So I went to a car wash place and got swirls in the paint.

[Young Roids]

So I went to a do it yourself place and used the foamy brush on the car. Bad move! Now I have bad swirling mainly on the hood. Any reccommendations as to what to do?(shrug)

[assman]

hmm weird, have you tried just waxing it yet? I use the foam brush all the time and havent had any problems yet.

[Jesse MS3GT]

Wax wont do it. Roids, ask nate on "the local forum" about it, hes great with this kind of stuff.

[fourthmeal]

snip

[Young Roids]

Wax wont do it. Roids, ask nate on "the local forum" about it, hes great with this kind of stuff.
I am going over there for the meet tomorrow.


I'm a big fan of Zaino for things like this.

There is a specific anti-swirl (Z5) polish that works great, then to be followed up with (Z2) polish. A few other things, and your paint should be pristine again. In fact, it should look better then new.

My best suggestion:

Clay Bar
Z5
Z2
The necessary activator for the polish, called ZFX
Some really nice and thick, clean 100% american cotton towels.

Follow the directions, use a tiny bit at a time, and you'll be looking sweet in no time. Then, because this stuff makes paint pretty slick and protected, you should be able to take your car to the car wash and use nothing more then the water spray and a small cotton cloth as you go.

Clay bar and then anti swirl? That sounds good. I am a noob at paint care, this is the first car that I have waxed really. On all my old cars I just washed them.

[Betelgeuse]

Fourthmeal's suggestion sounds like a plan. Just be sure to have lots of elbow grease handy :) I used to take my car to those diy washes and always without fail, sprayed the foaming brush for a good 30 seconds or so. People use those brushes on their wheels so lots of brake dust and other particles are usually caught up in them.

These days I just use the laser touchless carwash by my house. It does an immaculate job. Then I do the wheels with a bucket afterwards.

[Young Roids]

Now that the weather is getting nice I am washing it at home now. But during the winter I would go to the diy place on days it got above freezing.

[hectik1]

Another note....don't use the brush. If I ever use it, it is for the wheels.

[justanothermp5]

polish should work, i use the ICE stuff from turtle wax, that stuff makes ur car look incredible and all the scratches are gone, even my front bumper looks good and it has alot of snadblasting
and real wax should work too

[MS3077]

I use a clay bar and wax mine with Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0.

My car looks like sex..

In between washes / waxes I use Meguirs quick detailer it works wonders!

I don't get water spots or anything anymore.

[koston33]

Wow, I have so much to say but where to begin. Well first off NEVER use a brush or cotton at all on your cars, maybe on the wheels if there alloys but thats it. ALWAYS use mircrofiber to wash, and dry. I worked at lamborghini of atlanta detailing car, so I know some stuff. Next the "swirls" you see aren't swirls not from a brush, instead there spiderweb scratches. I hope your car isn't black because then it really shows bad. So the only way to get them our PERMANENTLY is to puff them out. However the compounds that you use have to be correct. The ones we used at my work are actually made by the company I work for. The company is a small christian company. Anyways the trick is to find compounds that won't "fill" in the stratche. It will look nice when its done but will reappear in about a week. The compounds we use actually smooth the clear coat over the indents that cause scratches and corrects them. Don't worry you won't burn your paint if thats what your thinking. First off get a good buff, all the pros use a Port and Cable hand held. Any who these are just something. I have a bunch of other information I can give you if you just pm me. OH and btw meguires sucks. No offense. Cheap ingredients, slimy look. Hope you get your car looking right.

[Young Roids]

Yea I deffinently have the spider web scratches then. I have been doing another thing wrong I have been using old cotton tee shirts to wax the car. OOPS! I know what you mean about filling in the scratches that's what my wax did so at first I thought it was all good and then they came back a few days later.

[koston33]

ya man if you care use quality materials. And is your wax carnuba or a polymer. Also I would say do some research and find some good compounds to use. OH and claying your car is amazing it will take out blemishes that you never thought it could.

