Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

[Murr1525]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Well, this is quite different from old Turtle Wax compounds. I have not used their newer products, so probably not fair to compare.

You also didnt mention what applicator, towels, etc you may have used. Working a terry cloth into the paint can also scratch the paint... tend to just want a smooth foam applicator and good MF towels, and using even pressure, not fingertips.

The nice thing with the products like UC and SwirlX is that you can apply them with more or less energy/passion. If you just wipe UC over the paint a little like you were waxing, it will be milder than working in SwirlX. If you work UC in with more passion, or with a DA, or drill attachment, you may get into removing mild sanding marks and whatnot.

So whichever you choose, or first one then the other, you can start off mild and then use a little more passion.

[Marc08EX]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Ultimate Compound is totally different than the Turtle Wax Compound or also known as rocks in a bottle/tub LOL! Throw that away. You are less likely to marr your paint with Ultimate Compound (still possible if you have soft paint). If you do marr your paint, you can always use Ultimate Polish to refine your finish, remove the micro-marring and leave a show car glossy finish.

Do not be afraid of using Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. It's totally safe.

SwirlX is milder than Ultimate Compound and I'm not really sure if it's going to take out the scratches created by the rocks in the bottle.

[C8N]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

I am a bit of hesitant... or afraid of aggressive compounds.
I have a can of Turtle Wax compound in my garage that I used on my old car to remove some tar stains and ended up marring the paint.
In addition, since I do not own a DA, I don't think I cant correct any mistakes I might make.

I have at my disposal, ColorX and SwirlX... and that Turtle Wax compound for paint correction.
Was my mistake using Turtle Wax compound? Would Ultimate Compound be safer?

[Murr1525]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Ehh... maybe. I'd tend to want to have UC on my shelf as well....

[C8N]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Question,
I have a black Acura and based on what I have read so far, my understanding is that Acura's paint is relatively soft.
Am I correct that on soft paint one should use the least aggressive product?

I will be working by hand and will SwirlX be the correct product to use for light swirl removal on soft paint?

[visualseven]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

hi, which one of these pads did you use?

This: http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4816
OR

http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.do?q=4817

[polaris]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Hello everyone,

Over the last two days i have been doing a full swirl removal on my truck with my 2 hands, 5 foam applicator pads, SwirlX , Scratch X 2.0, and Ultimate Compound. I am all done with the exterior and just finished cleaning up all my supplies in the garage from my weekend project. It is NOT impossible to remove swirls by hand. I used artificial lighting and the sun as my guide to see if i was actually removing swirls. Both my arms are about to fall off and tomorrow is the interior which is nowhere near as hard as what i have been doing the last two days.


Ultimate Compound Tips

- First off, this is an actual Compound and just because its in the consumer line doesn't mean its not aggressive

- do a test spot first , see if it finishes LSP ready and go from there

- I found that when i did a whole panel with UC that it was too aggressive and i didn't need that strong of a product to apply to the whole truck. I think there would have been a lot of marring if i did.

- work small areas , i would say if your trying to remove swirls then a size of a microfiber would be about right.

- do not try and work too big of areas, if you do then odds are you wont work the product in long enough or remove any swirls and possibly create more problems

- use a yellow foam applicator pad, i find there better than the blue ones for defect/swirl removal



Swirl X Tips: This is the product i chose to apply to the entire truck and even applied it twice on some panels. It took 2 days just to do the whole truck with Swirl X because i wanted those light swirls i had in my truck gone. I took my time and i got a swirl free finish



- don't overuse product, a little goes a long way in a small area.

- clean your foam wax pad often

- if you don't clean your foam wax pad often then simply grab another one

- this product is just right for removing swirls and i think is the most effective for that specific problem

I didn't experience any marring when i viewed the truck in the sunlight

- if your hand gets tired, then go back and forth between both your hands.


General tips for working by hand

- dedicate a whole weekend, or predict how long it will take, take into account size of car and severity of swirls.

- don't give up, if you work small areas and work the product in properly then you will remove at least some swirls, keep in mind SwirlX is more aggressive than M83!

- take advantage of the SMAT technology and understand how they are different than diminishing abrasives

- sometimes it takes more than one pass

- if one hand gets tired then switch to the other.

- take a break after every panel or so and get something to eat or drink. I found that closing my eyes relaxed me

- take your time

- if you rush then your results wont be as good as you expect them to be

- use the sun, artificial lighting doesn't show everything

- if your car is small enough then it may not take as long as it does for larger vehicles.

- evaluate how bad your swirls are. In my case they were mild.





