I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Had to re-read the whole thread to get a refresher on this whole situation!

In most cases, really delicate paint like yours tends to be much easier to deal with when using a good buffer. You completely do away with pressure point issues, which seems to be the real problem you're having, and with a gentle approach you can get a very nice result rather quickly. The danger when using a buffer on really delicate paint is in using overly aggressive products, whether liquid or pad, that create a DA buffer haze. If you're able to make the sort of progress you have just by adjusting your hand application technique with SwirlX, then you should get even better results using SwirlX with the G110v2 and a yellow pad to start, and maybe an easy go over with SwirlX on the black finishing pad prior to waxing. Or, maybe better yet, SwirlX/yellow pad, Ultimate Polish/black pad, then wax.

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Should I wax with colorx or use that at all? Or just regular wax?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

These really soft paints seem to love the mild cleaning ability of ColorX so it can be an excellent choice. But if you clean things up nicely with SwirlX on a foam pad with the DA then you can use any wax you like. Just make sure to use a clean finishing pad, slow speed on the tool and light pressure when applying a nice thin coat, and then wipe off with a clean, quality microfiber towel once the wax dries.

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

These really soft paints seem to love the mild cleaning ability of ColorX so it can be an excellent choice. But if you clean things up nicely with SwirlX on a foam pad with the DA then you can use any wax you like. Just make sure to use a clean finishing pad, slow speed on the tool and light pressure when applying a nice thin coat, and then wipe off with a clean, quality microfiber towel once the wax dries.

When applying the swirl X with a yellow soft buff 2.0 pad what speed do you suggest? They did not have a black pad locally only a lighter brown pad that says it was meant for applying just wax..Will that do? Its this one - http://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-6-5-I...8348604&sr=8-1
And I assume its best do steer away from ultimate compound completely right? Unless there is a major defect I can hope to correct? Last question..Is it good to always go up and down or left to right but never cross? Or is it ok to to buff vertical then horizontal? Thanks

[Michael Stoops]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

You quoted my post on ColorX but then mentioned SwirlX..... typo on your part or are you really asking about SwirlX?

What the heck, we'll address both for you!


SwirlX: for defect removal odds are you're still going to need the extra bit of cut provided by the W8xxx yellow polishing pad. But you should then be able to use speed 4 to 5 and only light to moderate pressure to remove those defects (harder paints would require a more aggressive liquid, more speed, and more pressure).

ColorX: this should be applied with our W9xxx finishing pad - this includes our W9207 Soft Buff 2.0 black finishing pad or the W9006 Soft Buff tan finishing pad. Both pads are designed for finishing use, and about the only time you'd notice any performance difference between the two is on a rotary buffer at slow speeds - the tan one may have a tendency to skip a bit. If you can't get the black pad but the tan one is easily accessible to you, grab it.

As for the Ultimate Compound on your car, it may come in handy from time to time, and with light application on a yellow polishing at slow speeds with light pressure it may leave almost no marring at all. But it could also leave a bit of marring, although that should be fairly easy to clean up with a less aggressive liquid/pad combo. So, if you need it, you need it. If you then need to clean up some marring, then so be it. That's the price you pay for having really delicate paint. But if you know that going in and know how the paint will respond, really delicate paint can actually be pretty darn easy to care for.

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Thanks for the tips on both either way michael..Well I did two test spots one with swirl x and one with ultimate compound..Crazy enough the swirl x left behind buffer marks worse then the compound. Its hard to tell but I will attach a few pics. UC was used on the left swirl x on the right..How do I go about removing the holograms? Slower speed or faster speed? I used speed 5 with moderate pressure on both sides using the yellow pad..Should I try swirl x again or stick to UC? I noticed UC removed the spiderwebs alot better..hmmm..Tough trial and error haha. Thanks again for all the tips!

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

This is the UC side - ignore my brothers reflection lol

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Here is the swirl x side and you can see the wavy holograms at that angle -

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

ok I have good news and bad news..The good news is I guess atleast with the DA the paint is not as soft as I though perhaps..I have used swirl x and UC with the yellow pad and even the harsh purple pad and it doesnt seem to cause any marring..Those old white marks I had and some water stains are gone..The issue is the spider webbing shaped swirl marks WILL NOT GO AWAY at all..No matter what product I have tried..My paint doesnt seem as delicate as I thought so any tips on how to remove these? Unless im causing more swirl marks each time hence it never going away.. but I dont think so because I stare at one area thats bad while im doing it and when I wipe the product away there are still there..help!! haha

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Results part 2? haha.. Well I think I got the car looking as good as I can atleast in this heat..Not all the swirls got removed but most did and it shined up pretty well..Despite the cheap single stage paint orange peel you can even see the reflection of my Z/me/clouds a little bit..

[ffboy]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Looks much better... So you may not have removed all swirl marks, etc., but the shine is good for what you call "cheap, single stage paint" sometimes or often times one doesn't get the results one wants, but to me this is good, it is really hard to get that ideal swirl free finish and keeping it that way. Now for even added depth and shine, go get yourself a pure polish/glaze (deep crystal or M07 show car glaze). Ideal for single stage and dark paints just like your car, it will also conceal some of the imperfections that may still be in your paint.

Ok, so I know most want to remove swirls rather than conceal it, but in many cases it's just too difficult to do and over correcting paint (consumer level) may occur, and there's only so much you can do with those unsightly swirls, so a glaze or pure polish can help fill in those swirls and most importantly add even more depth and wet-look to your paint.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Is this a cheap respray on the car? If so, and given the struggles you had initially, we'd say you've done a truly remarkable job on the car! Your last group of images look terrific, and given the age of the car it looks pretty incredible overall.

If you're still fighting some minor defects (and we're honestly fighting to see them in your direct sun shots) then you'll need to go over it again using Ultimate Compound, the yellow polishing pad, speed 5 on the tool, and enough downward pressure to almost stop the pad from rotating. Even then you want to move the pad very slowly over the paint and work an area no larger than about 2' x 2' at a time. Go over that section several times - move up and down, side to side, and repeat both directions moving very slowly and with a lot of steady pressure.

[ZaksZ31]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Yup it is a cheap macco single stage re spray...Overall came our petty good.. Bad news I did put some more swirls back into the car when washing it..I got a what looked like new wool mit out of the garage and was using the 2 bucket method..I was not washing in circles either..What is a good method of washing or a good mit to prevent these swirls? Also does a product like the absorber to dry the car cause swirls? I dont use regular towels or anything..

[ffboy]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Unfortunately, it is very easy to put swirls back into the paint as it is difficult to remove them. Sometimes drying towel or those synthetic chamois (the rubber like things) can easily put swirls into paint and also due to its dragging and grippy action, it can also remove the wax protection on paint. And being a black car, all the "minor" swirls are even more visible on dark and black cars just like what you have.

[ffboy]

Re: I used swirlX and now my paint looks worse..Advice please?

Sorry, i tried to edit my earlier post and ran out of time, so here's what i was supposed to add:

And, judging by the information I read, it is a synthetic chamois type of drying rag. One option for you if you don't plan to buy proper drying towels (like those microfiber drying towels) is to change your drying technique, by using the flood rinse technique to allow water to sheet and minimize spotting and minimize the need for you to drag the chamois across the paint. This will enable you to use the pat-dry method for drying your car. Yes, in my experience most dark paint is sensitive to proper drying techniques..

I personally am not a fan of synthetic chamois anymore. Ok, it absorbs water well, too well in fact that it drags a bit more across the surface. That's why i prefer microfiber towels to dry my car. It absorbs well too, and it almost glides across the surface of the car with no dragging or skip.