how to prevent swirls

washing and drying, high quality wash media and drying towels are needed. Enough lubricant when washing so you do not cause marring and swirls.
 
I've managed to keep the MX5 and the gf's Mazda 3 virtually swirl/marr free for 2 years with carefull pre soaking, rinsing, only the weight of the sponge/microfibre when washing and good quality products.
 
When you wash and dry, use two buckets with grit guard, (isolate the dirt into one bucket) very clean and new mitts, use a high velocity electric leaf blower to dry and then touch it up with clean new MF towels and a quick detailer.

You just have to make sure everything is really clean and make sure the wash mitt has no particles in it every time you touch the car with it.
 
Two buckets, grit guard, sheepskin, and PROPER WASH TECHNIQUE.



It doesn't matter if your using the best products in the world, if you have a bad wash technique your going to induce swirls.
 
what do you mean about wash technique? I just purchased the bucket with grit guard and Meguiere's gold class shampoo with MF covered sponge/MF wash mitt. I think the important thing would be to rinse the car and remove the dirt for a good while before attempting to wash.
 
By proper wash technique I mean the following.



Two bucket method, w/ grit guard.

Two sheepskins/microfibers, or whatever your comfortable with to wash



Normally when I wash I will use one sheepskin, do half a panel, flip the sheepskin and rewash that panel with the other side of the sheepskin.



This has been my technique for a good time now, and I have personally not induced any swirl marks on my car.



Also, be sure to properly rinse the car loose of contaminants before hand.



You also want to make sure your using the right water/soap dilution so you can get good lubricity between the mitt and the paint.
 
musicdjs said:
Don't forget the proper water nozzle for presoking. Get the original "ULTIMATE HOSE NOZZLE" it's amazing!
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what? how does a nozzle prevent swirls?



evenflow said:
By proper wash technique I mean the following.



Two bucket method, w/ grit guard.

Two sheepskins/microfibers, or whatever your comfortable with to wash



Normally when I wash I will use one sheepskin, do half a panel, flip the sheepskin and rewash that panel with the other side of the sheepskin.



This has been my technique for a good time now, and I have personally not induced any swirl marks on my car.



Also, be sure to properly rinse the car loose of contaminants before hand.



You also want to make sure your using the right water/soap dilution so you can get good lubricity between the mitt and the paint.
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also small sections with lots of soap(for lube)

and NO pressure, the weight of the sheepshin full of soap & water is more then enough
 
I'm assuming I shouldn't use a traditional nozzle that "shoots" a strong stream to rinse my car off, but rather use NO nozzle at all and just let the water flow out of the hose?
 
using a leafblower to dry the car with helps as well......one less thing being dragged across the paint!!
 
Check out: http://www.autopia.org/forum/detailing-articles-videos/35232-accumulator-s-non-marring-wash-technique.html



I haven't redone that post for a while, and I've probably tweaked things a little over the years, but that's basically how I manage to avoid wash-induced marring. I'm disappointed if I have to polish once a year, and some of our vehicles get used hard year-round. It's all a matter of dislodging the dirt and moving it across the paint without pressing it *against* the paint hard enough to cause marring.



Note that to make the technique work, you have to be utterly meticulous about every motion at every moment. Get careless/sloppy for literally two seconds and you'll probably get marring. It can be a little nerve-wracking ;)
 
Accumulator said:
Note that to make the technique work, you have to be utterly meticulous about every motion at every moment. Get careless/sloppy for literally two seconds and you'll probably get marring. It can be a little nerve-wracking ;)
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But totally worth the effort!!
 
I bought the little 150mph weed eater from Wal-Mart today (~ 27 bucks), hopefully that will cut down on any possible swirls from drying, even with MF drying towels.
 
If you completely remove all the abrasive grit from the vehicle before you touch the finish, there's really no chance for marring to occur unless your mit gets contaminated. If that case, if you rinse it off continously with your garden hose, you won't need a a Grit Guard or multiple buckets. That's what i do and the left over wash water is perfectly clean.
 
anytime you touch the paint there is the chance of installing scratches and swirls, all we can do is minimize it as much as possible so we don't have to polish more often. dial in a good system on your washing & drying technique and also the products you use...
 
David Fermani said:
...[when I do things correctly]..the left over wash water is perfectly clean.
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Noting that David and I do things a little differently, but with the same idea in mind, I agree.



I still use both wash and rinse buckets, and I gauge how I'm doing by how clean/dirty the water in each is at the end of the wash. My wash bucket is generally so clean that I can save it for use at the next wash, and if I do things properly my rinse buckets are also very clean, even after a really nasty winter wash.



The point being that the dirt got flushed off the panels rather than stuck in my wash media (where it might've instilled marring). I've never seen any evidence that dirt gets drawn up into wash media effectively enough that it won't get rubbed against the paint; IME/IMO once the wash mitt/brush/sponge gets dirty it's just like sandpaper.
 
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