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Hey all, I just registered here but I'm not completely new to this. I read a lot of stuff on here and whatnot.
I recently got a new (but used, new to me) car and I noticed it had some light scratches/swirls, pretty typical for a car of its age (1.5-2years).
It's a black car and it's my first so the swirls are pretty horrid...my other cars were brighter and I never cared much for the swirls.
Anyway, I ran into a small problem and I think it's in my technique. Long story short, here's what I did:
-Wash car (Optimum No Rinse method...not allowed to rinse with a hose here)
-Claybar car (Meguiar's smooth clay kit)
-Swirl X
I used a yellow foam Meguiar's applicator by hand for the swirl x. I went over a 10"x10" section i taped off on the hood. I used medium to strong pressure with the pad and worked in every application for about 3-5 minutes in circular and straight strokes. I did 3 applications of swirl X. I worked the product in until it started to dry and thin out like a thin coat of wax should look like. Then I wiped it off with a MF towel.
Good: It removed most, if not all of my medium/deeper scratches. Nothing fingernail deep but deep relatively. Or large rather.
But then upon closer look, especially with a flashlight, I noticed there are tiny tiny scratches that were not there before. With a flashlight, there are enough for them where it makes the finish seem hazy almost. From about a foot or more away, the paint looks amazing in sunlight and all that. But once you get up real close (im talking 3-4 inches from your nose), you can see the super light scratch marks.
I tried another portion of my hood, clearly seeing taht there are medium scratch marks with clear and clean areas of paint all over. I did the 3 coats of swirl X, and again, the medium scratch marks are gone but there are now hundreds of tiny scratches.
Is this normal? Am I working in the product too hard? I was under the impression that swirl x did not need to be followed up with anything finer..if it makes a difference, this is a Ford clearcoat.
Maybe I need a different applicator? I stopped altogether, quick detailed the car and threw on some NXT 2.0 and called it a day.
I'm pretty confused here. Any and all help/advice is welcome! I really want to get the finish clean if possible by hand. If a DA is required...then I might just forget about the whole thing together since I'm not THAT invested in the detailing ordeal.
EDIT:
Yes, everything was clean. In fact, everything I used was brand new out of the packaging from meguiars from towels to applicators to the wax and swirl X. Only non meguiars thing was ONR and that's besides the point. Thanks guys!
I recently got a new (but used, new to me) car and I noticed it had some light scratches/swirls, pretty typical for a car of its age (1.5-2years).
It's a black car and it's my first so the swirls are pretty horrid...my other cars were brighter and I never cared much for the swirls.
Anyway, I ran into a small problem and I think it's in my technique. Long story short, here's what I did:
-Wash car (Optimum No Rinse method...not allowed to rinse with a hose here)
-Claybar car (Meguiar's smooth clay kit)
-Swirl X
I used a yellow foam Meguiar's applicator by hand for the swirl x. I went over a 10"x10" section i taped off on the hood. I used medium to strong pressure with the pad and worked in every application for about 3-5 minutes in circular and straight strokes. I did 3 applications of swirl X. I worked the product in until it started to dry and thin out like a thin coat of wax should look like. Then I wiped it off with a MF towel.
Good: It removed most, if not all of my medium/deeper scratches. Nothing fingernail deep but deep relatively. Or large rather.
But then upon closer look, especially with a flashlight, I noticed there are tiny tiny scratches that were not there before. With a flashlight, there are enough for them where it makes the finish seem hazy almost. From about a foot or more away, the paint looks amazing in sunlight and all that. But once you get up real close (im talking 3-4 inches from your nose), you can see the super light scratch marks.
I tried another portion of my hood, clearly seeing taht there are medium scratch marks with clear and clean areas of paint all over. I did the 3 coats of swirl X, and again, the medium scratch marks are gone but there are now hundreds of tiny scratches.
Is this normal? Am I working in the product too hard? I was under the impression that swirl x did not need to be followed up with anything finer..if it makes a difference, this is a Ford clearcoat.
Maybe I need a different applicator? I stopped altogether, quick detailed the car and threw on some NXT 2.0 and called it a day.
I'm pretty confused here. Any and all help/advice is welcome! I really want to get the finish clean if possible by hand. If a DA is required...then I might just forget about the whole thing together since I'm not THAT invested in the detailing ordeal.
EDIT:
Yes, everything was clean. In fact, everything I used was brand new out of the packaging from meguiars from towels to applicators to the wax and swirl X. Only non meguiars thing was ONR and that's besides the point. Thanks guys!
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