My Personal Experience:

Keep in mind this is just my personal experience on a Chevy Silverado, these 3 new swirl and scratch removers wont perform the exact same way on every single car. So for example: UC may finish LSP ready and it may not, for me it didn't, which is okay. So what did work for me for me was SwirlX. If i would have been in a big hurry and used UC on the whole truck and used it improperly, well things wouldn't have went okay. But having more than one product at your disposal always helps and in my case was kinda a lifesaver.


hopefully this will help others as well and be sure to keep in mind this is just my personal experience and not any official answer from Meguiar's



Thanks for reading

how did the scratchx compare to the uc in roughness in your opinion.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

My silver car also has almost identical swirl marks like yours. I've also used Scratch X 2.0 but were unable to get rid of them in 2 attempts. Just wondering if anyone can advice if SwirlX is stronger than Scratch X 2.0 and I should use SwirlX instead? I was under impression that Scratch X 2.0 is stronger than SwirlX and hence if Scratch X 2.0 wont do the job then neither will SwirlX.

ScratchX 2.0 is indeed more aggressive than SwirlX so it ScratchX 2.0 isn't getting the job done, SwirlX won't either. We'd recommend moving to Ultimate Compound - it's what we use for demos in our Saturday Classes and we get outstanding results across the board with it.

[NS9900]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Right on with those comments. From start of wash to the end of wax it took about 6 hours. But i only applied the one go of the SwirlX after the clay bar. My arms were definately tired after that but sounds like i had to dig deeper Below is the best photo i could get which i took tonight but only under a garage light. It was taken with a great camera but hard to see but i'm sure you will get the gist of things lol.





Any suggestions, as in should i try again with SwirlX, go to UC or try the G200 or something like that? They don't seem too deep and i can't really catch the end of my fingernail with them so it can't be too bad hopefully?! I also noticed besides the swirls there are a lot of straight scratches which is best seen in image 1.

My silver car also has almost identical swirl marks like yours. I've also used Scratch X 2.0 but were unable to get rid of them in 2 attempts. Just wondering if anyone can advice if SwirlX is stronger than Scratch X 2.0 and I should use SwirlX instead? I was under impression that Scratch X 2.0 is stronger than SwirlX and hence if Scratch X 2.0 wont do the job then neither will SwirlX.

[rmatamorz]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMAT Technology

nothing to hide:

Nice job, I guess I will try to do it this weekend by hand on my Fairlady.

thanks for the tips

[Aussie]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

I actually have the G220 DA now and ready and can't wait to get started. But due to weather and work i haven't been able to tackle it for the last week. I feel deprived lol.

[GlossBoss]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

i cant wait for the weather to get nice so i can dedicate a whole weekend for removing my swirls.

[Aussie]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Right on with those comments. From start of wash to the end of wax it took about 6 hours. But i only applied the one go of the SwirlX after the clay bar. My arms were definately tired after that but sounds like i had to dig deeper Below is the best photo i could get which i took tonight but only under a garage light. It was taken with a great camera but hard to see but i'm sure you will get the gist of things lol.





Any suggestions, as in should i try again with SwirlX, go to UC or try the G200 or something like that? They don't seem too deep and i can't really catch the end of my fingernail with them so it can't be too bad hopefully?! I also noticed besides the swirls there are a lot of straight scratches which is best seen in image 1.

[Murr1525]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

I have a green car and i have lots of swirls that are of course obvious in direct sunlight or lights. I have tried the SwirlX on my car but was not too happy with the outcome. After reading your post it has inspired me to try again because i only did one pass with it and realised the product must have done its best already. I have both scratchX, UC and SwirlX on the ready and was thinking to use the DA when it arrives though. Maybe i will try a couple or few more passes by hand first and do a small section at a time!

Make sure you use some passion as well. Cant just wipe it around, as Tuck said, your arms should get tired.

[Aussie]

Re: Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

Thankyou! I also found this post very helpful and your truck simply looks amazing! I wouldn't mind betting that it now looks better than when you first bought it. And don't you just appreciate it more because you did all the hard work yourself, and can tell your friends that you did it!!!

I have a green car and i have lots of swirls that are of course obvious in direct sunlight or lights. I have tried the SwirlX on my car but was not too happy with the outcome. After reading your post it has inspired me to try again because i only did one pass with it and realised the product must have done its best already. I have both scratchX, UC and SwirlX on the ready and was thinking to use the DA when it arrives though. Maybe i will try a couple or few more passes by hand first and do a small section at a time!

Ps. where do you find the time my friend? If i could buy time to detail my pride and joy for the weekend i definately would lol. GREAT outcome for you congratulations!