I do all work by hand and the paint is in very good condition.
Removing swirls and scratches mean removing a little paint because this is how you level the surface. Some people don't like hearing that but that's the truth. The goal is to remove as little paint as possible and then do what you've been doing and that's wash and dry carefully and avoid any practice that would put swirls back into the car.
You can hand apply both the polish and the wax and by the time you're done there should be some "filling-effect" to get your paint where you want it to be to make you happy.
If you get to the point where you want to actually remove the swirls then it's time to get a machine. Can't tell you how many times someone has made a post like yours, (only work by hand), then they get a simple DA Polisher and then post something like this,
I should have stepped up to machine polishing a long time ago...
That's just normal and that's how it goes... here's something I wrote to kind of show how easy and safe it is to work by machine...
It's not that hard...
Note these people are not just "learning" on daily drivers aka
new cars, they're learning on someone's "toys" or
Special Interest Vehicles. More risk for me, more fun for them...
In the below live broadcast I show a 15 year old boy how to machine polish
Live Broadcast Video - 1965 Plymouth Valiant - Extreme Makeover
And in this one I show a 21 year old girl how to machine polish
Video & Pictures: 1965 Fastback Mustang - Gtechniq EXO Show Car Makeover!
Trista working with the rest of the team to machine polish this 1965 Mustang Fastback 2+2
Trista removing swirls on a show car...
And in this one I show a 80 year old man and a young lady and here boyfriend how to machine polish for their first time...
Video and Pictures - Two 1967 Camaro's - Show Car Makeovers!
PLUS you have everyone on this forum to help you along the way...
