Removing swirl marks on black car

[leddy]

Can anyone recommend a product (or a number of products) for removing swirl marks and light scratches from a black car?

as everyone knows that they show up everything!!

[Huw Pugh]

Have you got a machine polisher? If not you'll have no hope of removing them by hand.

[leddy]

Have you got a machine polisher? If not you'll have no hope of removing them by hand.

how decent a machine polisher is required? Halfords special do the trick? as i have one of them that i was going to use, just dont know what to use it with. lol

[Jazz-Loop]

Get yourself a Meguiers Machine polisher that will be do the trick. If not there a various products which covers these known as glazes.

I have Chemical Guys black hold stuff which you just work the car into different directions to try and fill in the swirls...But will not make them disappear like a pc.

Get yourself on detailingworld...Folk will point you in way of certain products or try and call polished bliss.

Edited July 1, 2008 by Jazz-Loop

[Jazz-Loop]

Halfords special doesnt have enough power to buff out the swirls like a pc/megs polisher.

Thats the Glaze shown below which i use along with the Nattys blue wax.

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/po...aze-polish.html

[leddy]

those megs polishers aint cheap!! lol

is it something that would require doing often? or is it something that once done once can be kept on top of with the normal wash, polish and wax??

[Jazz-Loop]

Try and get a borrow of some chuck them some moeny for pads,polish and the machine and off you go.

It is only something which needs too be done a couple of times a year but if your wanting to be really picky you could do it more often depending if the paint can handle it.

Or Share it with couple of your mates

Edited July 1, 2008 by Jazz-Loop

[dj_lupz]

Can anyone recommend a product (or a number of products) for removing swirl marks and light scratches from a black car?

as everyone knows that they show up everything!!

Hey I got a black lupo and I find (cleaning it most days lol)

thats its not the polish you use its how u polish try polishing off with I large soft rag

using long wipes rather than short ones. I found this works

[Dub-Diva]

We have a black new beetle and we use Meguiars Scratch X, it works wonders (but don't polish it off by going round in circles it will make them worse!) - remember to polish and then wax your car afterwards as it will have no protection from the elements. Smoothing the paintwork with a Clay Bar works too... for more information on meguiars stuff, their website is: Meguiars Website Link

Their products are sold in almost every Halfrauds branch and in some independent car shops too.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Dub-Diva

[Defcon5]

Smoothing the paintwork with a Clay Bar works too...

A clay bar will do nothing for swirl marks.

@OP, swirls are essentially fine scratches on the surface of the paint, you can either remove them totally (by removing the paint) or soften and conceal them.

Removing them you should use a mechanical tool, else you will not get anywhere. Scratch X is a step up from T-Cut in terms of abrasiveness I believe and like T-Cut it does not break down (this is bad)

Autoglym super resin polish is IMO a fantastic product, it has enought cut to start with to soften the swirls and contains elements that fill the swirls, thus covering them. On top of this use some black hole followed by nattys blue and you will be onto a winner

[pandy]

my mu had the same problem on her black zafira, i just used meguiars paint cleaner syatem step 1 on it and it did the trick and it not even a tenner.

defo cheaper than buyina machine polisher

[CasperGTI]

I would recomend getting a machine polisher.. BUT read this guide before you go to work on the swirls, Depending on the machine you get (dual action or rotary) heres the relevant guide:

Rotary Polishinhg Guide

Dual Action PC Guide

Something like the megs polisher is good, but is a very expensive option to go for if its your first machine, I have a makita rotary polisher which i picked up for about 1/3 of the price of the megs one. You just have to search ebay and the like to find a cheap second hand one,

The product and pad.... Well where to start, everyone has there own favourite, Im a menzerna final finish 2 man, with a megs final finish pad, its cool and carries product well, dosent get easily clogged like other makes of pad and keeps the paint at a low temerature even when passing at faster speeds.

Heres a guide to remove swirls by hand, but notice how many times the bloke is having to go over the area to achieve a result you can acheive in half the time, effort and passes with a machine. Swirl Removal

With hand polishing, you will never flatten out larger scratches, but some polishes such as autoglym super resin polish will fill the scratch untill the next wash an all round good cheap product.

John

Edited July 5, 2008 by CasperGTI

[dougless]

Heres a guide to remove swirls by hand, but notice how many times the bloke is having to go over the area to achieve a result you can acheive in half the time, effort and passes with a machine. Swirl Removal

Interesting to see my favourite polish (autoglym) doing so well in this test. I would agree with the general ease of use with SRP and its not that expensive. I do find that some paint finishes, if left unpolished for a while, will require two or three applications to get a good deep shine without clouds* in the paint.

* those strange marks that seem to be just under the surface, not exactly swirls, probably areas of paint that are less 'sealed' than others. Modern water based non metallics seem to be highly prone to this even when fairly new. I have no idea what it is or what causes it.

