When waxing by hand do you wax in straight lines or in circles?
I'm giving up Everything leaves marks...
When I took my car to the dealer they ran my car through the brushful car wash. I have since removed my CF hood that was on there when I did take it in and I am selling the hood. Problem was I could see the swirl marks on the hood... So last night I decided I would clean it up.
I did my normal process the same I would on my whole car.
Meguiars
#9 swirl reducer
#7 show car polish
#26 carnuba wax
I applied it in straight lines as many top detailing sites suggest. (just like drying your car, go w/ how the paint was applied)
I only did half the hood...
Now one side still has swirls, and the other has straight lines...
Seibon says they have "signature UV-protective clear coating" So not exactly sure what kind of clear coat, but....
My point is if my hood is this bad, is my car coming out this bad everytime??? Am I just missing the marks? If so I need to change my waxing ways...
Porter Cable, I know... Although let's keep this to "BY HAND" I currently don't have and don't plan on using a machine...

 

wax in straight lines the way the air flows over the car...

polish in 2'x2' "boxes"... side to side, then diag, then finish front to back.
work it til it dusts, or your hand falls off whichever is first!
which is why we use the machine... to do it right will really make your arms sore if you are doing it by hand.
its not wipe on wipe off like your wax- its work the product like crazy!

i assume that you washed your car before you began the process, and that you are using high quality microfiber rags? polishing should not be adding swirls!

 

This was just my CF hood and yes it was clean. (off the car)
Microfiber= check

This has been my normal for years... It was just when I did it to the hood last night I got bad results.
Trust me, when I do my whole car, I hate myself for days. I have torn both of my rotator cuffs more than once in the past doing various things... So after a day of waxing, my shoulders are SORE!!!

I'm thinking it has to do w/ the type of clear used on the hood, but when I saw my results last night, I was just

 

Honestly to fix that your reeeeally going to have to use a PC or a high speed depending on the depth of the scratches.

Get yourself some of this:


and use one of these:



with these pads (at 1200-1500rpms):
Compound twice with this pad using the compound:

Then once with this one using the compound:


Then use this:


Using this:


Doing that will very likely remove your scratches.

I did that to this car to remove these scratches and oxidation:



and this car:
Before...


After...

 

These marks are no where near anything like that...
Hell, if you aren't looking at the hood just right, you don't see the marks.
This is an almost brand new hood...
I tried getting photos of the marks, but no matter what macro, flash, lens I used I can't even get the marks in a picture.

 

In that case skip the compound and just use a polish... Are they water spots? Water spot will require the compound to remove them. If you can't see the spot in daylight or in a flash park your car under florescent lights... you'll see them then then take a picture, no flash.

 

Working with the gel/resin coat on your fiberglass hood is much tougher than regular clear coats.

 

great post darkknight!!

really shows what magic can be done and what you did to that car- wish there was a way to use that photo on our main page!!

 

This is what I was concluding, but wanted to make sure I just wasn't going crazy...
I have used the same process on my whole car for years now and had good results, but when I saw how the hood was coming out I started to get scared.
So you believe that it is a gel coat or other type of clear that is considerably different than a paint clear coat?

So back to the question...
If you wax by hand do you use straight or swirling action?
Almost all car shows showing polishing/waxing, any show/movie/commercial w/ a guy waxing his car (wax on wax off ) or do it yourselfer is always waxing in circles...
We have been brainwashed to think this is right.... Although almost all GOOD detail sites and detailers say to use straight lines, going w/ how the paint was laid and as stated above w/ the air flow.
And if straight lines are the way... Why in Mothers, Meguiars, etc... commercials DO they depict the guy going in circles?

After some reading today a 7424 may be in the works, but until then... Back to my arm falling off operations...

 

should be a clear coat similar to the one on your car...

dont wax in circles- apply and remove as the air flows over the car (in lines, not circles). if you want, i can track down some reading that will veryify this.


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what the heck- here you go:

http://www.bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=29

"Apply your wax in a back-and-forth motion, not in circles. If you are creating swirls, you need to replace your applicator or towels. "