Severe swirls cause unknown...

[Irkie500]

My car is a 2008 pontiac g6 gt and has only been through an automatic car wash a handfull of times in the winter but nothing to explain the massive swirls I have. My wash mit is clean and I am very carefull about where I put it and I make sure to rise it thouroghly when im done with the car. I think it might be when im drying the car, im assuming running a dry microfiber across the paint when it has minimal water on it isnt so good right? How can I avoid this?



Im not to worried about the paint right now because im going to do my best to buff it this summer when I get the products but it would be nice to know whats causing my problems to prevent further damage.



Also do you think a g110 and some 105 and 205 would be enough to take care of the paint?

[SuperBee364]

Most automatic car washes are capable of putting massive swirling in paint after just a few uses. Dealer prep is usually responsible for a few of them, too.



Even the famous "two bucket system" will swirl your paint.



There`s a pretty good chance that a g110 with m105 and m205 will polish out the swirls and make your paint look great, but before you do any abrasive polishing, you should read up on how to wash a car so you don`t end up putting those swirls right back in it.

[prix03gt]

I think most car washes recycle the water and they don`t get all the grit and chemicals out of the water. You`re basically sandblasting your paint! Even if you are super careful by hand, you will get swirls, just the nature of the beast. If the car is a DD, buff it out once a year and just be happy. Remember, your car is better looking than 90% of the other cars on the road because your an autopian!

[BobD]

I think most car washes recycle the water and they don`t get all the grit and chemicals out of the water. You`re basically sandblasting your paint! Even if you are super careful by hand, you will get swirls, just the nature of the beast. If the car is a DD, buff it out once a year and just be happy. Remember, your car is better looking than 90% of the other cars on the road because your an autopian!



That`s not true. The ones that do recycle usually do a very good job at recycling the water, to the point you could drink it without problems.

The problem comes from all of the cars before you and now the car wipes have dirt lodged into them which get dragged, slapped, and slammed into the paint. This causes most of the damage, not the water.

[MarcHarris]

^bingo.



just one time through = damage done to a previously unswirly vehicle

[prix03gt]

I always used the touchless, which never did a good job anyway....

[imported_Jakerooni]

Soak the MF towel before you dry your car off with it in clean water. Dry MF towels actually suck the big one for drying off a car. The same process as using a chamoise applies. You can`t dry a car off with a dry chamoise. A wet rung out MF towels works a 1000 x`s better than a dry MF towel when drying off as well. Sounds backawards I know but trust me it works great.



And like said I bet the autowash and the dealer prep is your cause. I`ve seen cars severly swirled up after just one pass through a friction wash. much less a "few" of them

[Accumulator]

People often underestimate how easily cars get marred up. *One* wash, even a two-bucket, by-hand wash, can utterly destroy a nice finish. I`ve corrected cars and then seen them one wash later...back to square one or worse.




My wash mit is clean and I am very carefull about where I put it and I make sure to rise it thouroghly when im done with the car...



I don`t mean to sound :nono but I don`t wash one whole panel without rinsing out my mitt, and that`s when I`ve already prewashed with the BHB and I`m using a foamgun along with the mitt.



The second the mitt picks up something abrasive it turns into a scratch-machine. No, the abrasive stuff doesn`t go "up into the mitt away from the paint"; it gets pressed against the paint and acts just like sandpaper.



Easy test: are the swirls/etc. both a) obvious and b) more than an inch or two long? IF so the wash/dry technique is faulty. It shows that the mitt/etc. has picked up something abrasive that was then dragged along the paint for an extended period, under enough pressure to "cut" the paint. Gotta quit dragging it against the paint, at least for so long under so much pressure. Simple concept, not so simple to do though.



A sorta-silly analogy (that I like to use anyhow) is "the paint is as delicate as the surface of your eyeball".

[Irkie500]

Well well well quite the bit of info here, thanks for all of this. But yes my car is a DD so the paint doesnt need to be perfect but I would like it better than what I got now. As for the mits I think ill just get rid of them and buy some new ones.



Also I got some ONR but it seems like more of a regular soap to me it foams up quite a bit when I use it, perhaps im using to much ONR in the bucket or is it the way im filling it with the hose? The reason I ask is because the youtube videos of when scottswax does it, it seems there are no soap bubbles at all...

[citizen arcane]

Soak the MF towel before you dry your car off with it in clean water.



/snip/



A wet rung out MF towels works a 1000 x`s better than a dry MF towel when drying off as well. Sounds backawards I know but trust me it works great.





I feel this is excellent advice and something I started doing also. I now soak my WWs before washing the car and throw them in the washer on the spin cycle. Then retrieve them when time to wipe down. They perform better and I would think less likely to mar.



As I use a leaf blower, another practice I incorporated into my routine is to lightly spray a little ONR solution before drying as well.



Owning black vehicles, I use all the advantages I can!

[jam]

Well well well quite the bit of info here, thanks for all of this. But yes my car is a DD so the paint doesnt need to be perfect but I would like it better than what I got now. As for the mits I think ill just get rid of them and buy some new ones.



Also I got some ONR but it seems like more of a regular soap to me it foams up quite a bit when I use it, perhaps im using to much ONR in the bucket or is it the way im filling it with the hose? The reason I ask is because the youtube videos of when scottswax does it, it seems there are no soap bubbles at all...



I can see some foam when I mix the ONR wash initially, but it goes away pretty quickly and is nothing like a regular soap wash.

[Irkie500]

I can see some foam when I mix the ONR wash initially, but it goes away pretty quickly and is nothing like a regular soap wash.



I didnt mean to say that it acts like one, I know the technology behind ONR I just thought it foamed up quite a bit.



Also my car is black as well so anything to help prevent thoes swirls is mandatory.