To all the detailing experts out there in the org land: My black max seems to have had a not so friendly interaction with a buffer at a dealership. Now it is full of swirl marks. They still are just marks though; they are not too deep into the surface. But they are in all directions and look terrible.

I do not want a list of web links with instructions on how to remove them; I have found plenty myself. I am looking for someone who has done it himself to tell me what the results were. I have Maguiars #9 swirl marks remover. Would that be enough or do I need something stronger, like the #2 Fine Cut Cleaner?

What have you guys done to remove swirls in your rides' finish? I am very good (and VERY patient) at detailing but have never dealt with swirls (this is my first dark car anyway) and have not used a buffer before.

What do you guys suggest? I need some solid ideas. Thanks!

 

There's a detailing forum here on the boards that provides TONS and TONS of good information on this. read it, learn it, use it.

 

start with the swirl remover, if that doesn't do it bump it up to the fine cut.

My parents bought me a cheapo buffer for Christmas. I haven't even used it on my car yet, lol (have on other people's though, hehe).

Also cant you take it back to the shop? I wouldn't expect a detailing shop to leave swirls, kind of strange.

 

Use something that is labeled as a final or single stage polish. You will have to use a buffer to remove them. Use a foam pad that looks like a egg crate foam mattress. If you have a buffer that is adjustable set it at 1800 RPM or Less. Keep the buffer moving. Dont use a lot of pressure and watch your edges. Black is the thinnest color out there. It covers fast so they don't use much paint. If you can find a paint or detail supply co for you polish. Over the counter stuff is not as good as their commercials are.

BE CAREFUL, GOOD LUCK!

 

the sad part is, swirl remover just covers them up. me being a detailer by profession can help here.

if you have access toa high speed buffer{not that crap they sell at the parts store for 15 bucks} and a yellow foam pad. do this, get some compound {soft, hardly any grit in it} use only a little bit, a 1/4 section at a time. make sure ALL of the cmpound is gone, or they will come back in the later steps. then take a blue or green pad and a polish wax type substance. do the same again, 1/4 section at a time. then finalize it with a wax specialized for a black car {usually darker in color} and do this by hand or a orbital buffer.

this is a rough way of doing it. this is sort of how i do it at work to get swirls out of any color.

 

Are we sure he should use a Yellow.... Every new guy I've put behind a Yellow has burned some thing. New guys are better off to take longer and waste polish than paint. Wouldn't you agree??

 

Yeah i have to agree with him. I detail and manage the details that go through at my job. but i dunno if i would suggest doing it unless you know what you are doing. you can burn the paint and mess up you paint job even more if you dnt use the right materials, hold it in one spot for to long, change directions. Too many ways to mess up if you dunno what your doing

 

yeah, thats what I was thinking too, start off simple easy then bump it up to the better stuff (also kind of one of the reasons why I haven't used the buffer on my car, lol. I want the Porter Cable DA one hehehehehehe)

 

first time i waxed mine i found an old buffing wheel in the garage and used it

i had swirls all over my paint, but after a few washes and hand waxes after that they slowly went away

 

Now thats a long RUB OUT!!!

 

This is turning into a Detailer Shoot Out!! YEEEHAA

 

never let your mom/or anyone else wash your black maxima.....

 

Never let your stepmother wash her own car.
mine took a scotch pad to her brand new Lexus to get off the bird$hit stains from the tree she parked under at work. Needless to say, after I spent two days buffing the car out, I went and cut that tree down.

 

I have a friend that Paints. He had a car that was painted in the morning. He went to lunch and the Shop Grunt pulled it out of the booth to make room. He put it outside and it became a large bird target. That Sh** eats paint!!!

 

it'll eat well-cured and freshly waxed paint too!
I've got a mark on my hood from where one left me a present the day after I waxed it.. it wasn't even on there long enough to dry... that was two years ago and the mark is still there. it actually stripped off the clearcoat and left an indention in the paint. no way to remove it now. grrrr.

 

bird crap = eats clear, see this day in and day out.
i have yet to see someone burn a car with a yellow foam pad. i have seen it with a wool pad. actually i see that daily.
do not go above 1500 rpms with the yellow pad and compound. less risk of burning, if any.
me personlly, i don't see how someone can burn the paint with a yellow pad.
maybe its just me, or i have gained enough skill over the past 8 years of doing this i can do it in my sleep.
blah
carry on!
matt, kick your stepmom.

 

Hehehehe! You are a funny bunch of guys! Thanks much for the input. I appreciate it. One thing though; should I be applying AND removing compound with a buffer or only applying? And, does one pad last one entire session? Or should I use multiple pads?

Also, I have never used a buffer and do not want to burn my paint, so what is the best way of using it? In tight figure 8's? Anyone knows of a web link with streaming video of one in action? Thanks!

 

maybe it's just me, but if you don't have the experience, then it's probably best to just take it to a detail shop and have them do it and show you how its done. you can learn so much more just by being there watching than you can watching hours of video.. you learn even more by doing it yourself, but I wouldn't try to learn alone...

