What am I doing wrong?? Dirt after washing...

I

imported_Marksman

New member
I dont get it!?! I just finished a full exterior detail and this is the second wash after finally achieving a crystal smooth, glossy, swirl free finish, however I can't for the life of me seem to get all the dirt and dust off while washing! What am I doing wrong? I'm using Eagle One Wet wash with an autopia wool washmit. All products are properly used and washed. What happens is after I dry and begin to apply some Z-6, I notice spots on the hood, quarter panels, and rear deck lid (on an Fbody) that have light dust spots still smeared on them. I dont get it, am I not using enough wash solution in the water? Am I not using the wool mit as it should be? I drag it across the surface using little to no pressure and cover all surfaces...



Is there anything I can be doing to avoid this? Not much more of this and my paint will be swirled again....



Thanks for any help!
 
Zaino 7 is a strong wash, if you use Z products give it a try, and you really should add some pressure give the soap a little help. Also, clay dude clay, sometimes dust works it's way into paint and you need clay, but usually it takes more than a week for this to happen. It also might be water source, try using MrClean autodry. You should also dilute z6 one to one with filtered water (It comes in concetrated form), it can streak full strength, but I have never had any issues when diluted. Another option is trying a paint cleaner like AIO or p21s, and maybe Zaino cleaner coming soon. If you say your not getting the dust off when washing I would say...:nixweiss Even if you had no soap the dust should come off a mitt and water, maybe describe the dust a little better. What was your LSP?
 
Nope, I see spots where there is almost a haze... It comes off on my finger when I run it over the affected region. It just seems like dirt is not being lifted off when I pass the wash mitt over it, it takes a second pass over the affected area to get the job done. The problem is the car is black so I never notice it until after I've washed and dried.



For reference, I've clayed the paint, applied Megs #2, ScratchX, and the Zaino ZFX, Z-2, Z-5, Z-6 system.



There are still some swirls in the paint, however they are very small and almost insignificant.
 
Might just be a case of a need to re spot wash. I've seen the necessity to do so sometimes but it's only been on non Autopian cars. That was also before I had a foam gun. :nixweiss But yeah, that sounds like something more than surface dirt that didn't wash away the first time, sounds like light contamination which the clay or a paint cleaner might take care of.
 
How did you clay? I would reclay with plenty of lubrication, and use the clay like you are erasing an answer on an important test with a pencil eraser. If you already did this ignore it, but I have found many people don't clay aggresive enough.
 
Yeah, I need to get some pictures up... I'm somewhat dissapointed with how my finish has turned out thus far. The paint is smooth and all, and it's 10x better than what it was when I started, but something just isnt right. It doesnt seem to have the shine of a normal Zaino vehicle. It seems that, under direct light, the finish is slightly dull or hazy. I'll get some pics up later today, maybe it's just me...
 
The slight haze could be from your washing. If you keep finding dirty spots on your car after the wash, you may be dragging specks of dirt across your car and causing very tiny scratches, which contribute to your hazing issue.
 
When/if you polished, was it by hand or PC? Did you throughly work in the product? If not, you'll have a left over haze. You have exactly the symptoms my ride had after I thought I was done. I pulled my car out into the sun and realized I had some type of milky haze.



I went back and reapplied MG until I eventually got the level of clarity I was looking for. The MG removed the haze the RC left.
 
Markman- If a car's sorta dirty and/or doesn't have a fresh coat of slick LSP on it, I'll do a "two-stage" wash, in effect washing it at least twice. This is sorta what you're doing now, but a more deliberate version of it.



First pass(es) get any abrasive dirt off. This is where you use little/no pressure. This is also where the foamgun is so useful.



Then, with the "gritty chunks of stuff" washed off, I can use a very soft (usually MF) mitt and put a little pressure on it. You do, of course, have to be careful with this lest you mar the finish. But it's not like *all* the [stuff] on your paint is abrasive. Since MF mitts can hold onto dirt, I swap it for a fresh one after a few panels even if it still looks clean.



Using a very slick LSP, not letting the dirt stay on too long before washing, and using a *very* high-lubricity shampoo will help a lot.
 
Hmm, I've been using Ealge One Wet wash which seems to have pretty good lubricity. We'll see how it goes these next few times. My grandma f*cking sat on my bumper today and slid off so now I have to redo the whole damned bumper anyway.



All I did before was use the #2 and ScratchX, with a Dawn wash afterwords, then went directly into the Z-2 and finished with Z-6. I've never had problems with the Zaino system before so I had no reason to doubt it this time, and I like it's results on Black. Would Dawn take off all the polish residue? I would have thought so...
 
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