[Gazza]

Just thought id add my little bit, i got some swirls in my paint work so decieded to try P3000 and wet sand a little area then use fast cut and the finish compound and the area i did come up better then new! so im goin to do the entire car once i get time and it will make it POP with colour i hope also you can not bit a machine polisher

hehe

[JAM]

Easiest/time consuming thing ive found, through my job (car body repairer) is buffer with a woffle head on it and some Farecla G10 polish, may need to be done more than once, then if need be or want to a good hand polish afterwards i normally use Autoglym.

[CasperGTI]

Just thought id add my little bit, i got some swirls in my paint work so decieded to try P3000 and wet sand a little area then use fast cut and the finish compound and the area i did come up better then new! so im goin to do the entire car once i get time and it will make it POP with colour i hope also you can not bit a machine polisher

hehe

I wouldnt do that much as your be through your paint in no time. They are only swirls and are on the top coat of paint. A good compound on a more abrasive pad would be better for deeper swirls.

John

[leddy]

cheers guys the help is appreciated.

impressed with how well the autoglym resin polish faired in that test.

Are sonus products any good? They do a 3 stage kit for removing swirl marks by hand or machine. sfx1,sfx2 and sfx3

[andyp]

get yourself onto detailing world mate, plenty of people who woulfd be able to help you out and recommend products to use etc. Have you tried using a paint cleaner then polishing and waxing as normal?

[leddy]

get yourself onto detailing world mate, plenty of people who woulfd be able to help you out and recommend products to use etc. Have you tried using a paint cleaner then polishing and waxing as normal?

havent been able to try feck all recently thanks to all the rain. im hopefully going to tackle it at the weekend to see how bad she really is.

[cardaft]

You do need to be real careful with machine polishers though. If they get clogged or pick up the smallest bit of grit from your paintowork, it will just make the swirls 10 times worse.

Ive seen loads of cars with really bad swirls, obviously caused by bad buffing, it takes an age to get rid too!

I dont polish my black arosa nearly enough, it can look good, but it takes an age to get it looking right (i never use a buffer) but looks superb once done. I should do it more often, but when i do i use meguires clay and the stage 1 & 2 followed by autoglym wax. I need to find a different wax though, i dont like this stuff.

I love my silver car, so easy to keep clean and desnt show swirls.

[Ad....]

I dont polish my black arosa nearly enough, it can look good, but it takes an age to get it looking right (i never use a buffer) but looks superb once done. I should do it more often, but when i do i use meguires clay and the stage 1 & 2 followed by autoglym wax. I need to find a different wax though, i dont like this stuff.

Try giving meguires gold class wax a go mate, it's in the black bottle I've recently bought some and it's pretty ace for the money. Brings out a really deep shine on mine. Was impressed with it! Not too hard to buff off either.

[Alex_225]

When it comes to swirls the only thing you can really do by hand is mask them with a decent polish. Claying won't do anything for swirls.

You'd need a machine polisher like a Megs G220 to really remove them and you'd have to be brave to attempt it as a novice. I certainly wouldn't feel brave enough. lol

[cardaft]

Id never attempt using a buffer myself, id rather get someone to do it. Some day ill get it professionally done!

Polishing does remove a lot of the swirls, especially using a paint restorer.

I remember we bought a newish scenic from a renault dealer, they were asking us what we thought of their valet job on it (they were obviously proud of it!) It looked awful, really badly buffed. It took a while and a few attempts with paint restorer and polish, but it came up well eventually.

Ive only clayed my car fully one, it took me forever! It does leave the pait really smooth, but as said, does nothing for swirls.

Try giving meguires gold class wax a go mate, it's in the black bottle I've recently bought some and it's pretty ace for the money. Brings out a really deep shine on mine. Was impressed with it! Not too hard to buff off either.

Thanks for that, i was thinking of the meguires stuff.

[CasperGTI]

cheers guys the help is appreciated.

impressed with how well the autoglym resin polish faired in that test.

Are sonus products any good? They do a 3 stage kit for removing swirl marks by hand or machine. sfx1,sfx2 and sfx3

SFX is crap IMO, Poorboys SSR is better.

The best stuff for removing swirls is menzerna final finish and intensive polish.

The best stuff for filling swirls is autoglym SRP.

John

[deathhead]

virtually impossible to do by hand but I found poorboys black hole helps fill them in a bit, then a decent wax after like poorboys nattys paste wax or megs tech wax seems to help mask them.

If i have a lot of time on my hands and am up for some hard graft ill give the car a coat of scratch x or megs stage 1 first, then either megs stage 2 or poorboys black hole followed by megs tech wax or preferably poorboys nattys paste wax which seems to last longer and leaves a classy finish and is easier applied and removed then most things ive tried.

Edited July 12, 2008 by deathhead