swirls

inevitable, get it professionally polished a few times a year and you will be looking good all the time.

 

It's inevitable. Your washing technique sounds suitably anal retentive. But without knowing the complete history of your car (was it professionally detailed when new and then cared for only by you since then) it's hard to make an informed judgment. In general, regular use will cause some minor paint marks due to debris particles in the air. If you think your paint is bad you should see the scratches on my lexan windows! They got scratched up bad in just a few months of regular driving.

 

It sounds like you have a great plan and go far and above what most people do in caring for your baby.

I would consider adding Grit-Guards to both your wash bucket and rinse bucket if you are not already. These act as traps that will help hold heavy grime and dirt at the bottom of the bucket vs. swirling back up into the mix.

Also check to see if your towels are soft. Microfiber isn't made equally, and often time the stuff you get a great deal on at the auto store is a cheaper, Chinese made towel that will loose it's softness after a few washes. Use an old CD and rub the towel over the CD with a little bit of passion, then inspect in the sunlight. Most CD's are made from a material that is softer then most paints, if you can scrub the CD with out scratching, then you should be fine on the paint.

I like using a quick detail spray when drying the car (after blowing it off) to add a little lubricity to the surface and remove any little water spots. A light mist per panel is often enough, and can help your drying towel from creating marks.

Realistically it is inevitable on most paint's, particularly if they are used daily. I have seen some car's with extremely hard paint's that still look great years and years after being polished (Corvette's and Lamborghini's for example), but remember that swirl's are microscopic marks that are visible because light bends. It's really hard to avoid these little microscopic marks when we removing material that is harder then the paint, from the paint completely.

As a slight side note, are the swirls that you are seeing from you, or from the detailer before you? A lot of detailers, even those with a good reputations, use polishes that contain filling agents that make the paint look great after application. After a few washes these filling agents dissipate and you are left with a surface that was marred during the polishing process.

So while the ultimate goal is prevent creating new swirls (which sometimes is impossible) the real benefit is limiting the depth of the marks that you create. If the paint is washed carefully every time with the up most care, then any accidental marks are going to be very very shallow and should not require more then the lightest polishing to remove. However if careless washing methods are used, the marks can be so deep that they require a day or more of machine polishing to remove (and thin the clear coat/paint measurably).

It really depends on how hard your paint's surface is (how much it resists marring) and how perfect the details of your car wash is. What some may consider extremely anal some might consider rudimentary, and even with a lot of experience doing this, I am constantly trying to find ways to improve my car washing methods.

Keep in mind that many detailers unknowingly filling in the swirl marks instead of removing them, so if this is the case, the marks will return no matter how careful you are. If you have it polished, then consider switching the way you wash the car...

On the horizontal panels wash the car from front to back and on the verticle panels wash up and down (this takes some getting used to). Same with drying, same with waxing, etc... By keeping all of the movements in the same directions you will be able to see if you are at fault, since any marring will appear one direction, instead of all directions like a swirl. But an even bigger benefit is that any accidental marring will be harder to see, as the sun will only catch it at certain angles. This is why I recommend washing the doors and sides up and down. If you wash side to side, which feels more natural and is easier to do, any scratches are going to run paralell to the ground, and the sun will catch them at all angles. If you wash up and down, the scratches would run up and down, so the sun will only catch then when it is on lower in the sky and only when the car is facing towards or away from it.

If the car is driven with some frequency, then I would suggest doing the best you can reasonably, and polishing (or having somebody polish) it every couple of years to knock out any accidents.

Sorry if I rambled in spots, but I hope this helps.

 

Unless it is a garage queen, swirls happen. (And even Her Majesty the Car is going to get a few micro-hairlines once in a while.)

One thing that has worked for me is the "Don't touch the paint any more than you have to" rule.

My 328 was more on the queen end of things, but I kept it show ready by doing a quick detail after every drive, using a big pile of detail cloths and Griot's Speed Shine, and having it waxed once a year only to minimize the amount of time the paint was being touched. It won a couple of FOC event 'Best of' trophies having not been waxed in 6-8 months, so IMHO people overwax their cars.

 

I'm a FIRM believer in using a Grit Gurad (http://www.gritguard.com/), tile grout hydra sponges (http://www.amazon.com/Hydra-XL-Tile-Grout-Sponge/dp/B000ND195E), Tech Shine (http://www.tech-shine.com/) and a blower (http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=30e07ba3-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5)

I own 3 BLACK Ferraris and none of them has ANY swirl marks due to consistently using these products.

 

I just keep mine so dirty that nobody notices.

(Reduced washing also reduces the chances to create swirls.)

I used to keep my car washed and polished all the time. Every day, I'd come out of work to find fingerprints all over the car and side windows. Shiny black cars just seem to draw the "fingerers" and "nose pressers". I had to keep those "diaper cloth" rags in the car to get the skin oils off the paint.

Nobody bothers the car when it's dirty.
And it still drives as good.

 

I've looked in a couple car museums and find swirl marks on some high end cars in those museums. Makes me feel better about my car. Paint gets old.

I've also been guilty of letting my car get very dirty. When dirty I can't see any of the imperfections, and when I wash it, the car looks so beautiful from 10 feet and it is such a shock that I think I'll stay with that process. Wash twice a year maybe. I'll let it go until it needs it.

I used to keep it washed, but needed to wash it monthly. My pickup got washed twice a month, just to get filthy from being parked anywhere in Louisiana again. Got tired of it. Of course when I was 16 I washed my Honda Civic every couple weeks as well and waxed it twice a year. Must try to relax as I get a few more years on me.

 

not to be a nit picker... and its my personal take on the whole issue being a former detailer... and still buff out my fair share of cars...

What you see are what we call "spider webs" Spider webs happen. They just happen, the usually go away with a good waxing... eventually it will need a light polish and then a good wax... but they will come back... its just the nature of the beast.

"Swirls" in my world, are left by amateur detailers... these are the big hologram like marks that get on cars at the local car wash detailers armed with a buffer set on kill and a compound suitable for wet sanding... then not finishing it properly.

Relax and enjoy... remember... YOU are looking for them and are far less noticeable to others

 

Are the boar hair brushes Griots sell safe for paint? I have one of the wands you hook up to the garden hose and use that as the first step, after wetting the car with a nozzle.

 

The only way to prevent swirls is to not touch the paint. Any kind of brush will scratch the paint whether its boar's hair or mouse hair.