swirls..

[tgfhatch]

hey guys. well i completly detailed my car for the show this past weekend, and when I got their, it turned out my hood and roof had minor swirl marks every where. the swirl marks are really only evident on the hood and roof.

any clue as to what might have caused them? when i detailed the month before it didn't happen. the only change from this time was i used the NXT liquid wax instead of DC #3.

Not sure if this was the problem but the NXT seemed like it was tough to whip off with a MF towel. it was almost like it was resisting. could that be the problem? any way to remove the swirls?

well heres the car from the show this past weekend.

[JG_Detailing]

The swirl's could of came from the towel that you where using. I know the quality of a towel should be good when using it to wipe on a car. Like Meguair's microfiber towel's are good on a vehicle's paint. And to remove the swirl's there are a couple of way's to do it. One way is Scratch X and the other way is using a PC with some swirl and scratch remover product's like DACP.

[tgfhatch]

i only used meguiar's. meguiar's mf towels, meguiar's products, meguiar's even coat applicator..

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

It sounds like something got on the applicator or the MF towel.

How are you applying the products: Machine or by hand?

Tim

[tgfhatch]

by hand..

i'm pretty sure it occurred during the final stage when I was finished with the NXT wax.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

NXT Tech Wax itself would not be able to create swirls. Sadly, when something gets under the applicator pad, it can cause swirls on the surface. If possble, polish and wax in a garage. This will help to prevent any dust/dirt in the air from landing on your paint.

To remove the swirls by hand, you should use ScratchX. Here is a tutorial on how to use the product:

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

Then, you should apply 2 coats of NXT Tech Wax. Make sure to use a clean MF towel for the removal of the WScartchX and one for the removal of the NXT. Do not cross contaminate the towels or pads with product.

In teh future, you should look into getting a G100 (PC) DA Polisher. It makes life so much easier and bring your finish to a higher level.

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

I hope this helps!

Tim

[Mike Phillips]

Re: swirls..

Originally posted by tgfhatch
Not sure if this was the problem but the NXT seemed like it was tough to wipe off with a MF towel. it was almost like it was resisting. Could that be the problem?

If you apply NXT Tech wax using a thin coat it wipes off like a breeze. If you found it to be difficult to wipe off, this makes it sound like you applied to heavy of a coat. If this is the case, and wiping off was difficult, then chances are the swirls could have been instilled though your wiping action if you started pushing too hard to get the wax off.

Thin coats of Tech Wax wipe off easy. At this last Saturday's class, I demonstrated this twice with both the paste and the liquid having club members do the wiping, in each instance I would ask the person doing the wiping if the wax wiped off easily which was almost kind of ridiculous as everyone could see it wiped off effortlessly.

The only other reason Tech Wax could be hard to wipe off could be if it wasn't fully dry, this is where the Swipe Test comes in handy.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: swirls..

Originally posted by tgfhatch
any way to remove the swirls?

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

[tgfhatch]

alright well i'll try to get the swirls out, and then try it again with a lighter coat of nxt wax. i'm starting to think this detailing thing isn't for me. lol

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by tgfhatch
alright well I'll try to get the swirls out, and then try it again with a lighter coat of NXT wax. I'm starting to think this detailing thing isn't for me. LOL

Well there's detailing in general, and then there's polishing paint in specific which when you're aiming for perfection requires more than the catch phrase used in the movie, The karate Kid, which everyone knows goes like this,

"Wax on, wax off"

Polishing paint to perfection is an art form unto itself and requires knowledge about the product you're working on, the products you're working with, and the procedures in which to apply them, I call this the 3-P's, Paint, Products & Procedures.

It also requires the human elements of care and passion. You have to genuinely care about what your doing for example the way in which you touch the paint and that's both for applying and removing products.

Meguiar's always teaches people to evaluate the finish before choosing the right products for the job, but we also teach people to evaluate themselves to determine what their goals are. In some case, if your goals don't match your evaluation of yourself, (the skills you have don't match the skill required), it might be a situation where you might be better off locating a professional to do this kind of work for you?

[tgfhatch]

well i'm defiantly not the karate kid that's for sure. i don't use the wax on, wax off method on my civic. i have way to much money into to do a half assed job. i made sure i did my research on this website before i started any kind of major detailing. i thought i had read up enough on the information throughout this website to understand the products and the methods. i guess i was wrong, oh well I will ontinue to practice on the spare body pieces i have around my house, and then try the scratchx on my swirls.

[Mike Phillips]

I'm sure you've done your homework just as I'm sure you'll be successful...

For a true show car finish, it's easier to work by machine than by hand, perhaps in the future you can invest in a dual action polisher and a few other products to help you do better work and make getting the show car results you're looking for easier to achieve.

Can you post a larger photo of your car? It looks good in the thumbnail... (not too large, 700 pixels max)

[tgfhatch]

mike sure can, let me get a better picture.



mike, if that's to big, can you adjust it for me? i'm at work so i just throw that up quick.

products used to clean:

washed with nxt soap, quick clay bar system, DC#1 and 2, NXT liquid wax. then once at the show, quick detailed with NXT speed detailer, and topped with the NXT spray wax (which I really liked).

also used, NXT Tech Interior (WOW!), Meguiar's exterior trim detailer for side moldings, and fender wells, Meguiar's hot tire shine.

all products put on with Meguiar's MF's, and applicator pads.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by tgfhatch
Mike, if that's to big, can you adjust it for me? I'm at work so i just throw that up quick.

I resized it to 700 pixels wide and placed it in your MOL Gallery here,

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/showgallery.php?ppuser=4249&cat=500&password=

Something I thought about as it relates to the swirls you're seeing in your car's finish and that is,

Different lights show or reveal defects in the paint better than other lights

Is it possible that the swirls and scratches you're seeing in the finish were there before but your eyes could not see them in the lighting condition the car was in?

When you brought the car home and placed it back into where you work on it, do you see the defects?

From the look of the car at the show, it looks like there are some pretty powerful lights in that building and it could be that they are revealing swirls and scratches to a lot of car owners for the first time that the car owner didn't know existed.

Just an idea as I've experienced this myself under strong artificial lights.

[tgfhatch]

mike, this is very true. the lighting inside the show was actually very bright. they usually turn down the lighting to create more of a club atmosphere. i know i wasnt the only 1 with swirl marks, trust me i inspected other cars!

and i know the garage i was working in, wasn't all that well lighted either so it could have been possible! nothing i can do now other then try to remove them