Removing light swirl marks from dark paint.....

C

chris03tl

New member
Seems that my wife might not have listened to my speech about why to clean out the wash mitt after every pass. So, I have some light swirl marks in certain spots of her car (no, I had no idea she was outside washing her own car!!!)

Just wondering what the best combo would be to tackle getting rid of them. Ive read good things about Meguiars No 9 with a Meguiars polishing pad on a PC. I just want to be sure to use the least abrasive way to get rid of them (without using fillers if possible, I plan on using AIO to clean it all up, and UPP on top of it).

While we're at it, any good tips on wash mitts? Seems that sheepskin is the best for ensuring this doesnt happen again (along with two buckets, grit guards, and repeating the speech about cleaning out the mitts after every pass).

Thanks in advance!!!
-Chris
 
Meguiars #9 is a mostly filling product. Whatelse do you have? I personally use Menzerna FP II and or 3m PI III MG for this task with a polishing pad via Cyclo ( or PC)

Nothing but the softest sheepskin mitts I can pick out and plenty of them per wash for me. I use a rather involved washing process involving a foam gun. I firmly believe in the philosophy of preventing marring through proper washing/drying .
 
ssr2 for light swirls. ssr1 doesnt ever take out anything other than blemishes. if the swirls stay there try ssr2.5 with a polishing pad. and follow up with ssr2 and polishign pad. u should be ready to go to last step process from there.

u could also use megs #80 speed glaze. its very good at removing light swirls, but has some fillers. if u really only have light swirl marks the 80 will take em out and i guess wont have nothing to fill. either way u plan on usin aio after so any left over oils from the 80 will be cleaned away with the aio.

JEEZ I HOPE I WAS CLEAR
 
:yeah

As always, Bill has some good advise! :bigups

EDIT: joyriide1113 too! :D
 
To check and see if you still have remaining marring/swirls after polishing,you can wipe the surface with a water:isopropyl alcohol mix letting the mix dwell for a bit on the paint first. Ideal lighting is great too: On black I religiously use my 1000 watt halogen tripod and now, in addition, my new 200-300watt incandescent work light. I also understand there's a new, hand held Xenon work light :D Look at the paint under this lighting from a variety of angles ( gets to be an involved process if you want to be this thorough). Once your swirls are gone, proceed to your LSP
 
Thanks for the great info!!

Ill have to pick up a couple halogen work lamps. Been meaning to get them, now I have a good reason.

The swirls arent all over the car, and they require pretty good lighting and "angling" just right to be able to see them. But, they werent there when we bought the car, and I know they are there now, so they must go!! Im hoping the least abrasive product will take care of the issue. And its a good excuse to buy a PC :)

Its an Acura TL, Anthracite Gray. Such a nice color, I hate to see it marred by swirls. Once they are gone (or, as gone as I can get them), definitely going to a strict two-bucket routine.

Thanks again!!
-Chris
 
:bigups Have the incandescents on hand too. Sometimes different colors show differently under different lighting. For instance, I find white just reflects back my halogens, I need flourescents or incandescents to help me work on that.
 
I thought SSR1 will take out the haze from SSR2.5? Am I wrong? I don't want to use the 2.5 if the 1 won't finish.
 
jayincali said:
I thought SSR1 will take out the haze from SSR2.5? Am I wrong? I don't want to use the 2.5 if the 1 won't finish.
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You're not wrong. SSR1 works fine for me as a final polish. Use it with a polish pad at around speed 4-5 (according to Poorboy). It will leave a great shine, ready for LSP.
 
I planned on removing the swirls, then following up with AIO, then finally UPP.

Will the UPP bond well to SSR1? If so, it sounds like SSR2/2.5 to remove the swirls, SSR1 to remove the haze after the swirls are gone (and to polish), then followed by UPP as the last step. If not, can I just use the AIO to remove the haze? Ive had good luck with the AIO/UPP combo, and as much as I like to try out new things, Id prefer to stick with what I know makes the car look good.

