What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Polished Cars & Swirl Marks - Dan J
Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are not suffering with quite as much indigestion as I am right now :o)

I read with interest the various responses to Richard Price's "paint protection" question. I have polished cars of mine on several occasions with various polishes including Autoglym, Halfords own and also Colour Magic but seem to always, without fail, end up with swirl marks on the paintwork. It always looks good after I've done it but in the wrong light or perhaps under a petrol station forecourt set of lights you can see all the marks in the paintwork. I have used all the proper polishing cloths, meticulously washed the car beforehand so what is it I am doing wrong? Many garages valeters seem to be able to make a fantastic job of polishing up the cars which end up on the forecourt so how do they do it without the dreaded swirl marks?

I look forward to your responses as always!

Dan
Re: Polished Cars & Swirl Marks - Andy Bairsto
It may sound daft but I use houshold spray polish normally pledge non wax I get a super shine and no swirl marks .
Re: Polished Cars & Swirl Marks - KB
Do the Valeters use a cutting compound to remove dead paint, especially on non-metallic paint? Whenever I've used an electric rotary "mop" on flat paint, the results are pretty spectacular, but wouldn't want to do it too often. You can buy electric mops for not too much money. Then obviously finish with polish. If you go to one of the paint/sundries suppliers that the trade use, look for ...3M HANDGLAZE, in a black plastic bottle. Good stuff!

Hope your wind passes.
Re: Polished Cars & Swirl Marks - Andy P
I read somewhere that you should always polish cars using a straight line motion rather than a circular motion. This way you don't get swirl marks. I've used this technique all all my cars and don't get swirl marks.


Andy
Re: Polished Cars & Swirl Marks - Julian Lindley
Dan,

I appreciate your dilemma, circular rubbing of the cloth is a natural and progressive way of doing the job, however I have not seen this phenomena for a long time.

Clearly by a circular motion you are also cutting the grime from the paint, which gives you the shine you are looking for. How about doing the cutting with a gentle coat of T cut? The ammonia in the product removes the grime without heavy handed rubbing of the cloth. (You do need to use plenty, however.) Following this up with polish using a gentle rotary or alternatively a straight action of the application cloth may yield the elusive result you are seeking.

Regards,

Julian
Re: Polished Cars & Swirl Marks - Simon Saxton

There is a products(s) which is specifically used for removing swirl marks on clear over base paintwork which is produced by American Companies...Zaino & also Meguiers Clay.This brings it up to concours standard.
Zaino product is reputed to be the better.Meguiers has an outlet in this country,check the website.
Americans rave about it!

regards
Simon
Re: Polished Cars & Swirl Marks - paul
Yep, Mr Sheen is a tried and tested product. Bizarre, but true.
Re: Polished Cars & Swirl Marks - David W
I do a small section at a time with a circular motion followed by a straight flourish but still don't get a very deep and long lasting shine. However, I recently discovered a small amount of polish left in a very old tin of Simoniz GT-Wax and this gave a brilliant shine with much better colour than anything else I have used for a long time - and the shine is lasting much longer! Unfortunately GT-Wax has been discontinued and I can't find any old stock.