Should I just live with slight holograms?

[Danny318]

I recently got a PC and optimum products and have been going at it with my 95 bmw 318. Everything has been going good, but I was in a pinch and had to wash my car and didnt have a wash mit so I bought a cheap one at Napa, and used that, and then used some cheap car wash/dry towel to dry it. Then I noticed tons of water spotsand holograms later in the sun :(



So I repolished it with a white pad and poli-seal and it took out all the water spotting and swirls and such, no big deal. that was about a week ago. Last night I put on a nice coat of HI Tech Yellow wax, and today when I rolled it out in the sun to check it out I noticed that on the hood there are a lot of tiny, not super noticable holograms, they chase the sun around...



So first I kinda want to know if I could have put them there with the crappy wash/drying, or did I put them there with the PC somehow?

I used OHC, OP, PS, on it with yellow -white pads. Never noticed too much cutting going on or anyting.



And Is there anything that hides them, or would I have to repolish everything to take them out?



:wall

[awahl63]

Probably not holograms but swirls. I don`t think you were able to get them all out with polishing as the e36 clear is very tough. Washing/drying incorrectly will induce more swirls.

[imported_DetailDan]

Can you get a picture? Lets wait to repolish until we figure out what exactly it is, and what caused it.

[Accumulator]

Probably not holograms but swirls. I don`t think you were able to get them all out with polishing as the e36 clear is very tough. Washing/drying incorrectly will induce more swirls.



Yeah, that`s what I was thinking too. Or maybe they *are* holograms that were previously hiddedn (don`t think that`s all that likely though). Given the "cheap stuff wash" I bet you simply marred it up through the wax.



The clear on my `97 M3 is *HARD*, it`d take a *LOT* more than a white ~6" pad on a PC (let alone with a mild product) to do any significant correction on it. I`d get some 4" pads and something more aggressive to use before the PolySeal. Try a small area and maybe do a section at a time after each of a few washes (that`d keep it from being an overwhelming task).

[Danny318]

Well I was not clear. Before all of this, I did serious correction with a yellow pad, and a foamed wool in some places (possibly what caused the holograms) (they are holograms, btw, not swirls). I did the full detail, OHC with yellow pad, OP with orange, ps with white, etc. Really really got rid of probably 85% of the swirls.



Then after this washing incident I noticed the streaking/waterspotting/holograms. It was really light, I think, and I hit it with the white pad and PS, and it cleared it up.



Yes the clear is very hard, It took me like a week with a few hours every night to get it cleaned up initially.



Anyways, I dont think I`ll be able to get pics, well maybe, but doubt it.



Just does anyone know if I could have induced the holograming with the foamed wool pad? I think I noticed them after that but thought i cleared them up after when I went to a softer pad, etc. Guess not.

[imported_bpfoley]

maybe it is just a case of too much wax? Sometimes this can look like holograms, but will go away after the first wash or rain.

[Accumulator]

Danny318- OK, that added info was helpful.



Yeah, IMO you certainly *could* get holograms with the foamed wool pad, though I`ve never got `em from the PC/Cyclos, only the rotaries.



Also, sometimes you can get hologram-like swirls from either too big a jump between steps and/or from not breaking products down quite enough (easy mistake to make with OP, at least IMO).



Sounds like you did a great job overall, let alone for working with just the PC!



So the PolySeal/white combo fixed it? Any chance that it just hid `em?

[rkf76]

I recently got a PC and optimum products and have been going at it with my 95 bmw 318. Everything has been going good, but I was in a pinch and had to wash my car and didnt have a wash mit so I bought a cheap one at Napa, and used that, and then used some cheap car wash/dry towel to dry it. Then I noticed tons of water spotsand holograms later in the sun :(



So I repolished it with a white pad and poli-seal and it took out all the water spotting and swirls and such, no big deal. that was about a week ago. Last night I put on a nice coat of HI Tech Yellow wax, and today when I rolled it out in the sun to check it out I noticed that on the hood there are a lot of tiny, not super noticable holograms, they chase the sun around...



So first I kinda want to know if I could have put them there with the crappy wash/drying, or did I put them there with the PC somehow?

I used OHC, OP, PS, on it with yellow -white pads. Never noticed too much cutting going on or anyting.



And Is there anything that hides them, or would I have to repolish everything to take them out?



:wallI don`t know about the exact products you used to wash it with but seeing as how you don`t speak very highly of them it`s very possible that they may have induced the swirls you mention. Also, Poli-Seal has fillers in it so it may give the impression of having removed the swirls when it actually filled in as much as it removed. As for the holograms, it seems like a technique issue because I have not yet induced holograms when using a PC.

[es350]

When I started using JW AJT, I wasn`t removing enough of the product and it looked like there were light holograms in the finish. After that time, I make sure I use a QD after the application to ensure that all the sealant is removed to avoid this problem.



Make sure that ALL of your High Tech Yellow Wax is completely removed. Try washing it again to be sure!

[Bigpoppa3346]

I, too have had wax smears that look like holograms, but obviously aren`t. When you dry the car, always use a quality WW MF towel, and *blot* the car dry, don`t wipe it.

[Danny318]

OK guys thank you. It might very well be a too much wax issue, because I know I used way too much on the hood, and that is where I saw the hologram things. However, instead of QD or washing it again, I put on a layer of opti-seal. I hope that doesnt make things worse... I was planning on going ahead and OS`ing the rest of the car tonight, but should I wait and qd it or something to make sure there isnt too much wax left on it?

[Accumulator]

I dunno if I`d put more product on...this might indeed be a case of just too much of a good thing. I sometimes think that the trend towards lots of different products can lead to problems of this type; I generally stick with one LSP-type product.

[Danny318]

Well I put on opti-seal last night. Today I took it out in the sun around the same time, and there were still a bit of those hologram things, but I buffed them with a clean MF and they went away, so they were definatly too much product!



The car looks awesome, there are still some scratches and stuff, but they are deep and dont buff out and such, and some slight swirls in some places. but overall it looks waaayyy better then before. Looks soaking wet right now too. I`ll snap some pictures tomorrow or something. Dont really have any befores, though..



Anyways, thanks for the help :bow

[Accumulator]

Glad to hear it was just excess product!

[Danny318]

yeah my car just got rained on for the first time since.. still looking pretty sweet, good beading obviously..



But Im always worried that its gonna leave waterspots after it rains, but I cant stand to try and wash/dry it every time or something. Is it okay to let the rain stay on it?