Need Help

[Red82]

I have a red corvette. Just detailed it, starting with the clay bar, then cleaner, then polish, then wax. When finished, the car looked awesome. However, aver driving it, the hood becal hazy, and full of dark swirls...and it will not come out. How do I fix this....the car looks awefull, and I am going to show the car this week. Please help.

[Chris Nemlich]

Do you have a picture of your situation? This would really be helpful.

Just curious, which wax did you use?

[Red82]

I do not have a picture. Car is now being serviced and I will not have it back until thursday. I used Meguiars Deep Crystal Car Cleaner, Polish, and caranuba wax.....I did not use NXT.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Need Help

Originally posted by Red82
I have a red corvette. Just detailed it, starting with the clay bar, then cleaner, then polish, then wax. When finished, the car looked awesome. However, aver driving it, the hood became hazy, and full of dark swirls...and it will not come out. How do I fix this....the car looks awful, and I am going to show the car this week. Please help.

Hi Red82,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

This is strange in that,

after you finished detailing the car, it looked awesome, but after you drove it, the hood became hazy and full of dark swirls

A few of questions,

1. Is it only the hood where the haze and swirls have shown up?

2. What did the hood look like and the entire car before you started?


3. Did you use a separate applicator pad for each product?

4. What was the applicator pad made out of?

5. Does your Corvette have a clear coat finish, or did you see red pigment coming off the paint and onto your applicator pads?

6. Did you let the the paint cleaner dry before removing it?

7. Did you let the polish dry before removing it?

8. Did you let the wax dry before removing it?

Also, feel free to e-mail me your phone number and I would be happy to call you to discuss. mphillips@meguiars.com

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Red82
I do not have a picture. Car is now being serviced and I will not have it back until Thursday. I used Meguiar's Deep Crystal Car Cleaner, Polish, and Carnauba wax.....I did not use NXT.

All of the above products are some of the easiest product to use when applied and removed correctly, non of them are abrasive.

Your description of your paint was

hazy, and full of dark swirls

It sounds like it's possible that you didn't apply and remove the products correctly. Here's how they should each be applied,

Paint Cleaner
After claying the finish and removing any excess quick detailer and clay residue, the paint cleaner should be applied using a clean foam applicator like this one.

High-Tech Applicator Pad


It is important that the paint cleaner be worked into the finish like you would apply a skin lotion to your arm if the skin on your arm were dry and in need of a lotion. Only work a small area at a time, about a foot squared, then after applying and working the product in, remove it before it dries using a clean soft microfiber or 100% cotton towel and then move on to the next section overlapping into the section you have just cleaned.

After you have applied and removed the paint cleaner to the entire car, next you apply the polish in much the same way except if you did a good job of applying and working in the paint cleaner, (now all the work is done), applying the polish should be faster in that now all you're trying to do is to apply a thin, even coat, work in lightly and remove before it dries also and then move on to the next section.

With a pure polish like the Deep Crystal Polish, you can apply and remove to a small area like the paint cleaner, or an entire panel like the hood before removing and moving on. It is important that you don't let either paint cleaners or polishes dry.

Next is the wax.
After applying and removing both the cleaner and the polish, next apply a thin, uniform coating over the entire finish and allow this coating of wax to dry until it swipes clear. Once the wax swipes clear, then remove the wax using a clean soft microfiber or 100% cotton towel.


Final Wiping Technique
One mention about your final wiping technique. (Not initial removal of product, but after the most of a product has been removed and now you're just giving the finish a final wipe).

Often times I witness people wiping the wax off their car, or giving their car's paint a final wipe using fast, spastic wiping motions. Instead, try this, take your wiping cloth, whether microfiber or cotton, be sure it is larger enough to fold it 4 ways to give you plenty of cushion to distribute your hand/finger pressure more evenly over the surface of the side of the cloth in contact with the paint, and then wipe the finish slooooowly, not quickly like you're trying to put a fire out.

