OMG! I can't seem to get it right!

[Jonnyboy1617]

I had my car repainted a while back. The clear was finished being sprayed around the beginning of January, it was a total of six coats, (i think it was PPG). And it has not been waxed yet. So first off, with the winter weather, have I waited long enough to start trying to get out some missed wet sanding marks and swirl marks? Because Here is my annoying problem...

The paint did not have many swirls, besides around the edges where the guy got lazy and stopped buffing. It was mainly some leftover wet sanding marks that I wanted to get rid of. So I first tried to Beats-Um-All polish/wax, which seemed to help the clarity a tad bit and remove some of the light towel marks, but wasn't meant for buffing, it contains no abrasives or anything. So I decided to do two test patches. I put a piece of thick painters tape on the car and on one side did two passes with the Ultimate Compound, and three passes with the Swirl-X on the other side. I was using fresh Microfiber blue pads, and blue microfiber towel to wipe off the excess. I remove the tape and guess what? Both sides were WORSE than where the tape was. And the Ultimate Compound had more swirls, obviously because it's rougher. So I went over the whole area with the regular Meguiars Polish, and what do ya know. EVEN MORE SWIRLS APPEARED. That's when I really started to get ticked off.

So what could be my problem?
I'm only putting a medium/light pressure on the pad, and using the same method I saw in a Meguiars How-Two video. And all the towels/pads are new and not the cheapo kind. And for the record, yes the car was spot clean and dust free.

I can't get enough quality from my camera phone to give any examples, (my real camera is broke). But the swirls kind of look like this. (Same way they always look)...



Thanks to anyone who can help out.

[Jonnyboy1617]

Re: OMG! I can't seem to get it right!

And no, that is not my paint if anyone is wondering. Just an example.

And I am back at square one with just more swirls in one area. I stripped the polish back off.

[benhui86]

Re: OMG! I can't seem to get it right!

sounds like your pad and towels are dirty....thats typically what happens when you just take a dirt covered pad/cloth and start scrubbing the paint with it.... the pad/cloth must be as clean as fresh laundry... no dirt/contaminants on them.... same applies to the surface of the paint.....

if you are doing it by hand you need to apply it with great pressure.... you do not have to go in circular motions....

[Murr1525]

Re: OMG! I can't seem to get it right!

What kind of pad are you using?

Do you have anything like ColorX there?

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: OMG! I can't seem to get it right!

Sounds like there is something in the pads. Do you have #151? I would try clean pads and #151. Do your test spot with this.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: OMG! I can't seem to get it right!

With fresh microfiber pads and towels odds are cleanliness is not the real culprit here. It may well be that this paint is just super scratch sensitive - it happens, and it can be supremely frustrating to work on.

Even with brand spanking new microfiber applicators, they could be too aggressive for the paint. There is nothing in SwirlX or even Ultimate Compound that will cause this type of marring, but the applicator sure as heck can! Try switching to a soft foam wax applicator pad. If you have either our Gold Class or NXT Tech Wax use the applicator that came with either of those. Just make sure to wash and dry it completely first to remove any wax that might be on/in it.

As a test spot, go over one of your previous test spots using the same liquid but the foam pad. Work in circles or straight lines, it doesn't matter. Use moderate but even pressure and overlap your strokes, working the area for a couple of minutes or until the product becomes just a very thin film on the surface, then wipe it off with a clean microfiber towel. Keep in mind the act of simply wiping the product off is nowhere near as aggressive as the act of working it against the paint - microfiber pads might be too aggressive for your paint, but microfiber towels should not be.