ok so i used nu finish scrath doctor and i was very impressed, while the sun was out it looked great. no swirls what so ever. once the sun went down and the camaro was under the street lamp, the swirls were visible again. im pissed! does that happen to anyboby? what do yall recommend to get the swirls OUT? i dont have an electric polisher so i have to do it by hand.

i've used Ice and the same thing happens, during the day no swirls are visible, but at night theyre noticeable...whats up with that?

 

Shoot out the street lamps.

Seriously, its an uphill battle against UV lights. They bring out everything. Just have a beer and chill out.

 

from what I've heard in the past, its if you cant see them in the sun, you have done a good job, but in that street light those are some swirls you cant get out unless you wetsand? guys correct me if Im wrong ok

 

it's called "metamerism" it's the characteristic's of your paint under different sort's of light. before my SS i had a black S10 (and black show's everything) i've been wheeling out cars for some time. my s10 looked perfect in the sun...under some street lamps your could see everything.....it just happens incandescent and florescent lights bring out the worst in paint. like LANDONZ said, if you can't see them in the sun you did a fine job! the only way to get rid of wheel marks/swirlies is to wax!

 

i did mine today and had it out in the sun and i was impressed

i did a 3 step process

1. meguiers cleaner wax
2. meguiers Scratch-X (did the whole car)
3. meguiers NXT wax

all these were applied by hand and were liquids, not the paste stuff

 

Yeah, the best way I've found is similar:

Meguiar's Cleaner (Step 1)
Meguiar's Polish (Step 2)
Meguiar's Wax of choice (Step 3)

Scratch X is good for the really bad spots. But if you're like me, there will always be something that you didn't get.

 

well thats good to know, i've used the meguirs scratch x before but i wasnt impressed by it at all, i followed that up with meguirs liquid gold, again i didnt like it. i used a clay bar, thn the nu finish, i liked it, yall should check it out. i use ice wax but i didnt use it this time, im too tired! thanks

 

You CAN get out the scratches!

It involves a few things; leveling the clearcoat, rounding the edges of the scratch, or filling the scratch. Compounds, polishes, and a buffer. As I said in another post, Poorboys's products (SSR2.5 + SR1) are highly regarded, as well as the user-friendly Optimum Compound + Polish.

 

if anyone in or around houston who knows how to get rid of swirls and has some free time on their hands and wouldnt mind hellping me with my paint, i would really appreciate it, i'll bring the beers!

 

If youre not removing swirls or light scratches with Meguiars ScratchX youre doing something wrong.

Here is an example of a couple passes with ScratchX on a black sail panel.. I used painters tape to mask the bottom side so I could show a back to back comparison. ScratchX works, period.

 

Was this done by hand?

 

OM my that looks really good! can you elaborate on how you did it? please. my whole car looks like that(the top part) i did the meguires 3 step process b4 and it worked but after a couple of washes you can see it all over again.and i wash my car at least 1x a week its black and its my daily driver so it gets dirty fast. sometimes i use the california duster and some meguirs quick detail stuff but that doesn't help much.

 

*sigh* swirls are swirls.. if you still see them then your paint still isnt in the right condition. and if your using something like.. nu-finish its not going to be in the 'right condition'
read and learn : http://www.guidetodetailing.com/arti...p?articleId=47

 

The pics of the work I did was by hand.

Basically all I did was 3 really quick passes with ScratchX, followed by a real quick coat of Meguiars Cleaner Wax, both done by a foam applicator pad. When you apply the ScratchX you should smear it around in a 2'x2' area BEFORE you start working it in. Reason is that a lot of people will work it in a small section then use some of the worked product on neighboring areas... this doesnt work because ScratchX has diminishing abrasives (abrasives breakdown when using).. so if you work all the product you have on the pad into a 1'x1' area for a few minutes.. then try to use the same stuff on the rest of the 2'x2' section its not going to work because the product is already broke down. See what Im saying?

The thing is.. swirls take work to remove. Good old fashion elbow grease! ScratchX starts off white and when its all broken down it will be almost clear. You can also remove ScratchX before it dries, matter of fact I recommend removing it before its dry.

Some misconceptions/errors that Ive seen with ScratchX use is that people casually apply it (no working in), they think it fills swirls when in fact it actually removes them by abrasives, people let it dry thinking itll work better, and Ive seen time and time again where people use crappy applicator pads to apply it and all their products. Get a good quality foam applicator to use this stuff.

Keep in mind.. those pics are also before a last step product was applied... last step product would be like NXT wax or Gold Class wax.. or an equivalent. I have an appointment with that guys car next week to do the whole thing... his paint is realllllllly shot so Im going to use a machine on it. Pics will follow.

 

The ScratchX method works very well as already noted, or if you are interested in something even better, look into the Tropi-Care line of detailing products at their Swirl Cutter. It makes a 1000x difference and anyone who has seen or used it will attest to, it will take 99% of ALL swirls out of your paint and has Carnuba wax in it as well to apply protection along with it. Hands down the best product Tropi-Care has available.

 

Just wanted to put special emphasis on this. Meg's Cleaner Wax appears to have a "filling" effect - I coincidentally applied a coat today and saw a good 50-60% of my swirls on the hood gone. I know that a good glaze or wax will have the said effect, but I didn't expect it from a cheap can of paste cleaner wax!

Apparently, combined with Meg's Cleaner Wax, ScratchX is a practical way to keep a black daily-driver swirl-free. I too have had success with ScratchX with the exact same method of application as Avengeance, but I didn't use the cleaner wax as a last-step.

 

If you've got a black car... Polish + Filler + Wax is the way to go.

 

*ahem*

You rang?


-Mike

 

I'd be happy to give you a hand and some instructions/advice.. just shoot me a pm ...

 

you must type faster than I do ..