Trouble getting rid of swirls

[DeadlySheds]

Hi all,

2011 Black Nissan Frontier. It's my daily driver, gets used somewhat hard, and lives in a terrible climate (lots of road salt, snow, etc). I also work in an industrial park which means it gets coated in dust/fallout daily!

I'm not a serious detail guy, but like to keep my rigs looking somewhat presentable.




I just gave her a nice cleaning after the long winter (pics above) and I have swirls. It's killing me. I cannot defeat them.

I've only tried on the tail gate so far, using that as my test area. Here's what I've done/tried with minimal success(all by hand).

1. Wash with 2 bucket method/grit guards. Drop of ONR to soften the water.
2. Clayed
3. Paint Clean (meg's)
4. ScratchX2.0 using foam applicator (nothing)
5. Ultimate Compound using foam applicator (minimal improvement)

I am noticing that after the application of UC, the paint appears a little 'Hazed'. Couple of applications of ultimate polish seems to clear it up. Worried that it may just be the fillers in the polish doing that. Either way, I'm still swirled. I'm also using high quality MF cloths, as well as applicators.

Here are a few shots of what I'm dealing with (Actual swirls are a little worst than they appear in the photos):









I also notice that the truck looks HORRIBLY swirled using two high power halogen lights....much worst than it does in the sun.

I'm currently shopping for a DA polisher, but if I can't achieve sucess with my own two hands then I worry it may be more of the same with a polisher.

Thanks for any advise!

[greg0303]

Re: Trouble getting rid of swirls

Here's article by Mike Phillips:
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...Swirls-By-Hand

Of course today we have much better selection of user friendly products, which should work better in your case: Ultimate Compound, SwirlX or ScratchX 2.0 .

Dual action polisher would make your task much easier.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Trouble getting rid of swirls

Sometimes working by hand can actually be more aggressive to the paint than working with a DA, especially on really delicate paint. We often read about "putting some passion behind the pad" or "you need to put some elbow grease into this" etc but doing so on delicate paint can often create more problems than it solves. Microfiber applicator pads can be fairly aggressive and depending on how the paint responds, could even be the cause of the majority of marring you're instilling. Sometimes the marring is caused by pressure points created by your fingertips through the pad. A DA is only going to make things easier here, not harder.

On really hard paint - ie, paint that doesn't want to correct easily - you can still create some micro marring fairly easily, again depending on how the paint is responding. Very hard paint does indeed require a lot of elbow grease to correct, but it can still be marred (depending on the paint, of course) by the application process. In worst case situations, this is a horrible double edged sword.

If you're at all thinking about picking up a DA, don't hesitate to do so - it really will make your life a whole lot easier here.

[DeadlySheds]

Thanks! reading back it sounds as if I said I was using MF applicators, but I just meant I was using high quality MF cloths, and high quality applicators (foam). I'm not sure whats going on as I'm getting marring, but no reduction in swirls.

Will the UP correct the marring, or just mask it? If its just going to mask it, what would be a better product for marr removal?

I going to order a DA, and hopefully that makes my life easier.

Thanks for all the info guys, I've spent hours reading here, but seems what I'm doing isn't cutting it.