very prone to Microfibre swirls So maybe you are correcting it properly but might be adding microfibre swirls during the wax\seal phase? Just a though... Think they call it microfiber marring.

 

[RCZ1]

I've not used Ultimate Polish but having a quick Google is designed more for shine than correcting.

What polishing pads have you got?

You will need a polish with a little more cut -205 works well and 105 for deeper marks swirls.

Cut is also dependant on pad used so a polishing pad is not going to provide much correction.

I would suggest a harder pad for better correction. Also when polishing and you are at speed 5 - it's also dependant on pressure being used in order to provide some cut. You also need to make sure that you are fully working the polishes. If you don't break them down then it won't correct.

I would suggest trying some different polishes and pads and just concentrate on one panel. Don't worry about doing the whole car until you are happy with the finish / correction on the one panel. It will take time and shouldn't be rushed.

Hexlogic pads work well with the DA and 105 and 205. The white pad is the one I use most but the blue and orange will also be required at some point.

With regards to wax removal. If its proving hard to buff off, you've probably applied it too thickly. It should barely be visible. One swipe of the applicator should do a panel or maybe 2 for the bonnet. Rubbing at removing it is inducing swirl marks.

 

[Abzynthe]

Thanks Kerry

I use the yellow megs pad. Which I was told was the pad for doing "work" on the paint.

I guess it is down to me doing half a job with the wrong products again lol.


I dont have any pics of the swirls at the moment, but they are deep looking and quite far apart. The paintwork feels very smooth so I dont think they are as deep as the look.

Before I started the car was covered in swirls and there was layer upon layer of them. I think I have it down to one layer of swirls. If that makes sense.

 

[Anonymous]

With regards to wax removal. If its proving hard to buff off, you've probably applied it too thickly. It should barely be visible. One swipe of the applicator should do a panel or maybe 2 for the bonnet. Rubbing at removing it is inducing swirl marks.

^^^ :greetings-wavingblue: See we posted that at the same time. Chips :beer:

 

[RCZ1]

Abzynthe - is this the yellow pad you have ?

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/machine-p ... d_543.html

It is only a polishing pad so as you say you have/had a lot of swirls then it's going to need more cutting ability. I would be careful though because if you keep polishing with the machine regularly you are removing layers of paint each time. Do you have a paint depth gauge to measure removal rates?

The other thing is if you only have one yellow pad it's going to get clogged up with polish so will lose its effectiveness and can in itself induce swirls. Clean the pad regularly whilst polishing the car to avoid this of buy another pad.

 

[Abzynthe]

Thats the one.

I dont have a depth gauge, so Ill have a look for one aswell as a pad with a bit more cutting power.

I think it would be cheaper to just get someone else to do it :lol:

 

[Abzynthe]

Would this one be ok?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002J7VWWC

A quick search and the paint depth guages are expensive

 

[RCZ1]

Yes that one would do the job much better. Use the same techniques as you described earlier with spreading the polish on speed 1 or 2 without pressure, then up the speed to 5, excerting pressure but ensuring that the pad is still rotating (its worth putting a black line on the disc as this shows you that the pad is still oscillating). When the polish is broken down then drop the speed back down to 3 or 4 to refine the finish.

Paint depth gauges are expensive but they ensure that you are polishing in a safe manner. You need to know how much paint you have to play with because in some cases 100% correction would not be a safe option.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes that one would do the job much better. Use the same techniques as you described earlier with spreading the polish on speed 1 or 2 without pressure, then up the speed to 5, excerting pressure but ensuring that the pad is still rotating (its worth putting a black line on the disc as this shows you that the pad is still oscillating). When the polish is broken down then drop the speed back down to 3 or 4 to refine the finish.

Paint depth gauges are expensive but they ensure that you are polishing in a safe manner. You need to know how much paint you have to play with because in some cases 100% correction would not be a safe option.

Hey Kerry, what paint thicknesses did you have on Pearl?

Enjoy the smiles and miles.
Keep safe and keep detailing.

 

[RCZ1]

If I remember rightly they were between 120 - 140. I know Ron's is the around the same too.


Blog: http://rczandme.wordpress.com/

 

[Anonymous]

If I remember rightly they were between 120 - 140. I know Ron's is the around the same too.


Blog: http://rczandme.wordpress.com/

Thanks young lady. I did a quick check last night and it varied from 80 on the front wings to 100+ on the roof and boot, rear wings. I'll do a thorough check once she's detailed. Thank you for replying.

Enjoy the smiles and miles.
Keep safe and keep detailing.

 

[Abzynthe]

Isnt it your safe as long as its above 25ish?

Ive bought the g3 version of what Figo put up for the swirls. I hope it works