Wipe the finish slowly. Give the substance on the surface enough time to transfer to the fibers of the wiping cloth. Think about it... if you move your wiping cloth quickly over the surface, you're only allowing nano-seconds for any minute wax/polymer residue to transfer from the paint to the cloth, if you slow down the rate of travel of the cloth over the finish, you improve the chance for whatever it is you're trying to remove to successfully transfer to the fibers of your wiping cloth.

If you follow all of the above, always using clean, dedicated applicator pads to apply your products, then removing them using clean wiping cloths, your finish should look clear, gloss, rich in color.

Because you're seeing what you describe as,

hazy, and full of dark swirls

It sounds like somewhere along the line some or all of the products we're not applied or removed correctly.

A quick test to fix this would be to take just a small area of the hood, say a 1 to 2 foot squared area and carefully apply the three products to just this one area again following the above outline. See if you can make this one small area look good and if you can, then duplicate that process to the entire hood, and/or car.

[Red82]

Hi Mike,

Thank you for the welcome and for responding. I am a huge Meguiars fan and love your products!

See my answers below. Please help me, I want to show my car this Sunday, for the very first time..and right now it looks awefull.

Need to fix the problem that is occuring.....

A few of questions,

1. Is it only the hood where the haze and swirls have shown up?

Yes, seems as if they showed up when the hood got hot from driving.

2. What did the hood look like and the entire car before you started?

Car looked really good. Very shinny and clean, but the paint was not smooth to the touch.

3. Did you use a separate applicator pad for each product?

Yes I did...

4. What was the applicator pad made out of?

Terry cloth material for the cleaner and polish, composite pad for wax

5. Does your Corvette have a clear coat finish, or did you see red pigment coming off the paint and onto your applicator pads?

It is a 1982...not sure of the paint type. I definately saw lots of red pigment come off during the cleaner and polish phases.

6. Did you let the the paint cleaner dry before removing it?

Yes, dried to a haze, swipe test, then wipe off product

7. Did you let the polish dry before removing it?

not totally, did not seem to want to turn to haze.

8. Did you let the wax dry before removing it?

Yes, dried to a haze, swipe test, then wipe off product

[Mike Phillips]

Okay, the answers above help a lot, but let's drill down a little deeper...

When you say swirls, and a hazy look, most of the time when we talk about swirls on the forum, we're talking about scratches, something that would look like this,




But what I think I read you describing is differences in appearance in that some places are darker and some places are lighter?

Could it be if there is a swirly pattern, that the swirls your describing are a circular pattern of light areas and dark areas over the hood in kind of the pattern in which you applied the products?

[Xtreme99_s-Dime]

I don't think that this will solve your problem in the future, but it will make your life easier...

All of the products in the deep crystal system are wipe on, wipe off. Even the wax, sicne it is not synthetic.

As i said, this probly isn't the root of your problem, but waiting for cleaner, polish and carnauba to haze before removing them makes for a difficult removal. Polish gets very gummy if left on a surface for to long, and the same goes for the wax.

I know this because I used to do the same thing with my deep crystal system, then I re-read the instructions and was suprised to see that it doesn't tell you to let anything haze.

Hope this helps in the future,

Stevo

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Xtreme99_s-Dime
All of the products in the deep crystal system are wipe on, wipe off. Even the wax, since it is not synthetic.

You are correct on the paint cleaner and the polish, but ALL Meguiar's waxes in all of our product lines are suppose to fully dry before you remove them.

Also, if you read the back label on the Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax, you will note that it is a blended wax, not a wax based solely on a single ingredient.

[Red82]

When you say swirls, and a hazy look, most of the time when we talk about swirls on the forum, we're talking about scratches, something that would look like this,

Answer:
No, There are no scratches or buffer swirls. It is more like the paint is blemished (dark & and light)


But what I think I read you describing is differences in appearance in that some places are darker and some places are lighter?

