I did a little reading on swirl marks. I know black cars are notorious for this, but I can't seem to get two similar responses from two different people on how to rid the car of them.

I have been told to use a swirl remover, but all it does it hide them. I was told you have to use a certain type of power buffer and rubbing compounds, and you better know what the hell you're doing or you will ruin the car's finish.

I bought a bottle of Maguires swirl remover but it doesnt seem to work.

Surely many of you have had some success?

Any thoughts?

 

Zaino makes a product that seems to work well, unless the swirls are real deep. I think it's Z5, but I'm not sure. you might check them out. I think with any of the swirl removers you are really "filling in" the swirls and the more coats you use the better it looks.

 

For now I use the zaino swirl cover up (I think its z5 too) since I dont have that many swirls. Every car is bound to have swirls, its just a matter of how long till it becomes really noticeable.

 

The easiest way is not to get them in the first place.

Read the Zaino site, they recommend certain towels and a certain wax on, wax off technique.

It works, until your wife or kid gets in a hurry or you stop at a car wash cause you're lazy

 

A real swirl remover is an abrasive polish that takes a thin layer of the clear coat off to get rid of minor swirls. Ofcourse the cheaper type in stores are usally just made to fill them in temporarily, a good wax hides them too. The profesional polish and buffers are simply more aggressive and cut deeper, therefore if not done right will ruin the paint.

If they are too deep for a store bought and hand applies stuff take it to a proffessional, otherwise leave it be.

Kevin

 

Kevin's right. I have a friend who used to detail most of the used cars for dealers in Dallas. He gave me a $400 buffer and some valuable information on buffing. I usually leave it at the lowest speed (it will burn VERY fast, I learned this on my freshly painted bodykit the first time I used it) and you hardly use any pressure. There is a polish called 3M Finesse-It II which is about $40 a bottle that is found at paint supply stores. You have to use the black foam pads (the blue is rougher and will be too rough for removing swirls. It will probably install them in your paint, hehe) The Finesse It II is THE BEST product I've ever used, and I get lots of compliments when used in conjuction with the 3M Show Car Wax. Oddly enough, this is sold in auto parts stores, but not in front with the other products. I had to ask for it and they walked me to the back where the other body-shop specific products were. I don't know if they still do since I haven't bought it in a while.

You have to remember when most places paint a car, they sand down the finish to remove orange peel and trash from the clear coat, and trust me, it looks a lot worse than swirl marks. They go back with rubbing (or cutting) compounds and finish with a good polish to get it looking shiny and swirl free.

Tx_Phantom, if you want, I can try to see if my products will help you out. My dad has a 96 Black Volvo and my brother has a 98 Camry, and I have a motorcycle, all black, and I've buffed all. They have had tremendous improvements from what they looked like before. We can test on your fender or quarter panel and see if you get what you're looking for. The whole car would probably take me 3-4 hours so if you want to do the whole car, we'd have to schedule something. Email me at Malu59RT@aol.com if you want to set something up.

Here's a picture after the polish and wax at a show.

 

Not that there are not great suggestions here.. But I have had little to no swirl mark problems on either of my dark cars. One of the secrets is to wash, dry, and clean the car properly before applying any cleaner, polish, or wax.
Only way I have gotten rid of them was to strip all the wax off the car, clay bar all the dirt and grime out of the clear coat, clean using Meguairs paint cleaner, use Meguir's swirl remover (which if it's #9, it's a cleaner and polisher in 1 I believe) then I polish using a Meguiars paint polish. Then when all that is done.. Wax. Usually at least 3 coats.

BTW... I use the swirl remover twice and the polisher twice at a minimum before I apply wax.
If you are using the swirl remover without stripping off the old wax, you're not doing anything to get rid of them. Paint needs to be cleaned and prepped properly to clean them out completely. But then again, it is impossible to remove a scratch in paint, that's what a swirl is, completely without repainting the car. The swirls will always come back, sooner or later. All you can do is try to keep them covered and not add any more.

I usually strip and re-wax my cars at least once a year. Then small light coats of cleaner and wax throughout the year.

My $0.02.

 

i just use the spray on "wax while you dry" and a diaper towel and my car stays pretty much swirl free. but mines not black i would definately take malu up on his offer and from then on use the spray on wax - this stuff works great, takes little time to use, and only cost $4

 

Good Now he can come help me with mine!

 

looks like you're set for the meet on saturday! i still need to wash mine..