Did I ruin everything?

[spotsboss]

The paint on my white Ford Explorer was in excellent shape, but needing a good wax job. I washed it, dried it good, then put down Cleaner/Wax with a blue pad, orbital machine set on 3. I put a good amount of product on the pad in an X shape, then dabbed it on the paint in a 2-3 square foot area, then turned the machine on and used little pressure. The pad was still damp when I finished. When the wax dried, I wiped it off with a new microfiber towel.

It looked OK in the daylight shade, but in the garage at night with the light on, I saw that the hood was covered with swirly scratches! It was good that I only had time for the hood - - the paint on the rest of the car is fine.

Did I somehow sink my own ship? What should I do to fix this?

Thanks, Forum!

[the_mighty_bucket]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

what kind of cleaner/wax and pad (blue? any details?) did you use? the rotary can be VERY aggressive, i just finished playing with one earlier today, it manages to cut thru 14yrs of piled up old scratches in just 2 passes..

some pics would be nice.

[Murr1525]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

What kind of orbital machine was it?

I doubt that you have done anything much as far as damage.

Any chance of pics?

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

What was your process when washing?
Have you noticed before that the paint was soft.

[aerogt01]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

+1 on the kind of machine. . .
Were you able to see the swirls before you waxed it? If not, then it sounds like the pad used was dirty and that may have instilled swirls.

Don't worry, it is still entirely possible to fix. I would recommend posting pics of the hood compared to another surface so we can see what it looks like.

[HealthyCivic]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

Sounds to me like one of these 4:

1. They aren't actually swirls and just stubborn, dried product that you need to go over with a quick detailer.

2. The pad was dirty.

3. The paint was dirty or had grit on it. It doesn't necessarily have to "look" dirty to be dirty enough to cause swirls. This is why claying is good before waxing.

4. They were already there and you just somehow revealed them.

The only other thing would be is you used some horrible product but that'd probably be pretty rare. By the way, what product did you use? Deep Crystal Cleaner Wax, ColorX, or some other product!?

[Fly Bye]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

it sounds like the pad used was dirty and that may have instilled swirls..

Either that, or you instilled the scratches during the wash & dry process.

[spotsboss]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

I used Meguiars Clean & Wax, a PC 7424XP and brand new Lake Country blue pad. The scratches are not deep, but they are there and I still am faced with what to do about it. Maybe I'm expecting too much, wanting NO scratches?

Should I get a bottle of Scratch-X or try something else?

[aerogt01]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

A cleaner wax should not instill swirls, and you stated you were using what appeared to be a clean pad.

Here are the possibilities left:
1. The swirls were instilled in the wash/dry process. However if they are not on the rest of the car than this can option can be eliminated.

2. In polishing you picked up bonded contaminants and rubbed them across the paint. A claying would solve this. Has the car been clayed recently?

3. The wipe-off process. It is possible that if you are too aggressive, the wiping + pressure of a microfiber while trying to rub wax out swirled the paint. Was there a thick coating of wax left that was difficult to remove? The idea is to have a very thin coating that is easy to remove. Sometimes it can be so thin you can barely see it.

[Murr1525]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

The Cleaner/Wax (maroon bottle) is very mild. You may well have uncovered them by removeing dirt.

SwirlX would be my starting point for actual swirl removal. Not familiar with LC pads.

Technique of course matter as well, dont work too big of an area, move the machine slowly.

[Black1]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

The Cleaner/Wax (maroon bottle) is very mild. You may well have uncovered them by removeing dirt.

SwirlX would be my starting point for actual swirl removal. Not familiar with LC pads.

Technique of course matter as well, dont work too big of an area, move the machine slowly.

Agreed... If there was a wax or sealer on the hood before you started, you removed it when you applied the cleaner wax. The swirls were there already.

Is the Lake County "Blue" pad a aggressive polishing pad or a mild pad?

Use some Swirl-X with a mild polishing pad. Set the machine between 4 and 5 and work that in slowly in a cross-hatch pattern (first pass- up and down on the panel, and second pass- right to left, third pass- up and down, etc) with moderate pressure on the machine. Wipe that off and check your work... let us know what you think. If you are satisfied, you could reapply Cleaner/Wax or a product like Gold Class/M24/NXT 2.0.

[JoeDirt]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

Was it scratch free before you started? I didn't see that you used anything that you would have removed scratches to begin with...

[rfinkle2]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

First of all, I'd put money on you not ruining your paint job. Second, I had a black F150 that I had a similar experience with. I think that Ford paint is soft, and either a dry pad or a speck of dirt could cause light swirling, which I'd be willing to bet you can remove.

Give this a try. Take that same machine, and put a microfiber bonnet over the pad. Get yourself some swirl-x or even scratch-x and polish it with that.

Please report back as I'm 99% sure you didn't ruin your paint with a cleaner wax.

[mattya802]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

The blue LC pad is a "finishing" pad. Less aggressive than the 8207 polishing pad, but LC also has a "finessing" black pad for the final touches.

I'm going to go with, they were there already and have just been revealed/uncovered due to the waxing.

Grab some SwirlX/ScratchX/UC (do test spot first!) with a White polishing pad (if you're sticking with LC pads) and you should be good to remove them swirls.

[HealthyCivic]

Re: Did I ruin everything?

I used Meguiars Clean & Wax

Are you talking about Meguiar's Cleaner Wax? Sorry to ramble on about it, but the product does matter too and I am not familiar with "Meguiar's Clean & Wax." In fact, that makes it sound like you used Ultimate Wash & Wax, which is hopefully not the case!