Paint Swirls!!
Thread Starter
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 975
From: Kansas
Paint Swirls!!
So I just washed my car today (and no I didn't do an automatic one I did it by hand) and after I was finished this became extremely visible on my trunk.
How do I fix the paint or even just make it not as bad??
How do I fix the paint or even just make it not as bad??
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 807
From: SoCal
WOW talk about swirl city! buy yourself a polishing kit. There is no way you're going to remove all the swirls by hand. Get a PC 7424 XP, the best polisher for people with little to no experience with a polisher. For ease of use and great results I am a fan of Adams Polishes. Check out this video
http://www.youtube.com/user/Junkman2...55/vnPEYo6_3ZI
Also check out the series of his videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/Junkman2...55/vnPEYo6_3ZI
Also check out the series of his videos
1st Gear Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 128
From: Pennsylvania
Wow!
Like 19stang88 said, you'll need a machine to do it right without killing yourself. The 7424XP is a good option for the money. Honestly though, it's going to get a little expensive to buy all of the supplies needed to do the job right. Justin at Obsessive Detail (sponsor here and good guy) has bare minimum package deals available that will get the job done. http://www.obsessivedetail.com/Buffer.html You could go that route or similar or you could pay someone with experience to do it right and then improve your wash and dry technique to prevent this from happening in the future which is obviously the issue here. You should be using two buckets with grit guards, a quality soap mixed properly, a good wash mitt and quality (not OTC) MF towels for drying and wax removal. Always wash from top to bottom and never use a wash mitt on your paint that's been used on your wheels, tires or wheel wells.
Like 19stang88 said, you'll need a machine to do it right without killing yourself. The 7424XP is a good option for the money. Honestly though, it's going to get a little expensive to buy all of the supplies needed to do the job right. Justin at Obsessive Detail (sponsor here and good guy) has bare minimum package deals available that will get the job done. http://www.obsessivedetail.com/Buffer.html You could go that route or similar or you could pay someone with experience to do it right and then improve your wash and dry technique to prevent this from happening in the future which is obviously the issue here. You should be using two buckets with grit guards, a quality soap mixed properly, a good wash mitt and quality (not OTC) MF towels for drying and wax removal. Always wash from top to bottom and never use a wash mitt on your paint that's been used on your wheels, tires or wheel wells.
Thread Starter
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 975
From: Kansas
This last wash i just went to one of those car washes where you put in quarters and the hose/sprayer or whatever it is sprays out the water soap wax and spot free rinse, and then I dryed it with a shammy.
1st Gear Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 128
From: Pennsylvania
Did you use a brush on it? Or just the high pressure hose? Those brushes are the absolute worst thing you can probably do to your paint aside from maybe taking an SOS pad to it.
What is your normal wash routine like? Do you always use the self serve? Auto tunnels w/ soft cloths? Touchless tunnels? Wash at home, if so how and with what?
What is your normal wash routine like? Do you always use the self serve? Auto tunnels w/ soft cloths? Touchless tunnels? Wash at home, if so how and with what?
Thread Starter
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 975
From: Kansas
Did you use a brush on it? Or just the high pressure hose? Those brushes are the absolute worst thing you can probably do to your paint aside from maybe taking an SOS pad to it.
What is your normal wash routine like? Do you always use the self serve? Auto tunnels w/ soft cloths? Touchless tunnels? Wash at home, if so how and with what?
What is your normal wash routine like? Do you always use the self serve? Auto tunnels w/ soft cloths? Touchless tunnels? Wash at home, if so how and with what?
I did go to one car wash maybe a month ago that uses the brushes because they had just opened up so they were giving away free car washes but other than that i hadn't noticed it being so bad.
1st Gear Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 128
From: Pennsylvania
I'm not really understanding where all the swirls came from. One trip to the tunnel wash isn't really going to cause that many swirls or in that direction on the trunk. I really looks like years of poor hand washing. Regardless, if you want to get it fixed up, you need to decide how much you want to spend and how much work you want to put in. You can do it by hand, but there's no way I'm recommending that. It would be a ton of work and you're arms and back will definitely be feeling it. You can buy a machine like the Porter Cable 7424 or 7424XP (more power, smoother, quieter), some pads to go with it and a couple polishes with different levels of aggressiveness. You'll probably end up at around $200 or more for this. Or you could spend the money on a professional detailer and learn the proper ways to maintain your paint so this doesn't happen again. If you go the professional detailer route, do some research and ask around. Ask to see some of their work. Pictures in direct sunlight like the one you posted above are the best way to really tell the condition of the paint. Reflections pictures or pictures in the shade never tell the whole story. There are more hacks out there than there are good detailers and they give the good detailers a bad name. There are very few I would trust to even wash my car let alone take a buffer to it. I even requested that the dealer not wash my car when it comes in. I don't want to spend 10 hours fixing what they screw up in 10 minutes. So definitely do not take your car to a dealer to have it detailed.
Thread Starter
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 975
From: Kansas
I'm not really understanding where all the swirls came from. One trip to the tunnel wash isn't really going to cause that many swirls or in that direction on the trunk. I really looks like years of poor hand washing. Regardless, if you want to get it fixed up, you need to decide how much you want to spend and how much work you want to put in. You can do it by hand, but there's no way I'm recommending that. It would be a ton of work and you're arms and back will definitely be feeling it. You can buy a machine like the Porter Cable 7424 or 7424XP (more power, smoother, quieter), some pads to go with it and a couple polishes with different levels of aggressiveness. You'll probably end up at around $200 or more for this. Or you could spend the money on a professional detailer and learn the proper ways to maintain your paint so this doesn't happen again. If you go the professional detailer route, do some research and ask around. Ask to see some of their work. Pictures in direct sunlight like the one you posted above are the best way to really tell the condition of the paint. Reflections pictures or pictures in the shade never tell the whole story. There are more hacks out there than there are good detailers and they give the good detailers a bad name. There are very few I would trust to even wash my car let alone take a buffer to it. I even requested that the dealer not wash my car when it comes in. I don't want to spend 10 hours fixing what they screw up in 10 minutes. So definitely do not take your car to a dealer to have it detailed.
Thanks for the info!!
1st Gear Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 128
From: Pennsylvania
It can be fixed though. Just to give you an idea. This was a 2003 Explorer my mom owned. She sucked at washing hers too. I decided it needed to be cleaned up for her. This was years ago so I Was still using my 7424 (not the XP) and I used Menzerna SIP and Menzerna 106FF polishes. The after picture is completely clean paint, no wax, no fillers. It had a complete qipe down using a 50/50 mix of Isopropyl Alcohol and water to remove anything that may been left behind by the polishes (ie fillers).
Before
After
And what I meant by pictures that don't really tell the whole truth. While this is an after picture and the paint is swirl free, even if it was swirled, you wouldn't be able to tell from this picture.
By the way, I spent two days on this (started late and it got dark out) only to have her trade it in the following day. She took it for an oil change and came home with a 2008 Escape. Expensive oil change.
Before
After
And what I meant by pictures that don't really tell the whole truth. While this is an after picture and the paint is swirl free, even if it was swirled, you wouldn't be able to tell from this picture.
By the way, I spent two days on this (started late and it got dark out) only to have her trade it in the following day. She took it for an oil change and came home with a 2008 Escape. Expensive oil change.