I really would like some help with swirl marks.

[imported_TSC17]

I think i created some hair line scratch or swirl marks washing my car last week. when i washed and dried my car in the shade it looked fine. but after i took it out in the sun, i noticed these mirco scratches in some parts of the car. I noticed that certain angle of the sun light will really reveal all the marks. but not in certain angles.



so should i be worried about these marks? or just learn that they are there but can't be seen until certain light angle. are these swirl marks? and same as micro marring?



I got a subaru wrx, metalic blue and its about a month old and washed it four times. I used a new product when i had dried my car. I have used the big blue towel from CMA. i am wondering if this has casued the scratches? it was brand new, didn't wash it and used it brand new. could this have caused the hairline scratch?



i am not sure what caused all this. it looks like long lines over the body. it is caused by either by BB towel, or 100% cotten chenille. by the patern of the lines it looks like it came from the drying with BB towel. and i used the chenille mitt with out a problem. can any one can confirm that this towel can cause micro scratches when used new on certain cars like mine? do i need to wash this towel?

 

[NozeBleedSpeed]

wrxmania, you should just wash your WW and continue to use it. Its a great way to dry and shouldnt cause damage when used correctly. The swirling that you see in your paint was most likely caused by the "scratch and swirl installation department" at your dealer. The reason you are seeing them is that after 4 washes, you have washed off the glaze they use to cover their crappy prep.



I recently bought a new car and it took me 5 hours to remove the herrendous scratches and webbing they put on the car at the dealer. Im not kidding, it looked like it was prepped with a Scotchbrite pad. This damage is the common prep procedure for many dealers. Walk around to the detail bay at your dealer and just watch them wash a car, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

[Accumulator]

wrxmania - I too bet the marring you see was caused by the dealer. I bought mine from a leasing company, and they'd really done a number on it (in only 950 miles!).



As best I can tell, the clear on your *BLUE* WRX is about the same as that on my *SILVER* WRX. I don't mar it when I wash it with a boar's hair brush and dry with a CWB/BBT. I dunno if using the BBt UNwashed caused the problem, but wash it and move on FWIW, *I* used MY BBT unwashed (maybe my bad) and it didn't mar anything.



The marring you're describing might be what we refer to as MICRO marring or it might be what people usually mean by "swirl marks". Sometimes we (myself included) get too caught up in the terminology and overcomplicate the simple: its marring. Remove it, fill it, or live with it



FWIW, "micro" marring is generally stuff you can BARELY see with the naked eye. Sorta hard to assign problems to categories, if you know what I mean.



It sounds like you ARE bothered by it, so I guess *I* would say to remove it. Then you can see if it happens again, too. Your car is a VERY cool color, so I can understand your wanting to keep it really nice. BTW, MOST of the blue WRXs I've seen were all swirled up!



I like the 1Z line of polishes, but 3M's PI-III RC (pn 05933) followed by PI-III MG (pn 05937) worked well removing the marring on MY WRX and I followed up with the Klasse twins. One of the good things about KSG is that you can use a VERY strong soap mix to wash the car (lots of lubricity) without compromising your protection. My WRX gets VERY dirty, but I don't have much trouble with marring (and I'm not nutso-picky about how I wash/dry it the way I am with SOME cars). But it's NOT the hardest clear out there, either.

 

[imported_Tony]

After having a bad experience with an advertised 100% cotton wash mitt I now use a groute sponge for the last three years with no problems.

 

[imported_TSC17]

The swirling that you see in your paint was most likely caused by the "scratch and swirl installation department" at your dealer. The reason you are seeing them is that after 4 washes, you have washed off the glaze they use to cover their crappy prep.



Walk around to the detail bay at your dealer and just watch them wash a car, and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Orginally posted by Accumulator

wrxmania - I too bet the marring you see was caused by the dealer.

yeah i know what you mean. this why i exactly told them to not wash my car when i bought it. i refused there wash, didn't trust it. i was thinking maybe these swirl marks are from the dealer. that kind of pisses me off. but oh well what can i do when they do it.



i've been using the two bucket method with a 100% cotton chenille mit and the sheepskin mit i bought from walmart. are these both products safe on the car? i think they are. are these good quality washing mits or not?



thanks for input and the help guys.

 

[Accumulator]

I've gone to lambswool/sheepskin mitts only on paint. What you have should be very safe to use. Just dont 'scrub' the paint with it. ....

Yeah, try to just barely touch the surface, "whisking" the dirt off. This will work best if you a) don't let the car get too dirty, b) use plenty of water and a high-lubricity shampoo, c) either presoak with shampoo or at least let it dwell on the paint for a while before whisking, d) wash each panel twice, getting only the worst off with the first pass, e) use a form of protection/last step product that stays slippery, and re-apply it before it gets "grabby", and f) rinse your wash mitt after EVERY pass and get a fresh one out whenever dirt doesn't completely rinse out of it.



When I'm doing my "good" cars, I can go through numerous wash mitts. Heh heh, my "ULTIMATE" wash routine is to use a siphon feed to pump wash solution through the hose- I then put the (rubber headed) hose nozzle INSIDE the mitt. Result: constantly running water/soap mix rinsing/lubing the surface as I wash. And I STILL rinse the mitt after every pass! All a matter of how far you're willing to go in order to err on the side of caution. But *I* don't need to go to those lengths on *MY* WRX.