How to Remove Swirl Marks...

[Gonzo]

Didn`t mean to double post - sorry guys

[Gonzo]

They used to use corn starch to polish aluminum aircraft during WWII. Guess corn starch is mildly abrasive and was boo-coo cheap in those days (`cause there was very little beef so mot much gravy to be thickened)

[02 LTZ]

A friend told me that he has a black vehicle...& that he uses

Corn Starch to remove the swirl marks.:nixweiss



He says that he applies a layer of wax and when the wax is dry he sprinkles corn starch over it & then buffs off the wax.



What do you guys think of this...could this be true?

[Mike_Phillips]

You know... I have heard about this technique for the last 20 years... I know I`ve heard about using Corn Starch on single stage finishes, but clear coats are an entirely different ball game.



I guess it`s time to get out the box of Corn Starch and see what`s what.



Anyone else ever heard or tried this?



Mike

[scottabir]

Heard of it but never really cared to try it out, I might just might have to try it out for the heck of it...not on my car of course:D

[imported_Greg]

What in corn starch`s chemical makeup would aid in the removal of swirls? I`ll stick to products designed to remove swirl marks, not stupid myths.

[Mike_Phillips]

Originally posted by Greg

What in corn starch`s chemical makeup would aid in the removal of swirls? I`ll stick to products designed to remove swirl marks, not stupid myths.



Were on the same page on this one, but... at the same time, seems like I`ve heard this many times in my life.



I can`t imagine corn starch doing much to make the finish, deeper, darker wetter....



But I always try to have an open mind and try things for myself in order to form my own opinion. If this was the first time I had heard of this, I would not have even responded to this thread. But I can remember people posting this stuff to rec.autos.misc, and alt.autos.corvette, (in the Usenet Newsgroups), at least 10 years ago, and I can also remember hearing people discuss it/mention it in the real world.



It`s probably a complete waste of time, but because I have a plethora of black paint panels, in acrylic lacquer, acrylic enamel, and multple bc/cc finishes, what the heck... I`ll give it a try.



On that note: I just demonstrated NXT Spray Wax on the hood of a black car... I can`t imagine corn starch improving upon the results this stuff just delivered.



Mike

[2wheelsx2]

If you can post some before and after pics, that`d be great Mike. I am very curious about this experiment. Thanks.

[Accumulator]

I used to do this back in the day, on ss paint. My mother told me that SHE used to use it to make Simonize work better back in (I think) the late `40s/early `50s.



The corn starch seemed to provide a mild "cutting" action; like it was mildly abrasive. It SEEMED to add a little oomph to my Classic Cleaner Wax, for instance. I always used front-back motions so that any marring it induced (sometimes it DID seem to induce some mild marring, but maybe it was caused by something else) was less noticeable. As I recall, it also seemed to draw up some moisture when it was humid, helping the wax to haze.



I quit using it when I switched to mildly abrasive polishes and Meg`s #7, but it seemed to work OK for me at the time. But note that this when I was a) much younger- how accurate is my memory here? b) not NEARLY as particular/discerning as I am now, and c) using less-than-swell products.



I dunno if this post is worthless or not (what with all the "seemed"s and other disclaimers), but hey, I DID do this. Back in the mid-`70s it was something that all the "car nuts" I knew did. It was like using newspaper on windows and lemon juice (and, as I recall, salt) on chrome. Something people "in the know" did back when product choice was limited.



I too look forward to hearing the results of Mike`s test. Stupid or not, this particular myth/urban legend HAS been around for many, many years.

[Mike_Phillips]

Originally posted by Accumulator



I dunno if this post is worthless or not



Hi Accumulator,



I dunno if this is worthless or not, but I`ll give it try. I`ll have to do it next week however, I`m leaving here today to put on a RV clinic for 600-700 RV owners in San Jose and won`t be back till Sunday evening.



Tell you what.... PC on RV is the only way to go....



(Unless you have arms like Scottwax)



:D :D :D





Mike

[paco]

I definitely think it`s a good trial. It may provide similar results on clearcoated finishes as GEPC/SEC/Vanilla moose for a whole lot cheaper.



I`ve heard about and a friend of my used to use it when removing serious swirls as a last step but that was years ago. I can`t remember how well it work but it definitely didn`t seem to hurt any.

[endus]

Originally posted by Greg

What in corn starch`s chemical makeup would aid in the removal of swirls? I`ll stick to products designed to remove swirl marks, not stupid myths.



Uhhh...what in polish`s "chemical makeup" aids in the removal of swirls? Sure there may be some lubricants or whatever, but the bottom line is that little pieces of stuff that`s harder than the paint abrade away a little bit of paint at a time, flattening it out and evening out the paint surface. If cornstarch has similar abrasive qualities it will be comparable to polish...if not then it won`t.



People have this attitude like polish is magic or something. It removes paint...that`s it. That said, I will probably be sticking with the extensive testing that goes into commercial car polishes, but there`s no reason to come with the elitist and obviously uninformed attitude. The end result is the same, but to just dismiss it as a "stupid myth" because they supposedly put magical herbs, bat`s wings, and eye of newt in commercial car polishes is not really valid either. Personally I would rather use a polish with no filling qualities and let a separate glaze do the filling...but I haven`t found one that works that well.

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by endus

Uhhh...what in polish`s "chemical makeup" aids in the removal of swirls? Sure there may be some lubricants or whatever, but the bottom line is that little pieces of stuff that`s harder than the paint abrade away a little bit of paint at a time [EDIT BY ACCUMULATOR: *OR THE APPLICATOR ITSELF ABRADES THE PAINT* end edit] , flattening it out and evening out the paint surface...



And note that people were doing the cornstarch thing back when most paints were VERY, VERY soft compared to modern basecoat/clears. When you can REMOVE marring/paint with just Meg`s #7 and a terry pad, you`re talking about something totally different from today`s paints. So just because something worked back in the day, that doesn`t mean it`s gonna be meaningful for most of TODAY`S detailers. And those of us working with old ss paints are gonna be pretty careful about how we treat them.



STILL, I wanna hear what happens when Mike gives it a go. Inquiring minds and all that...