I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

[ZaksZ31]

I have a 1987 nissan pulsar that I got painted a single stage black at macco about 5 months ago..Over time with washing etc I got spider web scratches, swirls, etc. I decided to give my car a full meguiars treatment with a wash, then clay bar, then swirl x and a wax with yellow wax #26 because I heard that is good for black cars..Well everything was fine until I used the swirlx..I used a white applicator pad at first which was made of a terry cloth material I think..That may have been my mistake instead of using a yellow foam one..But then I tried using the product with just microfiber towels and I got the same effect..more swirl marks and I paint holograms..There like a weird white smudge mark..I tried washing and waxing and they wouldn't come off..Any advice? I don't have access to a buffer..Heres a picture:

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

And another..You can see a bunch of swirls too...

[Murr1525]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Re-paints can be very soft...

How did you apply with the towel? Looks like there are marks from pressure under your fingertips.

May need to move back to milder products, but also need to look into good aplicators to distribute the pressure.

[Tuck91]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

How long were you working the SwirlX against the paint? Did you let it dry?

Were you working in the sun or shade?

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

I was working in the shade but also for the sun for a little bit..When I applied with the town I just put some on the cloth and worked it in a circular motion..Most of it disapered but i used a fresh rag to wipe excess off..Would a white terry applicator usually be ok? What product can I use to take all this stuff off? This paint does scratch VERY easy..

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

I worked the swirl x into the hood for 3-5 mins before I took a separate rag and wiped it down..

[Murr1525]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Terry has a high chance of leaving marks in many paints, so not really recomended.

And as yours seems even more sensitive than normal, you are going to have to look for the best quality items to use to apply/remove.

You also want to read over this:

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?44344-The-Challenge-of-Delicate-Paint&highlight=soft+paint

I suspect you will need to look into Ult. Polish or ColorX, and the good foam applicators.

[Tuck91]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

You might want to go over the paint again with a foam applicator pad and use a little less product if you can see how creamy it is when applying it to the suface.

It will take a moderate amount of time to fix this by hand, but you never know depending how hard or soft it is.

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

So it looks like I need to pick up some foam pads with a handle grip for one..And should I give up on swirlx completely or follow it up with some colorX? Do you guys think color x would get rid of that stuff in the pics? Sadly it didnt even seem like the swirlx removed any swirls..Just added what you see in the pics..

[Joe Dragon]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

This may be a minor point but when working with a foam pad you may want to place the pad a little lower than the first crease below your finger nails toward your palm so that your fingertips do not apply pressure to the pad. In that way you're more likely to distribute the pressure more evenly along the pad rather than just using your fingertips to work the product into the paint. The same idea goes for the wipe-off. Fold your MF towel in quarters then gently remove the product from the paint, moving the towel slowly & turning it into another quadrant when product starts to build up in the fibers. The layered towel will have less pressure on the paint as compared to just laying the towel out flat & rubbing hard.

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Sounds good..i just really know what product is good to fix the further damage I have caused on this crappy black maaco paint..so more opinions are welcome

[Murr1525]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Probably wont be able to get a definate answer... might take a few test spots too see what works best.

Be sure to do test spots/areas.... dont do the whole car, then stand back and look.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

In the first picture you have very definite tell tales of finger pressure from an aggressive applicator on delicate paint. Terry cloth can be very aggressive, and delicate black paint won't let you get away with that. Read through The Challenge of Delicate Paint for some pointers on how to best deal with this paint. The choice of SwirlX is probably fine, but you need a less aggressive applicator and probably a slight tweak in your application process as well. Delicate paint can be tricky at first, but once you get a process dialed in it's actually very easy to work with.

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Ok I used a little colorX on the left side of the hood..It defiantly brought a shine but I can still see those little white smudge marks..Im using a foam pad this time..Should I use more swirl x first then color x? Let me know please.. Heres a pic..you can see the white smudges near the reflection of the house windows..

[Murr1525]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

May need to do some test spots as mentioned.

It is possible you would SwirlX gently to remove the worst, and leave a little haze. Then ColorX to remove the haze... but have to experiment on what works best.