Best product(s) to use in my situation?

[foose07]

Getting ready for the 2009 car show season in a few months and would like to know what product(s) to use in my situation.
My car has black painted clearcoated stripes on the hood and i have noticed light scratches and light spiderwebbing on the hood. It looks like scratches from buffing wax off from a dirty towell. All of the marring and scratches are all in the same direction and are on the entire hood. I have been looking at the swirlx and the m205 polish. What would i need to best remove this problem or at least make it look a whole lot better?

[starvekos]

Re: Best product(s) to use in my situation?

Hi Foose, please tell what tools you are planning to use to address the marring on your car. Do you have a rotary / dual action / orbital polisher or will you be working by hand?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Best product(s) to use in my situation?

There are several possible products for the job: M105, M205, SwirlX, or ScratchX 2.0 that all *might* be your ticket. Ideally, you will use a 2 step method for true car show quality.

I honestly haven't tried the new 2009 products yet, so I can't give my opinion on those...but I know that M105 by hand is amazing.

[starvekos]

Re: Best product(s) to use in my situation?

Hi Foose, please tell what tools you are planning to use to address the marring on your car. Do you have a rotary / dual action / orbital polisher or will you be working by hand?

Didn't check where that this was posted in the working by hand forum

I would also recommend M105 ultra cut compound by hand. I find that it produces good results with less effort compared to a dedicated had application product like ScrathX. I must add that I have not used the latest version of ScratchX.

Once the paint work has been corrected, try to use a soft cloth for removing residue (polish or wax). Try the Supreme Shine microfiber cloth. Its relatively plush and will last you ages even with regular washing.

[foose07]

Re: Best product(s) to use in my situation?

What is the difference in the swirlx and the m105. The m105 looks awful abrasive according to the label on the bottle. I dont want to make the swirls worse.

[Murr1525]

Re: Best product(s) to use in my situation?

The thing about working by hand is that you need a somewhat strong product to make anything happen. But with Meguiars products, the finish they leave behind (when used properly of course) is excellent. It isnt like sand paper where you leave marks behind to get rid of other marks.

The SwirlX is quite new, so very few of us have gotten to use it. It is milder than #105, (#105 is a little stronger than the Ultimate Compound), but by hand, it wont hurt. If the swirls are mild, you can gently work in one or two applications. If they swirls are more severe, or a hard clear coat, you can work in 2-3 applications with more passion. Just see what fits the bill.

Here is a video of Mike using the old formula ScratchX, just to show what working in with passion means, and how big of an area, etc...

How to correctly apply ScratchX to remove swirls and scratches

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Best product(s) to use in my situation?

My car has black painted clear-coated stripes on the hood and i have noticed light scratches and light spiderwebbing on the hood. It looks like scratches from buffing wax off from a dirty towel.

All of the marring and scratches are all in the same direction and are on the entire hood.

Is this a custom paint job?
Was the hood hand sanded?

Lots of straight-line scratches could be a sign of hand sanding marks that were not completely removed by the compounding step by the person that did the sanding and buffing. (If the hood and/or car was custom painted and then hand sanded)

Let us know because that's a major set of defects to remove if in fact they're Tracers.

Tracers, RIDS & Pigtails


If they are in fact just scratches caused by someone wiping or washing the car with a scratching cloth or bad technique then our new ScratchX 2.0 is showing up in stores and that would be a good first product to try with a foam applicator pad by hand. Get some, test it out to a small area first and let us know what you see.

[foose07]

Re: Best product(s) to use in my situation?

The paint was custom done by Unique Performance. The paint job was perfect. After a year of washing and waxing i have noticed these scratches/Spiderwebbing,etc. on my black stripes only. I know that black paint shows every imperfection, i would just like to make it look a little better. I seen your new swirlx is designed for this and i thought it would be right for my situation.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Best product(s) to use in my situation?

I seen your new swirlx is designed for this and i thought it would be right for my situation.

SwirlX might do the job, you won't know until you do some testing.

The right product for the job is the product that is aggressive enough to remove enough paint to level the surface flat again.

Read these two threads,

What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...

Aggressiveness Order for New Consumer Products - This will surprise you!

Most aggressive to least aggressive -->


Might take something more aggressive than SwirlX, you won't know until you go out into your garage and start testing some different products using the least aggressive approach. Your skill and ability to work a paint cleaner over a clear coat is also a huge factor as to how hard or easy and how successful anyone is when it comes to working on clear coat finishes.