Dealing with very soft paint on a daily. Argh.

[Jmbrown415]

Hi All,

just St looking to discuss possible options.

have a black Audi, solid ( very very soft paint ) - literally scratches and swirls when you blow on it, not that I blow on my car as that would be a bit odd

Actually told my friend off the other week for touching my door and b pillar, I don't think he understands that door handles can be used without touching the door, anyway.... lol.

I polish the car generally with a mixture of water and polish, usually mix 60-40 in a bottle. Also helps when wiping, tends to scratch even when wiping.

I applied a ceramic coat, water based ones were pointless.

how would you wash? I use the two bucket method, lambs wool mitt, jet wash and ph neural lather from auto finesse.

any ideas to reduce/nullify the chance of swirls and scratching.

It's an amazing this life. I regret heavily buying a black car, I never will again, black paint is not a colour it's a secondary occupation, however in doing so I have opened up to a whole new world of detailing, paintcorrection, ceramic coat applications and seeing inperfections in other cars that I never saw before. Even doing other people's cars now !!

thanks for all the help as ever
Justin

 

[2black1s]

Black is definitely an education! I have three black vehicles.

Odd as it may seem, I'd say white is the next best color for educating yourself in the world of paint care.

 

[Jmbrown415]

Use to have a white car and never really noticed anything ... maybe I wasn't looking properly !

agree, think in future silver or dark grey are the ones to go for.

Was detailing a jag XF today in racing green and was lovely, ok it was swirled and did show but so easy to remove.

 

[2black1s]

White teaches how stained paint can get in hard to reach areas, stains that are there but not as obvious on any other color.

 

[Ceerokz]

Honda Civic suck! So soft so thin!
I use griot's boss creams,boss foam pads and machine.
1st application with the white aggressive foam pad with the finishing sealant (AIO)
Followed by the same cream and the yellow perfecting foam pad. Then laid wax for protection.

 

[AutowerxDetailing]

The first thing you need to do is identify what is causing the swirls and marring you're noticing. Is it your wash process, your drying process, or both?

You can easily observe this by polishing a panel and waiting until your next wash (the vehicle should be slightly dirty to represent typical washing conditions). At your next wash carefully only move your wash mitt in one direction over the panel you are observing. And while drying, move your drying towel in a perpendicular direction to your wash mitt motion. If you notice any defects you'll now be able to attribute it to your wash and/or drying process and be able to make adjustments on your maintenance processes as necessary.

 

[Eldorado2k]

You never mentioned how you dry the vehicle?


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[Jmbrown415]

Sorry ... attention to detail... I use a towel , plush big blue... only dab the paint to dry, never swipe.

 

[Jmbrown415]

Only ever have beads as the coat leaves little water behind , really good at repelling

 

[Eldorado2k]

Have you pinpointed where exactly the swirls are being instilled? How many mitts do you use per wash? Just 1?

I have no experience with lambswool mitts... I've got this 1 that's never been opened. Does this qualify as a lambswool mitt?

I've never had the guts to try it. Lol




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[Jmbrown415]

What do you generally use? They are good because any dirt goes deep in. They knot up though, need to brush mine before I wash it. I think any swirling is coming from the washing , rather than drying.

 

[Eldorado2k]

What do you generally use?

My wash bucket contains:
-5 Meguiars Microfiber wash mitts
-4 Gyeon Smoothies
-1 green Viking microfiber mitt
-2 yellow chenelle microfiber noodle mitts with mesh sponge on 1 side [these 2 mitts are only used for washing underneath rocker panels and bumpers]

12 mitts means I can pretty much wash a normL vehicle without even stopping to rinse.


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[FlyinLow]

not that I blow on my car as that would be a bit odd

Tee hee! Good one.

 

[bcgreen]

I useto post alot about my '04 black G35 and it was a really, really big deal to get it scratch/marr free. It seemed that a cotton ball swiped on the paint would create scratches. It was so so soooft. It got to the point I was polishing down to the primer. You could just barely see the dark red primer where my wife would touch the car whenever she got out and causing scratches and this is the place that the primer started to show. So one of the old forum members on the other forum give me the best advice, just in time.
He recommended that I purchase Optimum Opti-coat. It was truly like adding another clear coat. This clear coat was really hard and solved my problems from then on. Saved me alot of time as I was polishing almost every couple of weeks.

 

[TMQ]

Checked the store---Can't find optimum "opti-coat." Where do I find that?

Tom

 

[spazzz]

My wash bucket contains:
-5 Meguiars Microfiber wash mitts
-4 Gyeon Smoothies
-1 green Viking microfiber mitt
-2 yellow chenelle microfiber noodle mitts with mesh sponge on 1 side [these 2 mitts are only used for washing underneath rocker panels and bumpers]



12 mitts means I can pretty much wash a normL vehicle without even stopping to rinse.

12 mitts for a 2 (1?) bucket wash? WTH.

I use 3

 

[Eldorado2k]

12 mitts for a 2 (1?) bucket wash? WTH.

I use 3

Yup. I just washed the Kia. 12 mitts, didn't have to stop to rinse at all. 1 Big Blue to dry. 1 bucket wash, 2nd bucket no water just a Grit guard. I rinse my mitts with the hose.

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[FlyinLow]

Gentlemen… I have a question. If this were your personal car, and mind you I don't know what the cost would be, but would you consider taking it to a paint shop and having it sprayed with a harder clearcoat immediately after you prepped it?

 

[FlyinLow]

Yup. I just washed the Kia. 12 mitts, didn't have to stop to rinse at all. 1 Big Blue to dry. 1 bucket wash, 2nd bucket no water just a Grit guard. I rinse my mitts with the hose.

That's actually a clever idea. Going to do laundry anyway, right? I may try that, but bet I could get away with the 4 to 6 that I have already. Should cut washing time almost in half. Thanks, man!

 

[Klasse Act]

Gentlemen… I have a question. If this were your personal car, and mind you I don't know what the cost would be, but would you consider taking it to a paint shop and having it sprayed with a harder clearcoat immediately after you prepped it?

A body shop would have to prep the paint before applying another layer of clear and then that would need to be set sanded to smooth out, so not really an option.

What IS an option but a costly one is to have XPEL applied to the car and that's like $1000-1800 depending on the size of the vehicle and that's just the protection.

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