The Art of Swirls

01SVT

01SVT

Oldie but Neubie
Hey Guys,

After reading some articles and threads on swirl marks, what they actually are how to remove swirl marks, how do you prevent swirl marks when you are working on a car? Is it the way you angle the pad? Abrasion context of the compund?

I'm gettin back into the game (10 years later) and I see that there are many new techniques. This site is great because is serves as a refresher and professor to me. Thank you in advance for your time.

Rob
 
01SVT said:
Hey Guys,

After reading some articles and threads on swirl marks, what they actually are how to remove swirl marks, how do you prevent swirl marks when you are working on a car? Is it the way you angle the pad? Abrasion context of the compund?

Rob
Click to expand...
Rob, if you are talking about buffer induced swirls...... then yes, if you are using foam pads on a rotary buffer, you need to keep them as flat as possible when working the product. You can remove all pressure and slightly tip up the upper left corner of the pad to "pull in" a bead of polish that you've just laid down on the paint. However, get it flat again and then apply whatever pressure you need to buff.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of "other ways" to induce swirls into the paint.
 
It depends on the type of swirl mark you are referring to. I break them down into three types.

1. Buffing swirls- These are caused by harshness from either the pad, product, or both. They are actual scratches in the paint and are difficult to polish out.

2. Holigrams- Caused by improper use of the buffer. When you don't hold the buffer completely flat, you get holigrams. These are very light and are usually easily polished out.

3. Marring- Caused by washing with an unclean/poor quality mitt or drying with an unclean/poor quality towel. Also caused by brush washes and car dealerships. Usually they look like smears or cobwebs.

Surfaces can have one or all of them. I don't have any pictures showing all three but maybe someone else does?
 
I could scream because I just saw one area on my tailgate of my truck that has some holograms from my circular polisher. The Lake City foam pads I have reccomend tilting the pad slightly, never keeping the pad flat. Interesting with the different theorys?! :dunno

Mike
 
And if you have a Honda/Acura looking at your car the wrong way will introduce marring and swirling. :lmfao
 
01SVT said:
Hey Guys,

After reading some articles and threads on swirl marks, what they actually are how to remove swirl marks, how do you prevent swirl marks when you are working on a car? Is it the way you angle the pad? Abrasion context of the compund?

I'm gettin back into the game (10 years later) and I see that there are many new techniques. This site is great because is serves as a refresher and professor to me. Thank you in advance for your time.

Rob
Click to expand...

The answer is simple Rob, the actual execution may be difficult though.

The more agressive the pad/product selection the more swirls. The finer the pad/product the fewer swirls. Perhaps even eliminating them all together if one uses a very soft finishing pad with a very fine polish.

Flat pad VS tilted pad is not a huge swirl inducer but buffing with your pad at too much of an angle can increase your chances of buffer burn.
 
I think most swirl marks on most cars occur during washing. I use a chenille wash pad and a method I saw Pat Goss demonstrate on Motorweek over ten years ago. Straight, short wipes on a small section turning the wash pad to a clean section after each short wipe. When the whole pad has been used, I blast it with the hose and wring it out until it's clean.

The clearcoat on my 2003 Accord was also rather soft when it was new but now seems normal. I would go easy on a new car for a while for sure.
 
Schu said:
I think most swirl marks on most cars occur during washing. I use a chenille wash pad and a method I saw Pat Goss demonstrate on Motorweek over ten years ago. Straight, short wipes on a small section turning the wash pad to a clean section after each short wipe. When the whole pad has been used, I blast it with the hose and wring it out until it's clean.

The clearcoat on my 2003 Accord was also rather soft when it was new but now seems normal. I would go easy on a new car for a while for sure.
Click to expand...
Schu,

Yep, I would say most "spider web" swirls are washing/drying induced. However, shotime's post explains the different type "swirls" rather nicely.
 
shotime said:
It depends on the type of swirl mark you are referring to. I break them down into three types.

1. Buffing swirls- These are caused by harshness from either the pad, product, or both. They are actual scratches in the paint and are difficult to polish out.

2. Holigrams- Caused by improper use of the buffer. When you don't hold the buffer completely flat, you get holigrams. These are very light and are usually easily polished out.

3. Marring- Caused by washing with an unclean/poor quality mitt or drying with an unclean/poor quality towel. Also caused by brush washes and car dealerships. Usually they look like smears or cobwebs.

Surfaces can have one or all of them. I don't have any pictures showing all three but maybe someone else does?
Click to expand...


I agree with most of this except that cobwebs which are near perfect marks are usually made at the factory not at the dealer..
 
shotime said:
It depends on the type of swirl mark you are referring to. I break them down into three types.

1. Buffing swirls- These are caused by harshness from either the pad, product, or both. They are actual scratches in the paint and are difficult to polish out.

2. Holigrams- Caused by improper use of the buffer. When you don't hold the buffer completely flat, you get holigrams. These are very light and are usually easily polished out.

3. Marring- Caused by washing with an unclean/poor quality mitt or drying with an unclean/poor quality towel. Also caused by brush washes and car dealerships. Usually they look like smears or cobwebs.

Surfaces can have one or all of them. I don't have any pictures showing all three but maybe someone else does?
Click to expand...


Thanks guys for the excellent feedback :mohawk ...Sorry i took so long to reply...I took some R&R with the wife.

i recently worked on a car and saw #2.....the holigrams. I do have a bad habit of slightly angling the wheel more than i should. I used to work in a restoration shop where we have a lot of cars with bad paint. Boss always told me to angle and cut the paint. he loved to cut corners. I'm pretty much out of that habit but know i know where the holigrams come in....usually on the doors for me...
 
01SVT said:
Boss always told me to angle and cut the paint. he loved to cut corners. I'm pretty much out of that habit but know i know where the holigrams come in....usually on the doors for me...
Click to expand...
Yep, with certain wool pads, it was common to use a slight angle with the pad to cut the paint.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top