Im just not sure if UPP will bond to SSR, I know there are only certain products recommended for use before UPP.

Thanks!!!
-Chris
 
I have had no issues with going from SSR1 to UPP. There's no fillers or anything to hinder the application of UPP.

You may want to inspect the finish closely after you use SSR2.5. If you use it with a polish pad at 5-6, sometimes it does not leave any hazing. I have had SSR2.5 leave a LSP ready surface on a couple of cars. IIRC, more than a few people have done it this way with no ill effects.
 
If you planning to use UPP and wonder if it's going to bond to SSR , you are going to omit the AIO? :dunno Sure, it's possible the AIO could remove hazing but I use it mainly for its finally cleaning and preliminary sealing properties.

When I'm going through my polishing stages I inspect after wiping down with isopropyl alcohol. If I still observe haze, that tells me I need to continue polishing, gradually working my way down to the least aggressive polish I have if I'm using several different polishes of different levels of abrasiveness.

When I'm ready to use AIO I want to have a totally defect free as possible finish first.

Apply the AIO and UPP in this case, or whatever sealant you choose.
 
Not intending to hijack a thread or anything but Bill - how long do you spend washing and prepping a car for your LSP? :dunno
 
To do it the way I described on an entire car probably can't be a one day project, unless you get very efficient at it. Sometimes things like this can't be rushed. I usually spend a few hours per panel here and there at a lot more lesiurely pace.
 
I dont mind spending the time, the real issue at hand is that I usually dont have enough time to dedicate to just detailing the car, which causes me to need to spread it out among 2 days. And sometimes it happens that I cant finish everything I want to in 2 days, so the car gets driven before Im able to finish. I dont like starting from "the middle" process, so Id rather just try to get it all done in a weekend.

Im hoping the PC will give me the efficiency I need so that I can do everything I want to (swirl removal, haze removal if necessary, AIO, several coats of UPP). It seems like it will. The first try might take a little longer (learning curve), but once Ive gotten the hang of it I see it being pretty simple to keep the car looking good (and then once Ive perfected it, I can do my car too :) just dont tell my wife hers is the guinea pig).

-Chris
 
If you can "lock yourself with the car" for a full,solid weekend, I'm betting you can achieve some pretty significant progress. I'm assuming that Acura paint will respond faster than the hard clear on both my cars :( . If you get frustrated during the process, that's the time to take a breather for a little bit.

Once you get the paint corrected, much of avoiding future marring is all in the washing process. He he, you could probably spend half a weekend on that alone if you really wanted to go all out :D ;)
 
Before you begin doing this, if you have not already started, you may want to find out if they are swirls (buffer swirls-halograms) or just plain ol marring.

If it's marring then a PC or Cyclo should be just fine. Swirls will most likely need a rotary. I am guesing that they are just marring marks since you described how they were introduced, as one can't swirl a car by just washing it.
 
Bell said:
as one can't swirl a car by just washing it.
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They definitely can: given poor technique, coarse and/or dirty washing materials, insufficiently lubricating and cleaning car wash, rushing, etc. Not to mention poor drying materials and method. Just look at car washed at some dealers' "scratch and swirl department: :bigscream Folks would be surpised just how easy it is to mar paint.
 
Im going to check again, but Im guessing its marring introduced from poor washing, because they werent really swirls, they were swirl-mark-type "scratches", but they were straight (i.e. followed the direction of the wind over the car, like how I/my wife wash/dry the car). So Im guessing it was introduced from dirty suds water and/or the mitt falling to the bottom of the bucket and then just being picked up and re-used.

Pretty sure a PC should take care of them anyway, I know they arent very deep and they are tough to see, so I dont think they are that bad. Its just finding the time to fix it (and weather too!! Almost the end of March and we're expecting 4-7 inches of snow tomorrow. I hate the northeast).

-Chris
 
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