Impossible to keep it swirl free?

C

CleanGSR

New member
I'm starting to get fed up with my black car. It seems I can't keep it swirl free no matter what I do. I polished my paint to about 98% swirl free a month and a half ago. I have since washed once or twice a week (I have to, it's black) but always use the 2 bucket method and am very careful. I quick detail directly after each wash and never touch the paint between washes. I just noticed that I have a few swirls (extremely minor) and only visible in certain sunlight but they're there nonetheless.



Is it possible to stay swirl free? What else can I do? I'm being so careful with my paint that I'm not sure what else to try. It's a black Integra that's daily driven by the way.
 
Although some and perhaps many will disagree, give the shmitt a try. I find it does a nice job of remaining swirl free. How are you drying? I find that it is best to first take off the nozzle of your house, then flood dry the car. After you have flood dried the car, dab dry the car with waffle weave towels.



Greg
 
I dry using the flood method and then leaf blow the excess water sometimes, or just dry with a big terry microfiber drying towel. Sometimes with the sheeting, I don't even dry... I'll just spray QD over the small amount of water that's left and QD it dry.
 
What are you using to wash the car with? Mitt and shampoo wise. What aquick detailer are you using and what are you using to apply it? Do you have factory paint?
 
I'm washing the car with a sheepskin mitt (Megs I think), and I switch between GC Wash and NXT Wash. I use Turtle Wax Platinum UG QD (my fav. for gloss) for my QD. TO apply, I'm just spraying a panel and wiping it off w/ Microfiber. Yes, I have factory Acura paint.
 
Ohh I know your pain well, I quite often feel that way with my Black Audi.



To ease some of the pain I started off by not shooting for a impeccable finish on all the panels all the time. More than half the marring we Autopian's sweat wouldn't bother most.



Second I had to determine where the swirls were coming from. I don't wash, dry, or wipe anything in a circular pattern so I tried a tip I read here. I wash from side to side and dry up and down.



That way I can tell if it's my washing that's causing the issue of my drying.



I would much prefer not to dry with towels at all but use forced air. However you need a mighty powerful blower to leave the panels bone dry without taking forever to do so.



Hang in there. My last tip is to learn to know when to say when it's good enough.



MorBiD
 
That's my problem.......autopia has me brainwashed and I have a hard time accepting anything less than perfect. I guess I'll just have to keep doing a light polish every 3-4 months when I re-wax. I must say that over the past year, I have gotten my technique down to where it's about 90% better than before finding autopia. (not good enough though).



My 212mph leaf blower does a really good job of getting it dry and the small amount that's left is picked up when I QD. I might try and start being consistant with the leaf blower to keep from touching the paint during drying. Maybe that will help.
 
I also own a black car and know what you mean. But this is where a friend named glaze comes into play. I haven't done my spring detail yet, but found Mothers Sealer and Glaze with Collinite 845 and AW a week later to look great. I can still see all the problems but trust me no one else can (except for my wife...I have trained her well much to her dismay and she insists on her car being as clean as mine- luckily Saturn paint is easier to work with than VW).
 
CleanGSR said:
I'm washing the car with a sheepskin mitt (Megs I think), and I switch between GC Wash and NXT Wash. I use Turtle Wax Platinum UG QD (my fav. for gloss) for my QD. TO apply, I'm just spraying a panel and wiping it off w/ Microfiber. Yes, I have factory Acura paint.
Click to expand...





To my knowledge Meguiar's hasn't had a "genuine" sheepskin mitt in a long time. That could be problem number one. Two, you're working with some pretty soft paint and trust me I know.:) Three, have you tried a grout sponge for washing?
 
Grout sponge? Nope. Where can you pick those up. Whatever the megs is, it feels just like a sheepskin. I thought it was, but might be wrong.



Edit: It's not a sheepskin mitt, it's this one Click I've always thought it to be a good quality wash mitt though....guess I could be wrong.
 
My GS-R is almost ten years old and in my experience the synthetic mitts just don't cut it. Grout sponges can be found in Home Depot on the grout isle. They're usually in the big bin, loose and cost ~$2. Don't think you're getting a bargain by getting the ones that come in the bag as they are different and stiffer than the loose ones and just don't get along with my Honda black paint.
 
So you're saying to get the one's that are loose? I'll check at my lowes and see if they have them. We don't have a Home Depot anywhere near here. Thanks for the tip.
 
Try a good glaze on it... it'll hide the minor marring between polishing sessions. In your case, One Grand's Omega might just be the ticket - plus you'll get a wetter and deeper finish to boot.
 
CleanGSR- If you *really* want to try to keep it nice, get a foamgun and really work at it. No way to overemphasize that "work at it" part or how difficult this can be.



If you simply do not apply significant pressure to dirt while it's moving across the paint you won't mar it. But that means that every single moment of the wash you have to be on your toes...it's a royal PIA and it's *NOT* fun.



Gotta CD-test your wash/dry media and repeat the tests regularly because things deteriorate. Gotta keep a slick LSP nice and fresh all the time. Gotta wash before contaminants bond to the LSP. Gotta "jiggle" the wash media so any marring that *does* happen (and it will) is miniscule (as in, not inch(es) long). Gotta keep that foam flowing between the wash media and the paint...every millimeter every second..to lubricate and flush away all the abrasive dirt. Gotta keep rinsing out the wash media (often many times per panel) just in case something sticks to it. Sometimes you'll have to wash a panel several times because the right wash technique is so gentle that it doesn't always get all the dirt off...and each of those times is just as risk-filled as the first one was.



The drying shouldn't be a problem if you get it clean during the wash and use the right drying media. I use my AirWand/compressor to get most of the water off but I still use a WWMF. I don't even bother blotting any more, well, at least not all of the time. But I usually spray a slick QD on before the final drying to provide lubrication and I'm constantly on the lookout for any contamination that could cause problems.



Every time I finish washing one of the "good" vehicles I feel like I've just had a workout (both mental and physical). Is it worth it for stuff that I'd only see if I *really* looked for it under certain lighting? :nixweiss Do you *really* want to do all that [stuff] that I do every time you wash? I can guarantee that *nobody* else sees the difference. Heh heh, be reasonable...but get a foamgun and some wash media that'll pass the CD-test ;)
 
No, in my eyes it's truly not possible to keep a vehicle truly "swirl-free." If you drive the vehicle daily, and still want to live a normal life, it is simply not healthy and not possible, in my eyes. You will drive yourself crazy.



Look at it this way. You just finished getting that last swirl out of your paint, when you take it for a drive only for some gardener to blow rocks/dirt into your paint wiht a leafblower while you are parked. You are battling mother nature and other people with every drive, and you won't win.
 
Well, I think I'm going to just have to deal with it. I think I"m being way too picky anyway to be honest. I've got my wife pretty trained at spotting swirls on cars when we are driving.......even she couldn't see them on my car when I pointed it out. I only saw them for a breif second in the right sunlight, but that's what bugged me. I know for a fact that the normal person can't see them and an autopian would have to have a halogen to spot them. We'll see how they hold up over the next couple of months, but I'm pretty convinced that (at least on soft black clear) it's not feasible to put the time into a daily driver to keep it completely swirl free. Thanks for all the tips....I'll definately be trying a few out for kicks.
 
I have a black daily driver as well and I def. feel your pain. I look at it this way, my vehicle looks 99.9% better than every other car on the road, and my black looks 99% better than any other black vehicle on the road. The other 0.1 and 1% resepctively can just kiss my ***! They usually have brand new cars that will be destroyed in a matter of months anyway.



JJ
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top