New Member with a story to tell

[daiji]

Hi, I was introduced to this forum as I was researching swirl removal on the internet. I happened upon the "How to Remove Swirls by Hand" article by Meguiar's, which was quite enlightning.

As it so happens I purchased the Meguiar's products that were described in the article and I started using them on my new acquired black 1999, 996 Porsche Carrera, which had minor visible swirls and scratches. I started a small section of the car this past weekend, using the swirl removal and then the glaze, and finally finishing up with the wax. Didn't think I got quite the hang of the process, so I decided to hire a professional detailer to finish up the rest of the car and to study how the process works. The detailer sent his crew to my house this afternoon to work on the swirl removal. As I watched them wash the car and then run a clay bar a couple times, they started to put a wax type substance on the car. At this point I asked what it was they were putting on the car, since they seem to be putting it on very gingerly (not using much elbow grease). They told me that it was a ****** protectant to protect the finish of the car. I then asked why they weren't polishing the car 1st to round off the edges and fill the swirl marks. They then proceeded to tell me that what I had was not swirl marks but spider webs that were caused by buffing after color sanding, and that there was nothing that they could do to get rid of the swirls. This comment coming from a professional detailer that professes to removing swirls on their website. I was stunned, and I know from reading the Mequiar's article that you must 1st polish the swirl marks to round off the edges of the swirl marks, so to minimize the reflection.

Now I have some questions that I am looking forward to getting answered.

Question 1: Will a ****** protectant do anything for removing or hiding swirls, as it seems to me after looking at the car, that it doesn"t.

Question 2: Is utilizing a product such as a swirl removal the only method of getting rid of our mininizing swirls?

Question 3: What exactly is a spider web, and how is it different from swirls?

By the way I did contact the detailer and expressed how dissatisfied I was with their service, and I send them a link to the Mequiars article on removing swirls.

Thanks,

[MaximusZTS]

Re: New Member with a story to tell

1. Remove swirls - No. Hide them - Yes.

Wax hiding swirls video

2. To remove a swirl you need to level the paint. Use some abrasive product like a swirl remover the remove that paint defect. (There are people here that can explain it better)

3. I believe that they are the same.

[Murr1525]

Re: New Member with a story to tell

Rounding off the edges of swirls isnt exactly the right idea. If you remove swirls, you will be leveling off the surrounding area. If you can only improve the swirls, because they are deep, then rounding off would be closer to accurate.

But anyway..

1. Not sure what the **** means now, but if you can still see swirls, then obviously not.

2. Yes, unless you want to get into wetsanding, which is quite advanced. Using a swirl removal product like ScratchX by hand, or a few machine applied products is what a average person would do.

3. Spider webs tend to happen naturaly from daily use, etc. Basicaly, it is just random swirls that start overlapping into a spiderweb pattern. Other swirls can be put in in a definate patten, like bufffer trails, or dragging something across the paint. Same thing though, both are mild scratches in the paint.

I hope you didnt have to pay too much for shoddy service. Have you gotten to read these other articels as well?

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

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

[the other pc]

Re: New Member with a story to tell

... What exactly is a spider web, and how is it different from swirls?...

Hi daiji, to MOL!.

Spider web is and optical effect. When you have many small scratches that are randomly sized and oriented they look like spider webs when you look at them in certain lighting.


Swirls are groups of parallel scratches that are formed at the same time so they have a distinct pattern together. The remedy for both is the same, cutting away enough paint to level out and flatten the surface.



PC.

[daiji]

Re: New Member with a story to tell

Thanks, to all of you that responded to my questions.

I definitely have a better understanding of swirls vs. spiderwebs.

[benhui86]

Re: New Member with a story to tell

i always thought spiderwebs was a kind of swirl...... along w/ holograms.... like that GS hood those i'd think of as holograms and the m5 be the typical spiderweb kind

[Murr1525]

Re: New Member with a story to tell

It all depends on the context used.. a swirl, scratch, and spider web are all the same thing really, but sometimes one term is a little more specific.

Kind of like wax or sealant can be interchangeable, but also sometimes refer to different types of products.