Removing swirl marks on a Porsche Boxster.

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pjgratz

New member
I may just be too picky, but I can see quite a bit of swirl marks in my car and Im not sure if my technique is wrong or if its just natural.



First off, I bought the car with about 1000 miles and Im sure already had poor detailing swirls in the paint...not sure if its fixable.



My technique is this:



-Rinse car with "shower" setting on the hose beginning at the top and working my way down.

-Using a wool mit and Maguires car shampoo I gently wash off the dirt as best I can. I following the "wind" lines of the car, never circular. If its a stubborn stain or bug I generally skip it for later steps.

-I then follow up with Dawn as my "wax cleaner" to get it down to the paint.

-I dry it all off with a super-absorbent semi-sponge like cloth. Or a chamois.

-I then use Maguires' Polish with a terry cloth pad applicator and buff off with a microfiber cloth.

-After this I follow with Maguires' glaze with a separate terry cloth pad applicator and buff off with a microfiber cloth.

-After this I apply Maguire's carnuba based liquid wax..again separate pad and cloth.



This produces a pretty nice shine and a very "slick" surface. The swirls are pretty minimized at this point. Within in about 2 weeks I can see the swirls all over again. Im a missing something? Is all my buffing just putting the swirls back in?



I have the same problem with the plastic window. I use the yellow detailer cloths with an application of Maguires #10 and #17 plastic treatments. I think the dealer put all of the initial scratches in last time I had service performed, but the cleaning process did not minimize...and may have even put more in.



Am I crazy?
 
If there's one thing I've learned here in the past 2 years it's that 80% (or more) of the job is in the polishing stage. In your case the Maguiars polish isn't doing it deep enough, then the glaze hides the swirls (but as you've learned, only temporary).



I'd read carefully all the threads here about removing swirls, and skip your glaze step so you can know what is really going on with the surface quality. Most people end up with an orbital tool and a polish like Menzerna, but others like Scottwax and myself just use lots of hand work. I get great results going through a fine-cut stage of 3M polish, followed by P21S (aka S100) paintwork cleanser.



You might also want to add claying to your routine (after wash and before polish).



As for that rear window, I used the Porsche stuff with success, now I'm using Novus with success. You can't get it perfect, but after polishing use Plexus and you can make the rear window temporarily look like new.
 
What is a "semi-sponge like cloth"? Maybe your drying technique is introducing some of the swirls. Have you tried a waffle weave microfiber for drying. The Boxster is such a small car you can easily get it dry with one waffle weave MF. You can also do a search on drying and find all kinds of conflicting advice :D



As for the plastic window. Upgrade to the 2003 top. Just kidding. I cursed that plastic window everytime I detailed (or put down my top) in my old Boxster. Much like BoxsterCharlie I had good success using the Porsche plastic cleaner/polish.
 
I think real likely as others have said its the glaze wearing out of the paint. I'd reccomend something like 3M PI-III-MG that has no fillers it makes short work of swirls for me and a PC. Not as strong as DACP, but its more honest at the end.



Also, do you use the two bucket method for washing? One of soapy and one of clean for rinsing the mitt? Think about it this way. If you never touch the car in a circular motion, and you're plagued by circular swirling, then you're still probably dealing with the same old swirls.
 
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