Still getting swirls

[gmitch23]

My wife has a brand new white Chevy. I have bought new Megs polishing cloths, wash mitt, and waffle drying towel. I have a grit guard and use two buckets and a seperate mitt for the lower panels. I am still getting mild swirls. I dont know what i'm doing wrong. I can already see them on the trunk and some on the hood. What could i be doing wrong? When I'm done, my wash bucket water is still clean. I feel like i'm wasting my time doing extra steps.

[Murr1525]

Re: Still getting swirls

The first question would be if they were new, or never removed in the first place?

[goldenlight]

More than likely you got diso option at no extra charge.

It can be fixed with a dual action polisher. Best investment I ever made.

[goldenlight]

I did learn paint correction works best when the weather is cool. Wouldn't use anything stronger then ultimate polish example Meguiars Da with yellow pad.

[gmitch23]

Re: Still getting swirls

The swirls were never there. I made a point to look. Yes, I have a DA and know how to remove swirls (thank you Megs). Its just that I shouldnt have to already and not often if Im washing it correctly. I feel like im doing more harm than good. Im actuall afraid to wash the car now.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Still getting swirls

It's very possible that they were there when you took delivery of the vehicle, but the dealer applied a glaze that concealed them. In your washing process you're simply washing away that glaze and exposing the swirls. Certainly wouldn't be the first time we've seen this. It could also be extremely delicate paint, which we've also seen, although not generally on GM vehicles. Still, with how widely paint systems vary, even within a given manufacturer, we wouldn't be terribly surprised.

If what you're seeing right now are very mild, then an easy once over with the DA should clean things up. From there you can see if subsequent washings really are creating new swirls or not. It does sound like you're doing everything right in your wash process (which hopefully includes washing your wash mitt and drying towel when done, right???) so we really don't think that's the issue. Correct the defects with the DA and take it from there.

[gmitch23]

Re: Still getting swirls

Ok thanks Mike. I will correct them to make sure its not me. Yes, i hand wash my mit and towels when done. Maybe I should use the washer? I just hate to already begin leveling paint on a car thats a daily driver for my wife. Thanks to you too, Murr and Golden.

[DeadlySheds]

I think you also have to realize that it doesn't matter how careful you are, if you touch the paint with anything, you'll get a few swirls here and there. It could always be worst, you could have chosen black (I made that mistake and have been dealing with it since).

[stanclub]

Re: Still getting swirls

I have a friend who work for Benz dealer at east coast, in their detailing department for new cars. He said that they get complaint from time to time for swirl issue on brand new cars that was polished just few weeks ago. They used rotary and 1-step polish, and the guy who work on the car ( my friend ) has no knowledge about detailing. I think that is just like Mike said, you were just washing away the glaze to find swirl that was already on the car, but hiding.

[gmitch23]

Re: Still getting swirls

I think that is just like Mike said, you were just washing away the glaze to find swirl that was already on the car, but hiding.

Which Meguiars product is best at covering swirls? I ask because I do not want to spend every weekend correcting small swirls with my DA.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Still getting swirls

Which Meguiars product is best at covering swirls? I ask because I do not want to spend every weekend correcting small swirls with my DA.

Probably M07, but Ultimate Quik Wax can do a surprising job at this too. But really, it's kind of doubtful that you're really the cause of these. We would seriously go ahead and correct the existing swirls now, that way you know for certain that they're gone, then keep maintaining the car like you are. If the swirls immediately start to come back you know that either you're doing something a bit off in your washing/drying process, or the paint is just crazy delicate, which does happen. From personal experience, I used to have a Mazda Miata that was like a trained dog - just say "scratch" and it scratched. I treated that car exactly the same way I treated my daily driver, but I only put about 2500 miles a year on the Miata so I didn't wash it much at all, or otherwise touch it. I was always fighting swirls marks in that car, but in my daily driver almost never.

[stanclub]

Re: Still getting swirls

Are you trying to hide it? Or correct it?

To make the swirl not seen, either you can remove it with DA and compound/polish, then always keep wax on your car to protect the body; Or, you can just wax your car often to hide it.

[BillE]

Re: Still getting swirls

... From personal experience, I used to have a Mazda Miata that was like a trained dog - just say "scratch" and it scratched...

That's funny!

Bill

[gmitch23]

Re: Still getting swirls

Are you trying to hide it? Or correct it?

I know how to correct it, but if for some reason it's my washing process that is wrong, I want to know what will hide it until I figure out what I'm doing wrong. Rather than correct it over and over.

[stanclub]

Re: Still getting swirls

I know how to correct it, but if for some reason it's my washing process that is wrong, I want to know what will hide it until I figure out what I'm doing wrong. Rather than correct it over and over.

In my opinion, the NXT 2.0 paste wax seems to hide the minor imperfection on white color paint well.