Swirl risk?

[3Fitty]

So, last week I did a full on detail (wash, clay, M80, NXT2, UQD) of my father's car which has pretty much been in the garage all week (very lightly driven).

When it was driven, the weather was great, so the car looked clean but I could see a light film of dust over the car.

To be honest, I was too lazy to wash today and it was only about 44F out, so I chose to clean it lazy guy's style and want to know about the risks of instilling new swirls. Here is what I did...

I went over the entire car with the garden hose and the spray attachment. This seemed to get all the dust off the car. I followed this with a light stream of water to remove and standing water.

Most of the water was removed (car was sheeting water amazing). Finally, I got out some QD and a good quality MF to dry the car.

I had other "lazy" options, I could have used, like spraying the car down with my Karcher pressure washer and soap, then rinsing, but I was REALLY lazy.

So, what do you think about what I did? Bad idea? New swirls? Wait until I'm not so lazy?

I did a quick inspection and I doesn't *appear* that I instilled new swirls, but I wasn't very thorough either. So, lets hear it.

[Tuck91]

Re: Swirl risk?

what QD did you use?

if it was very light dust and the water sheeted of the car like you said it did then most likely the dust came off

if its a good qualiity MF then you should be fine as well.

maybe next time just wash it to be on the safe side

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Swirl risk?

I do that, or even use straight Last Touch if there is only a day or two's worth of dust. Just be extremely gentle when wiping the paint. Never rub it.

It's been over 2 months since I polished my car and it is still swirl free.

[3Fitty]

Re: Swirl risk?

It was a weeks worth of dust but didn't seem too bad. I didn't have Last Touch so I just used Meg's Quik Detailer (although I had UQD).

[Tuck91]

Re: Swirl risk?

It was a weeks worth of dust but didn't seem too bad. I didn't have Last Touch so I just used Meg's Quik Detailer (although I had UQD).

i guess a weeks worth of dust is a lot. I usually wont do any sort of Quik detailing past two days after a wash.

i dont know, you may have to just inspect the car

I think that was your thousandth post by the way

[3Fitty]

Re: Swirl risk?

Wow, what I waste of a 1000th post!!! I should have been much more creative.

[mcox]

Re: Swirl risk?

Wow, what I waste of a 1000th post!!! I should have been much more creative.

You said it Fitty!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Swirl risk?

It was a weeks worth of dust but didn't seem too bad. I didn't have Last Touch so I just used Meg's Quik Detailer (although I had UQD).

A weeks worth of garage dust versus a weeks worth of on-the-road-and-parked-outside dust is going to make a noticeable difference when it comes to light cleaning.

Have a look at http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23388 for what you can do over a period of time and still not inflict damage to the paint (unless you've got one of those cars with the soft as butter paint - like Anthony with that Honda Fit - then all bets are off)

[Tuck91]

Re: Swirl risk?

On a side note:

i am a lot more careful when removing on the road dust versus sitting overnight garage dust. I dont usually quick detail two days after a wash or after two car drives, whichever comes first. I also like to use Last Touch over UQD for removing dust as i believe LT has the highest lubricity.

but the best thing to do is just see for yourself on your Dad's car and go from there