swirls!

[Benny B]

Is there any way to avoid putting swirl marks on your car? i mean i do every thing by 'the book' when it comes to washing and waxing my car. it seems like this winter ive noticed some swirl marks on my car. is there any way to avoid 'em or does it just come with the territory.(my car is a daily driver and is always out in the elements).

[Tuck91]

Re: swirls!

Are the swirls instilled uniformely into the finish? What I mean is are they all over the car or is there specific spots

[akimel]

Re: swirls!

It's not by any chance a black car, is it?

[Benny B]

Re: swirls!

i follow the following maintenance procedures:

- I use the two bucket with grit gaurd method

- use nanowax carwash soap by eagle one

- use a microfiber wash mitt ( washed by hand and air dried after every use)

-use high quality microfiber towels for drying ( washed by hand and air dried after every use)

i've bought this car new in may 2008, and told the dealer not to touch/prep the car. ive clayed,and used meguiars deep crystal 3 step, and topped off with nxt 2.0. followed the same routine right before winter and noticed absolutely no swirls. the car is my daily driver and sits outside 24/7 (i have a heated garaage and is occupied with two classic cars that are stored for the winter)

i noticed the swirls after washing the car today using the same method as stated above but this time had to use the coin-op with the high pressure washer. i didn't even use the high pressure setting on the gun, just the low. i brought my own supplies of course and just used the rinse cycle at the wash.

any thoughts???

i noticed the swirls today after wash

[Benny B]

Re: swirls!

the swirls are located on the hood, roof and top of trunk. the sides are swirl free. the car is carbon grey.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: swirls!

Maintaining a swirl-free finish can be done but it's always going to be more work for a daily driver.

Mike Stoops has a thread on here about how he maintains the finish on his PT Cruiser with good luck, it might get garage space when it's not in use though.

[Benny B]

Re: swirls!

thanks, i'll have to read that thread. i forgot to mention that chicago just had a major snow storm. now i never use that horrible snow brush on the paint, just the windows. is there a possibility that as the snow melts and slides of the car it creates swirls.I know that you are from apple vally CA and dont have this problem, just wondering what anyone thinks about this theory.

[dvtldav]

Re: swirls!

I think that the snow sliding across the car and also the salt and sand that gets thrown up also contributes to the swirling. I live in NE Indiana & I have the same problem. I just live with till spring, whenever that may come, then do a detail.

Just my 2 cents
Dave

[Michael Stoops]

Re: swirls!

Maintaining a swirl-free finish can be done but it's always going to be more work for a daily driver.

Mike Stoops has a thread on here about how he maintains the finish on his PT Cruiser with good luck, it might get garage space when it's not in use though.

Yes, my cars are garaged at night but the PT does sit out in the elements every day.

No matter how diligent you are, you're going to get some amount of swirls accumulating over time. How many you'll get, and how soon you'll get them, is partly dependent on how sensitive the paint is. The Miata I used to have got the exact same treatment as my PT but it didn't get that treatment anywhere near as often. Heck, I only drove that car 3,000 miles a year and it was always in the garage, and never driven in the rain. That thing was like a trained dog - just say "scratch" and it was. The PT is much easier to keep swirl free even though it's my daily driver. Dramatic difference in paint sensitivity between those two cars.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: swirls!

Here's the link to Mike's thread, we've also given it a clickable subject title to make it easy to share the link and moved it to the How To Articles forum

How to maintain your car's finish in-between polishing sessions

[Benny B]

Re: swirls!

Mike, just finished reading your thread on "maintaining the finish between polishing sessions" , great thread! by the way, thats an awesome looking cruiser.

I guess i'm being to anal about the finish of my daily driver in these harsh winter conditions. I showed the swirls to my neighbor and he just laughed and said to check his out. His car looked like he dried the car with sandpaper. I guess your right in saying that different cars have a different level of paint sensitivity. we can only do so much in terms of preventative maintenence. Mike, thanks for the quick reply, in the end i guess i need a bigger garage,lol.