Swirl Marks

[CamaroIBM]

Whats the best way to remove swirl marks ?

[Moose]

Originally Posted by CamaroIBM

Whats the best way to remove swirl marks ?

First bit of advice; get used to them. I'm not trying to sound sarcastic, but they're a fact of life. The best you can do is to try to minimize them, as well as remove some and hide others.

Meguires, Mothers, and a whole host of mfrs. offer products for this problem. But in addition to a good wax/polish, using the proper wash mitts, as well as towels for waxing/polishing and drying is essential.

Do a little research in this forum and you'll find answers to all of your questions. Or you can PM me if you can't find an answer and I'll be glad to help.

Ed

[CamaroIBM]

Thanks for the quick reply, I see meguiars has a SwirlX product I guess I'll try that out.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by CamaroIBM

Thanks for the quick reply, I see meguiars has a SwirlX product I guess I'll try that out.

I've used SwirlX...it's a good product and I think you'll be happy with the results.

I'd follow up by applying Meguires Gold Class polish too.

[bradRS]

Turtle Wax Ice and Mequires NXT work nice for me.

[Angelo@Autopia]

Help in removing Removing Swirls & Water Spots:

The number one email/Phone calls we receive is a request for help in removing swirls & water spots.


Before starting, it's a good idea to check for paint contamination by placing your hand inside a plastic sandwich bag and running your fingertips over the surface. If the paint is rough or gritty, consider using a clay bar before trying to remove swirls. Here some options:

Option #1
Temporarily hide swirls & spots:

Swirls can be visually hid by polishing the surface with a non-abrasive polish such as Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish, Meguiar's No. 9 Swirl Remover or 3M Perfect-It Swirl Remover. These polishes do not remove swirls. They round off the top edge of the swirl, robbing sunlight of a sharp edge to cause a reflection. When you buff off the polishing residues, fillers will stay in the depressions.







Finish by applying your favorite wax or paint sealant. This will hold the fillers in place, cosmetically hiding swirls and minor paint blemishes.
This procedure does not remove the swirl. Swirls may be visible in certain light conditions (fluorescent lamps are ruthlessly revealing) and will reappear as the wax ages. That said, most people will look at your car and think it's flawless.

Remove the swirl, water spot or paint defect:



Removing a swirl requires you to remove the top layer of paint or clear coat that contains the swirl. This is best accomplished with a circular machine polisher which is designed to remove paint. You literally abrade away the surface until the swirls are gone.
Dual-action polishers like the Porter Cable 7424 are not designed to remove paint. They can round over and make invisible minor swirls and spots but may not have the power to fully remove deeper paint defects.

To remove a swirl, you must remove the
layer of paint or clear coat that contains
the defect.

These polishers will definitely do a better job than can be accomplished by hand and offer the novice enthusiast the safety of a random orbital motion which will not make the problem worse or introduce additional swirls.
Very fine swirls can be removed by polishing alone. Deeper swirls. water spots and/or light scratches typically requires a three-step compound, polish and finish procedure. These are the same three steps used by automakers, body shops and professional detailers.

Compounding involves abrading away the area surrounding the scratch or blemish until the defect is no longer visible. This is best accomplished with a circular polisher (DeWalt 849, Makita 9227, etc.) but dual-action polishers like the Porter Cable 7424 will remove minor defects and visually reduce deeper swirls, scratches and blemishes. Compounding may leave the surface dull. This is normal. This dullness, or compounding haze, is removed in the next step which is polishing.

Polishing removes compounding haze and restores surface gloss. It creates a mirror-like, highly reflective finish ready for waxing.

Finishing protects the surface with your favorite wax or sealant. Finishing can be accomplished by hand or with a dual action polisher (Porter Cable 7424). Applying a wax or paint sealant by machine is typically done with an ultra-soft, foam finishing pad.

There is now the Meguiar's M105 & M205 that can be use with your Porter Cable to remove major swirls on GM hard clear coat paint.

[THUMPER20X]

Those diagrams are ridiculously exaggerated lol. Thats the depth of a mild keying lol. More accurately the depth for a swirl would be about 1/500 of that. Seriously. Good info though.

[D Vegas]

The camaro get swirls if you breath on it haha. im guessing its some new eco friendly paint and clear their using........ i hate all these green products none of em work as good as the deadly ones.
i guess its a choice you have to make, save the some sorta rain forest fruit bat that is only seen every 20 years to mate and go back under ground a day after doing so.....? or good looking paint on your car? i vote car...... hahah

[NAHURRY]

The Megs M105 and M205 combo do work great using the Kevin Brown Method
via PC...Practiced on my 97 truck...it has never looked that good! Followed
up with some Pinnacle XMT carnauba, and WOW!

[Sevn86]

Originally Posted by D Vegas

The camaro get swirls if you breath on it haha.

Seriously....my car sort of had swirl like light scratches when i picked it up...the prep guys at the dealership probably had stuff in the towels they used to dry my car after they washed it when it came of the truck... stupid paint!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bradRS]

Detail guys at the dealerships typically don't use the best stuff to detail the cars. Pretty much punching a clock and using the same cloths day after day.

No one will ever take care of our cars as we would.

[2010 Bumblebee]

Originally Posted by D Vegas

The camaro get swirls if you breath on it haha. im guessing its some new eco friendly paint and clear their using........ i hate all these green products none of em work as good as the deadly ones.
i guess its a choice you have to make, save the some sorta rain forest fruit bat that is only seen every 20 years to mate and go back under ground a day after doing so.....? or good looking paint on your car? i vote car...... hahah

You are not kidding ! I don't even drive mine, it's in the garage, and I'm afraid to even dust it off. Every time I touch it I find a new mark. I'm scared to even walk by it. These cars paints and "painted" wheels are really so delicate.

[JerseyMonte]

I use Maguires swirl remover I bought a bottle at the
Maguires display at the Atlantic City car show/auction
they have 2 versions one for buffers [tan bottle]
and one for either buff or hand application [black bottle]
works really good I use it on my show Monte and my black
SuZuki MC

[2010 Bumblebee]

Originally Posted by Sevn86

Seriously....my car sort of had swirl like light scratches when i picked it up...the prep guys at the dealership probably had stuff in the towels they used to dry my car after they washed it when it came of the truck... stupid paint!!!!!!!!!!!!

I second that! Mine has very fine scuffs in it (and some regular scuffs) since the day I bought it and the more I look at it, the more of them I find. I keep the car garaged, drove it 4 times, and have 300 miles on it. I started out with a complaint about a couple, but now I feel like it's no use... I can't complain about every little thing or I'll go nuts! And drive them nuts !!

I noticed my dealer prep guy (who I gave a $20 tip) avoids me.. Hmm...
Maybe he saw the scratches too... or made them.. Don't know..
He was nice though.

Overall I am happy with my dealer at this point. Most everything else has gone very smoothly..