My God! The Swirls!

[SciKo]

I gave my new car a good washing the other day for the first time. I picked Saturday to do it, which in Memphis, was a bad decision, but it did look good for awhile.

I used Meguiar's Gold wash with a chenille sponge, which worked out great! I think it was the drying that streaked and swirled the paint. I used a drying cloth that I bought a Autozone. I think the company is Vroom or something like that. All of their products have a dog and the graphics are in orange.

Is is more likely that the drying or washing did the swirls? What do I do so this doesn't happen again? I haven't waxed the car yet. I was told no to for a month by the dealer. They told me it was bad to wax new cars immediately.

My plan, when my month is up, is to hit the car with clay, then the Crytal polish (can't remember the proper name off the top of my head, then use Meguiar's Gold wax. Does this sound like a good plan? The car is a 2006 Black Scion tC.

Thanks for the help

[RZ Autodetailing]

i dont think its the dry towel...i ve used vroom before and kinda like using it with my water magnet to get off the excess water,,you should try using a gritt guard and 2 bucket wash system..that might be the problem..

[Murr1525]

Well, that car is going to have soft paint, but luckily that means it is also easier to fix problems.

New cars can very easily come with a lot of swirls, esp if the dealer washed/detailed the car for you. So it is hard to say what caused what exactly.

Who told you it was bad to wax a car right away? I assume it is a new TC, and hasnt been repainted in any way? If so, then the paint will have been baked on at the factory, plus the month of shipping it took to get from Japan.

Here are some of the products you will want to look into:
Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

As for the swirls that are already there, I assume you are working by hand?


How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

[SciKo]

Got it. I will use 2 buckets next time. I haven't seen the grit guard for sale anywhere around here, and doubt I'll find one before I have another opportunity to wash the car (I can't stand dirty cars).

If the swirls are light, is it possible the paint cleaner will eliminate them? Also, if ScratchX removes some of the paint, isn't that detrimental to the finish? I bought the Gold paste wax. Do you wet the applicator first?

The chenille sponge I use looks like a pile of dreadlocks with a handle. Could this be a source of my trouble, as well?

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate all the help.

[Murr1525]

You will probably have to order a grit guard or two online. GritGuard.com, Meguiars.com, and autodetailingsolutions.com all sell it.

You can certainly try just using DC#1 first, and see how it does. It may remove some, it may not. If you apply with an Even-Coat Applicator, or terry cloth, it can give the product a little more bite as well.

As far as removing paint, yes, you would not want to use ScratchX every week for years. But if you find that many swirls appearing that often, then there are other problems going on. You want to fix the paint now, then keep it that way, so just minor touch-ups are needed from then on.

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

It is hard to say what part of your process could be a problem... certainly the Meguiars Chenille Pdas/Mitts are high quality, maybe you can at least find one in a store near you to compare. Same for the towels, cloths, etc.

If your Pep Boys type stores dont have anything, you can also try PBE stores.

How to locate Meguiar’s Professional & Detailer products in your hometown

[Hannibal]

another vote for 2 grit guards, used with 2 bucket method.


Also......Use a seperate MF towel for drying door jambs, wheels etc. The jambs are a dirt trap usually and a source of dirt for your drying towel to spread mean scratches.

[Monk]

My black car is a small car. I start at the top and work down using about four cleaning towels as I go--one for each area-- (a) Top of car and windows; (2) top of hood and trunk lid; (3) sides, front, rear and in between the windows and about 10 inches from the bottom; (4) last ten inches all the way around. So I never bring the grit from the bottom area up, and thus less likely to cause scratches/swirls.

[Kickin Griffin]

It definitely sound like the swirls were inflicted with the drying towel - I use a Meguiars Water Magnet Drying towel to dry my car, and I also use a pat-drying technique. Rather than sweeping the towel across the paint, on a well waxed finish if you rinse the car with a flow of water, the rinsing water will sheet of the paint leaving the car essentially self drying - only the odd drops of water will be around here and there. So, just lay the drying towel down onto these wet areas, dab the towel and lift up leaving the paint dry and the water absrobed into the towel - less chance of inflicting swirl marks as you're not sweeping the towel and possibly grit and dirt around. You'll need to wash your car in the cool shade to avoid water spotting with this technique, but you should always try to wash your car out of direct sunlight anyways...

And ditto the two-bucket method and the grit guards.

[LiquidBlack]

Check your PM's sciko