How To Remove Swirls By Hand

[aprevo15]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

awesome write up. will be trying this out this weekend.

this is what i am planning.

1. wash the car.
2. clay using the meguiars clay kit.
3. scratchx
4. deep crystal polish
5. 2.0 nxt paste wax

i don't have a orbital polisher so i will try it out by hand to see if i can get the results like in the pictures. everyday i regret buying a black car but hopefully after this weekend that will change.

if i am missing something then some suggestions would be great. thanks in advance and this forum rocks!!!

[Nappers]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

Looks like a great start.

If you run into a wall, start a new thread and give us a shout .

We'll help you get your car shiny.

[Murr1525]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

ScratchXing an entire car in one day *****... dont try to do too much at once if you have a lot of swirls to remove.

[LEXUS300T]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

I will try it tomorrow and I see if it works.

Also, do i have to wash the car with wax before?

[dpardo]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

I will try it tomorrow and I see if it works.

Also, do i have to wash the car with wax before?

If you're going to use ScratchX, you should definitely wash your car beforehand as you want to avoid scratching your car with any dirt/gunk that may be on the paint.

Waxing prior to using ScratchX is neither required nor recommended as the ScratchX will remove any wax from the paint.

After using ScratchX, then you will need to apply wax to protect the paint.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

Also, do i have to wash the car with wax before?

Just to note, just use a normal car wash when washing your car, there are some car washes that state they have a built in wax but you don't have to use a wash like this when you're getting ready to use a paint cleaner as the paint cleaner will remove everything off the surface.

When using a paint cleaner, only work a small section at a time, about 16" square or so, spread the product out, work it against the paint and then wipe the residue off and move on to a new section and repeat until you've finished a panel and/or went all the way around the car.

You don't let a paint cleaner dry, only waxes need to dry.

[LEXUS300T]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

oh so basically when your applying scratchx you dont need to wait a couple of seconds or anything like that? just wipe it as soon as you apply it?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

oh so basically when your applying scratchx you dont need to wait a couple of seconds or anything like that? just wipe it as soon as you apply it?

You don't let any compound, paint cleaner, cleaner/polish or pure polish dry, in the Meguiar's line the only products that need to dry and should be allowed to dry are our waxes.

Because this is a topic that comes up often, there's a thread that addresses this in detail in our Hot Topics forum group>

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...



As far as your questions comment about

just wipe it as soon as you apply it?

If you're trying to remove any kind of below surface defect like swirls and scratches, then you need to work the product over and against the surface as you're trying to remove some paint. You can't just simply wipe it on and wipe it off and somehow miraculously it dissolves and remove paint without your help. That's now how defects are removed out of automotive finishes.

Check this thread out,

Which products need to dry before removing?


And my comments in this thread,

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29410&page=2

[Scotty89]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

fantastic thread! thanks for the very helpful information Mike

[Brad777]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

With the new formulation of ScratchX making it machine compatible, yes. But if you're getting a machine you really should step up to something like M80 for even faster results.

Not to put too fine a point on it...... HECK YEAH!! I can't imagine doing an entire vehicle by hand using ScratchX or any other swirl remover. Ouch.

While technically any cleaner polish will remove some paint, you are removing such a minuscule amount that you shouldn't worry about it all. With single stage paints you will see the color of the paint transfer to your applicator pads. With clear coat there is also some transfer but since it's clear you can't see it. Clear coat is simply paint with no pigment.

If your Benz is fairly new then it most likely was painted with MB's CeramiClear paint - to say this paint is hard is an understatement. ScratchX by hand on this paint is daunting at best.

In general the G110 is a great investment!!

For those who haven't used M80, I'd highly recommend that you try it. My most recent use was on my 2000 Honda Accord (Blue). I wanted to do a nice job on it to prepare it for our harsh, salty Utah winter season. I first washed and dried the car. Then applied M80 with a rotary and yellow soft buff to clean it up. Then applied a coat of M7 to restore gloss and depth, followed by MXT 2.0. Both the M7 and NXT were applied by hand. The results were outstanding. Only the deepest of scratches still exist...I'll take care of those in the Spring.

Thanks to Meguiars for providing us all with outstanding cleaner and wax options for our needs. Thanks to Mike and all the members for sharing your experiences and photos.

Brad
Bluffdale, Utah

[Ced]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

Can you apply ScratchX with a waxer/buffer?

[Murr1525]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

Yes.

[Ced]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

To the entire car like a paint cleaner?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

ScratchX 2.0 is a paint cleaner, and it's DA compatible. So if you want to work it section by section, wiping off before it dries each time, then you certainly can.

[tbird2340]

Re: How To Remove Swirls By Hand

Wow, awesome thread.. I just got a new (used) car and I've never been big into detailing.. I didn't even know drying with normal bath towels (which is what I always did) is what causes some of the swirls..

Anywho, I want to take great care of this new car and get all the swirls and water marks out. I bought the new car kit, some scratchx, and the claying kit (I already have the NXT wax)..

I washed, dryed, and clayed my car (claying was surprisingly easy!). Then I tried to remove some scratchx (before I had seen this thread).

I didn't really have any results.. I tried again a day later and same thing so I said screw it and put a coat of wax on it (because I wanted to get it waxed and figured the scratchx didn't work)..

Well now after reading this thread I want to give it another shot.. A few questions is since I put the nxt on I'm assuming when I try again I'll just have to re-wax?

Anyone know of a valid link for a video of how to do it? That one that was posted is no longer up..

Thanks much!