[MadOzodi]

Menzerna PO106FF/FA with an LC CCS white pad followed by blue finessing pad. If really deep, Menzerna IP or SIP...not sure if our cars have a hard, medium or soft clear coat though. Only ONE line of Meguiar's sucks. Meguiar's M105 has shown to be a VERY effective compound.

Oh shit, wrong forum...

Seriously though, all Z5 is gonna do is fill in the swirls. Z2, now Z2Pro is touted as one of the best sealants (polymers) out there. You need to buff the clear coat like koston33 said. Wash, clay, polish, protect. Carnuba is good, sealant is good, carnuba over sealant is more gooder.

Got a metric asston of $$$ to spend? Buy some Swissvax Mystery, Dodo juice Supernatural, or go for broke with Paul Dalton's new Crystal Rock Wax.

Did you use the brush on just the hood or the whole car? If you used it on the whole car, the swirls are everywhere, just more evident on the hood. If you have a 500W or 1000W Halogen work light, shine it on the side of the car and you'll see the extent of the swirls.

GL gettin shined.

[koston33]

definitely clean the area and clay before comensing to buff. Also carnuba isn't as good as as polymers. For those that are in a sunny state carnubas melt away at lower temperatures then polymers. So FL people get yourself a good wax. Our wax uses a triple polymer and its awesome.

[fourthmeal]

snip

[koston33]

to each his own. If you like the way your car looks, then thats all that matters. I have just been brought up through all this work that need to be done and the kinds of products that you should and shouldn't use. But nice pics. I love the ms3. I want a silver one bad, anyone know if they have that dark grey in a speed version.

[nypest]

I'm a big fan of Zaino for things like this.

There is a specific anti-swirl (Z5) polish that works great, then to be followed up with (Z2) polish. A few other things, and your paint should be pristine again. In fact, it should look better then new.

My best suggestion:

Clay Bar
Z5
Z2
The necessary activator for the polish, called ZFX
Some really nice and thick, clean 100% american cotton towels.

Follow the directions, use a tiny bit at a time, and you'll be looking sweet in no time. Then, because this stuff makes paint pretty slick and protected, you should be able to take your car to the car wash and use nothing more then the water spray and a small cotton cloth as you go.

+1 zaino

[boosted3]

+2 on the Zaino. It's some good stuff.

[Young Roids]

Menzerna PO106FF/FA with an LC CCS white pad followed by blue finessing pad. If really deep, Menzerna IP or SIP...not sure if our cars have a hard, medium or soft clear coat though. Only ONE line of Meguiar's sucks. Meguiar's M105 has shown to be a VERY effective compound.

Oh shit, wrong forum...

Seriously though, all Z5 is gonna do is fill in the swirls. Z2, now Z2Pro is touted as one of the best sealants (polymers) out there. You need to buff the clear coat like koston33 said. Wash, clay, polish, protect. Carnuba is good, sealant is good, carnuba over sealant is more gooder.

Got a metric asston of $$$ to spend? Buy some Swissvax Mystery, Dodo juice Supernatural, or go for broke with Paul Dalton's new Crystal Rock Wax.

Did you use the brush on just the hood or the whole car? If you used it on the whole car, the swirls are everywhere, just more evident on the hood. If you have a 500W or 1000W Halogen work light, shine it on the side of the car and you'll see the extent of the swirls.

GL gettin shined.
Yea I did the whole car with the brush but maybe I did the hood extra hard because the hood and front bumper seem to have the deepest scratching. The wax I use might have just filled in the scratches alot because most of the time it doesn't look bad at all just when the sun shines at right angle you see the horror.

definitely clean the area and clay before comensing to buff. Also carnuba isn't as good as as polymers. For those that are in a sunny state carnubas melt away at lower temperatures then polymers. So FL people get yourself a good wax. Our wax uses a triple polymer and its awesome.

It's a carnuba wax and it's liquid.

