I know I screwed up.

[hiyouvegotmail]

Took through a "gentle touchless" car wash. ended up with many very fine swirl/scratch marks. Any suggestions?

[Murr1525]

Working by hand/machine?

Experience with products?

Any chance of a better pic of the surface in the sun, or other direct light?

[imz4n]

Lesson learned, enough said, LOL

[mis3]

Why would a touchless car wash induce swirls?
My understanding is these touchless car washes use strong shampoo that may strip your wax.

[davey g-force]

^^ Agreed, a touchless car wash shouldn't induce swirls - they just strip wax protection.

Chances are that those swirls were always there, they were just covered up by some sort of wax / glaze / fillers. Now your wax / glaze / fillers have been stripped off, you can see the true condition of the paint.

Regardless, a liitle more info / pics would be good in order for us to help you properly correct the defects.

[mswerb]

Put yourself in a timeout, and do not ever do that again.

[mis3]

Sometimes we have to choose the lesser of two evils.
I do go to these touchless car washes in winter months to remove salt and dirts. All I can do is to make sure the car is well waxed before the winter.