Mild and paint friendly swirl remover ?

[DarkBlue]

Hi,

My car looks good (not concours standard), but its good enough to achieve a deep gloss and wet shine.

However, on a closer look, I start to see minor swirl marks and imperfections under strong warm light. The swirls are not really obvious to pass off as "scratch". I look through the forum and found out that the discontinued ScratchX 1.0 is the least aggressive swirl remover that I can find.

I hope to find which Meguiar's products possesses even lesser cutting ability as compared to the old ScratchX.

Currently, I am look at these 3 products... which of these best suits my current paint condition ? Feel free to advice me on other products too.

1. ColorX
2. Cleaner Wax A12
3. Deep Crystal Cleaner Step 1

By the way, which of these contains no fillers ?

Thanks for dropping by..

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Mild and paint friendly swirl remover ?

Hi,


I hope to wish to find which possesses even less cutting ability as compared to the old ScratchX.

Currently, I am look at these 3 products... which of these best suits my current paint condition ? Feel free to advice me on other products too.

1. ColorX
2. Cleaner Wax A12
3. Deep Crystal Cleaner Step 1

By the way, which of these contains no fillers ?

Thanks for dropping by..

First, since this is your first post to our forum,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!


Second, what are you working on?

All waxes and paint sealants fill-in if they work because if they work they're leaving themselves behind on the surface as a layer of protection correct? That being true then all waxes and paint sealants fill to some degree if they work.

If they don't work, that is if they don't leave some kind of layer on the surface then it's probably a good time to pick a different wax or paint sealant.


The "filler" topic is one that you'll find a lot of confusion over on other forums as often times people don't understand that what they're calling a filler is at the same time the thing that keeps >you< form scratching and scouring the paint as you work on it because what other's call a filler is the thing that is also lubricating the surface to buffer or cushion the cleaner/abrading process.

Water can be used as a lubricant but it's not as effective as a quality paint polishing oil in the same way water wouldn't be a good choice to replace your normal engine oil.

If you're working on a clear coat finish and are looking for perfection then you might want to look into getting into machine cleaning and polishing as the human hand cannot produce as good as results as a tool like the G110 or a PC.

That said, the waxes you listed are cleaner/waxes and contain diminishing abrasives as well as chemical cleaners, so they do in fact have the ability to remove a little paint which is what you want to do if you want to remove swirls.

Because they work, that is because they leave behind a layer of protect they also can fill or mask the defects.

If the car is a daily driver then just waxing it with a quality wax may be the way to go because when it comes to daily drivers it's pretty hard to keep them 100% swirl-free all the time without regular waxing anyways.

If you really want to remove all the swirls, that is if you really want to abrade the paint till it's completely flat then working by machine is the best way but if you want to work by hand then SwirlX with a foam applicator pad will be more effective than the products you've listed.

Just apply it gently for light cleaning. For more cleaning increase your pressure. Keep in mind that you'll have to rub out all of the paint working only a small section at at time, about a foot squared, but not much larger. Then after working one section you'll wipe off the residue and move onto the next section and you'll need to overlap a little into the previous section for a uniform appearance.

After you've went all the way around the car then you'll want to apply wax only with a wax or paint sealant you can work larger sections at a time and of course you want the wax or paint sealant to dry before removing.

And whatever approach you want to use, just be sure to do a TEST SPOT first and make sure you're getting the results you want and hope for in one small section before working on the entire car.

TEST SPOT

Doing A Test-Spot

Before going over the entire car, see if you can make just one small section look good, that is apply the product you're planning on using over the entire car to just one small section about a foot squared or so. Work it in and then wipe it off, then apply the polish, work it in but not as much as the compound because now you're not trying to remove paint, just spread the product out, then immediately wipe it off, then apply the wax and let it fully dry and then wipe it off.

Now inspect our results. Make sure you can make one small section look GREAT before going over then entire car. If you can't make one small section look GREAT you won't be able to make the entire car look GREAT.

Make sense?

It should look like this,




And if you're having any problems, the post back here after the test section and we'll help you tweak your technique to insure you get it right.

[DarkBlue]

Re: Mild and paint friendly swirl remover ?

Thanks Mike

+Rep

You have really cleared my confusion on the term "fillers".

Sorry, I should have been more specific.
My 2 1/2 year old car is a daily driver, weekly washed under shade.

Since Deep Crystal is purely a cleaner.

Now I am left with 2 choices, which should I pick ?
ColorX or Cleaner Wax A12 ?

[Tuck91]

Re: Mild and paint friendly swirl remover ?

Thanks Mike

+Rep

You have really cleared my confusion on the term "fillers".

Sorry, I should have been more specific.
My 2 1/2 year old car is a daily driver, weekly washed under shade.

Since Deep Crystal is purely a cleaner.

Now I am left with 2 choices, which should I pick ?
ColorX or Cleaner Wax A12 ?

ColorX is going to be a little more aggressive.

[DarkBlue]

Re: Mild and paint friendly swirl remover ?

In this case, is ColorX safe to use at 2 months interval ?

I stumbled upon Meg #6, is it very similar to A12 ?

Thanks

[Tuck91]

Re: Mild and paint friendly swirl remover ?

In this case, is ColorX safe to use at 2 months interval ?

I stumbled upon Meg #6, is it very similar to A12 ?

Thanks

Its safe to use ColorX at a 2-3 month interval.

M06 Cleaner Wax is more aggressive than ColorX and A12 Cleaner Wax.

Heres the order of AIO's from least to most aggressive:

A12 Cleaner Wax
M20 Polymer Sealant
ColorX
M06 Cleaner Wax
M66 Quick Detailer
D151 Paint Reconditioing Cream

If you havent already, pick up a bottle of ColorX or A12 Cleaner Wax, or even both and see which one you like better. They both give great results and are easy to use.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Mild and paint friendly swirl remover ?

Remember, product choice is just one factor as to how aggressive a product is or isn't, besides the product, other factors include

• Application method - By hand or machine
• Application material - Foam, microfiber, wool, terry cloth, etc. some materials are more gentle or aggressive than others

Then thing like pressure and time, you can apply a product gently for a short period of time or you can really lay into it an rub pretty hard with repeated applications.

A product like ColorX will remove light/fine swirls when worked gently but thoroughly over small sections of paint. Just be careful not to get it or any of our cleaner/waxes on rubber or plastic trim as it could stain these materials.

Maybe try the ColorX as it's very easy to find and work with, pick up a half dozen of these because it's always nice to have extras on hand in case you drop an applicator pad on the ground.

[DarkBlue]

Re: Mild and paint friendly swirl remover ?

Thanks guy

Really appreciate it... Got all the help I need @ MOL