Ok so yesterday I washed, dried, clayed, then polish/wax with the AIO HD Speed. Car looked great but it rained as soon as I finished so it got water spots all over it. I washed and dried it today to get the spots off but now I'm seeing swirls. The car still feels smooth but now I am noticing swirls.
Did I make these swirls while washing it and drying it again? I use the orange mits from the dollar store to wash, with Optimum Car Wash soap. And for drying I use those pro force or whatever brand MF towels from Sam's. Maybe I need to invest in better stuff...
And how should I wash the Lake Country CCS pads? I only used one for my car last night. Can I just use some dish soap or something? I don't really want to buy a product, at least not yet.
Well, HD Speed isn't your problem.
Polishing your entire vehicle with one pad could be a problem.
Were you at least cleaning the pad on the fly?
Many AIO products have some filling capability, so I suspect that the Swirls were always there and washing removed the fillers...revealing the defects
:iagree:WITH :whs: x 1,500,000,000
In other words... you just won the how not to do it detail and polish powerball lottery.
You should be using AT LEAST 2 pads on the hood, 2 on the roof, 1 on the trunk, 2 if not 3 on each side, and 1 on each bumper. That's 11~12 pads!
Now you don't have to use that many in practice, because you are cleaning your pads on the fly.
You ARE cleaning them on the fly,
RIGHT?
By cleaning on the fly you can (in a pinch) do an entire vehicle with 4 pads. If you're using FIFO (First In First Out) by cleaning the first pad after you've done each section, then once half the hood is done (it'll be 3~4 sections) you CLEAN that pad and sit it aside, like on a fan to cool. Then move to pad 2, use it for 4 sections, sit it aside, then move to pad 3, same thing. Then pad 4.
Once you've gone through the pads, Pad 1 should be cool, DRY, and ready to use again.
I agree though that it's likely that the swirls were still there. Of course if you did end up with 100% correction, the mitt and towels you are using will be guaranteed to swirl paint, and especially noticeable on dark and/or soft paints.
Swirls when washing....
Washing is a time when you need to take the utmost care to use as little pressure as you can, and as much foam/soap/shampoo as you can. It's VERY easy to induce swirls when washing.
NO... DO NOT use dishwashing soap! It doesn't have the lubricity of a pH balanced car shampoo, but more importantly, it will strip most LSP's. (
Especially AIO waxes like you'd see in HD Speed or say Meguiar's 151 and other AIO polish/wax products.)
Swirls when drying....
OMG... drying is something that I can't STAND doing!
If you think you can get swirls washing, pfffffttt drying will magnify that ten fold. There isn't any real lubricity there, combine that with the chance that there may still be areas that are not 100% contaminate free (
and those contaminates end up in your drying towel) then you'll just end up sanding the surface with your drying towel(s).
Best thing when drying is to get a 12amp leaf blower. That or the Metro Blaster (which is really expensive).
When looking at blowers, don't look only at MPH ratings. Look at the CFM ratings and find the one with the highest CFM as WELL AS the highest MPH rating and it'll serve you well.
Combine blow drying with some dedicated drying towels AND PROPER PROCEDURE WHEN DRYING and you'll cut your drying swirls down
significantly. I'd suggest not wiping at all, but laying your towel(s) flat, then patting and/or rubbing your open hand on the back of the towel(s) to absorb what water is left after the blowing process.
Even if you don't blow dry, using an open, flat, thick, absorbent, DEDICATED drying towel is your best bet.
The Cobra Guzzler HD drying towel is good.
It's foam core, and will soak up a TON of water. That is the only one from Autogeek that I like for any type of drying. Another one would be the "Korean Waffle Weave drying towel" from another supplier (
that AG doesn't want us to talk about anymore, even though they don't sell that towel). If you do a Google search on the quoted text it'll be in the top 4 results.
It comes in yellow and blue.
The one below it in that search, (
comes in white, has the word river in it) I have... but don't like it NEAR as well.
My first suggestion would be get a good inspection done under good lighting to find where you are with your paint. Next would be a plan of attack with ENOUGH pads to get the job done.
You'll need towels, GOOD towels, and AT LEAST 8~12 for the compounding step, another 6~8 for polishing, and another 4 or so for wiping LSP. If you run across another microfiber sale like the one Autogeek just had, (plus the 20% off on top of that) you can stock up, and get a couple dozen Gold Plush Jr's to get you started.
(FWIW, that place that came up on your *G* search with the Korean towels... also has gold towels that you can't tell from the "Jr's" at very affordable prices!!!):dblthumb2:
If you want to invest in a GREAT wash mitt... the Koala unit that's on BOGO now is a MUST HAVE.
rops:
Koala Wash Mitt, wool wash mitt, best car wash mitt
Of course all this is just speculation, not knowing what your car is. (IE soft vs. hard paint.) That and if you are using the 2 bucket method, with grit guards. You REALLY should be starting there. Wash bucket, rinse bucket, and a THIRD dedicated wheel bucket. Don't ever, I mean EVER wash your car with the same bucket that you use for washing you wheels.
Most importantly... have fun.