Appearance & Detailing Interior & Exterior Appearance Modifications

How to get rid of swirls?

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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 03:37 PM
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Default How to get rid of swirls?

Have some swirls in the paint I want to get rid of. A friend of mine that paints says maybe 8 hours of clay barring might do it lol. Any ideas?
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 03:53 PM
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I was always under the impression that clay bars just lifted dirt and other objects from your paint surface not removed scratches. You need some type of scratch remover or rubbing compound. I use Zaino. Meguiers makes some good stuff too.
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 04:02 PM
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Buffer is the only way unless you want to sit there and hand polish for days
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 05:17 PM
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Clay bar will not remove swirls. Use a Porter Cable with some swirl remover or compound depending on the serverity of the swirls.
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 06:27 PM
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Ya... After researching the clay bar will in no way help out. The Zaino stuff will take out the swirls, but its mainly fillers. But, even though its fillers Zaino claims to last up to 6 months with the right application and prep. So now, Is it worth actually removing the swirls by taking of clear coat or just use Zanios polish and wax with the fillers. I read some where that actually removing the swirls with wet sanding or somthing will comprises the paint.
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 06:29 PM
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ZPC or a swirl remover and an orange pad should work. You might need a more aggressive compound if they are deep swirls.
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 07:24 PM
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Don't wetsand for just swirl marks. Today and tomorrow are warm out by me so i'm using the time to clean up my car. I only did the front bumper today, but I'm using Menzerna Super Intensive Polish on an Orange pad with a porter cable, and TropiCare swirl cutter. My bumper looks brand new now. It had a fair share of swirls and little dots, almost looked like pitting marks. Get yourself some menzerna and a buffer and do the whole car, you'll thank yourself for it.
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 07:28 PM
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I also used Menzerna Super Intensive Polish, and TropiCare Swirl Cutter with an orange pad on the PC and it worked great.
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Old Feb 7, 2009 | 09:48 PM
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Gotta invest in a dual action polisher. Either the Porter Cable or the Flex (even better) if you can afford that.
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Old Feb 23, 2009 | 05:28 AM
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when using Zainos (or any polish for that matter) you need to clay bar FIRST. They even reccomend it. It lifts off all surface pollutants so you're not ADDING new swirl marks. I've always clay barred before doing any polish work and had great results. Just don't EVER let the bar hit the ground. If it does you have to toss it.
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Old Feb 23, 2009 | 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted by stang56k
Ya... After researching the clay bar will in no way help out. The Zaino stuff will take out the swirls, but its mainly fillers. But, even though its fillers Zaino claims to last up to 6 months with the right application and prep. So now, Is it worth actually removing the swirls by taking of clear coat or just use Zanios polish and wax with the fillers. I read some where that actually removing the swirls with wet sanding or somthing will comprises the paint.
To be clear, you should clay and then polish with an abrasive polish to remove swirls.

Zaino Z5 Pro and Z2 Pro are paint sealants (despite being called a "polish"). Z5 Pro has some *very* slight fillers and will likely do very little for your problem...that's not really it's purpose.

Properly prep your paint, protect it with sealant/wax, and practice good maintenance techniques (ie. washing and drying) to minimize the return of swirls.
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Old Feb 23, 2009 | 11:22 AM
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Get a PC and pads from Tropicare, and get a compound like Megs Ultimate compound. It's not overly aggressive and is designed for amateur use.
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Old Feb 23, 2009 | 03:39 PM
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The best way to get rid of swirls is to get good with a buffer. Using a light/medium swirl remover with even a polishing pad will yield excellent results. Also using a quality polish after the compound followed by a good wax will make the finish amazing.
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Old Feb 23, 2009 | 04:48 PM
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All of my vehicles are and have been Black for a long time... I've tried what seems like E_V_E_R_Y_T_H_I_N_G... Simple answer... Keep in ming these are machine applied... Meguiars UltraCut (#105) followed by Speed Glaze (#80) followed by a quality wax. Keep in mind, swirls ARE scratches, you don't get rid of them without an abrassive...
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