 

To those of us who do this on a regular basis this is simple. I just hate to see this guy burn his Black Maxima because we told him what "WE" would use. I think you might be better off taking it somewhere and have it done. That would cost less than all the stuff we are telling you to get. Plus if they fauk up your paint its there azzes. They should charge less than $100, how much is a good paint job worth...??

 

umm, take it to a place that details beemers, lexus, mercedes, and porsches for fun. they won't mess it up. if you take it to joe schmo. he will do the same thing again..

then again, you can swirl any color

 

Yea but you'd have to try real hard to swirl White!!

 

actually the same thing can be said about black cars.
i PURPOSELY swirled a white car. just because i could.

 

Okay TIME OUT! I'm here.

What you have is damage from someone using a rotary polisher on your paint. Due to improper usage, it has left swirly scratches everywhere that gives a streaked, "hologram" effect. This is really common and one big reason why you shouldn't let some shops detail (or even wash) your car for you - particularly dealerships. Rotary machines are the weapon of choice for detailing businesses because they're fast and highly effective, but this is a double edged sword in the hands of an amateur or hack.

Rotaries are the polishers that look like angle grinders. You attach a pad to it and it spins in place at up to 2000-ish RPM. You work the polish by machine, buff by hand, and when the pad gets too loaded up or contaminated you change it out. That said, I really suggest you do not try using it. They are not easy to handle well (they're heavy and torque a lot), require a lot of practice to use it safely, and you don't want to try and risk learning on your own car.

You can correct the damage by hand, which is safer, but it will take a lot more time and be a lot more work. You also have to thoroughly work-in the product you're using or they won't work properly - some practice is needed, but it's not that bad. I would suggest either sponge applicators of some kind or a quality folded terry towel to do this.

Like MrGone said, try the swirl remover first, and then move up to the fine cut if that isn't effective. You always try the mildest approach first if you're unsure, because how strong a product is needed will depend on how bad the damage is.

Since any half-decent rotary polisher isn't cheap to buy and accessorize anyway, you may also want to consider looking into the Porter Cable random orbital polisher. This is a great tool that splits the difference between el-cheapo Wal-Mart buffers and rotary polishers, and finally brings pro results easily and safely within the grasp of the weekend warrior detailer. It's becoming increasingly popular because of this, and if you enjoy detailing buying one of these (with a selection of pads) is a good investment. There is some good information in the Detailing section about this option, and a TON of info about this as well as your other options (hand, rotary) over at detailing forums like www.autopia.org

You could, of course, simply try to find a good detailer in your area and pay for him/her to fix it for you too....

 

or bring the car to kansas city and i'll fix it for ya
last alternative

 

watch out.. you'll end up leaving with 20hp in free ghetto mods on the car!

 

As far as Polishes are concerned, you might want to use either of the following:

a) Meguiar's #9 Swirl Remover: Least aggressive
b) 3M Swirl Remover for Dark Colored Cars.
c) Meguiar's #83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish (My recommendation for your problem)

Then follow Bman's advice.

 

Bman, you are DEAD ON about my swirls. They look exactly like you said. And Bryan H, thanks a whole bunch! Yes, I was looking at some others threads online and saw people recommending the Porter Cable 7428 Orbital Buffer. Seems like that is a good choice.

Also, like PrinzII mentioned as well and as I saw on the threads, Meguairs #83 DACP is recommended A LOT for swirls everywhere I have looked. Have any of you, in your professional life, used it?

Even though, I want to do it myself, I did consider getting it done professionally, but here in Winston-Salem, NC, there seem to be no proper detail shops that can do it well. All places I called seemed like joe schmo joints who had no real idea on how to remove swirls.

BTW, I have used the Meguairs #9 on a portion on my hood, and it did reduce the appearance of swirls a lot, but I could easily tell that it just filled them up. I want them to get the @$&* out!

 

The machine you want is actually commonly listed as the 7424. The 7428 is their rotary. I always tell people to buy the 7336 or 7336sp though. It is the exact same machine as the 7424, but it will balance better. Buying one of these isn't as simple as buying one box though, so if you're considering one, there are excellent references (and how-to's) at Roadfly.org, Autopia.org, and some detailing stores like www.properautocare.com

I don't detail professionally (ie, for money) but I really like DACP, and so do many others. It's (arguably) the next step up from something like #9 Swirl Remover, so if you find that #9 isn't quite strong enough, try DACP next. Often, it winds up being the "right" product for doing things by hand (because by hand is less effective), but you always work your way up by default.

 

oh and you liked it!.
because you kept writing about it on here. so i must have done something right

 

How much would a detailing shop charge to remove swirl marks?

 

you could probably get the whole car done for around $150 and if there good they will get the swirls out just form doing it the right way.

 

It will be a big job, so U guess it will be $100 or a little over. But the bigger problem is finding one that CAN do it. Most place I have called didn't sound like they knew what they're supposed to do.

 

find a good body shop and ask who they use, they may have someone who is always on location, chances are if there detailing at a shop there handling new paint jobs so they have to have some amount of skill.