Oh and I could get that haze out with a soft buff/polishing pad and some swirl remover..

 

wool should be FIRST. and only should be used when your looking to do some serious cut and buffing. wool pads will reall impact your paint, so its used for getting scratches out and heavy heavy swirls. you should finish with your foam pad depending on how coarse your foam pad is.

if those buffer trails came from the wool pad then they arent just going to disappear after a couple of washes. the wool pad will cut into the paint and you'll have to remove them by properly buffing and polishing.

hopefully you werent pushing hard at all, you could get rid of those maybe with a coarse foam pad and finish off with a soft foam pad to polish and remove the rest of the swirls. then wax.

 

While I agree that his wool pad is probably to blame here, wool is not the demon you guys make it out to be. Wool comes in various levels of abrasiveness just like foam. There are heavy cut wool pads but there are also light polishing wool pads. Detailers were finishing with wool long before the newer style foam pads ever came around. Wool pads typically run cooler and don't grab the paint like a foam pad can. More of you guys should try them. I have an old white wool pad i have been using if I don't finish with the Cyclo.

 

Thats the reason I even used the wool pad, is b/c the other detailers were only using them..i guess im a lil too newb to do it myself right now. I did talk to a guy today and he also said the wool was to blame and that i could go back over it with a foam pad and they will go away. I wasnt using very much pressure at all b/c i did not want to burn the paint being it was my first time.

i guess ill just have to go back over it with the foam pad.

 

FYI, it's nearly impossible to finish down without leaving holograms/buffer trails in the paint when using a rotary buffer on the S2000. The clearcoat on our cars is just way too soft. I've tried varous pads, polishes, and buffer speeds with little luck--there's almost always some type of micromarring left behind. A couple of highly regarded detailers on Autopia have also reported the same thing, so I know it's not my technique that's to blame

Other cars I've worked on don't seem to have this problem, so it seems to be isolated to Honda's. It's a hassle, but now I just resort to using a PC for my final polishing step on the S2000. It saves me a lot of time and frustration

 

true, but i have colorsanded and buffed out 4 s2k's, and none have come out with the holograms. im not saying its your technique, but maybe the compound and pad combo your going with. if your using the right stuff, you shouldnt be leaving any swirls or holograms, if you know the honda paint is soft you should know what kind of pad and compound u should be using.

I've been using a rotary for 4 years now and if i ever see swirls in my s2k, its definately possible to get them out no prob

 

I've used LC finishing pads with Menzerna FPII, 106FF, or Optimum Polish and all of them still leave a slight trail of holograms behind. Those polishes with the finishing pads are about as mild as you can get. I try to keep my rotary at 1000rpm's or lower for this step as well.

Keep in mind, however, that most people (even some detailers) wouldn't notice these defects. The holograms I'm talking about are very light (especially in comparison to the OP's picture) and are only visible under bright halogens at the right angle. Maybe I'm just being picky, but I figure if the PC can finish down completely hologram free, I don't see why the rotary shouldn't be able to, either

What pads/products/buffer speed do you use? If you have any other tips or recommendations that you could give me, I'd be more than willing to give it a shot

 

I had swirl marks in both my S2000 and my Audi TT and got them out using Zaino. I swear by it.

 

Zaino only makes one polish (Z-PC) and it's a pretty mild polish. So, your swirls must have been REALLY light. Otherwise you just filled them and that's not the same as getting rid of them.

 

if your using those mild products and the holograms are still there and have not changed, then looks like your gonna have to do a little cutting (go a little more aggressive), start over and polish it all out again. maybe your polish isnt impacting the paint to get the swirls out, or maybe you should run at 1500 RPM.

all of my pads i purchase from buff and shine (www.buffandshine.com) and all of my detailing products i get from car brite (www.carbrite.com).

The reason the PC get out swirls or buffer trails is because its a DA (Dual Action) or RO (Random Orbital) buffer so its really hard to leave trails because of so much movement. The rotary only spins one way so its up to your technique to move the buffer not in one motion but in multiple motions and directions to make sure you covered the entire surface like a DA/RO would. Rotary i would say is the way to go because the RPM speed is much more impactful than a PC and the low setting (if used correctly) can polish just like (even better) than the PC.

Its all in your technique. Of course pad type and product type play a big part, but if you dont have good technique with the rotary your gonna get the worst results no matter how good your product and pad is.

What kind of pad are you using? what brand? what size? wool or foam?

Usually i wouldn't use 1000rpm on rotary for swirl removal, some people disagree, some people agree, but its your own technique when detailing. I usually would be at 1750 or 2000rpm then i use 1500 to 1000rpm for final finish right before i throw a wax/sealant on.