Swirls are back!

[Fastclient]

So I did it all. All the steps with fantastic results. Swirl marks were gone, shine was unbelievable. Gotta love it. Wouldn't you know it two days after I was done it rained and dust spotted the whole car. Washed the car in the morning and thought I might as well give it another coat of wax while I was at it. Once again it looked great. Lunch time came, sun was high in the sky and guess what I saw.... swirl marks!!! Now did the ScratchX leave something behind that filled the swirls, or was it the paint cleaner or polish? The wax was the same as I used the first time so that wasn't the kill or cure. Any thoughts on any of this would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Swirls are back!

Originally posted by Fastclient
So I did it all. All the steps with fantastic results. Swirl marks were gone, shine was unbelievable. Gotta love it. Wouldn't you know it two days after I was done it rained and dust spotted the whole car. Washed the car in the morning and thought I might as well give it another coat of wax while I was at it. Once again it looked great. Lunch time came, sun was high in the sky and guess what I saw.... swirl marks!!! Now did the ScratchX leave something behind that filled the swirls, or was it the paint cleaner or polish? The wax was the same as I used the first time so that wasn't the kill or cure. Any thoughts on any of this would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Fastclient,

Seeing this is your first post, Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

If the swirls are light it could have happened from the washing process, but yes polish and wax do fill swirls and scratches, in fact any good wax fills because it's leaving itself behind. Then as you wash your car what ever you've applied tends to wear off... so if any swirls and scratches were not completely removed they will re-appear again.

Achieving a swirl free finish is one thing, maintaining one is another, the only way to achieve a swirl free finish and maintain it without re-applying products in the future is to store the car in a garage under a soft blanket or car cover.

What are you working on?
What was your car's finish like before you started the process?

[Fastclient]

The car is a '02 Hyundai Sonata. Color? well black of course, what other color is there? Before starting all this, the finish was less than great. Not bad but had it's fair share of scratches and swirls. This afternoon gave the car another dose of wax and the swirls settled down considerably. (the sun being lower didn't hurt matters either!!) If it was in fact re-swirled (is that even a word?) due to the wash should I have gone over it with "Step 2" the cleaner again before waxing or was wax the best answer? Thanks!

[RamAirV1]

Those could be swirls you didn't remove the first time and they just showed up now looking at them in different light or from a different angle. Happens all the time!

RamAirV1

[Mike Phillips]

Light swirls are always going to be coming back just from normal wear and tear, best thing to do by hand is to rub that paint out with ScratchX as good as you an, then polish with a pure polish like the Deep Crystal Polish then find a wax you like and use it often.

I have the same problem with our black Pilot, it doesn't stay swirl-free on its own, I have to help it. This is why I like our spray waxes, I've got it down to about 20 minutes after drying the car to apply and wipe of a coat of either the Quik Wax or the NXT Spray Wax.

Using Meguiar's Even Coat Applicator to apply NXT Spray Wax

How To Get Great Results With Meguiar's Spray Wax!

[RamAirV1]

I think swirls are mostly from washing a really dirty vehicle. So in that sense they are almost unavoidable. We just try to minimize them. One thing I like to do is blot the paint when drying my car off. This worked wonders on my black TA, which had a hood that would swirl just if you looked at it too hard! Blotting the hood dry instead of wiping really cut down on the swirls.

Using a QD every day, along with a body duster, keeps the dirt accumulation down so when you do wash, there is not as much dirt to remove. Of course this strategy can't be used when it rains or snows.

RamAirV1