Tweet
Hello again fellow Meguarians,
About two months ago I was giving my BLACK 2009 Volkswagen Jetta SE its weekly cleaning (those of you who own a black car, you know how much effort it takes to keep it looking sharp), but when I went to dry it, I immediately noticed swirl marks all over its perfect, almost mirror-like black coat of paint. I looked into my wash bucket to find my rim-washing sponge—which is just an ordinary kitchen sponge—and instantly realized my inexcusable, extreme stupidity: the rough side of the sponge. Now that I’ve honestly confessed my heinous crime (and as you are rightfully judging said crime), I am looking to do everything I can to make it right.
I tried buffing it out using Meguiar’s Cleaner Wax (the one in the red tube-bottle) since it is a little bit coarser than my Gold Class Carnauba Plus Paste Wax (I mean, the Carnauba Wax is more for giving your car an excellent shine—especially on black cars—but certainly isn’t meant to get swirl marks out as far as I can tell, though I haven’t tried).
I have seemingly read every thread possible on which product is best (ScratchX 2.0, SwirlX, Ultimate Compound, etc), and from what I can understand, it seems that they all do essentially the same thing, but with varying degrees of aggressiveness. Apparently Ultimate Compound is the most aggressive, and SwirlX is the least aggressive, but I am not sure how 'aggressive' swirl marks left from the back side of a sponge are... I am torn as to which product to go with and I am hoping that by providing the exact source of my swirls and the pictures I have posted below, someone will be able to advise me on buying the correct product. Also, I should tell you that I am planning on doing this by hand (at least at first, until I can get my hands on an orbital machine [been looking at Meguiar’s Professional Dual Action Polisher, but it’s a tad pricey for me right now]) and am willing to take as much time waxing as necessary to get the job done correctly.
I had the Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polisher in my hands and was about to purchase, but decided I should come here and get some input before I went through with it. I didn't want to try something considered 'too aggressive' and regret it afterwards.
Thank you so much for welcoming me into the Meguiar’s Online community and for taking the time to respond to my post!
I have included links to the original image that is MUCH larger in case you want to see the swirls or anything up close. (Original size is quite big, but there are other sizes you can choose from when you reach the page.) I hope these are useful! Let me know if I should post more photos, and I'll get them up. Thanks again!
1. This is my 2009 Volkswagen Jetta SE after I washed/waxed it using Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo and Conditioner and Meguiar's Cleaner Wax (liquid). You can see the swirl marks best in the sun -- at night, the car looks flawless.
2. Up close on the driver's side door. You can see exactly how I wash my car now, thanks to that sponge (created the swirls).
3. My poor hood!!!!!
4. Not the roof.........
5. How it looked before...the second day I had it.
6. See? It's a Jet.
7. First real drive, taken at Montana de Oro State Park -- Morro Bay, CA
About two months ago I was giving my BLACK 2009 Volkswagen Jetta SE its weekly cleaning (those of you who own a black car, you know how much effort it takes to keep it looking sharp), but when I went to dry it, I immediately noticed swirl marks all over its perfect, almost mirror-like black coat of paint. I looked into my wash bucket to find my rim-washing sponge—which is just an ordinary kitchen sponge—and instantly realized my inexcusable, extreme stupidity: the rough side of the sponge. Now that I’ve honestly confessed my heinous crime (and as you are rightfully judging said crime), I am looking to do everything I can to make it right.
I tried buffing it out using Meguiar’s Cleaner Wax (the one in the red tube-bottle) since it is a little bit coarser than my Gold Class Carnauba Plus Paste Wax (I mean, the Carnauba Wax is more for giving your car an excellent shine—especially on black cars—but certainly isn’t meant to get swirl marks out as far as I can tell, though I haven’t tried).
I have seemingly read every thread possible on which product is best (ScratchX 2.0, SwirlX, Ultimate Compound, etc), and from what I can understand, it seems that they all do essentially the same thing, but with varying degrees of aggressiveness. Apparently Ultimate Compound is the most aggressive, and SwirlX is the least aggressive, but I am not sure how 'aggressive' swirl marks left from the back side of a sponge are... I am torn as to which product to go with and I am hoping that by providing the exact source of my swirls and the pictures I have posted below, someone will be able to advise me on buying the correct product. Also, I should tell you that I am planning on doing this by hand (at least at first, until I can get my hands on an orbital machine [been looking at Meguiar’s Professional Dual Action Polisher, but it’s a tad pricey for me right now]) and am willing to take as much time waxing as necessary to get the job done correctly.
I had the Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polisher in my hands and was about to purchase, but decided I should come here and get some input before I went through with it. I didn't want to try something considered 'too aggressive' and regret it afterwards.
Thank you so much for welcoming me into the Meguiar’s Online community and for taking the time to respond to my post!
I have included links to the original image that is MUCH larger in case you want to see the swirls or anything up close. (Original size is quite big, but there are other sizes you can choose from when you reach the page.) I hope these are useful! Let me know if I should post more photos, and I'll get them up. Thanks again!
1. This is my 2009 Volkswagen Jetta SE after I washed/waxed it using Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo and Conditioner and Meguiar's Cleaner Wax (liquid). You can see the swirl marks best in the sun -- at night, the car looks flawless.
2. Up close on the driver's side door. You can see exactly how I wash my car now, thanks to that sponge (created the swirls).
3. My poor hood!!!!!
4. Not the roof.........
5. How it looked before...the second day I had it.
6. See? It's a Jet.
7. First real drive, taken at Montana de Oro State Park -- Morro Bay, CA
Comment