[NCZ13]

fourthmeal are you on autopia? i could have sworn i saw that pic of the TA on there...

and we can finally agree on something. zaino ftw

youll need a machine to take out that marring. youll never get it out by hand.

i use a UDM, which is almost exactly the like porter cable 7424 mentioned above, just a little bit more powerful.

my process is this
wash
clay
pinnacle xmt3 or megs 83 cleaner polish with an orange pad (medium cut)
pinnacle xmt2 (fine polish for micromarring) with a white pad (lite cut)
wash again to remove any polish oils. this gives the sealant a better area to seal to.
seal 2x with megs 21 synthetic sealant i usually let it cure a day between coats, although some people deem in unnecessary, theres also alot of other detailers that cure sealants as well

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/PC240668.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/PC240662.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/PC240663.jpg

[Young Roids]

I have been searching pawn shops for a 7424 with no luck so far.

[NCZ13]

just get it from autopia.org or autogeek.net. they usually have some sort of bundle deal...

[MadOzodi]

Fourthmeal, I don't expect a newb-to-detail-work to know what to do, just like you wouldn't expect a newb-to-mobile-audio to know what to do. But you encourage everyone, through your sig. to read and learn.

I guess my point is that Z5 is only a temporary fix and I'm hoping that Young Roids will also read and learn. I used Zaino a few years back but hated that the swirls I filled with Z5 eventually came back.

It seems that Zaino has improved and I've actually considered purchasing Z2Pro, but there are other detailing "gems" that can be used/found.

Young Roids, where do you live for real? If you were in the same city as me, I'd tell you to come over so I could take a look.

[Young Roids]

I am in Minneapolis. From what I have learned I am thinking I need a 7424 and to get som swirl remover and polish and the wax?

[MS3-oholic]

I've had my car over a year and I don't have even one swirl mark in my paint. I hand wash, clay bar, and wax with Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0. I only wash, dry and wax with microfiber sponges and towels. My paint looks absolutely amazing after 22,500 miles, with the exception of a few tiny rock chips on the hood and bumper of course.

[koston33]

my process is this
wash
clay
pinnacle xmt3 or megs 83 cleaner polish with an orange pad (medium cut)
pinnacle xmt2 (fine polish for micromarring) with a white pad (lite cut)
wash again to remove any polish oils. this gives the sealant a better area to seal to.
seal 2x with megs 21 synthetic sealant i usually let it cure a day between coats, although some people deem in unnecessary, theres also alot of other detailers that cure sealants as well

what he posted is the exactly way you should go about detailing your car. However obviously the products are we use are different but the steps are the same. +10 bro.

[NCZ13]

yeah the products you use is up to you.

a really popular polish to use is menzernas line of polishes.

[MS3077]

I've had my car over a year and I don't have even one swirl mark in my paint. I hand wash, clay bar, and wax with Meguiars NXT Tech Wax 2.0. I only wash, dry and wax with microfiber sponges and towels. My paint looks absolutely amazing after 22,500 miles, with the exception of a few tiny rock chips on the hood and bumper of course.


This is exactly what I do and it works awesome!

[fourthmeal]

snip

[koston33]

Sounds like you got the steps down to the T. I don't really know about this line of products, but if you could do a little test for me. take a bit of rubbing alcohol on a towel and rup it on a place that had a lot of these scratches and lmk what happens. Just want to see if they reappear or not. If they don't then you got a quality product there.

[MS3077]

I had particularly bad results with the NXT stuff.


What do you mean by bad results?
I use that stuff and it works great.

[fourthmeal]

snip

[MadOzodi]

After using the rubbing alcohol, isopropyl iirc, shining a bright light will help u see the swirls more easily. One of those 500W or 1000W halogens if u have one.

