Swirl marks...swirl marks!

O

Onehole

New member
Picture is of a friends freshly painted Boxster. He got it back this week and washed it yesterday.



He said he hosed it down completely and washed it with a new sponge (don't know what type). He then dried it with an absorber.



I was pretty shocked when I saw it today. Opinions...was it the sponge?



swirlmarks.jpg




swirlmarks2.jpg




Final question...the paint shop is telling him he cannot wax for 3 months? Any opinions?
 
Actually any type of sponge, especially sea foam sponges can cause swirls. I wouldn't be surprised if the sponge caused the swirls. It is best to use a 100% cotton chenille wash mitt or a micro fiber wash mitt. And of course using the 2 bucket method. Sponges here on Autopia is a no no.



With Aloha,

~Ranney
 
:scared i thought only black cars like mine could show swirl damage that badly :scared



it's probably the sponge, did your friend use the two bucket wash method?
 
Ranney, correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that a Sea Sponge was the end all, be all of washing utilities... aka the safest thing to use on your paint. Don't tell me that I paid 25 bucks for one from CMA for nothing. :mad:
 
Hi ThreeSixT,



The sea foam sponge could still hold fine sand particles within its pores eventhough it has been rinsed carefully. That is the tricky part about these sea foam sponges, it could hold microscopic particles that could scratch your car. It is safer to get a 100% cotton chenille wash mitt than to use a sea foam sponge.



With Aloha,

~Ranney
 
before autopia, i used a cheap sponge to wash my car about twice a week. after months of this, there were only minor swirls under any type of lighting. i find it hard to believe that a car can be that swirled after one wash with a sponge. in my opinion, that looks more like somebody used heavy pressure with a chamois to dry a car that wasn't entirely clean:nixweiss But i wasn't there, so who knows



edit: then again, using any type of mitt with bad technique just begs for swirls like that. for example, i've seen many people dunk a mitt once and then use firm pressure to rub it over half of a really filthy car. the dirt just gets ground in. but this applies to any mitt... I'd say the problem in this case is more technique than product. Either way, i think your in for a good swirl mark lesson the next time you go over there.
 
another thing to consider is maybe the paint did not have a chance to fully hardened and is more easily swirled then "fully cuired" paint.





Did the paint shop that you bring it to have a bake oven?
 
I washed mine thoroughly and didn't see any ill effects on my A4, but now you've got me concerned. Just the chance of that damn $25 sea sponge damaging my paint worries me. Hmm..guess I'm gona have to go with a MF wash mitt now too. Do you happen to have an extra one lying around or know where they sell them on the island? I know they sell them at CMA.:nixweiss
 
3 months is the min. time he should wait before waxing. The paint takes between 3 - 5 months before it is completely cured. Of course this is temperature dependent. Warmer (above 70) climates will be at the 3 month time frame During this time the paint is continuing to release solvents. If you put wax on too soon you will end up trapping the solvents in. You don't want to have that happen as it can cause a hazing effect.



:bounce
 
Oh ouch! :( Even though it shouldn't be waxed for a while (even this point is highly debatable, and was not long ago...) you can still polish out those swirls and glaze and QD it. :)
 
I'm not sure what part of it is debatable but you are correct that it can be polished to remove the swirls. Polishing doesn't seal anything in whereas the wax or a Zaino type product will.



RC
 
I guess the general concencus is that it was the sponge. But do we really believe one wash with a sponge could do that much damage?
 
New on Fox this season "The Sponge" starring Ed O'Neil @ Dennis Franz.

Two middle age x- cops go cross country looking for "The Sponge"

LA TIMES ---THIS SHOW HAS OSCAR WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!

NEWSDAY- SPONGE, SPONGE, SPONGE!

NY TIMES - THIS IS MUST SEE TV!!!!
 
Roadsplat said:
I'm not sure what part of it is debatable but...
Click to expand...
A couple months ago or so, there was a fairly in-depth and pretty technical discussion about this "curing" of repaint jobs and a few knowledgable members basically said with today's paints it's probably okay to wax a fresh out of the paintshop finish after a week or so. But ultimately it's probably better not to wax it because if something goes wrong with the paint it "complicates" matters if you've waxed it...



PS, if I recall right, I think the debate actually started with Zaino saying you could use it over fresh paint. And several people have too!
 
EGAD!

My guess would be that he did it while drying it. Next time use the BBT (big blue towel) from CMA. It's a waffle-eave MF that is extra large, super absorbent, and very gently.
 
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