Question about swirl remover

A

! apmljv

New member
Today I bought the Meguire 3 Steps to do detailing for my car. After spent about all day doing the car detailing using the Meguire 3 Steps (that was suppose to include swirl remover), I've noticed it didn't completely remove the swirls/scratches. I wonder what I should use to completely get rid of the swirls/scratches? Should I purchase the Meguire Swirl Remover? or 3M? supposely the 3M is dedicated for dark color car. If so, I assume I apply the swirl remover after the 1st step from Meguire?



thanks for the help!
 
:showpics



:LOLOL



Realy , pics would help



Welcome to Autopia:wavey



I don't have experience with Meg.'s but I'm sure 3M machine polish and a PC would do the job.3M is for both light colors and dark.

To realy get rid of ALL the swirls, well , don't expect that to happen in 1 step.

May I suggest you read around here on Autopia , the search function works well:xyxthumbs
 
:welcome



The 1st step is really only a paint cleaner, you really need a swirl remover to remove any swirls with it. 3M, Meguiar's #9, either of those will do.



3M SMR has one for dark colour cars and one for light colour cars. The dark one just has dark fillers. They both work the same.
 
Welcome to Autopia! :welcome



I second what 2wheelsx2 said. Once you have a real swirl remover the Step 1 product is kind of redundant. You probably will want to do searches on hand swirl removal to give you some pointers. Be aware that you're in for a major job and that anything called "scratches" will require a stiffer product and more attention though. Good luck!
 
Thank you all for the wonderful reply and the tips on the search. I will do a search and see what I find. In addition, sorry for not posting the pic, but I'll give the Meguiar #9 a try, if it doesn't work, then I'll come back with a pic~



Thank you all
 
Ok, after spent about 2 hours on the damn hood with Meguiar #9 Swirl Remover and this is the result... Also, I think there is more swirl if my skill in taking pic was better.. but here..

dsc00767.jpg


dsc00768.jpg




What am I doing wrong that I didn't get rid of them? I'm doing this by hand using the terry cloth foam pad and apply the swirl remover. I'd be greatly appreciate if anyone can direct me to the right way of removing those swirls. :/



Thanks!
 
Well I would say that it takes about two hours with a PC to get it perfect...so I would say you would have a lot longer time than that by hand.



Peter Hsu
 
Do a couple rounds of the swirl mark remover or try the DACP. Just ebcause it's a system it's not guaranteed to work in jsut three steps. Sometimes you have to do a few rounds of polish...
 
PC is the only practical way you'll diminish those swirls. It's not worth the time and frustration to do it by hand...like I did :).

I tried #9 by hand and got no results. After two passes with a PC at 5K rpm, only a few swirls under a glaring worklight show up :).



btw, from those pics I don't think you'll completely remove the swirls unless you go rotary.
 
Jliao,



After seeing those pics, I agree with what is being said here.



You ain't going to cut it by hand. And in the end you may need a rotary.



Your swirls are 2X as bad as mine. And I just finished using a PC with #9 (2X) then Menzerna IP and FP (2X). I am now left with 10-15% swirls. Next up for me is DACP. Its those few nasty ones that I want removed. I may not achieve 100% but I'll take 95-99%. Even now the car looks perfect to my friends but only pretty good to me.



The PC is going to cost you short-term but long-term it will save you time and your back.
 
CMA Yellow pad or maybe even a wool pad to fall back on if the yellow isn't enough. I also got a white pad to apply my finish polish and things turned out pretty nicely. You should be able to pick up the PC around $100-110
 
Jliao, while a PC is a good investment for future detailing jobs IMHO, if I were in your shoes I would consider first trying a stronger product and see if that cuts down the swirls faster, then follow it up with #9 again. Try DACP or 3M Fine Cut.



Also if you do go the PC route, always try the gentler solution first by default. It's very hard to judge how deep and how serious swirls are from an internet photo, so it's a judgement call you'll have to make in person. By PC, #9/polishing pad may surprise you. From what I can see they really don't look that bad so I wouldn't be pushing the "PC only" or "rotary" panic buttons yet.
 
Alright, thanks for all the help guys, I really do appreciate it.



Last question for this thread, where can I find PC that range from $100-110? The only place that I know is premiumautocare.com but they sell it for $139. Please help~



Thanks guys~
 
Jliao,



What state are you in?



I bot mine at Lowe's last month for $109 + tax (Porter Cable # 7336SP). Not only do I use it for swirl removal and polishing but also for glazing. The PC is versatile. I've used it with the Gray pad with GEPC, #7, McCall's Polish, all light polishes, and I love it.



At first I was very skeptical. Now I'm a firm believer in it and would never ever consider SR by hand. Way too much work. Its almost idiot-proof. I may graduate to a rotary next year but for now its been a great personal learning experience for me. I've developed my own technique by trial and error and above all I have learned alot about all those different aggression levels built into each and every 3M and Meguiar's product. All in all a teriffic education for me in auto detailing.
 
I'm not sure if anybody know about this. However, the car I'm detailing is Mazda Proteg5, and i was told that Proteg5 has reallly really thin paint. Thus, if I use PC incorrectly, I could possibily burn the paint. Anybody have thought on this?



Thanks
 
It will not burn the paint. All paints are thin, roughly total thickness is what 6-10 mils (millimeters?) at best.



A hi-speed rotary buffer with an agressive pad and compound and a poorly/no trained user that leaves it in one spot and bears down on it will burn the paint.



A PC will not. Its actually pretty hard to damage the paint with a PC, only way I see a PC damaging paint is without using a pad and just using the velco backing plate or using the PC as a blunt object to hit the paint.



Jason
 
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