[NCZ13]

heres what youll achieve by working a a oribital polisher (like the PC7424, i use the UDM) youll never achieve these results by hand. its physically impossible. i think forcefed, you used an orbital buffer, and not a polisher, because i cant see how anyone would hate work with an orbital polisher. its easy to use, and with a little elbow grease yields great results.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P1160781.jpg
before
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P1160782.jpg
50/50
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P1160786.jpg
done
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/ncz13/P1160784.jpg

i like the results i get with nxt... however, it does need to cure a bit longer than other waxes, and thin coats are best. you should barely be able to see the stuff on the paint. just because you apply a super thick coat doesnt mean youll get more protection/shine/wetness out of it, youll just be wasting product.

and i +3123901823 zaino

i havent worked with it yet, but ive seen the results, and they never stop to amaze.

[fourthmeal]

snip

[NCZ13]

oh yeah theres no doubt that zaino would take it a step farther.

i was merely showing the results of what polishing can achieve.

[fourthmeal]

snip

[NCZ13]

ZPC is meant to be applied by machine i believe...

[MadOzodi]

NCZ13, excellent turnaround on those swirls! When r u going to take the next step and go rotary? I used my Flex 3401 for this first time this past Friday, along with Menz. 106FA and love it! Don't think I'll ever go rotary myself. Let me know what pads u used; u can pm me so as not to further hijack the thread.

[fourthmeal]

snip

[Young Roids]

Ok I haven't found a 7424 but I found a ryobi 10" polisher at a pawn shop. Would this work just as good? Would this work well enough?

[NCZ13]

no... that looks like a single speed buffer, which is ideal for removing wax... not polishing paint.

not to mention is that you wont be able to use any cutting pads that youll need to level the clearcoat.

you need a UDM, or 7424, and you can find them online only...

[Young Roids]

Arg! So I guess I will not be able to got the cheap route on this one. Now I gotta shell out 200 bucks. :(

[NCZ13]

trust me. itll more than pay for itself when you get good.

then you can offer to polish a friend or a neighbors car and boom. its paid for itself.

check out autopia.org and detailingbliss.com for excellent write ups and how tos

[wisniaPl]

go tot he car wash and kick their ass, then fully satisfied go to any auto body shop for detail they will fix it for around 60$-80$

[NCZ13]

^no detail shop is going to do paint correction on the entire car for 60 dollars.

for a panel maybe. but not the entire car. not if they do it properly. if a place charges 60 dollars to polish a car i guarantee its shoddy work, and they are using a product thats mostly fillers, and youll see those swirls again in 2 weeks.

[wisniaPl]

detail means polish I work in auto body

[Young Roids]

Well I have a bid on a 7424 on Ebay for $71 hopefully I will win it at that price.

[NCZ13]

detail means polish I work in auto body

ok...

however that may be, no shop will polish an entire car for 60 dollars...

[wisniaPl]

my does ...It takes couple hours how much depends on body shop

[NCZ13]

im not gonna lie, thats super cheap. i could spend 6 hours polishing one panel and still not have it perfect.

for me to polish with a orbital polisher, and do a single step polish with a medium cut pad, i charge at least 110 for a honda fit sized car, and it takes about 5 hours. it also depends on the paint. some clearcoat is harder to work with, like mercedes. the first mercedes i ever did kicked my ass. cermiclear is not fun when you dont have the right polishes.

what i charge people is still considered cheap, but in order to gather more business i have to stay competitive. my business is all word of mouth. so lower prices plus quality work has yielded me good results so far.

[M3 5MT]

I use classic Turtle Wax from a can, post Mr. Clean auto-dry car wash. Apply with applicator pads and buff with clothes from your local Autozone/Pep Boys. Get everything you need for under $10. Takes a couple hours and you need to be out of sunlight so it can be a pain (start at dusk and you'll finish with the mosquitoes attacking like madness).

Got my 'speed3 last June and havent even waxed her yet (shrug)

When I had the 3 I only waxed it 4 times, once in the spring and the fall each year and she looked great. I'll do the speed in May once its warm enough (in New England and it's still cold as balls here).