Help! I made a boo-boo!!

[240SX]

Hi all,

I recently washed my 08 CTS. I rinsed the car down, wet my wash mitt with soapy water, and proceeded to do the entire car. I then rinsed again, and again and used the Absorber to dry the car off. It looked fine at the time.

I bent down to pick something up beside the car today and realized that I have a ton of scratches on the side of the car. They aren't deep, but noticeable from a certain angle. It looks to me like something was dragged along the surface, even though my wash mitt and Absorber were brand new.

Can anyone tell me how I can remove these without using a machine polisher ( no funds at the moment) and how I can make sure it doesn't happen again.

I was thinking of trying some NXT Wax and see if it covers it up. If not then some Swirl X or something


Please Advise

[Murr1525]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

Are the scratches just on the side? Or all over?

[240SX]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

I haven't taken the car out but they look to be on the one side. I think some grit may have got caught in the Absorber somehow and I dragged it across while I was drying.

Could I have avoided this by patting the car dry?

[Murr1525]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

Well, some people do pat dry for reasons like that, if that is where the marks came from.

[Mike Bones]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

Did you wash your Absorber in warm water and ring it out first? If it's a new one I'm betting that's the culprit. I have used them for several years and that's happened to me when I started using them.

[240SX]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

Did you wash your Absorber in warm water and ring it out first? If it's a new one I'm betting that's the culprit. I have used them for several years and that's happened to me when I started using them.

Yes I rinsed it and wrang it out for about 5 minutes.

Anyone have an idea of what would be good to take these scratches out without being too agressive

[Selectchoice]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

If you can upload a pic or two that would help to see what you're up against and diagnose a plan of attack.

[Murr1525]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

Probably some SwirlX or Ultimate Compound by hand, but a pic would be best.

[240SX]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

The best camera I have access to at the moment is on my iPhone and the pics don't come out well at all. The best I can describe them are very fine scratches that seem to be grouped together and going in one direction. I'm almost positive it was because of the Absorber. I'll try some SwirlX tho and see how well it works.

@MikeBones, I just threw mine in the washing machine with some detergent and warm water. Anything Else I should do to prep it?

Thanks guys.

[OldSchoolDude]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

You can remove scratches by hand, in fast I see pics of cars which was done without a buffer.
Just takes more time.
Starrt with SwirlX, if that's not working move up to UC followed by UP.
You should get good results.

[Mike Bones]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

[QUOTE=

@MikeBones, I just threw mine in the washing machine with some detergent and warm water. Anything Else I should do to prep it?

Thanks guys.[/QUOTE]

I don't think detergent is a good idea. Reason being, I got soap in my absorber once and it was still there as I would ring it out, even a few washes later.

Stupid question: You didn't by any chance drop it, put it back in the tube and forgot that you dropped it the last time you washed your car?

Just trying to cover all the bases...

[240SX]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

I don't think detergent is a good idea. Reason being, I got soap in my absorber once and it was still there as I would ring it out, even a few washes later.

Stupid question: You didn't by any chance drop it, put it back in the tube and forgot that you dropped it the last time you washed your car?

Just trying to cover all the bases...

I was just following what it said on the tube. If it gets dirty then you're apparently supposed to put it in the washing machine by itself. I took it out and rinsed and wrang it out after it was done.

And this was the first time I ever used it and I didn't drop it. I think I just picked something up off the car.

[Murr1525]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

I'd just as soon have Ult. Polish or SwirlX and Ult. Compound (and a cleaner/wax like ColorX) + wax on my shelf all the time anyway. Can cover most anything you or family would want to detail.

[240SX]

Re: Help! I made a boo-boo!!

Yep, gonna grab some Ultimate Compound and some NXT wax and get'er done. I'll try to get a better camera and show some pics.

We bought this car used and it had a lot of swirls to begin with so hopefully the UC and NXT will really improve things.