Answer:
You understood correctly....it is an appearance issue. The paint is shinny and without scratches, but looks blemished and stained.

Could it be if there is a swirly pattern, that the swirls your describing are a circular pattern of light areas and dark areas over the hood in kind of the pattern in which you applied the products?

How can I fix this?

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Red82
How can I fix this?

First, only try to fix a small area, if you can make a small area look good, then you can duplicate this success over the entire car.

Here's what I wrote above...

It sounds like somewhere along the line some or all of the products we're not applied or removed correctly.

A quick test to fix this would be to take just a small area of the hood, say a 1 to 2 foot squared area and carefully apply the three products to just this one area again following the above outline. See if you can make this one small area look good and if you can, then duplicate that process to the entire hood, and/or car.


Just pick a small section and re-apply the cleaner, then the polish, and then a thin coating of the wax. Follow the instruction I posted above, that is work the cleaner in well and then remove. Next, apply a thin coat of the polish and then remove. Next, apply a thin coat of the wax, allow it to dry and then remove.

Now inspect that spot. It should look good. If it does, carefully repeat this procedure to the rest of the hood. If it doesn't, then I would start to wonder if the paint is getting thin, or something else could be wrong?

[RamAirV1]

His description sounds similar to what happens when a wax is applied a little bit too heavily on a warm surface. That is happened to me with the NXT Spray Booster Wax. The first thing I would try is to apply a very thin coat of whatever wax you used (on a small section) then let it dry then remove.

I would consider trying some NXT Paste or Liquid Wax. It is less affected by heat/humidity issues than the other waxes. I have never had the streaking issue with the Paste and Liquid, and the humidity here has been ridiculous!

If there are no swirls or scratches, I think it is the wax that causing the dark streaks. Applying the NXT over it should fix it. It has always worked for me when the Spray Booster Wax streaks. That never happens in colder weather BTW, just when it is very hot and humid.

Besides, the NXT wax will look even better than the Deep Crystal Wax, and it would be perfect for a car show!

RamAirV1

[Ranger72]

I believe all C3 vettes were single stage paints, hence the red on the toweling. As stated above polishes and paint cleaners are NOT to let dry. Once you are done working the product into the surface, it should be wiped. Waxes are always allowed to dry.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by RamAirV1
I would consider trying some NXT Paste or Liquid Wax. It is less affected by heat/humidity issues than the other waxes. I have never had the streaking issue with the Paste and Liquid, and the humidity here has been ridiculous!

If there are no swirls or scratches, I think it is the wax that causing the dark streaks. Applying the NXT over it should fix it. It has always worked for me when the Spray Booster Wax streaks. That never happens in colder weather BTW, just when it is very hot and humid.

Besides, the NXT wax will look even better than the Deep Crystal Wax, and it would be perfect for a car show!

RamAirV1

These are all good suggestions, I was trying to help him use the products he already has to get good results. The Deep Crystal System has been around for over 25 years and is a proven system on all types of paints. Whenever there is a problem it can usually be tracked down to wrong technique, or an actual paint related problem than no product can fix.

If Red82 wants, he can get some NXT Tech Wax and also give that a try, either apply a couple of thin coats to the hood and then inspect, or try the cleaner and polish again using the methods I outlined in this thread then follow that with two thin coats of NXT Tech Wax.

I think that as long as the paint has all of its integrity, that we can see Red82 through to success.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Ranger72
I believe all C3 vettes were single stage paints, hence the red on the toweling.

I believe this is true also, but he didn't say if the Corvette had been repainted or not, and perhaps he doesn't know. If it has been repainted, then it could be a bc/cc paint system. The red pigment coming off onto his applicators shows it to be a non-clear coat finish.

Being a non-clear coat finish, the paint more susceptible for showing light and dark areas in appearance because the paint is more porous and better able to absorb polishing oils, or not absorb them, depending on the thoroughness of application, thus the reason I posted what I did previously on applying the paint cleaner and polish.