Define Swirl Marks for me....

[sg333e]

I see people on this board using the terms differently. I used to refer to swirl marks as the "scars" left from a buffer an and inexperienced user. Others refer to the spiderwebs that seem to inevitably form in a cars paint over time as swirls.



Which one is correct, or is it all of the above?

 

[Jngrbrdman]

Swirls are the circular scratches that appear no matter how much you try to prevent them. Its just part of owning a car. Like washing keeps the dirt off, you have to polish from time to time to keep the swirls down. Buffer burns are usually refered to as holograms or buffer burns.



Here is a thread with a great picture of terrible swirls. I've got a good example of both of these. Let me get my laptop connected again and I'll upload them.

 

[Jngrbrdman]

Sorry for making a few posts to show you these pictures. I don't have an Autopia friendly photo host right now.



Buffer burn on red:

 

[Jngrbrdman]

Buffer burn on green:

 

[Jngrbrdman]

Last one. I don't know what this car's problem is. Its got a little bit of everything. Swirls, buffer burn, oxidation... you name it. lol

 

[BryanPendleton]

Swirls are simply micro-scratches left in the surface of the clearcoat from dirt and debris being dragged accross the surface of the paint. This can happen from people touch and rubbing your paint, washing your paint, drying your paint, polishing or waxing your paint. The key is to keep people away from your paint , rinse as much dirt and debris off as possible before washing and you a good soap that provides lots of lubrication (don't be stingy with the soap-to-water concentration), dry with clean cotton or MF towls or blow dry, and make sure you are using clean pads and that the car is clean before polishing or waxing.



My philosophy is to minimize contact with the paint and if you must touch it, make sure you have adequate lubrication and/or that you are touching it with 100% cotton (remove synthetic tags, etc), MF or polishing/waxing foam pads.